The Time Machine - H. G. Wells

Another classic, easy-read fantasy novel by Wells. This book basically coined the phrase 'time machine'. Kudos.

An English scientist goes back in time, meets two races of 'people'. One, a small races of humanoids that lives above ground and have no fear of anything, save for the night time, when the other race of subterranean humanoids surfaces to feed.

When the time traveler finds his machine missing, he must leave the comfort of the surface dwellers to retrieve it.

I read the Gutenberg edition of the text, which has the time traveler travelling forward in time after he retrieves his machine, to see the further decay of humankind and of the Earth. Apparently he goes so far forward that the sun is huge in the sky, yet this would be billions of years in the future, and I presume it would be a little too hot for the time traveler. It was a strange ending. It felt like it was 'tacked on' to lengthen the book a little (it's only a short novella). After I looked up Wikipedia on the subject I wasn't surprised to learn that the part after retrieving the time machine (before the traveler returns home) was inserted at the request of Well's editor, who wanted more length. More 'story'. Since Wells had final say, it was removed from the original text, so I guess that was a nice thing at the time. Still, I was glad to have read that extra part.

7/10.

The Island of Dr Moreau - H. G. Wells

First published in 1896, and it still rocked on my tiny Android phone running Kobo e-reader software.

Edward Prendick is shipwrecked, saved by a passing boat, and ends up stranded on an island with  Dr. Moreau and his assistant, Montgomery. These guys are into animal vivisection. I.e. Live animal surgery. Of the kind that makes the animals human.

But the 'animal' part never really leaves them, and as they roam the island unchecked, they regress...

Classic suspense/morality tale/old fashioned story telling. 8/10.

Breath - Tim Winton

This was some of Winton's best material in my opinion (I'm comparing to Cloudstreet and The Riders).  Some deft story telling.

The entire novel is basically a flashback to the narrator's childhood in a West Australian surfing town. It follows Bruce 'Pikelet' Pike's relationship (and subsequent disintegration of that friendship) with his childhood friend Loon, and his idol Sando. The three being surfers who continuously test the limits of courage and bravery. Later on, the story follow's Pikelet's relationship with Sando's wife, Eva.

Breath is a theme explored in a number of different ways in the book, from the obvious dangers of asphyxiation underwater, to the undercurrent of danger in the games of asphyxiation played by Pike and Eva, to Pike's eventual career as a paramedic. It also explores the need for balance, and the brokenness of age being traced back to it's youthful roots (a common Winton literary theme it seems).

Great read. 8/10.

A Darkness at Sethanon - Raymond E. Feist

The final book in the Riftwar Saga delivered much of the same as the first. An interesting good vs. evil plot, lots of fantasy elements, simplistic writing.

It was a satisfying enough conclusion to the series, and I think I've read enough to know that Feist is not my kind of author.

He runs into trouble with creating overly powerful 'good' characters, and then explaining away why they cannot be there to save the day. And when they do save the day, they do so without the kind of loss that makes their struggles seem more believable - even for a fantasy novel. Contrast with Scott Lynch, Joe Abercrombie or Rothfuss' writing. Glad that I finished this series.

Now I can put Feist's spartan style of writing behind me!

Silverthorn (Riftwars Book 2) - Raymond E. Feist

Rating: 5/10

Largely filler. Feist continues with his sparse, simplistic prose.

Develops some characters other than Pug, but these characters aren't enormously exciting.

Does set up some interesting plot for the third book but this was in no way the same quality as the first. Luckily it's really only a short story.

Magician (Riftwars Book 1) - Raymond E. Feist

The good stuff:
It's taken me a while to get around to starting this book, but on the whole I was thoroughly impressed. Feist's imagination and wild assortment of characters give this book depth. He does revert to a matter-of-fact, fire-side-story-teller method of prose for the most part, adding flourishes of detail usually only when describe a setting. This doesn't detract a great deal from the narrative itself however, so those attuned to a more elegant style of prose can still keep themselves interested if they are willing to sacrifice some adjectives for a solid yarn.

Two worlds, two forms of magic, multiple races. This has everything Tolkein style fantasy requires, but goes further. I realise that to characterise the story itself as Tolkein-esque is a little bit of a mis-comparison, except if you're not a fantasy reader. The Vahleru back story and Pug's final test on the tower - which revealed the nature of the gods, the enemy, and the Assembly - hint at an expansive mythology that could spawn multiple stories in its own right. The conflict on multiple fronts kept the story churning and I'll say it again; Feist has a fantastic imagination.

The not so good stuff:
Well, I say not so good, but I really mean "things that would have made this story awesomer," being well aware that awesomer is not a word. Firstly, the relationships between the protagonists were too straight forward. Pug is initially attracted to Carline, then goes away, meets another woman, and all of a sudden, Carline is out of the picture. Granted, he was gone for a long time, and he'd changed a lot upon his return, but if something had reignited when he returned to her, that would have made things a lot more sticky (read: interesting). I think Feist missed a golden opportunity for some conflict between Roland (who wasn't developed as a character at all really) and even with Laurie. Even the Tomas and Alagranna side story played out a little too easily.

Secondly, the main protagonist is developed for the first half of the book, and then for a large portion, perhaps a quarter of it, goes missing as a slave. All of a sudden years have past and there seems to be a disconnect between Pug and the reader, and we feel a little more distant. I'm not sure if that was the writer's intention but it also felt like his character never really assumed the dominant protagonist position after his stint in captivity. Perhaps this was to make room for wider character development, but I feel that Pug's time as a slave could have been a parallel plot line instead of just abandoning his story for four years. It would have been a major opportunity to develop a better sense of Pug's trauma for the reader, much like Patrick Rothfuss did during Kvothe's time in Tarbean.

To end on a positive note however, I'm glad to have finally read this novel, and will likely pick up other Feist story-cycles once I've finished with Riftwars.

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

Rating: 5/10

Plot (from Wikipedia):
"Richard Mayhew, a Scot living in London encounters an injured girl named Door on the street one night. Despite his fiancée's protests he decides to help her, but that unfortunately also means that he suddenly ceases to exist for regular people and becomes real only to the denizens of 'London Below', whose inhabitants are generally invisible and non-existent to the people of 'London Above'. He loses his house, his job and nearly his mind as he travels London Below in an attempt to make sense out of it all, find a way back, and helps Door survive as she is hunted down by hired assassins."



My favourite author, Patrick Rothfuss, strongly recommended this book. As a result I was always going to give it a go. The actual blurb itself seemed promising.

I hated it. From the annoying, whinging main character, to the one dimensional supporting cast, to the 'downtown-voice' dialog. It simply didn't appeal to me. Tori Amos (the singer) said she was over the moon about the book, and the characters were a part of her life. Well, as a person who places deep character development over plot, I was bitterly disappointed. I wonder if Ms. Amos even reads much. Let alone fantasy. Let alone urban fantasy.

True, Gaiman writes with wit and imagination, and the plot of the book was certainly noteworthy, and he's still a living legend for having penned The Sandman (one of the few graphic novels I intend to re-buy to keep in my personal library). The whole thing just wasn't what it could have been. The relationships between the characters, rather than being complex and involving, were vague and unsatisfying: is Richard attracted to door? well, lets see, he's not sure, let's not explore this avenue because we need to get to the next fancy location. While we do that, Richard will just prattle on about how bad things are for him so we feel sorry for him. Oh wait, we don't. He's annoying.

I hate to rag on a critically acclaimed book so much, against a writer who is so accomplished and has produced many other great works. Let's face it I'm not an international best seller. I just think that if someone like Patrick Rothfuss or Jennifer Fallon ever penned a similar novel, it would be a much more rounded text.