Book Review: The Terror by Simmons

The Terror by Dan Simmons

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read The Terror as part of a group read at the Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club at GoodReads during the month of February. I participated in the discussion, as did many others. To review those threads, please follow this link.

I started reading this the evening of February 13th, with snowfall predicted to commence after midnight. I sat shivering at the kitchen table while I read the first few chapters, even though the furnace kept my house a toasty 78 degrees Fahrenheit. I even dug out a blanket to put on the bed before I went to sleep (still shivering). Brrrr..... Great writing by Dan Simmons, atmospherically speaking.

 And I restrained my insatiable desire to research the quest for the Northwest Passage and specifically the final voyage of the HMS Terror until after I finished reading the novel. Simmons kept me riveted until the last few chapters, when he decided to take an extreme detour into arctic supernatural spirituality that left me, well, cold.

Still, a great read by an outstanding author. I recommend lots of warm tea or cocoa and abstinence from long pork.

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Book Review: Day of War by Graham

Day of War by Cliff Graham

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I snagged this novel from one of the Barnes & Nobel free Friday offerings for Nook owners. A Christian fiction, with heavy emphasis on Bronze Age/Early Iron age military tactics, retelling or 'filling in the blanks' of David and his warriors (and Jonathan and his army).

In his Note to the Reader, Cliff Graham references 2 Samuel 23 and 1 Chronicles 11 as inspiration for his retelling of David and his 'Dirty Dozen.' He warns the reader about the battle violence and after-battle pillaging and plundering, although compared to some of the dark fantasy I've read, Graham did an admirable job restraining himself from too much gratuitous violence or sex.

He modernized the language (both internal and external) to such a degree that I found it distracting. And he repeatedly lapsed back into passive voice, despite his riveting active voice fight scenes. A compelling read, but I'm not the intended audience (which probably requires a lot more testosterone than I have flowing through my estrogenized veins).

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Book Review: The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Lions of al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Of the six novels by Guy Gavriel Kay that's I've read, this and Tigana vie for my favorite of his work. How does he manage to make me care so much about his characters? And he creates a reflection of our world on the cusp of a rigid religious fervor scything inexorable destruction before it. A glimpse of the beauty crushed and the horrors perpetrated in the grip of zealous belief and political expediency. A lament for the loss of the previous generation's glories and grandeur. A glimpse of the perseverance and grace of the survivors who rebuild from the ruins of wrath. An affirmation and triumph of love flourishing regardless of race or creed, persecution or circumstances.



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