Prime by Nate Kenyon

It has been a while since I have read a science fiction novel (the last one was Passage at Arms), and even longer since I read one I liked (you have to go all the way back to The Lord of the Sands of Time), so it seemed high time to return to the genre that started it all here at Luke Reviews. Apex Publications is a growing publishing house that specializes in the more speculative genres, and they have been putting out some very interesting books, including a number of novellas, such as their brand new release, Prime, by Nate Kenyon, who is better known as the author of horror novels, but is venturing into science fiction.

Prime follows William Bellow, a “bug hunter” who lives in a future more and more reliant on virtual reality and connection to a global, internet-like system. He is called to New London to stop an out of control bug, but there seems to be far more than immediately noticeable, including a company-wide cover-up. As Bellow delves deeper and deeper, he runs into some old friends, and finds love, but he is dogged and tracked at every step.

The culture Kenyon builds up to fill his novella is well-thought out, and the characters feel real enough, although they choose to withhold information at seemingly unnecessary, arbitrary moments, solely to keep the reader from knowing the ending too soon. The flaw of it is the gap in logic that allows the tale to continue at times, with Bellows friends not telling the whole truth for no reason ever explained.

However, the rest of the story, as well as the tie-in to the flashbacks that are well weaved into the tale, leads to an enjoyable reading experience. Prime is my first experience with Kenyon’s work, but I feel that I need to branch out and grab a couple of his other novels. This author has a lot of potential.

7/10

Homeland by R. A. Salvatore

As I am gradually coming to realize through reviews at Luke Reviews that tie-in novels can be great, fun fiction, and not to be universally frowned upon as many people (including me at one point long ago) do. It was a long, slow process, but I’m finally getting the point. So, I no longer skip the tie-in section at bookstores, and have stumbled on a couple of great finds. I have seen a number of Forgotten Realms books at stores, especially by R. A. Salvatore, following his most famous character, Drizzt Do’Urden. So, with the re-release of all of the books following him as part of the Legend of Drizzt series, I decided to take the plunge and try one out.

The first novel in the series, Homeland, is also the first book in the Dark Elf Trilogy. It follows the beginnings of Drizzt Do’Urden, starting with the circumstances of his birth and his training as a dark elf. Taking place in the underground city of Menzoberranzen, the story begins with House Do’Urden’s attack on a fellow house, House DeVir, as they look to bump up their status in the city. From there, we learn of Drizzt’s parentage, and his training.

The book, while reading it, feels engaging enough, if slow at times, but once it is set down, it is sadly very easy to leave down. This may be a combination of a then-novice writer learning his craft and trying to read the book mid-move, but I just can’t keep an interest in it. For those of you interested in the story, it is worth a try, but for the generic reader looking for a gripping, un-put-down-able read, you may want to look elsewhere.

A Hint of What’s to Come (II)

As August draws to a close, and the new school year sets upon us, things get a bit busier and the adjustment throws things a little out of whack for a period. I apologize in advance if I become a tad slow as my schedule slowly readjusts myself, but the pace of reviews shouldn't make a large change, I still will shoot for at least two books a week. As the last list I left up here just finished (and as I said, it was not complete, as other works of fiction came up) so I thought I might give you all another small taste of what's in store. Once again, this will neither be complete as other books may make their way onto the list.

Homeland by R. A. Salvatore (Fantasy, Book I of the Legend of Drizzt series)
Prime by Nate Kenyon (Science Fiction)
Hardball by Sara Paretsky (Mystery, part of the V. I. Warshawski series)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (Fantasy, Book Six in the Harry Potter series)
The Hidden Man by David Ellis (Mystery, first book in the Jason Kolarich series)
Asimov’s Science Fiction September 2009 (Science Fiction and Fantasy short stories)
Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon (Adventure)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (Fantasy, Book Seven in the Harry Potter series)
The Anubis Murders by Gary Gygax (Fantasy/Mystery, first book in the Setne Inhetep series)
Dark Entries by Ian Rankin (Fantasy/Mystery, part of the John Constantine series)

As always, keep an eye on Luke Reviews for all of the above and more, as there are a few surprises mixed in with these reviews, including interviews and maybe even some free fiction! Things are only going to get better! If you have any comments, ideas, or requests, feel free to leave them in the comments section, or to shoot me an email at the email address to the left.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling

The first four books down, Luke Reviews finally ventures into uncharted territory (after a minor delay due to a prolonged move). I finally have moved to the first Harry Potter book that I had not read previously. The shock of reading the book without knowing how it was to end was odd at first, but very gripping, and expressed the power of Rowling’s stories. No matter what one thinks of the general quality of the writing, the story has the power to effect people on the first time, as well as the second.

In the fifth installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry is back yet again at the Dursley’s, and he is possessed by an irritating anger at the world that seems to come out of nowhere. Yet, with a sudden thrust of his magic life upon his “normal” one, dementors turn up in his neighborhood, and precipitate an attack on Harry and his cousin. After a narrow escape, Harry is fled to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a secretive group headed by Dumbledore with the sole goal of stopping Voldemort. Many familiar faces turn up, from Harry’s friends Ron and Hermione, to Sirius, Mad-Eye Moody, and Lupin.

The Ministry of Magic begins to play a more important role, as it struggles to deny Voldemort’s return, and stop Harry from spreading “lies”. They go so far as to place a subversive new teacher at Hogwarts, who thwarts and attacks Harry and company from every angle. Nowhere is safe, and Harry has to fight both Voldemort and the Ministry to save the day. A tragic loss undermines the heroes, and things really ramp up for the next two books in the series.

Rowling seemed to fill Harry with a deep anger throughout the book that was rather irritating, but the rest of her character interaction was spot on. She goes from new friendships to budding relationships with aplomb, capturing the mixed emotions of both, all while maintaining the conflict between Harry and the Ministry, which plays a prominent role in this novel as Voldemort takes the back seat for extending periods of the novel. All in all, the new book does a great job of bringing the series back to a high level of excitement, and really leaves some dark hints for the future.

8/10

The Cellar by Richard Laymon

Richard Laymon was, until more recent reprints of his work, not very well known in the states, despite an international fanbase. However, that oversight is being corrected, as Leisure Books continues to rerelease his works, from new, posthumous works such as The Lake or To Wake the Dead, to classics such as The Travelling Vampire Show or his great Beast House Chronicles. Laymon doesn’t ever let the reader down, as he is the master of drawing one into a story, surrounding them with flesh and blood characters, and then unleashing the horrors. Few of his books do this better than the aforementioned Beast House Chronicles, which all began with the novel The Cellar.

Donna and her daughter Sandy are on the run from Roy, Donna’s abusive husband, who was just released from jail. The bump into trouble, and fate leads them to Malcasa Point, home of the famous Beast House. A recent attack (which plays an important role in the second novel, The Beast House (see review) foreshadows the events, as more people sneak into the house and die. As Donna’s new love interest heads for a rendezvous with the monster, Roy arrives in town, and no one is safe.

Laymon once again works his ability to quickly create characters that matter to the reader, and brings in terrible monsters, be it the creature or the abusive father. The ending is chilling, and certainly sets up the sequel well. This one is a book you won’t want to put down, and will fly through. The Cellar is up there with the best of Laymon, and that is saying something.

9/10

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

The pulp era was famous for its fiction, and I have mentioned at length the adventure fiction from then, as it ties into the wonderful Gabriel Hunt series, but adventure fiction was far from all coming out at that time. Science fiction and fantasy were seeing a huge boom cycle, as was romance fiction, and to an even greater extent, mystery and crime fiction exploded across the market. These authors set the stage for everything to come after. However, today most of these great novels are out of print and forgotten, and their style has become nothing but a memory. Enter Hard Case Crime, created by Charles Ardai (the same man behind Gabriel Hunt), an imprint devoted to pulp crime. With a decent mix of reprinted lost classics and new works in the same genre, Hard Case Crime is hard to top for that good old crime novel.

After Stephen King finished his epic Dark Tower series, he took a short hiatus, and his return was heralded by none other than the thirteenth novel in the Hard Case Crime series, The Colorado Kid. Without the supernatural or horror elements that made his other novels famous, this tale straddling the line between long novella and short novel is a curiosity, and I picked it up on that impulse.

The Colorado Kid follows Stephanie, a new intern at a small newspaper on an island off the coast of Maine, and the two other members of the staff, Vince Teague and Dave Bowie. The subject of unsolved mysteries comes up, and the two veteran staff members decide to tell Stephanie of the Colorado Kid, their very own unsolved mystery. A man was discovered slumped on the beach, dead, without any identification. The mystery surrounding him is deep, and as the two men n the story frequently remind us, this is unsolved, there is no “through-line,” no story, just facts.

King tells a story that is about three deep characters, each one someone you care about, and they sit around and talk of a crime that there is no answer to, no matter how much you want there to be. The richness of King’s prose is a testament to his abilities as a writer, and the lack of a “through-line” makes telling a good story hard, yet he does it with aplomb. It is stories such as this that show just why Stephen King is so widely popular, and so in demand. This is one of the freshest new King novels I have read, and one of the best crime tales I’ve ever had the pleasure to experience. As my first foray into Hard Case Crime, I know I must return, for if this is the quality of book they are putting out, then this is a gold mine that must be explored. This one deserves to be called a classic.

10/10

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

Moving on from the third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Rowling’s fourth novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire picks up the following summer, with Harry yet again stuck at the Dursley’s home. The threat of his convicted-murderer godfather at hand, Harry earns a bit more freedom, and even manages to slip away early to go to the Quidditch World Cup with his friends Ron and Hermione, along with the rest of Ron’s family. It is there that things begin to hit the fan.

Following a violent display by Voldemorte’s minions, Harry returns to Hogwarts to find it full of new threats, as the Triwizard Tournament, a competition between schools of magic, is being hosted at his school, and Harry’s name was snuck into the running. Danger abounds from every angle as Harry tries to win the tournament and stay alive.

The book has a darker tone than the other three at times, especially the conclusion of the novel, and things from all of the past books arise to make this one feel like the first non-stand alone novel, the first book to show the large, over-arching story behind the Harry Potter saga. The series finally begins to feel less like a set of episodes, and more like one long story.

Considerably longer than the proceeding three novels, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is much denser and contains far more sub-plots that Rowling deftly weaves into the story. At times the length and number of mini-stories that aren’t pivotal to the plot slow the story down a bit, but for the most part this is a wonderful addition to the series, and a definite step up from the previous novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. As I conclude my re-reading of the first four books of the Harry Potter series in preparation for reading the final three, I find that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a worthy lead in to the culmination of the series.

8/10