eBook Deals - Moon, Pratchett/Baxter, Goodkind, Brooks

I just finished my review of Emperor of Thorns, but I have to take another look at it before it goes up. Yes, contrary to popular belief, I do edit my reviews. :) Not well, but that's beside the point. Here are a couple deals going on right now, looks like Baxter and Moon are lucky to be on this list which covers just about all the Terrys:

[$0.99] Trading in Danger (Vatta's War #1) by Elizabeth Moon - OTBSFF review.
[$1.99] The Long Earth (Long Earth #1) by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
[$1.99] The Long War (Long Earth #2) by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
[$2.99] The First Confessor (The Legend of Magda Searus #1) by Terry Goodkind
[$3.99] Bloodfire Quest (Dark Legacy of Shannara #2) by Terry Brooks

Review: Trading in Danger, by Elizabeth Moon

Trading in Danger [US][UK], by Elizabeth Moon, is a military science fiction adventure that begins the Vatta’s War series. This first installment introduces readers to Ky Vatta, an officer-candidate dropout that draws danger like iron to a lodestone – and manages to miraculously survive impossible situations.

Trading in Danger is a fun read that quickly builds the necessary momentum to keep readers hooked. Genre veterans will find the heroine and plot startlingly akin to Weber’s Honor Harrington and Tanya Huff’s Torin Kerr, with perhaps a few empire building capitalist tendencies thrown into the mix – galaxy spanning trade empires are, after all, not built overnight.

Ky Vatta is the quintessential protagonist. She is young, brilliant and invariably lucky. Her expulsion from officer-candidate school – for being overly trusting - sees her put at the helm of one of her family’s many intergalactic trading ships. Following the family philosophy of “trade and profit”, Ky quickly manages to get her ship embroiled in a “small local conflict” that fails to remain small. War, betrayal, sabotage and revenge ensue. How fun!

Trading in Danger ultimately leaves readers guessing in which direction the series is headed, even though the plot is fairly straightforward. The narrative unpredictability stems from the lack of an identifiable threat, which can in turn be countered or acted against by the protagonist. In short, we don’t know who the bad guys are, or even what they want... Flaw or virtue, the issue will likely only be decided somewhere beyond book two, which is where I am now.

Science fictionally speaking, Elizabeth Moon does a passable job of describing a far distant future. The technology is reasonably construed if somewhat vaguely so, and the logic of the socio-economic reality she depicts is internally consistent. In other words, her story is believable. However, Vatta’s War remains, irrevocably, a character driven drama. Indeed, the environment and setting are only tangential to the story’s focus: the emergence of a charismatic leader in times of grave uncertainty destined to restore her families preeminence in the interstellar arena.

Taken in its entirety, Trading in Danger is not without its flaws, especially when viewed in comparison to similar series, such as the notorious Honor Harrington. That said, the first two books in the Vatta’s War series have made for more than passable morning commute fare and should only be considered less than brilliant when taken alongside some of the brighter stars in the military science fiction niche. Personally, I was disappointed that Trading in Danger did not live up to my high expectations of Moon after reading her utterly engrossing The Speed of Dark (review).

Review: The Speed of Dark, by Elizabeth Moon

The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon is a remarkable dive into the mind of an autistic adult. Reminiscent in style and tone of the ‘speculative fiction’ of Margaret Atwood, The Speed of Dark is a moment of memorable genius that is both utterly compelling and morally and intellectually stimulating - an Arthur C. Clarke finalist and Nebula winner, this is a must read for everyone.

Elizabeth takes us into the mind of Lou, a high functioning autistic adult that works in the pattern recognition department of a corporate software firm. His co-workers are all autistic adults who, similar to Lou, are able to perform functions that a ‘normal’ person is unable to. I use the word “normal” with great reticence after having finished both Spellwright and The Speed of Dark in short succession, since both novels play heavily with the concept of what is normal and what is not - is there such a thing?

Elizabeth writes from the perspective of Lou and does so with such simple eloquence and utter sincerity that readers will literally become entranced. I most definitely was. The setting is roughly half a century in the future and human science has developed a remarkable mastery over the brain and its various functions. So far has the science been pushed that children born with autism can be cured within the first two years of life. Sadly, the protagonist and his co-workers were born just a little too late to benefit from such treatment, although they were recipients of advanced behavioral training that allows them to function at a high level in society.

Indeed, Lou is so ‘normal’ that he has become quite prodigious at fencing during his weekly class - by far the most compelling aspect of Elizabeth’s narrative. Lou's mastery of pattern recognition has allowed him to essentially predict the moves of his opponents and counter them appropriately. Experiencing the fencing bouts from Lou's perspective is startlingly akin to watching a magic duel unfold: the terms and concepts are familiar to the reader but there is a profound sense of enchantment, mystery, and excitement that is uniquely characteristic of speculative fiction.

The central dilemma of The Speed of Dark presents itself when Lou's corporate overlords, for budgetary reasons, want him and all of his co-workers to undergo a highly experimental treatment that promises to make them ‘normal’. Experiencing the conflict form Lou's perspective is quite literally breathtaking. He is someone that is intellectually capable of understanding and reasoning out human action and emotion but is incapable of the emotive processing which allows ‘normals’ to instantly interpret a smile or an awkward laugh. Interestingly, as I describe it to you now, I find my description of Lou's condition to be remarkably similar to that of sociochopaths… regardless, Lou is both fascinating and endearing - a strange mixture by all accounts, but one that works wonders.

I cannot recommend The Speed of Dark enough. Conceptually the writing and setting intertwine to weave a narrative that hits all the right notes without coming of as trite or cliche. To top it all off, you will never think of anyone with a disorder quite the same way again. A perspective altering novel that, in my opinion, should find its way into classrooms as well as the bring screen.