Review - Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie (First Law #4 but standalone)

"'Things aren't what they used to be' is the rallying cry of small minds. When men say things used to be better, they invariably mean they were better for them, because they were young, and had all their hopes intact. The world is bound to look a darker place as you slide into the grave.”

I felt like this was apt for today's political climate...

“You should laugh every moment you live, for you'll find it decidedly difficult afterwards.”

There was a lot of this type of sentiment throughout Best Served Cold. Do this, for you're not doing it after. Which is definitely the theme of the book. Some hints that revenge, as cool as it is for a story (especially a Joe Abercrombie story) is kind of a waste of your life.

I know this is absolutely all over the place for a "review" but it was great getting back to Abercrombie. His work with characters is stellar, as expected, especially Shivers here. His books are endlessly quotable, especially Nicomo Cosca (I think both above are from him), and that is in BSC too.

I was highly satisfied. Expectations met and exceeded in places.

I like that this was fully contained and stand-alone, yet if you've read in the world, you'll be rewarded.

I was a little disappointed in his Shattered Sea trilogy. Loved book one, but the later two just didn't work for me. Sadly, I think that had to do with his amazing ability with characters, but I didn't like them very much in books two and three.

Best Served Cold was nice to read to get back to what I love about Abercrombie while at the same time following characters I really loved.

Steven Pacey was the audiobook narrator and he was absolutely perfect for this. Great voices for all involved, from gruff northman, to females, to ... Friendly. I forgot I was listening to a book and I was lost in the story. That's a good narrator.

BSC is also a book that works well for audio. It's straight-forward at its heart with character focus. Some books (like Reality Dysfunction recently) just don't work, there's too much that my brain needs to see to remember and keep the story straight. BSC worked.

4.5 out of 5 stars (highly recommended)

P.S. Though technically known as book 4 of the First Law world, it's not necessary to read the previous books. It's standalone. I had this experience though I barely remembered any of the reoccurring characters.

Review - The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway

What got me to read The Gone-Away World (Vintage Contemporaries) was the tag line on the back saying there would be mimes and ninjas. Then I read another book by Harkaway and was blown away by his prose so this book was inevitable even though it was the first I was planning to read.

Having read it, I'm not sure how much I can tell about it other than to say it will easily be one of my favorite reads this year.

It's nuts, literally as insane as you can imagine when they're selling it with mimes and ninjas. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, at least in the current narrative portion, but I have to warn you that it's filled with flashes to the past. It's the narrative conceit here. It's not as much as Wizard and Glass (Stephen King), but it's not too far off either... You've been warned, but I think that helps knowing.

This is one of those books that you have to be along for the ride, not necessarily the plot. There are so very many tangents that you have to just enjoy it. They're all over the place and not just in the fact that you're doing yet another flashback.

While I'm acting like this is a bad thing, it's really not. I just know how much of a shock this kind of narrative can be. Wizard and Glass is my favorite in the Dark Tower series, so that's where I'm coming from.

If you like zany characters, ninjas, weirdness, and definitely mimes in an odd-ball, off-the-wall, tangent-filled, joke-filled post-apocalypse .... then you're totally going to love this.

4.5 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended)

Review - Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith

What an odd gem Only Forward is. It starts out as an entertaining thriller set in a unique near-future world. I was digging it immensely, especially because the main protagonist, Stark, is extremely engaging. He was a perfect mix of humor and can-do that makes for some great lines.

For instance:

"[T]he stations zipped by soundlessly, and I geared myself up for whatever it was I had to gear myself up for. I didn’t have much to go on, so I just geared up generally."

Talking about not wanting to remember a thing: "but I knew I was safe: I always lose my mental notes."

On the topic of a long wait at a restaurant: "Then finally, like some optical illusion, the art student reappeared. I found myself frankly incredulous that she didn’t now have grey hair and walk with a stoop, and decided it must be her great-granddaughter bringing my order, concluding an ancient and mystic hereditary task passed down the family line."

Also:

"Life is like a video game: when you get to a new screen, the thing to do is move as quickly as possible, before the situation gets any worse."

Then, about 50% of the way through (exactly 50% on my Kindle actually), this book gets weird. Your thriller is turned on its head and we go to dreamland...erm...Jeamland.

It almost lost me at that point if I'm being honest.

Luckily, I stuck with it, probably mostly because of the protagonist, because the weird doesn't let up, but the dreamland is really kind of a cool idea. I can see not everyone jiving with the ideas presented, but I finally grew to really like it.

Then, there are some well-done last-minute twists that sealed the deal on top of everything.

I don't want to give away too much. My recommendation, give it a go and push through the weird bit. It does put the whole story on its head, but I thought it worked.

4 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended)