Closure Limited by Max Brooks

Rating: 2/5

It feels bad for me to give Closure Limited a 2/5 rating as I am a massive fan of Max Brooks' work with World War Z being my favourite book until I read Ready Player One a few weeks ago.

The reason I gave this book 2 out of five rather than 1 is because the stories that are in there are quite good but for starters if you pay retail for this book (£5.99) you are paying quite a sum for a book that I read in an hour as it stands at just over 100 pages.

The problem that I had with this book was probably born from my expectation that this was a book based in the World War Z universe. I could have accepted the price vs length if that had been the case as it would have made for a good addon.

The story Closure Limited is one of the best in the book as it was the first time that you get a hint (as small as it is I was as hungry for it as a z to a human) of Brooks' experience of the zombie war. In reading World War Z I had always wondered what Brooks had done throughout the war which had then led him to collect the stories of other survivors. The first story doesn't really answer any of those questions, but it does, for the first time realise that Brooks suffered like the rest of humanity rather than spending the war on a comfortable UN ship of in an American bunker.

The other stories were nothing that I was that bothered about to be honest, they had some merit but they did not feel like they had a place in a book that I feel advertised itself as a World War Z set of stories, even if they are well written.

The last story redeems the book in the way that Closure Limited made me excited for the book. It is set in China, which is certainly mentioned a great deal in World War Z and it was refreshing that the story took on the aspect of an interview of a survivor whose job was to rebuild the Great Wall as part of the Chinese version of the Redeker Plan. As with all of the Chinese sections in Brooks' work, it shows a dedication to survival that is both chilling and a relief that humans can survive anything with a bit of dedication.

All in all, an OK book, but nothing to write home about (but apparently worthy of a blog update lol). If you can pick it up cheaper than the retail cost then its worth a read (check a certain website that has a certain river theme as its £2.99). Its a shame that this book wasn't a few hundred pages longer and it could have been rushed out so that more money can be drummed up in time for the movie, but maybe I'm just too cynical. I will read this book again, if only just because I could read through most of it in my GP's waiting room.

 Cover arts good mind.

Glasslands by Karen Traviss

My Rating: 4/5

TOR Publishing 2011



This book was a tough one for me to think about reviewing. For one thing, the book is brilliant and Traviss brings her brilliant style to the Halo universe in a remarkable way. This is the first Halo book to take place after the events of the Halo 3 game and so it is the first book to take place in a time after the end of the Human-Covenant war which saw the deaths of billions of humans over thirty years.

One of the downsides of this book is that it is not a standalone book and anyone who is unfamiliar with previous Halo titles and also the games will find it very difficult to get into. The book takes place immediately after the book Halo: Ghosts of Onyx by Eric Nylund and if you haven't read that then there is no way you will understand who half the characters are in Glasslands and where/why they are there (I cant say more without giving massive spoilers).

One of my favourite things in this book is the introduction of Spartan II's that are not John-117. You get introduced to Naomi who the book shows to be a very competent super soldier and in a way lives in the shadow of the Master Chief, but yet as you would expect from one of the last remaining Spartans, she doesn't seem to mind. You also get introduced to Captain Osman, who washed out of the Spartan II program and who was rebuilt by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and has become a productive member of the armed forces. The only other time that a former spartan has been featured in the books was in Eric Nylunds The Fall of Reach.

The story itself in a nutshell is about a group of UNSC personnel that are brought together and given the task of ensuring that the Elites, now freed from the Covenant, fight amongst themselves rather than set their sites on humanity once again. This is the first part in a three part story arc and the book gives some great twists and it brilliantly sets up the next two parts by giving small hints of whats to come.

Lastly, its very important to discuss the great way that one character in particular is portrayed. The great Dr Catherine Halsey. Halsey has always been one of the central characters to the Halo universe, even if to those that have only played the games, she has only made an appearance in Halo Reach, although many realised that Cortana is also Halsey as she was made from a clone of her. Halsey has always been portrayed as doing what was best for humanity and I have always really respected her character and the decisions she has made and the sacrifices she has made along with it. However,  Traviss has gone and changed everything. The good that Halsey has done is still there but Traviss manages to explain events in a way that by the end of the book I felt that Halsey was not a good person and was a war criminal. The way that it is written is incredible and I think that it makes this book an essential read if you are a Halo fan.

One thing that is mentioned a lot throughout Glasslands is the famous "Halseys diary". This is the first that the this sacred document is mentioned in Halo literature, but it does exist in physical form and can be found within the Halo black box as can be seen below:

  










All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I cannot wait for the next in the series, I'm rather annoyed at myself that I waited so long to read Glasslands. 


My Favourite Quotes:

 1 - "This is a spy ship". Osman said it with slow deliberation as if she was getting impatient with hit naivete. She stepped back across the coaming, hand on the edge of the door. "Everything on this vessel is classified. Just breathing here is in breach of the Official Secrets Act. I can drop you back on New Llanelli, if you like."
"You really are all bastards, arent you? You know how many people died on Llanelli? One million, four hundred thousand. Dont you get it? No, Earth was never hit was it?"
"Oh, we loast a few billion on Earth," Osman said. "I think we get it just fine."

2 - "Oh wow..." It was Phillips. His voice trailed off and he walked right up to Naomi, grinning like a schoolboy as he craned his neck to look up at her. "You look amazing. Real killer robot stuff."
Vaz didnt know Naomi well enough to pick up any body language, and he couldnt see her expression, but she leaned forward so that her gold-mirrored visor was right in Phillips's face. For a moment the compartment was so quiet that Vaz could hear the faint sigh of the armour's servos as she moved.
"Be honest," she said. "Does my ass look big in this?"

3 - "And should we know who Halsey is?"
"Chief scientist at ONI," Osman said. Vas decided she had some serious issues with this Halsey, judging by the set of her jaw. "Creator of the Spartan program. Its only fair to warn you that there'll be some unpleasant revelations emerging about her. Brilliant, yes, and the Spartans changed the course of the war, but her methods left a lot to be desired. History might not judge her kindly."

4 - "Can you see this Naomi?"
Her voice drifted over the intercom. "I still say you need me down there."
"You're a two-meter blonde, and then some," Mal said. "It'll take more than a scruffy pair of pants to disguise that in town."
Spartans were great assets, but they werent made for plain clothes work. But Mal had never worked undercover before and neither had Vaz, so there was a certain amount of anxiety about how out of place they'd look.
"They used to say that a good SAS man could speak twenty languages while disguised as a pint of Guiness," Vaz said. "And don't ask me what Guiness was, Deveraux. I think it was beer." 



 

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

My Rating: 5/5

Century Publishing 2011

 Favourite Quote: 

"I sat in my stronghold, staring at the Jade Key and reciting the words etched into its spine, over and over, like a maddening mantra:

Continue your quest by taking the test.

Continue your quest by taking the test.

 Continue your quest by taking the test. 

Yes, but what test? What test was I supposed to take? The Koybayashi Maru? The Pepsi Challenge? Could the clue have been any more vague?"

There are a million other quotes throughout this book that are just amazing, but the thing is that whilst I could put them here for you, to really appreciate them you would have to be a big fan of 80's movie and game culture and if you are then I tell you to simply read the book and be swept up in the magnificence of it and its pure geek brilliance. If you are not all that familiar with 80's pop culture but have maybe caught films such as Wargames, Tron, Ferris Bueller, Weird Science etc when they have been on the telly then this book will make you appreciate the 80's and the good things that came from it like never before.

The story takes place in the not so distant future in which the world is circling the drain as fossil fuels have gone and the environment has suffered drastically. In steps our unlikely hero Wade, who is just a short few months away from finishing high school.

Wade is a Gunter.

That is to say that Wade or Parzival (his avatar name) spends most of his time in the massive online simulation universe called OASIS. In a sort of lamens Charlie and the Chocolate Factory way, the creator of the OASIS passes away and reveals that he has hidden an easter egg inside his "game". The person to find the egg will win his substantial fortune (richest person on the planet) and also a controlling stake in his company. He leaves a clue and the world tries desperatly to find the egg. In five years no none has made any progress on the first clue and the scoreboard remains empty. There is also an evil corporation that is trying to find the egg so that they can own the OASIS and charge people for its use.The people who are trying to find the sacred easter egg are called Gunters.

Most of the population of the planet "lives" in the OASIS and Wade himself even attends school there as they are of a far higher standard than real schools and they are free. Basically the OASIS has gotten World of Warcraft (or Star Wars the Old Republic, which is way better than WOW by the way) and Facebook and Amazon and rolled them all together. 

I was hooked primarily by the attractiveness of the idea of the OASIS was and then it kept throwing in so many truly brilliant 80's references  from things such as Macross, Wargames, Ghost Busters, Back to the Future and the list goes on and on. And then there are the games which are truly beautiful to hear them described that made me instantly remember the excitement that I used to feel playing games such as Joust and Pac-Man. Ah, the good old days.


I consider myself to be a geek and when I was reading this book and I was reading about Wades encyclopedic knowledge of 80's culture and gaming and his idol Halliday, I could easily put myself into his shoes and I was excited like it was Christmas morning with every turn of the page.


Even with a busy week filled with trips to see friends down south, climbing, golf and a host of other things I still read this in a couple of days and I still felt that wasn't fast enough considering how much I was enjoying it. The only bad thing I could say about this book was that it ends. When I turned the last page all I could think of was how I would love to go back in time and read it fresh again so I could feel the wonder that I had felt just a few days ago once again.


This has become my favourite book and has knocked a favourite off the top spot that has proudly sat there for nearly seven years. Go out and give it a read and if you like games, films and music, there is no way you will not enjoy this book.


Please see the link for a game based on the book but made in 80's style called Stacks
Also, Ernest Cline has also created a brilliant playlist on his blog to accompany the book, but it could contain spoilers. 

Lastly, a game that plays a prominant part in the story is Adventure that was released by Atari in 1979 and was created by the great Warren Robinett whose name should have great meaning to any passionate gamer. If you want to play Adventure then Atari have released it on their website and I highly recommend giving it a go by clicking HERE.

The 80's.

I was born in 1987 so I don't really consider myself a child of the 80's as I grew up in the 90's. However a very good friend of mine Stu has recently lent me a book called Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, which is making me reevaluate how I view the 80's and my place in that decade.

The book is brilliant, and I feel like it was written for me being filled with so many references to 80's films, games, music etc that I instantly recognise. It got me thinking about how I view the 80's.

I came to the realisation that whilst I was not born in the 80's, I am an 80's kid. I also realised that I can blame my brother for this one. The thing with my brother Rob is that he is 10 years older than me and so was born in 1977 which meant that he got to see all the cool things that came out of the 80's and appreciate them at the time. This did however mean that I got some great physical and psychcological hand me downs.

I quickly listed off my favourite films and I tried to think of when they all came out. Here they are:

All of these films are from the 80's, and theres more great ones like Time bandits and Labyrinth to be enjoyed. It then got me thinking that my favourite computer game of all time is also from the 80's: Missile Command.

I realise that of course the 80's was a very difficult decade for alot of people, much in the same way that in 30 years people will say the same about this decade, but some of the things that have come out of the 80s are brilliant. Just think that Tetris, which many of us have invested great time into over our lives first appeared in 1984. Pac-Man came out in 1980. Centipede in 1981, the list goes on and on with companies such as Atari leading the way to the games and consoles that we have today. It must also be noted that you got great toys introduced such the mighty Etch-A-Sketch.

Lastly you have to think of the brilliant kids TV that existed that is way better than the utter rubbish young kids have to watch today (caveat Star Wars Clone Wars). Look at Centurions, Battle of the Planets (although I've always known it as G-Force), Dungeons and Dragons (don't forget the great game that is still very alive today that the series is based on). Theres also great shows like Inspector Gadget, Teenage Mutant Ninja (yes Ninja, none of this hero malarkey), Thundercats, Starfleet, MASK, Ulysses 31 (which probably influenced me on my path to become a classicist) and the great Transformers.

I realise that this post is not really about books, but this train of thought has come about because of a book and its made me realise that the 80's has had a massive impact on my life. Yes, the 80's was not an ideal time and alot of bad things came out/happened in the 80's but at the same time, as shown above, some brilliant things came out of the 80's that have certainly shaped my life so far and I cannot wait to review Ready Player One once I finish reading it.

John

Giant Thief by David Tallerman

Review: 4/5

Angry Robot Publishers

This is another one that I picked up largely because I thought that the author was a very friendly bloke. I'm not the biggest fantasy reader, but I am very happy I picked this up and I would give this to anyone who, like myself, had not delved much into the realm of fantasy as I would be hard pressed to find someone who would not enjoy this book. I could easily say, if you get fed up of this book, you have got fed up of life. This book is one where I felt super happy to go and find a nice sunny spot in the sun, get a pot of tea and read though half of it in one sitting. This is the view I had when reading it, and I barely noticed it because the book was that fun:

I had gone to meet Ian Whates to talk about his series of books that I will get around to reading at some point and David was there signing copies of his book. There wasn't many people about so I asked him what the book was about (I had only looked at the front cover by this point and had obviously decided that the name didn't give enough away). David basically explained to me that the premise was along the lines of its a man with a WMD. That short description, mixed with both the friendliness of Dave and the odd resemblance to Christian Slater that the hero has on the cover was enough for me to buy a copy.


I asked David to please sign it which he was more than willing to and he asked me something I did not expect. "What do you want me to write, I'm new to this". I found this rather funny as its not everyday that a published author asks me what he should write.

 

The back of the book says the best thing ever to describe a character:

"Meet Easie Damasco: rogue, thieving swine and total charmer".

If you read that and look at the front cover, these two things had basically told me that what I am about to read is a book about Han Solo if he looked like Christian Slater and didn't have Chewie. But wait I shout! The giant behind him could be a sort of Chewie stand in. Well that's me sold then, and I ploughed into the book.

It is a very enjoyable read. The giant thief aspect is brought in within a couple of chapters and then you are led into the much bigger adventure than the book I had imagined would introduce. If you enjoyed the Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (brilliant book), then you will enjoy this. Unlike Lamora, this book takes place over a great distance rather than in a single city and so it creates a large world that can be easily expanded on in future books (book 2, Crown Thief will be out at some point and I cannot wait). Unlike Lamora in which it takes place in one city so it is described in such detail I felt I could draw a map of it by the end, as Thief takes place in quite a few locales I really enjoyed filling in the blanks of the world that the book gives you.

There is nothing bad about the book at all, it is highly enjoyable and characters are brilliant. I cannot wait to hopefully run into them all in future books. Read this book and be prepared to be thrilled with adventure, shocked with great twists and also entertained by the brilliant humour that Tallerman puts in at perfect moments to diffuse tension when its needed. Go out and buy this book and recommend it to friends so that hopefully Dave can stop being an IT man and write full time so that he can give everyone many more enjoyable hours of entertainment.

Note: Daves comment after I told him to write whatever came to mind was "To John, hope you enjoy the book". Well I did.

John

Maps in books, and the art of world building.

I recently read a post by William Gibson called "the great clomping foot of nerdism" that can be found here: http://williamgibsonblog.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html

I cannot more highly recommend giving this a read through as it really opened my eyes to a problem in writing and that is in the realm of world building.

I love a good map and I can look at them for great lengths of time and feel like I can put myself into any part of them. Above is a very recognisable map of Middle Earth and it helps the reader understand the scale of Froddo's journey to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom.

I just wonder does the map take away from the readers enjoyment of the adventure? The way I look at it is that if you are about to read the Fellowship of the Ring then one of the first things that you will see is this map. As you will no doubt know before reading, the Hobbits have to travel to Mordor. This means that from the very beginning the map can give you an idea of where the Hobbits have to go and perhaps some of the hardships they will face before you have even got far into the story.

China Mieville once said (sorry for paraphrasing but it was a crowded room when I heard him say this) that as a writer he is saying to his readers that he is placing them in a world that is nothing like they know, it is vast, full of wonder and anything can happen. But by putting a map into the book its OK as there are rules and place a links to place b so its not too dangerous and you are in fact safe. When he put it like that I agreed that maybe maps in books do take away from the readers experience of imaging the world and how it all fits together themselves.

Also, if I had written a book and put a map in it which featured a prominent river in the middle, would I not encounter a problem if I were to write a sequel that featured sections on the river. I would have to stay true to the map rather than the story that I wished to write.

As much as I enjoy having maps and other pictures in books, perhaps it is better that some things are left for the readers imagination and that in this day and age the author could put a map of how they see their world on their website so if people want a map they can get one.

Halo

Halo is probably one of the most recognisable franchises on the planet. Most people will probably recognise it even if they know nothing of the human struggle against the ruthless religious zealots, the Covenant.

I was a fan of the Halo books and the vivid story they painted long before I ever got a hold of the the first game. I was lucky that I was visiting America before the game came out in the UK and I of course wanted to check out an American bookshop where I picked up The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund.

I was hooked in an instant at the amazing story of a futuristic human society that seemed perfect but was yet still paranoid enough to want to develop a super soldier program to stop any civil wars or insurrection that might occur. This of course happened and saw great conflict amongst mankind spread amongst the stars. But then there is nothing quite like a common foe to make people forget their differences and focus on what they share and risk to lose.

The space battles in the book were incredible in their scale and the believability of them and how the physics were described, they made you feel like you were there.

After a time more books came out and I never clicked with many of the later ones until I read Ghosts of Onyx which was again written by Nylund and it created more back story which was then used to create the Fall of Reach game on xbox 360.

The one thing in the Halo games and books that had always remained mysterious and therefore intriguing was the existence of the Forerunners. They are a key factor in the Halo story, the enigmatic people that existed many millienia before humanity had taken to the stars. All you knew of the Forerunners was that they left ruins on many hundreds of worlds, but more importantly that they constructed the Halo arrays and used them to destroy the Flood, a terrible sentient disease that nearly wiped all individual life from the galaxy, but at the same time sacrificing themselves.

All most people had been able to gleam of the Forerunners had been through the terminals found throughout the Halo games that give little pieces of back story mentioning their war against the Flood and mentioned key characters in this war such as the Gravemind, the Librarian and Mendicant Bias.

So in steps Greg Bear.

He was brought in the write a series of books that covers the period of history of the Forerunners and apparently it would unlock some of the mystery of why it is that Humans are called Reclaimer's by 343 Guilty Spark and that we can use Forerunner technology without reverse engineering unlike the member species of the Covenant.

You can imagine my excitement at the prospect of this when I heard the news and I immediately ran out and bought Halo: Cryptum. I was a bit disappointed to be honest. The problem I found with the book was that it was very confusing. Bear had obviously decided that he would write things in such a way so that it would be very different from the rest of the Halo universe so that the great Forerunners would still be on a higher pedestal than humanity. This however meant that it is difficult to follow at times with names of places and characters being so different that I found them tough to remember (not easy when my degrees are focused on people with Greek and Latin names).I was however very interested in the telling of humanities role in Forerunner history, and I must admit part of it brought a swell of pride, even if it is fiction.

That brings me to Halo: Primordium. I was not going to get it to be honest after how confused I was at the end of Cryptum (I still wasn't 100% sure what had happened for most of the book).
However, a very good friend told me that it was in that great place of free knowledge: the local library.

Rating: 3/5


I began Primordium a little sceptical and I am glad that I was wrong. I did find the book somewhat confusing for a time, but it kept giving me little nuggets of a much larger picture that brought both books together in a brilliant way. I read this book in a couple of days because I found it hard to tear myself away and found myself resenting having to head back to work as it was getting in the way.

The story follows a human named Chakas who in the first book had basically been in the wrong (or right) place at the wrong time and was swept up by a Forerunner named Bornstellar and the Didact. Primordium finds him marooned on a Halo installation with a sprawling human population preserved by the Librarian should the Halo arrays be used. Chakas, who has the consciousness of an ancient Human simply known as the Lord of the Admirals, travels trying to find his friend Riser and find a way back home.

He quickly gets caught up in larger affairs such as the Forerunner civil war and encounters the main intelligence of the Flood and also the traitorous Forerunner AI Mendicant Bias. Whilst this is going on you soon get introduced to the view that the story that you are reading is being told to a group of Humans in the contemporary Halo universe by what is quickly revealed to be a Forerunner Monitor (AI). The identity of which is a rather interesting twist not be missed.

The story of the book comes to a nice close that unlike its predecessor was far easier to follow and it leaves the story on a large cliff hanger that I will be very eager to read about in the next instalment whenever that may be. A good instalment that brings merit back to the storyline and ties it into the future Halo stories and possibly Halo 4 the game very well. The only downside of this book is that unless you are a fan and have also read Halo Cryptum, this book will be impossible to get into and all of the main plot twists will most likely be lost on you. If you are a fan, pick up this book and read it now!!!!

Empire State of Awesome!

My Score: 4.5 out of 5
Read Again? Yes.....in a while



I was a bit dubious when I picked up this book at first. I had heard good things and thought it would be worth a read. The main reason that I was dubious was because the book is set in a prohibition era New York and the style that comes with that. I had studied prohibition at school and had hated studying it that it really was putting me off. Another factor that made me want to give this book a try was the recommendations in the front cover. I'm not often one to note those when flipping through a book as I always want to have my own opinion but when I saw Michael A. Stackpole had recommended it, the best selling author of I, Jedi, I couldn't start the first chapter fast enough.

I then however read the first chapter and whilst that seemed to support my "oh no! Not a prohibition story.", at the end of the first chapter you get superheroes! I was sold enough to make me keep reading. I very quickly became glued to the story and the main character Rad, a private detective who although a flawed person, is easily likable. You quickly get introduced to more characters such as Kane, Carson and other mysterious elements.

I do not want to spoil this story for anyone so I am trying my best to not describe specific details that would ruin it as the book is easily a cross between the film Inception and the TV series Boardwalk Empire. As it says on the back of the book the most important thing to always have in your mind when reading this book is Pocket Universe. Be prepared for a brilliant adventure that has so many brilliant plot twists that I will read this book again, but only once I've forgotten some of it so that I can enjoy the surprises that had me on the edge of my seat whilst reading it the first time.

Read this book. Its amazing and there is something in it for any reader.