Waiting on Wednesday – Fool Me Twice by Jeff Lindsay

On September 23, 2020January 13, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday8 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. In this latest Waiting on Wednesday I examine an upcoming thriller novel that I know is going to be a lot of fun, Fool Me Twice by bestselling author Jeff Lindsay.

Fool Me Twice Cover

Lindsay is a well-established thriller and crime fiction author who is easily best known for writing his Dexter series of novels. Following the success of the novels and television adaptation, Lindsay has recently introduced a new complex and damaged protagonist, Riley Wolfe, who serves as the main character of his latest series. Riley Wolfe is the world’s greatest thief, a master at pulling off impossible heists who has a particular desire to steal from the rich and make their lives miserable.

The first entry in this series, 2019’s Just Watch Me, featured an intriguing heist that saw Wolfe break into the world’s most impenetrable museum guarded by the Iranian Republican Guard in order to steal an extremely valuable jewel. I really enjoyed reading Just Watch Me earlier this year and I found it to be an exciting and easy-to-read novel thanks to its compelling premise, portrayal of a fun heist and its unique main character who, despite his seemingly likeable persona, is just as bad as some of the people he is trying to rip off. As a result, I am rather curious to see how the Riley Wolfe series continues, especially as the second novel in the series, Fool Me Twice, has another intriguing plot premise:

Synopsis:

Pulling off an impossible crime is the only way he can stay alive.

Stealing a Faberge egg. Surviving a double cross. And pulling off the most incredible robbery ever, for the world’s most demanding—and dangerous collector.

This will be the challenge of thief extraordinaire Riley Wolfe’s life.

Fool Me Twice opens in St. Petersburg, where Riley steals the egg—no easy task. Betrayed by the pilot he hired to help him get away, he wakes chained to a rock wall on one of the Kerguelen Islands—the most remote spot on earth—prisoner of a top-dog international arms dealer, and a top-notch art collector. He wants Riley to steal an artwork. Small problem–it’s a fresco, “The Liberation of St. Peter.” Slightly larger problem–it’s in the Vatican.

And, it’s a literal wall.

Riley has no choice: agree or die. But when his captor turns him loose, he’s grabbed by another arms dealer looking to do a double cross. Worse, he gives Riley a special incentive: a surveillance photograph of Monique, the love of his life, and more important, the art forger he can’t pull off any heist without. The threat is clear. Riley knows they both have only one way out.

With wicked dialogue, tons of explosive twists, and cinema-worthy scenes, Jeff Lindsay’s Fool Me Twice is another wildly entertaining caper starring the anti-hero you’ll root for, Riley Wolfe.

I have to admit that I really like this fantastic plot synopsis and Fool Me Twice sounds like it is going to be a really fun book. I am particularly interested in seeing how the protagonist ends up stealing that wall from out of the Vatican and it should result in all manner of entertaining shenanigans. Fool Me Twice is currently set for release in early December 2020 and I have a feeling that it will turn out to be another exciting and enjoyable book.

Canberra Weekly Column – Best of Three

On September 23, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn Canberra Weekly Column2 Comments

Canberra Weekly Column - Best of Three - 17 September 2020-1

Originally published in the Canberra Weekly on 17 September 2020.

This review can also be found on the Canberra Weekly website.

Make sure to also check out my extended reviews for How to Rule and Empire and Get Away with It and V2.

V2 by Robert Harris

On September 23, 2020May 1, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction4 Comments

Publisher: Hutchinson (Ebook – 15 September 2020)

Series: Standalone

Length: 312 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Amazon

One of the most talented historical fiction authors in the game, Robert Harris, dives deep into the history of the infamous Nazi V2 rocket program in his latest novel, V2.

Harris is an impressive and well-regarded novelist who has been writing fiction for nearly 30 years. A former journalist, Harris’s initial books were a series of non-fiction novels in the 1980’s on various subjects, including a book that is considered to be the definitive account of the investigation into The Hitler Diaries scandal which later inspired a drama-documentary miniseries. His first fiction novel was the 1992 release, Fatherland, an alternate history novel that depicted Germany wining World War II. He has since gone on to write a number of other fascinating novels, most of which have a historical edge to them, including Pompeii, The Ghost (later adapted into the film The Ghost Writer), The Fear Index and Munich. Harris is one of those authors I have been meaning to read more of, but so far I have only checked out his 2013 release, An Officer and a Spy, which featured a fascinating account of the Alfred Dreyfus affair in 19^th century France, and which was an outstanding piece of historical fiction. I also currently have his 2019 release, The Second Sleep, on my bookshelf and it was one of the novels I most regret not reading last year. As a result, I was rather interested when I got a copy of V2, which sounded like quite a fun and intriguing historical read.

In November 1944, while the Allies advance on Berlin, the Nazis are desperate to avoid defeat at all cost. Placing his hopes in new technology, Hitler funnels vast resources into his V2 rocket program, the most sophisticated weapon on the planet. The V2s are powerful ballistic missiles capable of delivering an explosive warhead deep into enemy territory at immense speeds. Hitler has ordered the production of 10,000 rockets and from an isolated forest in occupied Holland, the Germans launch them towards London, causing immense damage.

Rudi Graf is a German scientist who has long dreamt of sending rockets to the moon, and who now regrets his role in the creation of the V2. Stationed at the V2 launch site, Graf desperately tries to hang onto his humanity as he watches his dream cause only destruction and death. At the same time, in London, Kay Caton-Wash, an officer in the WAAF, is experiencing the full horror of the V2 rockets as she barely survives one of their strikes. Over the course of five days, these two strangers are about to be connected by their circumstances. As Graf is forced to launch even more of his rockets at London, Kay becomes involved with a secret mission to locate and destroy the V2 launch sites in Holland. Travelling to Belgium, armed with only a slide rule and some equations, Kay works to end the V2 menace once and for all. However, danger and duplicity are around every corner, and both Graf and Kay soon begin to realise that they cannot trust anyone. As both rush towards their destinies, their actions will have unintended consequences on the over, changing the course of history forever.

V2 was a clever and compelling novel from Harris, who did a wonderful job wrapping an intriguing, character-driven story around one of the most remarkable military programs of World War II. Like the majority of Harris’s novels, V2 is a standalone book that can be easily enjoyed by anyone in the mood for informative historical tale or war story that shows the horrors of war and the terrible ways that a person’s dreams can be twisted for evil purposes.

Harris has come up with a captivating narrative for this book. The focus of V2 is split between two fictional point-of-view characters, Kay and Graf, and follows their respective experiences over a period of five days, with several flashback scenes thrown in for context. This proved to be a rather intriguing read, and I liked how the author tied a mostly fictional story around some fascinating historical events, such as the creation and implementation of the V2 rockets. Both of the two separate storylines are quite intriguing and both go in some exciting directions, including Kay getting involved in a secret military operation while Graf tries to keep his sanity as he navigates the politics, treachery and sadism of his Nazi controllers. However, the real appeal of this narrative is the way in which the two separate story arcs intersect throughout the novel. For example, the novel starts with Graff witnessing and assisting the launch of a V2 rocket, which then lands and changes Kay’s life. As the story proceeds, the various actions and reactions of these two point-of-view characters impacts the events occurring around the other character, resulting in danger and tragedy in equal measures. While I really liked the fascinating individual narratives and the cool way in which the storylines overlapped, I did think that the main story ended rather suddenly and lacked a substantial or satisfying conclusion. This narrative desperately needed some big, exciting hook at the end to really tie everything together, even if it was historically inaccurate. Still, V2’s story was really good and easy to get into, and I had a fantastic time reading it.

In order to tell this fascinating tale, Harris utilises two great fictional characters, Kay and Graf, through whose eyes we see the events unfold. Both of these characters are rather interesting and I quite enjoyed both their individual character arcs. However, of the two, I definitely found Graf to be the more compelling character. This is because Graf is a particularly tortured individual, a brilliant scientist who is forced to work for the Nazis to bomb England. There are some excellent scenes throughout this book that show Graf agonising over his actions working for the Nazis, who have perverted his childhood dream of creating spacefaring rockets into weapons of mass destruction. Harris also spends much more time exploring Graf’s past, investing in a series of flashbacks that show how Graf became obsessed with rocketry, how he became involved with the V2 project and some of the tragedies that working with the Nazis have brought. Add in a very captivating storyline that shows Graf starting to rebel against the actions of his Nazi handlers and attempting to find a small measure of redemption out in the wilds of Holland and you have a very impressive and enjoyable character arc that does rather outshine the storyline Harris sets up for Kay. That being said, Kay is still an interesting focus character in V2, and I did enjoy her arc of trying to find and destroy the V2 launch sites by travelling to Belgium with several other members of the WAAF to work out the trajectories of the rocket flights. It was also really cool to see this portrayal of a WAAF, a female air force officer, throughout the book, especially one deployed outside of England, and I found it interesting to examine the varied roles that they played throughout the war. Overall, these two characters do an outstanding job telling this story, and I had a great time seeing how their individual arcs unfolded.

The real highlight of this novel has to be the author’s incredible and captivating portrayal of the infamous V2 rocket program. Harris has clearly done his research on the subject as he does an amazing job examining all the key aspects of the program and bringing them to life. This includes a detailed examination of the history of the project, the technical aspects of the rockets and various examinations of how they fly and what they can do. Harris makes good use of the various flashback sequences in Graf’s chapters to examine the full fascinating history of the project, including the origins of the rockets, identifying who the key architects of the project were and how the project came to the attention of the Nazis. This includes some compelling depictions of several major historical figures associated with the V2s, such as the project’s leader and main creative driver, Wernher von Braun, as well as several key Nazi characters who had a hand in the project in some way or another. The author also provides the reader with an unfiltered depiction of the devastating effect that these rockets had on the inhabitants of London when they hit and he actually features several real, historical rocket strikes that occurred during the timeline of the novel, including the most devastating attack that hit London. The depictions of the horror and the carnage that the rockets caused were really striking, especially as Harris tries to capture the psychological impact that these unstoppable and ultra-fast rockets had on the populace. I really loved learning more about the V2 rockets and it was easily the most fascinating and captivating part of the entire book. I especially appreciated the way in which Harris used his dual character perspectives to examine the project from the point of view of the Germans and the Allies, and it was great to see the clash of understandings and opinions about the rockets. It was also really fascinating to learn more about the Allies’ covert attempts to identify and demolish the V2 launch sites, and this was a great addition to the novel. All of these historical aspects are immensely enjoyable and fascinating and they add a heck of a lot to the story.

V2 by Robert Harris is a particularly clever and intriguing World War II novel that presents the reader with a fascinating and memorable examination of the infamous V2 rocket program. Featuring a compelling story, fantastic characters and an outstanding historical focus, V2 was an awesome and captivating read that is really worth checking out.

Amazon

Top Ten Tuesday – Books on my Spring 2020 TBR

On September 22, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn List5 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this Top Ten Tuesday, participants need to list the top releases that they are looking forward to reading in Fall (or Spring for us down here in Australia). This is a fun exercise that I have done for each of the preceding seasons, and it is always interesting to highlight the various cool sounding books that are coming out in the next few months.

For this list I have come up with 10 of the best novels that are coming out between 1 September 2020 and 30 November 2020. I have decided to exclude novels that I have already read, or I am currently reading, so that took a couple of key books off the list. Still, this left me with a rather substantial pool of cool upcoming novels that I am excited for, which I was eventually able to whittle down into a great Top Ten list (with a few honourable mentions). I have previously discussed a number of these books before in prior Top Ten Tuesdays and Waiting on Wednesday articles and I think all of them will turn out to be some really impressive and enjoyable reads.

Honourable Mentions:

A Deadly Education by Namoi Novik – 29 September 2020

A Deadly Education Cover

Battle Ground by Jim Butcher – 29 September 2020

Battle Ground Cover

The Emperor’s Exile by Simon Scarrow – 12 November 2020

The Emperor's Exile Cover

Top Ten Tuesday:

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett – 15 September 2020

The Evening and the Morning Cover

The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie – 15 September 2020

The Trouble with Peace Cover

Total Power by Kyle Mills (Based on the series by Vince Flynn) – 15 September 2020

Total Power Cover

Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold – 22 September 2020

Dead Man in a Ditch Cover

Assault by Fire by Hunter Ripley Rawlings IV – 29 September 2020

Assault by Fire Cover

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – 1 October 2020

The Devil and the Dark Water Cover

War Lord by Bernard Cornwell – 15 October 2020

The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly – 10 November 2020

The Law of Innocence Cover

Ink by Jonathan Maberry – 17 November 2020

Ink Cover

Call of the Bone Ships by R. J. Barker – 24 November 2020

Call of the Bone Ships Cover

The last entry in this article is the fantastic-sounding Call of the Bone Ships by R. J. Barker. Call of the Bone Ships is the sequel to one of my favourite books from last year, The Bone Ships, and looks set to continue the adventures of a crew of a damned ship in a dark fantasy world. Based on how awesome the first novel in the series was, I am very excited to read this upcoming novel and I have no doubt that it will be one of the best books of the year.

Well that is the end of my Top Ten list. I think it turned out pretty well and it does a good job of capturing all my most anticipated books for the next three months. Each of the above should be pretty epic, and I cannot wait to read each of them soon. Let me know which of the above you are most excited for and stay tuned for reviews of them in the next few months.

Book Haul – 19 September 2020

On September 19, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn Book Haul1 Comment

It has been a while since I have done a Book Haul post, so I figured it was a good time to look back at some of the amazing books that I have received in the last couple of weeks. I have actually received quite an impressive haul recently, made up of a number of exciting and intriguing books, including a few novels that I have been looking forward to for some time. Each of the books below have a lot of potential and I am really keen to check them all out as soon as I can.

Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn

The first entry on this book haul had to be the book that I am most looking forward to reading, Chaos Rising. Chaos Rising is the first novel in a brand new Star Wars trilogy from the amazing Timothy Zahn that focuses on the early days of his most iconic character, Grand Admiral Thrawn. This is one of my most anticipated reads for 2020 due to how much I loved all three novels in Zahn’s previous Thrawn trilogy (Thrawn, Alliances and Treason), and it is sure to be an outstanding and epic read.

Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold

Dead Man in a Ditch is the intriguing sounding follow-up to the urban fantasy novel, The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold. The Last Smile in Sunder City was a great book that came out earlier in the year and I cannot wait to see how Arnold follows it up in this second novel.

Lionhearts by Nathan Makaryk

A cool and awesome sounding retelling of the legend of Robin Hood, Lionhearts should make for a pretty epic read.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

The House of Lamentations by S. G. Maclean

The House of Lamentations is a compelling historical thriller that will serve as the final book in MacLean’s fantastic Damien Seeker series. I really enjoyed reading the previous two entries in this series, Destroying Angel and The Bear Pit, and I cannot wait to see how the story ends.

The Tower of Fools by Andrzej Sapkowski

Another intriguing series from Andrzej Sapkowski, author of The Witcher novels, yeah, now that is something I need to check out. This new release is the first English translation of The Tower of Fools, which Sapkowski wrote some years ago. It sounds pretty damn awesome and I cannot wait to see how it turns out.

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett

Battle Ground by Jim Butcher

Battle Ground is the 17th entry in the acclaimed urban fantasy series from Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files. I have been meaning to get into The Dresden Files for some time now, and this could be a good opportunity to check it out.

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

This is an intriguing sounding fantasy debut from a new author that could be worth checking out. The Bone Shard Daughter has a fantastic plot synopsis behind it and I really love the book’s elaborate cover. Hopefully this turns out to be an epic and enjoyable read and I am looking forward to reading it.

River of Gold by Anthony Riches

The latest entry in a long-running and enjoyable Roman historical fiction series. It has been a while since I have read an Anthony Riches novel, but River of Gold sounds like a great new entry and I think I may try and read it next.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

The final entry in this post is The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, a new standalone young adult fantasy novel from talented Australian author Garth Nix. Nix is an amazing author who I have been a fan of for years. I really enjoyed his last standalone novel, Angel Mage, and this new book also sounds really fun.

Well that’s the end of this latest Book Haul post. As you can see I have quite a bit of reading to do at the moment thanks to all these awesome books that have come in. Let me know which of the above you are most interested in and make sure to check back in a few weeks to see my reviews of them.

How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It by K. J. Parker

On September 18, 2020June 14, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comedy/Satire, Fantasy, Five-Star Books22 Comments

Publisher: Orbit (Trade Paperback – 18 August 2020)

Series: The Siege – Book Two

Length: 357 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Prepare to laugh like crazy with How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It by K. J. Parker, an intensely funny and clever fantasy read that was one of my most anticipated releases of 2020.

Several years after their home fell under a brutal and prolonged siege, the inhabitants of the City have settled into a new way of life. There may be a vast army camped on the plains outside and the occasional catapult shot may demolish a house or two, but that does not mean that people cannot make some money and get on with their lives. This includes Notker, an acclaimed actor, skilled lookalike and mediocre playwright, who scrapes a living by impersonating the rich and powerful of the City at parties while trying to get someone to pay him money for his latest play. However, what Notker does not know is that fame, opportunity, and a rather large boulder are about to land in his lap.

When the City’s greatest hero and nominal leader, Lysimachus, secretly dies, his followers/handlers, desperate to stay in power, recruit Notker to play the role of a lifetime. Impersonating Lysimachus, Notker continues to act as the city’s figurehead, allowing life to go on, and he even begins to think he has a handle on this simple job, until someone tries to murder him. Now he finds himself in the midst of a brutal and ongoing power struggle as the various power players in the city attempt to manipulate him for their own ends resulting in him being crowned as Emperor of the entire Robur Empire (or what is left of it).

As Notker attempts to find some sanity within his home, he begins to understand what a fragile position the City is in. With enemies surrounding them and the besiegers slowly overcoming the City’s defences, Notker needs to choose between making a run for it or trying to save the City. But what difference can one very good actor make in a war? If Notker has anything to do with it, everything!

How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It is another spectacular and extremely entertaining fantasy novel from legendary fantasy writer, K. J. Parker. Parker, a pseudonym of bestselling author Tom Holt, has written a vast catalogue of books over the years, including a substantial collection of humorous and satirical fantasy novels. I first really got into Parker’s work last year when I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the awesome Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, a very funny novel that focused on a conniving engineer as he thwarted a massive army through guile, tricky and a substantial amount of BS. Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City was an amazing read and it was easily one of my favourite books of 2019. As a result, I have been eagerly keeping an eye out for any additional releases from Parker and was very excited when I saw that How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It was coming out. I was especially intrigued when I learnt that this latest Parker novel was some form of sequel to Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, and I was very, very happy when I got my copy of this latest book.

This new novel from Parker proved to be an extraordinary read and it was easily one of the funniest novels of 2020. The author writes a clever, fast-paced and addictive story that utilises the author’s unique sense of humour to create a very entertaining piece of literature. This is a very enjoyable read, and fans of Parker’s work will love that How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It is a sequel to Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, continuing some of the great storylines from the prior book. I had an outstanding time reading this book and it gets an easy five-star review from me.

Parker presents another brilliant and witty story for How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It that follows the adventures of another unlucky and jaded protagonist as he tries to survive the chaotic events unfolding around him. Just like with Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, this novel is written purely from the perspective of the protagonist as he chronicles his actions and personal history into a historical text. This results in a very fast-paced and hilarious story, as the main character bounces from one bad situation to another, encountering plotters, ambitious politicians, angry crime bosses, dangerous invaders and one particular fierce actress who serves as Notker’s leading lady. I absolutely loved the various outrageous and challenging situations that the protagonist finds himself in, and Parker does a fantastic job presenting them in a humorous way, showing how silly everything is and the various, clever and well-written solutions to these problems. The entire story goes in some very fun and compelling directions and this ends up being an overall excellent narrative that is extremely well written. I was able to predict the overall conclusion of the story somewhat in advance, but Parker did an amazing job setting it up and it resulted in a very entertaining and satisfying conclusion. This was such an amazing story and I had an absolute blast getting through it, laughing my head off the entire time.

As part of this awesome and entertaining story, Parker sets up a whole new protagonist for this novel, Notker the liar. Notker is another fun protagonist in a similar vein to the main character of Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, in that he is a self-serving and opportunistic individual who is mostly looking out for his own wellbeing. This changes once he takes on the assignment of impersonating the dim-witted but charismatic Lysimachus and soon finds himself responsible for the safety of the city. While at first he is mostly trying to survive and find a way to escape from all the insanity and backstabbing that is his life, once he becomes more aware of the situation facing the City and the danger it is really in he begins to take on more responsibility, manipulating everyone so that they can start fighting a more effective war. I really liked seeing this protagonist attempt to take control of the situation surrounding the City, especially as he appears to be one of the only sane people around. Watching his various incredulous reactions to the problems presented to him and his various solutions, which are a combination of common-sense responses and brilliant but out-there tactics, is really entertaining. I especially loved how Parker played up the actor/screenwriter aspect of the character as many of his greatest tricks are derived from theatre techniques, such as selling something to a crowd, misdirection or the value of good lighting. There is also a great underlying aspect to the character as he pretends to be Lysimachus and he needs to strike a balance between responses that Lysimachus would have done and his own common sense and craftiness. This compulsion to act like Lysimachus actually becomes a major problem for Notker as he enjoys being the heroic former gladiator and soon begins emulating him instead of acting in his usual manner of self-preservation. All of this results in another complex and likeable central character who the reader cannot help but root for as he attempts to survive. I really liked how Notker’s story progressed and it was a real joy to read about him from start to finish.

Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the way in which it acts as a fantastic and humorous follow-up to Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City. How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It is set in the same city as the author’s 2019 release, and the story begins a few years after the events of this proceeding novel. This new novel mostly presents a new story, told from the perspective of a different protagonist, but it does have a lot of connections to the previous novel. The individual Notker is impersonating, Lysimachus, was a side character in the first novel, serving as a bodyguard to the original protagonist. In this book it is revealed that following Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, Lysimachus, a champion gladiator and a revered public figure, was given all the credit for the original protagonist’s efforts following his death. Parker does a fantastic job revealing this to the reader, and it is extremely fitting in the scope of the first novel as this original protagonist was always getting overshadowed and overestimated. The author makes sure to really drive this point home by completely excluding the name of the previous protagonist throughout How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It, just to emphasise how no one in the city truly remembers who he was or what he did, which is pretty darn hilarious. The novel contains a number of fantastic references to the events that occurred with the previous book, including giving Notker a copy of the previous protagonist’s memoirs (which formed the basis of Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City). Notker of course then provides his own witty two cents to this memoir, providing a writer’s critical analysis, including doubting some of the events that occurred, such as the coincidence around the protagonist being the childhood friend of the mastermind of the siege. All of this definitely adds a lot to the book’s overall humour, and it is always entertaining to see an author make fun of his own work.

Despite these fun references and the continuation of some story elements from Parker’s previous book, How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It is very much its own novel, taking the reader on a whole new fun adventure. As a result, you really do not need to have read Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City first, although it is a lot of fun to see the previous book’s events lampooned in this novel. Indeed, due to the fact that the protagonist and point-of-view character has no idea of the full events of the previous book, you get a good overview as everything is explained to him, which is fun. Overall, this serves as a very entertaining sequel to this amazing previous book and I will be interested to see if Parker decides to continue the story in some way, which I have no doubt will be another incredible read.

How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It is a truly awesome and enjoyable read, and author K. J. Parker lived up to all my expectations with this book. Not only does it contain a captivating and addictive narrative anchored by a likeable and complex main character, but it is also intensely funny. I loved every second that I spent reading How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It, and this was without a doubt one of the best books that I have read this year.

Amazon

WWW Wednesday – 16 September 2020

On September 16, 2020September 16, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday3 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini (Trade Paperback)

I am still getting through this massive book, but it is quite an impressive and expansive science fiction novel that is well worth the time you need to set aside to read it.

The Black Hawks by David Wragg (Audiobook)

The Black Hawks is a fun and exciting fantasy debut from last year that I have been meaning to check out for a while now. I am about a third of a way through it at the moment and it is proving to be quite an entertaining and enjoyable read.

What did you recently finish reading?

Dogs of War by Jonathan Maberry (Audiobook)

What do you think you’ll read next?

Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendency: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn

That’s it for this week, check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I’ve made on my reading and what books I’ll be looking at next.

Waiting on Wednesday – The Emperor’s Exile and War Lord

On September 16, 2020September 16, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Waiting on Wednesday9 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday I take a look at upcoming releases from two of my favourite authors, historical fiction masters Simon Scarrow and Bernard Cornwell. Both of these upcoming books are the latest entries in two of my favourite long-running series and should prove to be some of the top books of 2020.

The Emperor's Exile Cover

The first entry in this article is The Emperor’s Exile by Simon Scarrow, the 19^th novel in The Eagles of the Empire series. The Eagles of the Empire novels focus on two Roman officers, Tribune Cato and Centurion Marco, as they battle across the Roman Empire, taking on all manner of different enemies and getting involved in some of the pivotal historical events of the period, such as the invasion of Britain or the rise of Nero as Emperor. This is easily one of the best Roman historical fiction series out there and I have had an amazing time reading all of the entries in this series. The last few Eagles of the Empire novels, The Blood of Rome and Traitors of Rome, have been really compelling reads and I am always extremely eager to get my hands on a new entry in the series when it comes out.

The Emperor’s Exile is a fantastic sounding new addition to the series which is currently set for release on 10 November 2020. This next novel will once again place the protagonists in the middle of another dangerous situation, with some rather unique and enjoyable new elements to it.

Synopsis:

A.D. 57. Battle-scarred veterans of the Roman army Tribune Cato and Centurion Macro return to Rome. Thanks to the failure of their recent campaign on the eastern frontier they face a hostile reception at the imperial court. Their reputations and future are at stake.

When Emperor Nero’s infatuation with his mistress is exploited by political enemies, he reluctantly banishes her into exile. Cato, isolated and unwelcome in Rome, is forced to escort her to Sardinia.

Arriving on the restless, simmering island with a small cadre of officers, Cato faces peril on three fronts: a fractured command, a deadly plague spreading across the province…and a violent insurgency threatening to tip the province into blood-stained chaos.

The other book that I will be looking at in this post is War Lord by Bernard Cornwell, the 13^th and final novel in the acclaimed The Last Kingdom series. The Last Kingdom books follow the fictional character, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a feared and respected warrior who is involved in some of the pivotal moments of the early formation of England. This series has so far followed a number of key events in the life of Uhtred and has seen him get involved in the deadly conflict between the Christian Saxons and the pagan Danes. Uhtred, a pagan raised by Danes, often finds himself fighting on behalf of the Saxon kingdoms, despite having more in common with and more respect for his enemies than his allies. This is another series I have so far read all the books in, although I am particularly keen to get my hands on War Lord as I am extremely curious to see how The Last Kingdom series ends. War Lords will be coming out in late October and it looks like Uhtred will once again be thrust into the midst of a deadly war which he probably will not survive.

Synopsis:

After years fighting to reclaim his rightful home, Uhtred of Bebbanburg has returned to Northumbria. With his loyal band of warriors and a new woman by his side, his household is secure – yet Uhtred is far from safe. Beyond the walls of his impregnable fortress, a battle for power rages.

To the south, King Æthelstan has unified the three kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia – and now eyes a bigger prize. To the north, King Constantine and other Scottish and Irish leaders seek to extend their borders and expand their dominion.

Caught in the eye of the storm is Uhtred. Threatened and bribed by all sides, he faces an impossible choice: stay out of the struggle, risking his freedom, or throw himself into the cauldron of war and the most terrible battle Britain has ever experienced. Only fate can decide the outcome.

The epic story of how England was made concludes in WAR LORD, the magnificent finale to the Last Kingdom series.

Both upcoming books sound like they are going to be a lot of fun, and I am excited to see how they turn out. Based on all my experiences with every prior book in these two series, I know that I am going to have an amazing time reading The Emperor’s Exile and War Lords, especially as I am already very invested in both series. It will be great to see how the various characters and established storylines continue to progress and I am particularly keen to see how Cornwell concludes The Last Kingdom series. The Emperor’s Exile and War Lords both have an amazing amount of potential, and I already know that they will be some of the strongest and most enjoyable pieces of historical fiction in 2020.

Throwback Thursday – Redshirts by John Scalzi

On September 11, 2020March 22, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Comedy/Satire, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Throwback Thursday24 Comments

Publisher: Audible Frontiers (Audiobook – 5 June 2012)

Series: Standalone

Length: 7 hours and 41 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon Book Depository

Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.

Prepare to dive into one of the most meta and entertaining novels you will ever read with Redshirts by John Scalzi, a fun and clever Star Trek parody that explores what it must be like to be a background character in a science fiction series.

John Scalzi is a well-established and highly regarded science fiction author responsible for a number of impressive and expansive series. Some of his best-known works include his Old Man’s War series, his Lock In novels and his The Interdependency series, the last of which I have been eying off for a couple of years now and have been meaning to check out. Each of these series sounds really exciting and have received a lot of positive praise from readers and reviewers. In addition, Scalzi has also written three standalone novels, each of which has a very fun concept behind it, including the focus of this review, Redshirts. While I am extremely interested in some of Scalzi’s other works, the moment I found out that he had written a Star Trek parody novel told from the perspective of a redshirt, I grabbed myself a copy of its audiobook format and I have been looking for a chance to listen to it. Last weekend I had a long car trip with my wife/editor Alex, and we decided that listening to Redshirts would be the perfect entertainment for the drive.

Redshirts takes place in humanity’s far future, aboard the flagship of the Universal Union, the starship Intrepid. The Intrepid is the pinnacle of human ingenuity and exploration, containing only the most talented crew and scientists that humanity has to offer. In all respects it seems like the perfect posting for newly commissioned Ensign Andrew Dahl, but it does not take long for Dahl to suspect that there is something seriously wrong aboard the Intrepid. Not only does the lab that Dahl is assigned to have a magical box which solves every major problem that the ship runs into (with only seconds to spare, without fail), but the entire crew is terrified of the captain and his senior officers, actively trying to avoid them and the near constant away missions. The crew has come to realise that the away missions are guaranteed to be lethal, with any crew member who joins likely to die while the senior officers constantly walk away without a scratch (with the exception of the unlucky Lieutenant Kerensky). Now a great deal of energy is place into avoiding an away mission at all cost, with new transfers to the ship kept in the dark until it is too late.

As Dahl and his friends begin to realise the full extent of the terror that has engulfed the ship they attempt to find some sort of answers for what is going on. However, the more deadly adventures that they go on the more obvious it becomes that some mysterious force is controlling their actions and causing their deaths. With the lives of every crewmember aboard the Intrepid at stake, Dahl and his friends are left with only one crazy plan, to hunt down the beings controlling them and convince them to stop no matter the cost. However, what happens when these expendable redshirts end up meeting their own creators?

I am going to say right of the bat that both Alex and I absolutely loved this book and we had an incredible time listening to it. A good indication of how much we enjoyed it can be seen in the fact that we easily and eagerly powered through it during the two halves of our car trip without any breaks, laughing our asses off the entire time. Redshirts is an extremely funny and clever novel that acts as both a parody of and a love letter to the Star Trek television show. Scalzi has come up with a truly awesome and enjoyable novel that combines an amazing amount of humour and parody with a clever and heartfelt story. This results in a memorable and addictive tale which you cannot help but enjoy, especially if you are a major fan of Star Trek.

For this great novel, Scalzi has come up with a very compelling and enjoyable story that acts in many ways like a unique combination of Galaxy Quest, The Cabin in the Woods and The French Mistake episode of Supernatural. The story focuses on Ensign Dahl and his friends as they begin to work out the issues aboard the Intrepid. This is a very fast-paced narrative and the reader is soon introduced to all the mysterious events occurring on the ship, from the terrified crew, the weird science, the exceedingly dangerous and improbable away missions and the strange characters who seem to have the answers. All of this is shown to the reader in a very clever way, and while you are expecting many of these events occur, especially if you are familiar with Star Trek, seeing these characters react to the various odd occurrences with realistic shock and scepticism is a great source of entertainment. Following the initial introduction, you get several chapters of the protagonists humorously traversing a chaotic ship full of self-aware redshirts desperately trying to avoid their fates. The various attempts by the characters to understand what is going on and change their fates are amazing, if a little tragic in places, and this is a very comedic part of the book loaded with some of the best jokes at Star Trek’s expense. The story then takes a very interesting change of direction as the protagonists undertake a desperate plan (inspired by a classic Star Trek film) to save the ship and prevent their upcoming deaths. This third part of the book is exceedingly meta, and fans of both Star Trek and surreal, self-referential fiction will love where the story goes and various clever character interactions that occur. These distinctive parts of the book come together extremely well and form an intricate and captivating overall narrative that fits a lot of story elements into a relatively short novel. I had an amazing time listening to this complex story, as not only did it make me laugh, but it also made me care about the various characters who are introduced throughout the course of the book (something which the author is aware of and sadistically exploits at times, especially with that last joke at the end of the main story).

In addition to the main story, Scalzi also features three substantial codas at the end of the novel. These codas are essentially short stories that follow side characters the protagonist meets during the course of the main narrative. While I would normally be a little concerned about some concluding material taking up so much space from an already shortish novel, these codas are extremely well written and contribute a great deal to the book. Titled Coda 1, 2 and 3, the codas are told in the first, second and third person narrative respectively, and contain some truly impressive and touching character-driven narratives. These extremely clever codas really dive down into the psyches and emotions of their respective characters, showing their own complex histories and how their encounter with the protagonist had such a major impact on them. Of the three, my favourite is probably Coda 1, which is easily the funniest, containing a very humorous series of blog posts, although Codas 2 and 3 are both emotionally rich and heart-warming. While some readers may be tempted to skip these codas after the main story is finished, I would very strongly recommend checking each of these out as you are guaranteed to come away being extremely attached to each of these great side characters and also feeling a lot better after hearing each coda’s happy ending.

While Redshirts also has its own unique and captivating story at its heart it is an extremely funny parody of the iconic Star Trek television show. Scalzi is clearly a fan of the series as he expertly works all manner of fun jokes and references to the show into the novel. The Intrepid and its bridge crew are clear parodies of the Enterprise and the main characters of The Original Series, and Scalzi does an amazing job working his narrative around them, emphasising all their iconic character traits and showing just how ridiculous they and their actions are to the eyes of a normal person. This includes the captain’s dramatic tone and way of over exaggerating events, and the poor junior officer with a Russian accent who gets the crap kicked out of him every single episode and yet is fully recovered by the next adventure without a hint of injury or PTSD. Redshirts contains all manner of references or parodies to the over-the-top, badly written or ridiculous elements of the show, and Scalzi lovingly features and critiques them in an amazingly funny way; everything from the evolutionarily questionable alien monsters, the repetitive space battles (those poor people on decks six to twelve!) and the high death toll of the normal crew. The highlight of the book has to be the terrified and disbelieving reactions that each member of the crew has to the events going on around them, and the fun and exaggerated attempts to survive them. I also really loved the comedic metafiction elements of the book, which allowed Scalzi to take some humorous shots at the writers and creators of shows like Star Trek. While this humour is obviously geared towards Star Trek fans, you really do not need to have a lot of in-depth knowledge of the series to appreciate the humour. Anyone who has a passing knowledge of Star Trek and its tropes will find this book deeply amusing and hilarious and you are guaranteed to have a fun time getting through it.

While I absolutely loved Redshirts’ story, I did find that the dialogue was a little clunky in places. While most of the conversation is quite fun and snappy, the overabundance of dialogue tags and the extreme overuse of the word “said” gets repetitive and distracting, especially in scenes where the conversations fly thick and fast. In some heavy dialogue scenes, “character 1 said”, “character 2 said”, “character 3 said” repeats about 20 times in a minute, which is really distracting. If Scalzi had used more variety in indicating which character said what, this book would have been pretty damn perfect. But the story and the comedy were strong enough to overcome most of these issues, and I chose to focus on them instead. However, I can easily see other readers getting a little frustrated with this, which would be a real shame as this is a very fun book.

The audiobook format of Redshirts ran for 7 hours and 41 minutes, although it is a closer to six hours if you decide to skip the codas at the end of the book. This was an extremely easy audiobook to listen to quickly and we absolutely flew through it. One of the main reasons that we were so interested in this book is because the audiobook is narrated by Wil Wheaton. Now, there is obviously a lot of appeal to Wil Wheaton, or any cast member of a Star Trek television show, getting involved in a parody like this, but Wheaton did a pretty good job narrating this audiobook. Wheaton had a great voice for this novel, and he was able to keep the audience’s attention through the entirety of the story. While he did not really change his voice from character to character, the listener was generally able to tell when someone new was talking (ironically thanks to the author’s overuse of “said”). Wheaton was, however, extremely adept at expressing the relevant emotions of the characters through his voice, and the fear, anger, frustration and sheer disbelief of the protagonist and the people he encounters really shines through. I also really enjoyed his portrayal of the Intrepid’s senior crewmembers, each of whom is a parody of the main characters from Star Trek: The Original Series. I particularly had a lot of love for the Captain’s “dramatic voice” that Wheaton did, which really captured the over-the-top tone Kirk had when he was excited or animated. Overall, the audiobook format is a fantastic way to enjoy Redshirts and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in checking this novel out.

Redshirts by John Scalzi is a masterful and hilarious novel that presents the reader with a wonderful and clever parody to the classic Star Trek television series. While there are some style issues associated with the dialogue, the story is loaded to the brim with all manner of great jokes, interesting characters, compelling plot elements and a whole lot of meta comedy. An absolutely fantastic read that will appeal to all manner of Star Trek fans or people in need of a good laugh, Redshirts comes highly recommended and I can guarantee that Wil Wheaton’s audiobook format will serve as a great form of entertainment for a long road trip.

Amazon Book Depository

WWW Wednesday – 9 September 2020

On September 9, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday2 Comments

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini (Trade Paperback)

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars Cover

I have just started to read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, the epic new science fiction novel from Christopher Paolini, author of the bestselling The Inheritance Cycle. This is so far proving to be a rather compelling read and I cannot wait to see how it turns out. This is a massive book, so it’s probably going to take me a while to get through it. Still it will be worth it if some of the early buzz I’m hearing around this novel is true.

Dogs of War by Jonathan Maberry (Audiobook)

Dogs of War Cover

I was in between audiobooks so I thought that this would be a good time to listen to Dogs of War by Jonathan Maberry. Falling in between Kill Switch and Deep Silence, this is the only Joe Ledger novel I have so far not read and I am eager to finish this series off this year. I am making some very steady progress with this awesome audiobook so far and I should get through it in the next few days.