Antarktos Rising by Jeremy Robinson

After my time with the shorter lengths, a return to the full novel was due. As a fan of thrillers, especially those with a hint (or more than just a hint) of the more than ordinary, I generally scan a certain subset of authors. Included here are Matthew Reilly (especially Temple and his Jack West, Jr. series), Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (both together and separately), early James Rollins (think Subterranean), or much of Michael Crichton. However, at the last trip to the bookstore, I stumbled upon a book that fit just this category, by an author I had heard of (because of another of his books, Kronos), but had never read. I picked it up, and based on the back, was excited for my trip into it.

Based on a not-really-excepted theory, Earth goes through what is known as a “crustal displacement,” more or less meaning that all of the places on the globe have switch where they are, e.g. the north pole is around North Dakota, north Africa is a flourishing garden, and Antarctica is now temperate and humid. This huge crustal displacement leads to a complete turn-around when it comes to countries in power, with huge parts of Europe and North America now frozen solid. However, with Antarctica now viable, every in-need former-world power wants a piece of it. To avoid a world war that no country could survive, an idea is put in motion: each of the 11 main bodies left (the most important to the story being the United States, the European Kingdom, the Arab Alliance, the Chinese, and the re-formed Soviet Union) will race to the geographic center of the continent of Antarctica, and the first three there will split the continent.

All of the nations want to grasp this vital piece, and therefore set their odds however they can, be it hiring an assassin, using huge numbers, employing suicide bombers, or in the case of the Americans, picking up the two most knowledgeable experts alive when it comes to Antarctica: Mirabelle Whitney and Dr. Merrill Clark. Teamed with an elite Special Forces unit, Whitney and Clark lead an expedition into the heart of the continent. However, Clark has found some troubling discoveries, and the continent may not be as lonely as they think. Thanks to anhydrobiosis, long-thought-extinct dinosaurs are roaming Antarctica, and they are just a prelude to the true threat.

Robinson does an interesting job of combining all of the thriller aspects with what becomes a stronger religious theme as the book goes on (on which leads to thought, not a book to preach at you). He combines the two deftly, and never does it seem her forced the plot into too tight of angles to make it work. Robinson creates a whole team of characters that you come to know and care about, to cheer for and hope they make it through, and when deaths arise, there is a sense of regret.

The beginning starts with a bang, but then really seemed to slow down a bit. However, once Mirabelle joins with the Special Forces, things really start to take off, and Robinson does an excellent job from there on of giving information without holding up the plot, which flies along. Each of the over-the-top elements he adds to the story are explained in such a way as to not seem as far-fetched as they did initially, and he manages to do some very neat and original things with his thriller. Get past the beginning and the set-up, and this is an excellent romp.

8/10

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

After Douglas Clegg’s novella Isis, it was time for one more piece of shorter fiction before a step back into novels. This came at the hands of Neil Gaiman’s Odd and the Frost Giants. Famous for a wide range of genre, Gaiman has bestselling works in adult fantasy, young adult fantasy, children’s books, and graphic novels. Odd and the Frost Giants, his latest in the USA, is actually a reprint of Gaiman’s contribution to World Book Day in the UK. Just recently arriving stateside, Gaiman’s novella is geared to be young adult friendly, but is certainly an all ages tale.

Odd, star of Odd and the Frost Giants, runs from home after suffering the abuses of a mean step-father. While living in his deceased father’s old cabin, Odd stumbles upon a fox, a bear, and an eagle, who turn out to be far more than they seem. Odd begins a quest to save all of Asgard, and Midgard as well, from the cruel Frost Giants, who have over-run the gods’ fabled home.

A fun, light, and very quick read, Odd and the Frost Giants showcases Gaiman’s ability to tell a tale that all readers, from youngest to oldest, can enjoy. Drawing on a vast amount of Norse myth, he mentions a number of more famous stories, all while creating his own that is uniquely Gaiman-esque. Odd doesn’t feel similar to your average character, and that in part is because of his realistic, and therefore seemingly out of place, reaction to the loss of his father. Gaiman’s prose is, as always, wonderful. Yet another excellent way to spend an afternoon or evening.

9/10

Isis by Douglas Clegg

At the beginning of a new set of one hundred posts, my desire for shorter fiction continues. Following a number of novels, it was time for a short fiction spree. After a collection and a novella by L. Ron Hubbard, and a collection by Richard Matheson, a couple of new novellas rose to the top of my stack. A wonderful length for a day’s worth of reading, they seemed like a wonderful choice. The first, Isis by Douglas Clegg, just out in a new illustrated edition from Vanguard Press, was where I started.

Young Iris Catherine Villiers lives with her family in a coastal mansion in Britain. Growing up in this environment, she sees few people besides her family, and becomes incredibly close to her brother, Harvey. However, the rest of her family is slowly pushing her away, and with one horrible incident, Harvey has left her alone. A distraught Iris remembers the tales of her youth, and seeks to bring her beloved brother back.

Clegg’s tale of a sister’s love and loss is stylistically gorgeous. Told in an almost dreamy, fable-like way, Iris’ story as she seeks to become a modern Isis to her brother’s Osiris is a bittersweet, heart-wrenching story. Categorizing the book is difficult, as it contains elements of horror without being horrific (if tales of the dead rising can be seen as not being horrific), yet it is not a fantasy story in its own way either. Clegg’s borderline-but-not-quite-magical realism is best summed up by its subtitle: “A Tale of the Supernatural.”

The story retains a sense of subtle, underlying supernaturalism without bashing you over the head with it. The surprises that fill the ending are perfectly described, and the story just flows along like a steady stream. A wonderful piece, and an excellent way to spend a quiet afternoon.

9/10

100!

Luke Reviews has reached its one hundredth post! That’s one hundred posts of reviews, interviews, news, and the occasional explanation! It’s time to celebrate, with a little bit of looking back, and a touch of looking forward as well! For those of you that have been with Luke Reviews from the beginning: Thank you! Your support has been pivotal. And for all of you who are new, welcome to the site! Please hang out, check back for new stuff, leave comments, and make sure to enjoy yourself. Hitting this mile marker, I want to thank the publishers that have so kindly worked with me (Fairwood Press, Black Library, Angry Robot Books, Putnam, Apex Publications, and Galaxy Press), as well as all of the authors who have so kindly agreed to let me pester them with questions for interviews. To see these interviews, just click on the names below (in alphabetical order by last name):

Charles Ardai

David Ellis

John Goodwin

Hugh Howey

Ridley Pearson

Andy Remic

Ken Scholes

Kaaron Warren

In a last little bit of looking back, here are the books that received the top reviews in the first hundred posts:

10/10

At the Earth’s Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Inside Straight edited by George R. R. Martin
Castaways by Brian Keene
Long Walks, Last Flights & Other Strange Journeys by Ken Scholes
Slights by Kaaron Warren
The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
The Hidden Man by David Ellis
The Searchers by Alan LeMay

9/10

Horus Rising by Dan Abnett
The Beast House by Richard Laymon
Fables, Volume 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham
Fables, Volume 2: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham
House of Mystery, Volume 1: Room and Boredom by Matthew Sturges and Bill Willingham
Hunt at the Well of Eternity by James Reasoner
Y: The Last Man, Volume 1: Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan
The Vampyre, The Werewolf, and Other Tales of Gothic Horror edited by Rochelle Kronzek
False Gods by Graham McNeill
Resistance: The Gathering Storm by William C. Dietz
Y: The Last Man, Volume 2: Cycles by Brian K. Vaughan
Emperor’s Mercy by Henry Zou
Harbinger by Jack Skillingstead
G.I. JOE: Above & Beyond by Max Allan Collins
The Radio Magician & Other Stories by James Van Pelt
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
Killer Summer by Ridley Pearson
Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan
Hunt Through the Cradle of Fear by Charles Ardai
Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks
The Cellar by Richard Laymon
Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos by Jim Starlin
Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
When Shadows Fall by L. Ron Hubbard
Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue by Hugh Howey

Thanks again to all of my readers. I recently put up a list of the next stack of books I plan on getting through, so you see that I want to continue to be broad, but focus on the fun reading, the stuff that sweeps you away and doesn’t set you down until the last page is turned. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment at the end of this post or send me an email at the address listed on the top right of this page.

I look forward to sharing many more hundreds of posts with you all!

The Box: Uncanny Stories by Richard Matheson

Richard Matheson has rising back up in popularity lately, in large part due to the release of the movie version of his famous I Am Legend. Tor then proceeded to release a number of low-priced reprints of his work, and now another Matheson-based movie is upcoming, The Box, based on the short story “Button, Button.” The story is part of the collection Button, Button: Uncanny Stories, but the book has been rereleased with the movie cover, and a new title of The Box: Uncanny Stories. As a fan of all of the Matheson that I have read, I was more than happy to pick up any cheap Matheson book I could find, and dove right in. After a very brief introduction, the stories begin.

“Button, Button”: What is a fortune worth to you? Meet Norma Lewis, who is part of an occurrence that will question just that, with unintended consequences. A fun if light tale.

“Girl of My Dreams”: A husband-wife team sets out to save lives…for the right price. This tale of psychic precognition is another fun story.

“Dying Room Only”: A story of disappearance in a small desert town, where a wife loses her husband. An interesting crime story, and an unexpected inclusion in this collection that seemed, from the title (Uncanny Stories) to be based more on the speculative genres, this tale was an interesting change of pace.

“A Flourish of Strumpets”: In a world where sexuality is becoming more and more open, one man decides to stand up to the new presence of door-to-door prostitution, because if he slips up, he might just find out that turnabout is indeed fair play. A bizarre idea that Matheson turns into an engaging and fun story, with a lovely twist ending.

“No Such Thing as a Vampire”: As a man’s wife wakes up in blood, with two holes in her neck, they fear the worst, despite attempts to prove that it isn’t a vampire. However, this vampire’s motives may be a little different than you expect. An excellent, moody piece.

“Pattern for Survival”: A light, slightly fluff piece about one man’s quest to retain sanity (or his version of it) in a world gone wrong. Fun, but very little meat to it.

“Mute”: This tale is another of Matheson’s forays into telepathic abilities, in this case one of growing them in children before they are culturally trained to lose them. An overlong story that didn’t work for me.

“The Creeping Terror”: A fun mockumentary, if you will, this “thesis” describes the historical Los Angeles Movement. Full of hilarious bits (“Caltech Physicist Finds Signs of Life in L.A.”), this story makes fun of almost everything, and is one of the highlights of this collection. Of note: This story has also been published as “A Touch of Grapefruit.”

“Shock Wave”: A strange story of a living organ (as in the musical instrument), this one wasn’t one of the best stories in here. The attempt at horror falls flat.

“Clothes Make the Man”: A fun twist story, in which the last line gives a whole new meaning to this tale of a man obsessed with his clothes.

“The Jazz Machine”: A poetic tale of a man who has created a machine to decipher the feelings behind pieces of jazz music, and the jazz musician he brags about it to. An interesting, if overly artsy at times, story, with a good message.

“’Tis the Season to Be Jelly”: An odd, off the wall comedy in a nuclear fallout world, with an ending that you can’t help but smile at, while at the same time groaning. A wonderful wrap up to the collection.

While The Box: Uncanny Stories contains some less than stellar stories, the whole of the collection is of a very high average quality. Most of the stories don’t read as old as they actually are, and when they do, it is with a touch of nostalgia that doesn’t hurt the story at all. The Box is a very quick read, and is a fun diversion. Well worth it for fans of Matheson, and for newcomers this is a nice step into the style of one of the greats. You can certainly see, if you have read much early Stephen King, how Matheson was a strong influence (and one King admits to), as these stories, less in content but more in style and presentation, definitely are close.

8/10

Infinity Crusade, Volume 2 by Jim Starlin

The final volume of the Infinity Trilogy’s last part, and the last major epic (minus the less well-received Infinity Abyss and Thanos: The End, as well as a volume of the series Thanos, all of which are out of print and exorbitantly expensive on top of not seeming to hold up as well) of Jim Starlin before his parting ways with Marvel and moving to DC.

Jumping straight from the first volume of Infinity Crusade, this book begins with the “King Pip” segment that, for all intents and purposes, could have been completely excised from the tale without losing anything. However, after that, we move to the action part of the epic, in which Starlin shows his ability to, like in the prior books, have huge action scenes while still making a deep plot that moves along nicely. As this is the second part of one story, it is hard to do much of a plot recap/teaser, but this book is where everything hits the fan, the army of the Goddess fights with the “Infidels,” and the Goddess attempts to bring her universal Rapture to fruition.

Far better than the first segment, this second volume of Infinity Crusade shows off all of Starlin’s writing talents (after we shift past King Pip), and really brings to bear the philosophical quandary of needing to stop your good side from universal armageddon. The one downside to all of the Infinity Trilogy is that they are from a time when events such as these generally were meant to have no lasting impact, and so we see a lot of everything being returned to normal, as we did in the first two parts, but in this one Starlin includes one final twist that leaves you with more than a couple thoughts after the book is over. This half makes it worth slogging through the first part. A nice wrap-up to a trilogy of company-wide cosmic crossovers that set a standard for the things to come.

8/10

Interview with David Ellis

David Ellis’ latest novel, The Hidden Man, was one that I ranted and raved about not too long ago. I was curious about some of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the book, and was thrilled when I got the chance to throw some of these questions Dave’s way.

Dave, thank you for the interview!

Your latest novel, The Hidden Man, has just been released from Putnam! Congratulations! Could you tell us a little bit about the genesis of the novel, as well as the new series character Jason Kolarich? What were some of the particularly important influences on the book?

Thanks for having me here!

Jason Kolarich is a 34-year-old attorney who is on the verge of greatness in the legal community---having just won a headliner political corruption case---when he suffers a personal family tragedy that turns his life upside down. When he comes out the other end of this ordeal, he is changed. The rules don't matter as much as justice. Jason is a sarcastic, courageous, cynical but compassionate man who likes the underdog. He is someone I'm sure you'll enjoy spending time with.

As for the genesis of the novel, I wanted a ticking clock. I wanted a case that Jason had to solve in a very short amount of time, with the lives of his family and friends in the balance. I wanted to test Jason early on in the series to introduce him to the reader under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable.

As I mentioned above, The Hidden Man is the first book in a series of novels following Jason Kolarich. What inspired you to undertake a series character, as opposed to more stand-alone novels? Does the way you plan and write a series novel differ from the way you planned and wrote your other books?

For the first time, I began the idea of a novel not with a plot, but with a character. I wanted something particular in this character---some baggage, some attitude, wicked sarcasm---and that told me, right there, that I was building a character I wanted to spend more time with than just one book.

And yes, plotting a series novel is different, at least for me, than writing a stand-alone novel. In all my five previous books, I've put the protagonist through the ringer, such that it would be hard to imagine them in a sequel. But when you're writing a series character, you have to leave them relatively intact. You have to think about what preceded the novel in terms of the protagonist's life, and more importantly you have to set up what will come next.

Do you read other authors in the legal thriller/mystery genre? To fans of your work, particularly The Hidden Man, who else would you recommend them read, while they wait for your next novel to come out?

Because of my "day job" as legal counsel to the Speaker of the House, I don't get to read as much as I'd like. But authors I admire include Lee Child, Theresa Schwegel, Tana French and Barry Eisler.

It would seem that much of the background of the novel, rooted in the legal system as it is, would be taken from your experiences working in this system. Do you find that you pull aspects or details of your own legal work to put into your novels? Do you feel that your role as prosecutor in the Blagojevich impeachment trial has effected your fiction, including your depiction of the legal system?

Certainly, my experiences in the legal system have influenced what I write. I never write about something I have directly experienced, but the issues and the characters and the plots are often composites of a number of different experiences over my career. Many people have asked me if my experience as the House Prosecutor who convicted Governor Blagojevich has impacted my writing. The best answer I can give is, we'll see. I'm just working on my follow-up to THE HIDDEN MAN and it will be interesting to see how those experiences will influence me. An impeachment is such a unique animal in the justice system that it's hard to compare to any other case, civil or criminal. I can't wait to see how it changes me as a writer---because I absolutely believe that writers change over time.

Finally, what can we expect in the future for Jason Kolarich and David Ellis?

Well, you asked about the Blagojevich impeachment ... the follow-up novel is about a corrupt governor and a federal investigation that involves Jason. I don't want to give away too much, but I think people will enjoy it. What I can guarantee is that Jason is a guy who doesn't back down from threats and doesn't avoid danger. Nor will he lose his edgy sense of humor. Thrills and humor, or you won't see my name on the book.

Thanks again for your time!

Thanks for having me, Luke. Hope to talk again soon.