Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Konrad Gaertner's LiveJournal:

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Sunday, September 27th, 2009
4:34 pm	BL: Thunderstruck (Towler, Grayson) Grayson Towler, Thunderstruck http://talesfromthevault.com/thunderstruck/ Score: 3 An urban fantasy webcomic about a young woman whose paralysis was healed when she was struck by lightning who goes to New Orleans with her sister discover what's really going on with her family. Mostly a standard UF story (many mythic and religious stuff is partly real but hidden from most people). Lots of cool stuff with the characters and types of magic, and a nice sense of humor, but unfortunately it was suddenly abandoned so the creator could pursue a career as a prose novelist. However, everything except the unfinished chapter 12 makes sense as volume 1 of a long series, complete with falling action and denouement after the climactic battle. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 13th, 2009
8:30 pm	BL: Dead and Gone (Harris, Charlaine) Charlaine Harris, Dead and Gone Ace (2009) ISBN: 978-0-441-01715-7 Score: 2 Ninth novel of the Southern Vampire series, in which the shape-shifters go public. That, along with a gruesome murder and fairy war allows the author to prune several plot threads. (Comment on this)
8:27 pm	BL: A Betrayal in Winter (Abraham, Daniel) Daniel Abraham, A Betrayal in Winter Tor (2007) ISBN: 0-7653-1341-3 Score: 2 Second book of the Long Price quartet, set more than 10 years after the first but still focussing on two of the main characters from before. I was slightly annoyed by some inconsistencies in the timing of events, but it wasn't anything major. Still a horrible world to live in. (Comment on this)
8:22 pm	BL: Santa Olivia (Carey, Jacqueline) Jacqueline Carey, Santa Olivia Grand Central (2009) ISBN: 978-0-446-19817-2 Score: 2 A novel inspired by stories about werewolves and superheroes, but is actually a mildly science fictional boxing story. In the near future a nasty plague sweeps through America (and possibly the rest of the world) in several waves, causing a widespread breakdown of infrastructure. The US builds a wall along its southern border, officially to keep out a Mexican bandit army, and later a second wall further north creating a no man's land between. Officially, all the civilians between were evacuated and paid reparations, but in many small towns (like the town of the title, now Outpost 12) no money was given and so anyone who couldn't afford to leave stayed behind as non-citizen pseudo-prisoners (and somehow the army keeps all this a secret for over 30 years). The heroine's father is the result of genetic engineering experiment (this is the only sfnal element), and she has inherited his super strength and inability to feel fear (which was handled remarkably realistically). The pacing was a bit odd with the first several chapters about the heroine's mother, but after that it reads like a slow-paced urban fantasy. I don't think the author is planning any sequels. (Comment on this)
Friday, June 5th, 2009
10:30 pm	BL: The Red Wolf Conspiracy (Redick, Robert V.S.) Robert V.S. Redick, The Red Wolf Conspiracy Del Rey (2008) ISBN: 978-0-345-50883-6 Score: 2 Start of the Chathrand Voyage trilogy, an epic fantasy mostly set on a really big boat. Pretty typical, with a few non-human humanoid races, talking animals, messy politics, and unpronounceable names ("Diadrelu Tammariken ap Ixhxchr"). The title is a bit inaccurate, since the conspirators weren't interested in the wolf (until the end), but calling it "The Bridal Conspiracy" would probably give the wrong impression. I wasn't too happy with the ending revealing that a couple spells were surprisingly complex in suspiciously plot convenient ways (or so we were told; both characters involved had a motive to lie). Next Book: Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics (Comment on this)
10:28 pm	BL: Thirteenth Child (Wrede, Patricia C.) Patricia C. Wrede, Thirteenth Child Scholastic (2009) ISBN: 0-545-03342-X Score: 2 Start of the fantasy alt-hist Frontier Magic trilogy, set in the late 19th century in an America that had never seen humans until the Europeans and Africans arrived (which has caused several people to complain of racism, though I'm more bothered by changing the names of all the continents but not the first three US presidents). The heroine is a thirteenth child, which is unlucky and believed by some (like her aunts and uncles) to mean she is destined to be evil; luckily her parents recognize a self-fulfilling prophecy when they see it and move most of the family to the frontier. This is basically the story of her childhood; while much of the plot involves the various natural and magical threats the settlers have to deal with, she (and the reader) don't actually see them until the end of the book. (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009
9:51 pm	BL: Night of Knives (Esslemont, Ian C.) Ian C. Esslemont, Night of Knives Tor (2004) ISBN: 0-7653-2371-0 Score: 4 A short Malazan novel, basically covering just a single night in Malaz City, a few months after the prologue of Gardens of the Moon and a few years before the rest of that book (and anyone who has read that book knows part of why this night is important enough to have its own book). Of course, in this universe major power plays can't occur without other factions and individuals getting involved, and so we finally get to learn a little about the Stormriders. This is actually a good place to start the series, especially for people intimidated by Erikson's 900 page tomes; it reads almost exactly like the final quarter of one of Erikson's books (though some of the terminology is strangely different). Next Book: Patricia Wrede, Thirteenth Child (Comment on this)
Monday, May 18th, 2009
9:51 pm	BL: "Lucky" (Harris, Charlaine) Charlaine Harris, "Lucky" Ace (2008) ISBN: 0441016375 Score: -1 A Sookie Stackhouse short story about her insurance agent (who I thought was successful because he was slightly prophetic, not because he was a witch). Next Book: Ian C. Esslemont, Night of Knives (Comment on this)
9:50 pm	BL: The Explosionist (Davidson, Jenny) Jenny Davidson, The Explosionist Harper (2008) ISBN: 978-0-06-123975-5 Score: 2 Start of an unnamed YA fantasy alt-hist series set in 1930's Scotland (almost entirely in Edinburgh), in which the 15 year old heroine gets involved with suicide bombings, messy politics, and a "Stepford Wives"-ish organization. The fantasy elements are basically 19th century spiritualism being true (dead people have no trouble at all talking to the heroine in various ways), yet the mediums we meet are the same sorts of frauds we saw in the real world. (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
8:26 pm	BL: A Shadow in Summer (Abraham, Daniel) Daniel Abraham, A Shadow in Summer Tor (2006) ISBN: 0-7653-1340-5 Score: 2 Start of the high fantasy Long Price quartet, about a nation kept independent by magicians who create and bind personifications of ideas (who aren't happy about being bound). This novel centers on one called Seedless who is mostly used to remove seeds from harvested cotton, though the plot is about his role as an abortionist. This is not a nice place to live in (we also see that titles of nobility pass to whichever son succeeds in killing his brothers), and I expect the events of this book will only make it worse. Next Book: Jenny Davidson, The Explosionist (Comment on this)
Monday, May 4th, 2009
9:49 pm	BL: "Conquistador de la Noche" (Vaughn, Carrie) Carrie Vaughn, "Conquistador de la Noche" Subterranean (2009) http://subterraneanpress.com/index.php/magazine/spring-2009/fiction-conquistador-de-la-noche-by-carrie-vaughn/ Score: 1 Story of how Rick (from the Kitty Norville series) became a vampire. This deals a bit with how vampires interact with Christianity, which I don't recall being mentioned in the novels. Next Book: Daniel Abraham, A Shadow in Summer (Comment on this)
9:47 pm	BL: Corambis (Monette, Sarah) Sarah Monette, Corambis Ace (2009) ISBN: 978-0-441-01596-2 Score: 3 Fourth and final book of the Doctrine of Labyrinths series, dealing with rebellion (and its aftermath), sex, and blowing up steampunk-ish devices (though this is probably the least violent book of the series). The main theme is acceptance of who and what you are, and since Mildmay has already done so he spends the first half of the book delirious with fever. (Comment on this)
9:27 pm	BL: Cerebus (Sim, Dave) Dave Sim, Cerebus Aardvark-Vanaheim (1977, 1978, 1979, 1987) ISBN: 0-919359-08-6 Score: 1 Collection of the first 25 issues of the Cerebus sword and sorcery comic. I'm pretty sure it's intended to be a parody of the genre, but I'm not sure how much is supposed to be taken seriously (I've only read Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, and those turned into self-parody themselves): there is an obvious parody of Moorcock's Elric (though I have no idea why he's talking like Foghorn Leghorn), Cerebus himself is probably supposed to be Howard's Conan transformed into an aardvark, there's also a superhero parody (and it seems Sim's Cockroach predates Edlund's Tick by a decade), and one character who seems to be played by Groucho Marx (and probably a ton of stuff I missed). The humor didn't really work for me, leaving just a confused and awkward start to a 300 issue fantasy series. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
7:38 pm	BL: Turn Coat (Butcher, Jim) Jim Butcher, Turn Coat Roc (2009) ISBN: 978-0-451-46256-5 Score: 3 Book 11 of the Dresden Files, dealing with wizard politics and finally making some progress on finding and dealing with the traitor[s]. It does clear up a few things that were bugging me in the previous books, but unfortunately the conflict involves using magic to mess with people's minds (have I mentioned lately how much I hate that?). Next Book: Dave Sim, Cerebus (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
9:49 pm	BL: Maelstrom (Anderson, Taylor) Taylor Anderson, Maelstrom Roc (2009) ISBN: 978-0-451-46253-4 Score: 2 Third book of the Destroyermen series, now with precocious aristocrat girls. This works both as a conclusion to a trilogy and as a transition point in a longer series (the author is already working on another book with these characters). Next Book: Jim Butcher, Turn Coat (Comment on this)
Monday, April 6th, 2009
2:45 pm	BL: Bite Me! (Meconis, Dylan) Dylan Meconis, Bite Me! http://www.bitemecomic.com/ Score: 2 A very silly vampire farce set during the French Revolution ("Liberty. Equality. Eternity."). I read this because of comments implying that her other webcomic Family Man is a prequel, but despite them having two characters with similar names and appearances, they are vastly different in style and tone (and FM doesn't have any overt supernatural elements yet) so it's best not to try to fit them into the same universe. Next Book: Taylor Anderson, Maelstrom (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
10:37 pm	BL: "The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" (Richardson, Kat) Kat Richardson, "The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" Roc (2009) ISBN: 978-0-451-46249-7 Score: 1.5 Harper Blaine goes to Mexico during the holidays in response to some dead people seeking revenge. (Comment on this)
10:36 pm	BL: Black Blood (Meaney, John) John Meaney, Black Blood Bantam (2008) ISBN: 978-0-553-80671-7 Score: 2 The second Tristopolis novel (titled Dark Blood in the UK), containing more gritty violence, creepy scenery, and mind control. This time the good cops have to deal with conspiracies, corruption, bigotry, bad cops, and evil telephones. I find it odd the cover says "by the author of Bone Song" instead of "sequel to", since the first scene shows the execution of one the villains of the previous book; there may or may not be more books in the series. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
9:58 pm	BL: "The Warrior" (Butcher, Jim) Jim Butcher, "The Warrior" Roc (2009) ISBN: 978-0-451-46249-7 Score: 1.5 A Harry Dresden novella dealing with the Carpenter family and set about a year after Small Favor. This is the lead story in the anthology Mean Streets, and I suspect the author heard that title and decided to write the sappiest, most moralistic story he could for it. Next Book: John Meaney, Black Blood (Comment on this)
9:57 pm	BL: The Turtle Moves! (Watt-Evans, Lawrence) Lawrence Watt-Evans, The Turtle Moves! BenBella (2008) ISBN: 978-1-933771-46-5 Score: 1.5 This is explicitly one author trying to cash in on another author's success. It's really more of a long essay than a book, giving an overview of the Discworld series (and each sub-series), discussion of how the series changed over time, and speculation about why it's so popular (short answer: it's stories about stories). The author is trying hard not to write a scholarly book, so none of these topics is pursued in much depth and the chapters are generally only about 3 pages long, with most of the book being brief descriptions of each story in the series, including the short stories and Science of books. (Comment on this)