A Woman of the Iron People

Book One: In the Light of Sigma Draconis
Book Two: Changing Woman

As I finished the first book I came to the realization that the paperback versions were from a single chopped up hardcover.  Hmmm, can you say "Cash grab?" This is a slow, but often engrossing read.  Men are savages who live alone because they are so ornery.  The woman live together and more or less get along.  The writing is okay, except for the constant use of " . . . made the gesture for . . . " which got to be very distracting.  Sometimes it appeared two or three times a page.  Over two books it got to be a bit of a running gag.

There are some memorable characters.  The oracle in particular is a lot of fun.  Derek is a loser who who is supposed to be an expert, but comes across as a giant self serving wanker.  I guess his function is to illustrate how stupid men can be (man = wanker).  There's not much original about the "natives" if you've seen a Clint Eastwook western you've seen these characters wandering around chatting like Chief Dan George.  Then there's the heavy handed mumbo-jumbo about Marxism and other nonsense.

On the whole a book about nothing in particular, that was oddly engaging, and even enjoyable despite the lack of any action or plot.

Thieves' World
Book One: Thieve's World (©1979)
Book Two: Tales From The Vulgar Unicorn (©1980)
Book Three: Shadows Of Sanctuary (©1981)

This is a really neat concept. Rather than just assemble short stories set in the same world, the Thieve's World stories are braided together. Each author can borrow characters and plots to tell a story that weaves a tale that makes up Sanctuary.

Pretty standard fantasy stuff, but each book so far has read quickly and has been enjoyable. There are some fun characters and it's wonderful how the different authors treat each others characters. Worth seeking out.

Book Four: Storm Season (©1982)
Book Five: The Face of Chaos (©1983)
Book Six: Wings of Omen (©1984) in progress

These books keep getting better as the series progresses. The various characters are becoming fleshed out, and many of the same authors contribute stories featuring the same characters from previous volumes. As I reach the half way point of the series I can only hope that the stories stay as strong and interesting - although with 12 books in the series it'll be interesting to see.

One of things that makes this series so enjoyable is the way the stories fit together to tell a larger tale. It is very much a mosaic of different styles, but the editors have done an excellent job meshing them together.

Book Seven: The Dead of Winter (©1985)
Book Eight: Soul of the City (©1986)
Book Nine: Blood Ties (©1986)

The series seems to be holding up. As things go along, the stories are getting more complex, and keeping everything that has gone before in perspective must be getting harder for the various authors to manage. Book Eight was very solid, with only a few authors trading stories back and forth.

Book Nine was really good. I'm finding that the quicker I read the book the more I like them. This set ends with the introduction of a new character, and rather than slowing down, the whole series keeps building momentum.

Book Ten: Aftermath (©1987)
Book Eleven: Uneasy Alliances (©1988)
Book Twelve: Stealer's Sky (©1989)

The final three books I got for a quarter at a used bookstore in an omnibus version called The Price of Victory. I don't know if they cut out the author's afterwards, but there weren't any for the last three books, and the other nine books had them. If I didn't know what I was getting, the cover art wouldn't make me look twice. Why is it that the Science Fiction Book Club books have such crappy artwork?

Anyway, I finished the series a few weeks ago, and haven't had time to write my blurb. So, without furher ado here comes the blurb:

Very good.

More blurb: The whole Thieve's World concept was pretty ambitious, and through twelve meandering books written by a collection of solid authors most of the loose ends were tied up. Kudos to the editors for calling it quits while they were still on top - or at least had an audience.

As enjoyable as the series was it was also completely forgettable. Okay, I'll grant that some of the characters were really very good, and they'll appear on their own I'm sure. But overall this was light fantasy, and it was well worth the time to read. I was looking for a light, fast paced distraction, and these books were just what the doctor ordered.

Reviewed November 25, 2001

Oryx and Crake (©2003)

This was touted as the great Canadian book, and while it was indeed an interesting read, and very enjoyable, when all was said and done I couldn’t see what the fuss was all about. Yeah it was good. Really good – but in terms of end of the world, only survivor stuff it was inventive but not earth shattering.

There’s no denying the talent and narrative power the story had, and despite the sermonizing message, it still left me thinking that this stuff although fantastic was not completely outside the realm of possibility.

So now you're wondering what the heck was the book about? What didn't you like? Give some examples? To that I can only say, "Sheesh, you want me to put effort into my opinions? That sounds a lot like work."

Reviewed February 22, 2005