Network Effect by Martha Wells, Murderbot Diaries Book 5
Introduction
Network Effect by Martha Wells is the first novel of the Murderbot Diaries Series. The earlier stories are a series of four novellas that complete a self-contained single story. The protagonist of the diaries is a SecUnit (Security Unit), a part organic and part mechanical cyborg, or as she calls herself a Murderbot. In this story, Murderbot must solve a complex mystery or risk the deaths of her human clients.
Summary
In Network Effect by Martha Wells, Murderbot has completed her mission as described in the earlier four books for the PreservationAux Group. Murderbot looks to Dr. Mensah as its primary client. It serves as a Survey Security Consultant to members of the group. On a survey, unknown hostiles attack them and Murderbot names them as Targets, but only to itself. Murderbot had hacked its governor module so can ignore the programming the Company used to create it. Murderbot eliminates the Targets, but there will be more. The Survey ship ends up in a mysterious solar system. Who are the Targets and why does someone summon the Survey ship are the mysteries that Murderbot must solve? The lives of its clients depend on finding answers.
Recommendation
It was worth the wait for a Murderbot novel. The book was enjoyable and hit all the marks a reader could expect. Murderbot was snarky, compassionate to her clients, and resourceful. The plot of the novel was hard to figure out at the beginning, but explained later. There are passages where Murderbot recounts old events, sometimes as transcripts. The reason for this makes sense. The book comes to a satisfying conclusion and sets up the next adventure for Murderbot. Fugitive Telemetry will be Book 6 of the Murderbot Diaries and published on April 27, 2021. The series continues, and I plan to stay on the ride.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page for Network Effect by Martha Wells.
Book Review of Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, a series of four novellas. SecUnit calls herself Murderbot. She has feelings of companionship for her human employers. What lengths will she go to protect them?
In the City of Bones by Martha Wells, Khat is a krisman living in the city of Charisat on the edge of the Waste. Ancient Mages created the krismen to live in the Waste. Khat has come to the city to earn his fortune in the relic trade with his human partner, Sagai. The Warders, mages who serve the Elector of Charisat, want to use relics to solve an ancient mystery. Will Khat help them even though the empowered relics could destroy the world?
Summary
City of Bones by Martha Wells’s main character is Khat. Khat is a krisman, a type of marsupial with a pouch created by ancient mages in the time the Waste was formed. The krisman is at the bottom of the social order. The Warders of the Elector of Charisat don’t believe they are people because they don’t have souls according to them. Khat leaves the safety of his people’s Enclave to earn his fortune in the human cities. He teams up with Sagai, a human, to sell relics in the city of Charisat.
Khat needs a big score to pay off a debt, so he agrees to guide the Patrician to ancient towers called Remnants. The central mystery of the book is the mystery of why the ancient mages built the Remnants. The viewpoint characters are Khat, Sagai, and the Patrician. Khat wants to find a place where he belongs, Sagai wants to protect his family, and the Patrician wants to solve the mystery. Can they accomplish their goals without destroying the world?
Recommendation
City of Bones is a great self-contained single novel, and they haven’t published a sequel so far. Khat is an interesting character. He deals with prejudice, misunderstanding, and identity. His redemption arch is why I recommend this novel. The first chapter is difficult to understand on a first reading. There are many characters, many ideas, and much world-building packed in it. Once the focus is on Khat, Sagai, and The Patrician, then the novel proceeds relentlessly to the end. Khat is knocked out too many times and recovers too quickly. I’m glad I decided to read this novel after I read the author’s Murderbot Diaries.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page for City of Bones by Martha Wells.
Book Review of Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, a series of four novellas. SecUnit calls herself Murderbot. She has feelings of companionship for her human employers. What lengths will she go to protect them?
Phantoms of Ruthaer by Jason McDonald, Stormy McDonald, and Alan Isom
Introduction
Phantoms of Ruthaer by Jason McDonald is a fantasy with a ghost story and a murder mystery. Hector De Los Santos and the bounty hunting group named Damage, Inc. are called to Ruthaer for a side job. Hector’s crew is human archer Dave Blood, half-elf tracker/healer Aislinn Yves, and elf empath Hummingbird. They get more than they bargained for when they get to Ruthaer. The mysteries of the town are complicated. Damage, Inc. must fight ghosts, zombies, demons, and vampires to solve the mystery. Ancient dragonkin points to the solution and to the greater mystery involving Hector and Dave. Will they defeat the phantoms, or will they all die in the attempt?
[Reserved for Phantoms of Ruthaer Book Cover]
Summary
Phantoms of Ruthaer by Jason McDonald is set in the same fantasy world as the author’s Cayn trilogy. The locations and characters are different. The only character mentioned in this book from the Cayn trilogy is Jasper Thredd. He is a mage and a member of Damage, Inc. but does not appear in this novel. Jasper has some connection to the trio of Hector, Dave and Robert. Robert is another character mentioned but not met in this novel.
At the beginning of the novel, Hector bails Dave out of jail. Damage, Inc. has business in Ozera, but a job in Ruthaer comes first. They pick up Aislinn and Hummingbird and sail to Ruthaer. Aislinn is from Ruthaer and is responding to the request of Tallinn, the sea ranger she knew as a girl. Once they get to Ruthaer, they face the mystery of what happened to the monks. Lord Francis and Father Blackwood helps them. There is a fog over the town. They fight ghosts, vampires, and spiders to get to the heart of the mystery. A ghost ship and the mysterious Count Dodz complicate the mystery. There are plenty of more thrills and reversals as Damage, Inc. uncovers mystery after mystery.
Recommendation
Phantoms of Ruthaer by Jason McDonald is a great genre mash-up novel. There is a mystery, a ghost story, and a fantasy adventure in the novel. The bounty hunting idea is like the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski. Damage Inc. is paid for killing magical creatures like the Witcher. The mystery is hard to solve, and the ghosts are real in this adventure. It also reminded me of John Carter from Mars concerning Hector, Dave, and Robert’s interaction with this fantasy world. I want to see more adventures with Damage, Inc.
I received this novel as a beta reader. After they release the last book, I will update this post as necessary.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page for Phantoms of Ruthaer.
[Reserved for Phantoms of Ruthaer Goodreads Link.]
This is the link to the Goodreads page for Blood of Cayn.
My review of Blood of Cayn, the Cayn Trilogy Book #3. It’s the thrilling conclusion of the Cayn Trilogy. The plague has returned. Will Xandor’s crew find the cure or will everyone die?
My review of City of Cayn the Cayn Trilogy Book #2. It’s a suspenseful adventure. The plague story begun in the first book takes our heroes to Cherigov, a human city overrun by orcs. They must defeat the orc king, or the plague will devastate the land.
My review of Son of Cayn, the Cayn Trilogy Book #1. Xandor the ranger’s mission is to infiltrate a caravan that is smuggling soap. Soap? Yes, soap. Xandor’s crew must determine where and why the soap is being smuggled.
Last Emperox by John Scalzi, The Interdependency Sequence Book #3
Introduction
In Last Emperox by John Scalzi. Cardenia Wu-Patrick is the current Emperox of the Interdependency. She is coronated as Grayland II and her reign starts with a crisis. The Flow connects the star systems of the Interdependency, and the Flow is collapsing. She faces a looming disaster when the dependent colonies of the Interdependency will become isolated. What can she do about the collapse of the Flow and can she get the ruling class to agree to her solutions?
Summary Part One
Last Emperox by John Scalzi has four main characters.
Cardenia wants a solution to the collapse of the Flow connections between the stars of her Empire. The Flow is a wormhole network that connects the different stars of the Interdependency. Humans can only live on the surface of the planet called End. All other colonies are space stations or enclosed stations on planetary bodies. The trading clans head the Interdependency. Each clan owns a star system and has a monopoly on one product. They trade the products between the clans, and no colonies are independent. Cardenia’s clan is the Wu clan holding the system of Hub. The Wu clan created the Interdependency and every Emperox for the last thousand years has been a member of the Wu clan.
The Nohamapetan clan opposes Cardenia’s rule. Nadashe Nohamapetan had been accused of the attempted assassination of Cardenia and was imprisoned for the crime. She escaped and is on the run. Nadashe wants to keep the status quo of the clan system. What that means is that the leaders of the clans will get transferred to the End system and the rest of the people will be left isolated in their home systems to perish.
Summary Part Two
Kiva Lagos oversees the Nohamapetan clan’s finances by Cardenia’s rluing, which causes conflict with the Nohamapetan clan. All Kiva wants is to lead the Lagos clan and to retire with her girlfriend, Senia Fundapellonan. But Cardenia wants Kiva to help her capture Nadashe while Nadasche wants Kiva to release the Nohamapetan fortune to her. They both thwart Kiva’s plans.
Flow physicist Count Claremont of the End system predicts the collapse of the Flow by his calculations. Flow Physicist Marce Claremont, his son, continues his father’s work and is Cardenia’s closest advisor and becomes her paramour. Marce wants to transfer all of humanity to the End system. He believes that the solution is somewhere in the data and he continues his search for the solution.
The fate of the people of the Interdependency rests on the actions of these four characters.
Recommendation
Last Emperox by John Scalzi is a great ending to the Interdependency trilogy. I did not want the ending to go the way it did, but it was the correct ending for the series. All the ideas begun in the first book led inevitably to the resolution in the third book. That makes the trilogy a successful series to me. On reflection, I like a story best that is true to its nature, and this story is true to its nature. The three books were consistent, funny, and interesting.
All together the three books total 948 pages. They could have published the trilogy as one long book but this isn’t epic fantasy so I appreciate getting a book every year. The characters come to a satisfying concluding arc. There could be other stories in this series, but probably not with these characters and their conflicts. I am looking forward to the author’s next series.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page for Last Emperox by John Scalzi.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman, Book #1 of American Gods
Introduction
American Gods by Neil Gaiman is the first book of American Gods series. The old Gods have lost power and have been replaced by the new Gods. War is their last chance to regain their power. Dropped in the middle of their war is recently released prisoner Shadow Moon. Mr. Wednesday offers him a job. With little prospects, he accepts the job, not knowing that they will catch him up in the middle of the war between the Gods. Will Shadow survive? Will Shadow be more important to the Gods war than they could ever realize?
Summary of Novel
In American Gods by Neil Gaiman, the Old Gods get their power by being worshiped. The more they are worshiped, the more power they have. Immigrants to America brought their own Gods with them to the unknown land. The Gods power was potent to begin, but through the generations living in America the worship has faded and the Gods have weakened. New Gods include Technical boy, media, and Mr. World. The old Gods plan to gather and fight the new Gods to regain their power.
They imprisoned Shadow Moon for a botched robbery for the last three years. Next week he will be released and can go home to his wife Laura. Something tragic happens and they release him early. With no prospects as an ex-con, he accepts a job from Mr. Wednesday as his driver and bodyguard. They travel the country by car to interact with old friends of Mr. Wednesday.
Shadow and Wednesday travel from Eagle Point, Indiana through Cairo, Illinois, Lakeside, Wisconsin, House on the Rock, Wisconsin, Lebanon, Kansas, and Blacksburg, Virginia. The confrontation between the Old Gods and the New Gods takes place in Rock City, Georgia.
In between chapters of the major story, the author places short works about some old Gods. The Gods depicted are Bilquis and the Jinn.
Summary of Book versus TV Show
In 2017, I heard about the American Gods show created by Starz that was released to DVD on October 17, 2017. I planned to read the book and watch the show. I read the book in 2017 but returned the DVD to the library. Always planned to take the DVD out again to watch it, but I didn’t until 2020. I didn’t write a review of the book then, so my plan here is to review the book and season one of the TV show. They released season two on August 20, 2019. I haven’t watched it yet. They based it on the second half of the book American Gods.
Coming to America Stories from the TV show
Seven of the Eight episodes of the show start with a coming to America story. The other episode follows Laura’s backstory. Episode one tells the story of the Vikings coming to America and their Norse Gods. They set the second episode on a slave ship and features the African God, Anansi. Episode three has the Egyptian God Anubis interacting with a Muslim woman. The fifth episode introduces the gods of the ancient people wandering to America from the Bering Strait land bridge. Episode six has Mexican immigrants bring their version of Jesus to America. The seventh episode features the leprechaun from Ireland. Episode eight has Mr. Nancy telling the story of the Ethiopian God, Bilquis.
Recommendation
I read American Gods by Neil Gaiman from April 18, 2017, to May 4, 2017. There were three books I read in 2017 for which I did not write a book review then. This is the third of the three retro posts I will write. American Gods is an interesting mixture of legend, fantasy, and Americana. I liked the Coming to America stories. Some of them were dark and disturbing and I liked the challenge. Shadow moon’s story was the most interesting, and I wanted to go back to it as soon as I could. Seeing the novel brought to TV was great. They did a lot of background material that I liked, and I want to see the second season soon.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
Link to my review of Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card. Alvin Miller is the seventh son of a seventh son which gives him special powers in this alternate history tale of America set in 1811. In American Gods and in Red Prophet, the gods are alive and interact with people.
Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks is the fourth book
of The Lightbringer series. The three main characters set up their roles for
the final book in the series. Gavin has lost his powers, must escape his
prison, and face the god Orholam. Teia must become a master assassin and
destroy the Order of the Broken Eye. Kip must prepare his army to face the
White King and defeat him, or risk the colors going out of balance leading to
their destruction. Their missions lead to one ultimate question. Who is the
Lightbringer and will the Lightbringer bring balance to the world?
Summary
Chromaturgy is the magical system of the Seven Satrapies. They call magicians who use Chromaturgy drafters and the best drafters live on the Chromeria, the seat of the Satrapies government. Drafters can take a part of the spectrum of light and make a substance called luxin. They can shape luxin into items, with the color of the luxin determining the properties of the item. Most drafters can draft one or two colors, while the Prism can draft all the colors. There is only one Prism alive at one time and the Prism is the military, spiritual, and political leader of the Satrapies.
Summary for Principal Characters
There are
three principal viewpoint characters and three minor viewpoint characters.
Gavin was
the Prism but has lost his powers. He is imprisoned in the special cells he
made to hold a special prisoner. He must get help from an unlikely person to
break out of his cell and to go on an important mission in the last book of the
series.
Kip is
fighting against the forces of the White King. The Color Prince has taken a new
name, the White King, and he increases his power by taking half of the satrapies.
The White King wants to take the Blood Forest because if he succeeds then the
Chromeria’s ability to wage war against him will be damaged. Kip’s goal is to
defeat the White King’s lieutenant, who is trying to take the Blood Forest. Kip
has his exiled group named the Mighty and various motley troops from the Blood Forest.
It helps that Tisis Malargos, his wife, has contacts in the Blood Forest.
Teia is tasked by Karris, the new White, to infiltrate the secret Order of the Broken Eye. It is a dangerous mission, complicated by her interaction with the assassin named Murder Sharp. The Order sends her on an important mission, and she must succeed or face her death.
Summary for Minor Characters
Karris
White Oak is the new White. She must marshal her forces against the White King
with the help and hindrance of Andross Guile. Corvan Danavis has become the
satrap of Seer’s Island and is married to the Third Eye, a woman who knows the
future. Liv Danavis serves the White King and has come into a significant power.
Recommendation
In Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks, the three principal
characters have important tasks to perform. The tasks are straightforward but
are not complete by the end of this novel. It feels like the characters are
spinning their wheels leading up to the last book of the Lightbringer series.
Gavin’s story seems redundant. Kip’s story leads up to him fighting a mini-boss
before taking on the White King in the last book. Teia has a dramatic mission to
complete. The stories were interesting, but I’m ready for the next book now.
The last novel in the series is named the Burning White and was published on
October 22, 2019. I plan to read the book soon.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Blood
Mirror by Brent Weeks.
Review of The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks, book 3 of The Lightbringer series. Gavin, Kip, Teia, and Karris fight the Color Prince and the Order of the Broken Eye. They face a climactic confrontation at the Chromeria. Another excellent book in the series.
Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, Book #1 of Gentleman Bastard series.
Introduction
The Lies
of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch is book one of the Gentleman Bastards series.
Locke Lamora is an orphan of the island city of Camorr. The Thiefmaker turns the
orphans into thieves. Lamora learns quickly and soon becomes more trouble than
he is worth. Many years later, Lamora is grown up and collects his own crew,
the Gentleman Bastards, who work confidence games. Another crew headed by the Gray
King threatens to expose and kill them. To what lengths will Lamora go to
defeat the Gray King and secure the Gentleman Bastards’ retirement?
Summary
The Lies
of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch starts with young Lamora learning the craft of
theft from the Thiefmaker. The Thiefmaker soon learns that Lamora will steal anything
at any time, and the risk that commands worries him. Lamora ends up with Father
Chains, who runs a con game. They run the con with the twins, Calo and Galdo.
Locke Lamora, Calo, and Galdo leave Father Chains to form a new crew. They have unrecorded adventures until they try to pull a con on Don Lorenzo Salvara. The two other members of this crew are Jean Tannen, a powerful man, and Bug, a fresh recruit. Their fifth member is Sabetha, but she is on a mission in another town. Their goal is to amass a fortune large enough to escape Camorr forever.
All the
thieving crews in Camorr pay tribute to Capa Barsavi. A new thief threatens
them, named the Gray King. The Gray King has issues with Barsavi and with Lamora.
The three groups struggle with each other. They lose fortunes and lives. Lamora
wants to survive and escape Camorr with his fortune. It will be a hard task,
but he vows to survive and win.
Recommendation
I read The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch from March 22, 2017, to April 17, 2017. There were three books I read in 2017 for which I did not write a book review at that time. This is the second of the three retro posts I will write. The Lies of Locke Lamora is an interesting mix of influences. It serves as a history book for the society of Comorr. The author based the society on Renaissance Venice with magic added. Locke Lamora’s early thieving career has aspects of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. The main storyline follows a caper path like the movie Ocean’s Eleven.
They published the next two books in the series in 2007 and 2013. I held off reading them at that time because I had heard that there would be a delay in releasing the fourth novel, The Thorn of Emberlain. On his website, he stated that he completed a draft for the book in May 2019. It must come out soon, so I plan to read the next two as soon as I can.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.
The series that this novel reminds me most of is the first book the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. Mistborn has a crew of thieves that must pull off a difficult heist. The series goes in a different direction, but it starts in a similar spot. This is the link to the Goodreads page of Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson.
I posted a review on a book with a similar background to The Lies of Locke Lamora on Port of Shadows by Glen Cook. Port of Shadows has a similar magic system and features a medieval technology level.
In Port of Shadows by Glen Cook, The Black Company searches for rebels but finds dozens of identical young girls. Can Croaker unravel the mystery before the rebels open the Port of Shadows and free a powerful sorcerer?
Shards of Honor by Lois
McMaster Bujold, Book #1 of the Vorkosigan saga.
Introduction
Shards of Honor by Lois
McMaster Bujold is book one of the Vorkosigan saga. Commander Cordelia Naismith
is the leader of the Betan Astronomical Survey studying the unclaimed planet named
Sergyar. The crew of Captain Aral Vorkosigan’s ship mutiny and drive off the Betans,
leaving Cordelia behind. Vorkosigan takes her prisoner and they must hike five
days to a Barrayaran supply cache to be rescued. Will they make it to the
supply cache, or will they kill each other before they arrive?
Summary
In Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold humans populate many solar systems connected by wormhole gates. Each solar system is independent. Beta Colony is a technology-rich but resource-poor system. The Betan Astronomical Survey sends Commander Cordelia Naismith to peacefully examine an unclaimed planet named Sergyer for resources. Her spaceship is called the Rene Magritte. Barrayar is an isolationistic materialistic society ruled by an Emperor. Some factions of the government are pushing for war. They secretly claim the planet named Sergyer and the important wormhole gate that the system contains. A warship named the General Vorkraft, commanded by Aral Vorkosigan, is sent to Sergyer to control the system. The Barrayaran aristocracy uses the honorific of Vor and Aral is a high-ranking member.
The pro-war faction stage a mutiny against Vorkosigan, kill Cordelia’s shipmates that are on the surface of the planet, and leave Vorkosigan to die. Vorkosigan takes Cordelia and Ensign Dubauer, her brain scrambled crewmember, as his prisoners. Cordelia sends her ship away to warn the Beta Colony. Vorkosigan, Cordelia, and Dubauer walk five days to a Barrayan supply cache. Vorkosigan plans to get resupplied and retake his ship. During the walk, Vorkosigan and Cordelia develop a mutual respect that leads to a romance.
Through the course of the novel, they are separated and reunite. Vorkosigan faces challenges on Barrayar, and Cordelia faces challenges on Beta Colony. Some Barrayans they face are Sergeant Bothari, Emperor Ezar Vobarra, Crown Prince Serg Vobarra, Admiral Vorrutyer, Imperial Lieutenant Simon Illyan, and Ensign Koudelka. Cordelia faces the Betans; Dr. Sprague, Dr. Mehta, and Betan President Steady Freddy. There is enough plot in this novel for at least a trilogy.
Recommendation
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold is a fun-filled space opera mixed with a romance. Cordelia and Vorkosigan are meant for one another, and I was happy to follow them on their adventures. I thought the Betan claims were almost plausible that Vorkosigan brainwashed Cordelia to be his spy. I would have liked to see more of that storyline, but I am glad that I can continue with the follow-up novel, Barrayar (Book #7 of the Vorkosigan saga), which continues examining the complicated politics of Barrayar.
Links
This is the link to the
Goodreads page of Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold.
In Falling Free (Book #4 of the Vorkosigan saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold, space engineer Leo Graf must decide between retiring or risking his life protecting his students. The novel is a fun, self-contained space opera romp.
Last Wish by Andrzej
Sapkowski is a fantasy short story collection featuring Geralt of Rivia. Geralt
is a Witcher, a human transformed to fight monsters for money. He kills
monsters from fables come to life in this fantasy version of Europe. The beasts
and monsters are receding from the world. What will a Witcher do when there are
no more monsters to fight?
Summary – Introduction
There are seven stories in this
collection. The first story of the series, The Witcher, was published in the
Polish science fiction and fantasy magazine, Fantastyka. Five other stories are
self-contained. The seventh story is a framing story told in seven chapters that
appear between the other six stories. The seventh story called The Voice of
Reason tells a complete story and illuminates and connects the other six
stories into one narrative. Netflix released the first season of the TV show
The Witcher on December 20, 2019. They adapted five of the stories in this
collection in season one. The TV episodes combine three narratives into each episode.
The three narratives are the short stories in the collections the Last Wish
and the Sword of Destiny, Yennefer’s backstory, and Ciri’s backstory.
Summaries of each of the seven stories follow.
Summary–The Witcher
The first story is The
Witcher. The story gives a great introduction to the characters and the
world they inhabit. Geralt’s first mission is to defeat a striga, preferably without
killing it. A striga is a being created from a curse. Geralt must risk being
killed to break the curse. They adapted the story in the Netflix Show in Episode 3, Betrayer Moon.
Summary–A Grain of Truth
A Grain of Truth is the second full story of the collection. The author based
the story on the Beauty and the Beast fable. Geralt finds two people killed by
an animal that he does not recognize. He follows the animal’s trail and must
unravel a mystery involving a vampire-like being called a bruxa. They did not
adapt this story for the Netflix show. I think the audience is too familiar
with the Beauty and the Beast fable because of the Disney movie, so the
showrunners felt that it would be too hard to adapt and stay interesting.
Summary–The Lesser Evil
The Lesser Evil is a story that introduces important actions he takes that define Geralt’s character. To start the story Geralt kills a kikimora, a large spidery beast, and he looks for payment at the nearby town of Blaviken. The alderman sends him to a wizard, Stregobor, whom he realizes that he knows when they meet. Geralt is stuck between the wizard and a woman thief, Renfri, who both want the other dead and both want Geralt to help each other do the deed. Geralt maintains that he hunts monsters and will not be an assassin for hire. Which lesser of two evils will Geralt choose?
Geralt prefers to choose neither,
but events will get beyond his control. The events of this story will earn
Geralt the title of Butcher of Blaviken. There are subtle aspects of the Snow
White fable in the written story. They adapted the story in the Netflix show in
Episode 1, The End’s Beginning. It is the first episode of the show and features
exciting visuals and twisting plot points, so I see why the showrunners placed
it first in the Netflix show.
Summary–The Question of Price
The Question of Price is the next story in the collection. There are two ideas in
this story that are interrelated. The story has aspects of the Rumpelstiltskin
fable. In the fable, Rumplestiltskin asks for the miller’s daughter’s firstborn
child to spin the straw into gold for her. The fable is mixed with the honor
code called the Law of Surprise. It’s the rule that if someone saves another’s life,
then the rescuer can take a boon unknown to both at the time of the rescue. Queen
Calanthe of Cintra hires Geralt to do an unspecified deed that she assures him
has something to do with his profession as a monster hunter. Geralt doesn’t
want to be an assassin, so he is dubious, but he lets the scenario play out.
The occasion is the betrothal feast of the queen’s daughter, Pavetta. The
resulting situation will have effects down the line in Geralt’s ultimate destiny.
They adapted this story in the
Netflix show in Episode 4, Of Banquets, Bastards, and Burials. The written
story features a troubadour, but that part is given to Jaskier in the show.
Jaskier is called Dandelion in the written stories. He is a bard who is
Geralt’s best friend and companion on some of his adventures, but not this written
story.
Summary–The Edge of the World
The Edge of the World is the next story in the collection. It features a beast the
villagers of Lower Posada hire Geralt to kill. Geralt discovers the beast is a
sylvan, a creature of the woods, and he learns of the plight of the elves.
Geralt must make a difficult decision balancing the wishes of the villagers and
the elves. This is the first story that features Dandelion (Jaskier in the
Netflix show). They adapted this story in the Netflix show in Episode 2, Four
Marks.
Summary–The Last Wish
The Last Wish is the last full story in the collection. Geralt and
Dandelion are fishing for food and catch a bottle containing a Djinn. Dandelion’s
neck swells and Geralt searches for a sorcerer to heal Dandelion because
without his voice he will cease to be a bard, Geralt finds Yennefer, a witch who
will heal Dandelion for a price. She has her own hidden motivations to help
them. Will Geralt pay her price? They adapted this story in the Netflix show in
Episode 5, Bottled Appetites. Dandelion and Yennefer are both in the Netflix
show as the characters they are in the written story.
Summary–The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason is a story in seven chapters spaced between the other six
stories in the collection. In this story, Geralt comes to the Temple of Melitele
to recover from his injuries sustained in his encounter with the striga. He is
under the care of the priestess Nenneke. He dreams or tells about the other
stories in the collection. The prince of Ellander wants Geralt to leave his
territory because he doesn’t like witchers and what they represent. Geralt must
carry out an impossible task to win his escape. They used aspects of this story
in the Netflix show, but the story is mainly a framing device to bring the
stories to hang together as a cohesive whole.
Recommendation
Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski is a great collection of stories. It’s like a sword and sorcery version of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The story has a fable put in it, and Geralt must face a difficult decision to carry out his goals for each story. Dandelion and Yennefer are wonderful foils to Geralt, and I’m glad to know they continue with important roles in the series. They adapted five of the tales in The Last Wish in the Netflix show, and the last three episodes of the Netflix show were adapted from story stories from the second collection called The Sword of Destiny.
Links
Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski Goodreads page is linked below.
Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski is similar to Red Country by Joe Abercrombie. Red Country has a similar magic system and features a medieval technology level. It is linked below.
Storming by KM Weiland is a historical/dieselpunk mash-up novel set in Nebraska in the 1920s. Barnstorming pilot Robert “Hitch” Hitchcock runs into a mysterious girl, Jael. She drops from the clouds and falls onto his biplane. Jael looks and acts like she comes from another country and another place. Who is she and what does she want? Hitch’s life becomes complicated when sky pirates come looking for her and try to take over his hometown in Nebraska.
Summary
Storming by KM Weiland begins with Hitch returning to his hometown of Scottsbluff, Nebraska on a barnstorming tour. He left his hometown many years ago searching for adventure and escaping from secrets from his past. Hitch is in Scottsbluff practicing flying an old plane wanting to impress a big shot hoping to join his flying circus. On a practice run with his biplane, he sees a woman drop from the clouds onto his plane. She falls into the lake and he tries to find her.
Along the way Hitch runs into the colorful characters found in Scottsbluff; Sherriff Campbell, Hitch’s brother sheriff’s deputy Griff, a mute boy Walter, feuding brothers J.W. and Matthew Berringer, and the Carpenter family who are farmers. Jael is from Storming. She has something that the maniacal Zlo from Storming wants from her. He comes looking for her and the citizens of Scottsbluff are in his way. Zlo will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Hitch must reevaluate his life and make a choice; help Jael with an impossible task or run away from everyone along with a fortune.
Recommendation
I read Storming by KM Weiland from February 15, 2017, to April 3, 2017. There were three books I read in 2017 for which I did not write a book review at that time. This is the first of the three retro posts that I will write. Storming was a fun and quick book to read. I enjoyed checking my notes on the book to prepare this review. I liked all the characters and the setting was interesting. By reading the complete outline transcript (as I detail in the links below), I understood how she developed the ideas to end up with this story. It would have been a different book if she had used Jael as the protagonist and set more of the story on Storming. I agree with her reasons for her choices and I’m happy with the book as written though.
Links
This is the link to the
Goodreads page of Storming by KM Weiland
In the outline, she writes her idea brainstorms, orders her ideas into scenes, and then writes summaries for each of the 50 scenes for the book. As a writer, what was most helpful to me was examining the complete outline transcript from her novel Storming which is available on her website.
The transcript uses the ideas from her book, Outlining Your
Novel, and from her other books on writing. Another resource that is available
on her website is a free template for the writing program Scrivener. The Scrivener
program is available for 30 days free on their website.
