Phule's Company - Robert Asprin

   1990; 296 pages.  New Author? : No.  Book 1 (out of 6) in the “Phule’s Company” series.  Genres : Humorous Science Fiction; Military Sci-Fi.  Overall Rating : 5½*/10.

 

    It was a most unfortunate accident.  And there were some mitigating circumstances.  The spaceship’s communications gear was on the fritz, and they were under orders to maintain com silence.

 

    Still, there’s something egregious about strafing the ceremonial signing of a peace treaty, for goodness sake!  And the Legionnaire who led the strafing run, Lieutenant Willard Phule, needs to be duly punished.

 

    But that’s where it gets tricky.  Lieutenant Phule is the son and heir to the owner and president of Phule-Proof Munitions, the largest arms manufacturer and distributor in the galaxy, and the present supplier of all arms and munitions to the Space Legion.  Busting him could have serious consequences.  Hmm. There’s got to be some way to punish Phule without offending his family.

 

    I know! How about promoting him to Captain, and putting him in charge of the Space Legion’s notorious Omega Company?!

 

What’s To Like...

    Phule’s Company is the eponymous first book in Robert Asprin’s six-volume Phule’s Company series, arguably just as popular as his Myth Adventures set of fantasy stories.  This was my introduction to this series, but the overall tone of the book reminded me of the 1980s television series The A-Team.

 

    Captain Phule is just as resourceful and witty of a leader as John “Hannibal” Smith, and the supporting cast of characters here are just as diverse and well-developed as Hannibal's gang if misfits.  Omega Company is the dregs of the Space Legion, and the Space Legion is the dregs of the Intergalactic Military.  A lot of Phule’s Company chronicles Phule’s efforts to whip his motley crew into a viable fighting force, as told by his staff butler, Beeker.

 

    Most of Phule’s Company are humans, but Robert Asprin works a couple of extraterrestrial species into the narrative  the Voltons (sometimes called “Voltrons”) are huge tusked-beasts, which belies the fact that they are also strict pacifists.  And the insectoid Sinthians, Louie and Spartacus, seem at first to be ill-fitted for the military, but Phule cleverly finds a perfect fit for their physical make-ups.  Phule’s Company learns the optimum way to navigate through a “confidence course” (aka an “obstacle course”), and the strategic resolution of the competition between the Red Eagles and the Space Legion was a wonderful coup by both Willard Phule and Robert Asprin.

 

    The best part of the book is the last 10% when contact is accidentally made with a research ship of the Zenobian Exploratory Forces, and Captain Phule once again demonstrates his problem-solving talents.  There’s a short teaser for the next book in the series, and plot-wise, all’s well that ends well.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 230 ratings and 15 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.99/5 based on 9,723 ratings and 327 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “We have a situation here.  I thought I should alert you as soon as possible.”

    Phule felt a sinking sensation in his stomach, but kept his voice calm.

    “Very well.  What’s happened?  Start at the beginning.”

    “Well, Do-Wop took a shot at a lizard . . .”

    “A lizard?”

    “It sort of looked like a lizard . . . only bigger.  Currently unidentified.  Anyway, it shot back at him, and . . .”

    “It what?”  (loc. 3399)

 

    “What are they doing out there?” the general said as the three officers stared at the display outside their window.

    “If I had to guess, sir,” Battleax murmured, not taking her eyes from the formation, “I’d say it was a demonstration of support for their commander.”

    “A demonstration?  It looks like they’re getting ready to assault the spaceport.”

    “I didn’t say it looked like a peaceful demonstration.”  The colonel smiled humorlessly.  (loc. 3747)

 

Kindle Details…

    Phule’s Company presently sells for $8.99 at Amazon.  Books 2-6 will run you anywhere from $1.99 to $8.99.  Robert Asprin has penned several other series, including Myth-Adventures which I’ve read quite a bit of, and Thieves’ World which I haven’t read at all.  Those books are also in the $1.99-$8.99 range.

 

“I don’t care if they’re talking mushrooms!”  (loc. 3578)

    The cussing is light in Phule’s Company; just fifteen instances in the whole text.  I only noted two typos outside the Volton/Voltron boo-boos: gaff/gaffe, and duo/duel.  Whoever edited the book did a terrific job.

 

    The main problem for me was the storytelling.  I’ve read a number of the Myth Adventures tales, and my recollection is that they were more humorous than Phule’s Company, and more exciting as well.  Also, for all of Captain Phule’s cleverness, the thing he resorts to for solving most of his challenges throwing his father’s multi-million dollars at them.  That’s okay, I suppose, but it’s not very ingenious.

 

    To sum up, Phule’s Company was a decent sci-fi tale but not a spectacular one.  I vaguely recall the Myth Adventures also losing their sparkle after a while, around the time the recurring characters, Guido and Nunzio, started showing up.  I snagged the final book in Phule's Company while it was temporarily discounted, but I may or my not read the intervening ones.

 

    5½ Stars.  One last trivia detail:  it was an enlightening to learn about the etymology of the word for "ladies of the night": “Hookers”.  It's always fun to learn more about the history of our English language.

Superfreakonomics - Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

   2009; 244 pages.  Full Title: Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and why Suicide Bombers should buy Life Insurance.  New Authors? : No.  Genres : Economics; Statistics; Data-Mining; Non-Fiction.  Overall Rating : 9*/10.

 

    Which is more dangerous: driving drunk or walking drunk?

 

    What’s the difference, if any, between a hooker and an “escort”?  Give your answer in dollars-per-hour, please.

 

    If we could find a cheap and simple way to reverse global warming, how easy would it be to get every country in the world to buy into it?

 

    If we could teach monkeys the concepts of money and gambling, how much would that help them evolve?

 

   Do questions like those pique your interest?  If so, then you’ll love Superfreakonomics; those are all major topics there.  Along with dozens more.  Plus how to develop data and determine the answers without skewing the results.

 

What’s To Like...

    Superfreakonomics is the follow-up to Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner’s breakthrough bestseller Freakonomics, and is divided into the following catchy-titled sections:

        Introduction : Putting the Freak in Economics

        Chapter 1 : How is a Street Prostitute like a Department Store Santa?

        Chapter 2 : Why Should Suicide Bombers buy Life Insurance?

        Chapter 3 : Unbelievable Stories about Apathy and Altruism

        Chapter 4 : The Fix is in — and It’s Cheap and Simple

        Chapter 5 : What do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo have in Common?

        Epilogue : Monkeys are People too

 

    The Table of Contents at the start of the book lists the various sub-topics addressed in each of those sections, which makes referencing any of them a snap.  There is also a “Bonus Matter” section at the tail-end of the book, including the fascinating parts: Q & A with the Authors, The Things our Fathers Gave Us, and Transcript from the First Freakonomics Radio Podcast, as well as the obligatory Acknowledgements, Notes, and Index. 

 

    It should be noted that the Teaser Questions posed in three of the chapter titles above are all answered therein.  The sub-topics are too numerous to list here, but some of my favorites are:

 

    1. Pimps vs. Realtors (which has the greater impact?)

    2. Some families produce baseball players; others produce terrorists (the 2002 D.C. snipers)

    3. Why did 38 people watch Kitty Genovese be murdered? (1964)

    4. How much good do car seats do? (and seat belts too)

    5. The “garden hose to the sky” (how to do global-cooling)

    The book is a trivia-buff’s delight.  You’ll learn what the acronyms FSBO, RIMPACT, and PIMPACT mean; how major cities dealt with horse poop before the automobile came along; and how the first letter of your surname and the month you were born in will affect your life.  The question of how TV-watching impacts crime rates is finally answered, and you’ll marvel at how nitrate fertilizers have prevented global starvation.  Last but not least, you’ll be introduced to Ignatz Semmelweis, thank him for his contribution to the wellbeing of humanity, and mourn his sad demise.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.5/5 based on 4,311 ratings and 1,297 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.00/5 based on 130,191 ratings and 4,826 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    If you know someone in southeastern Uganda who is having a baby next year, you should hope with all your heart that the baby isn’t born in May.  If so, it will be roughly 20 percent more likely to have visual, hearing, or learning disabilities as an adult.

    Three years from now, however, May would be a fine month to have a baby.  But the danger will have only shifted, not disappeared; April would now be the cruelest month.

    What can possibly account for this bizarre pattern?  Before you answer, consider this: the same pattern has been identified halfway across the world, in Michigan.  In fact, a May birth in Michigan might carry an even greater risk than in Uganda.  (pg. 57)

 

    Keep in mind that externalities aren’t always as obvious as they seem.

    To keep their cars from being stolen off the street, a lot of people lock the steering wheel with an anti-theft device like the Club.  The Club is big and highly visible (it even comes in neon pink).  By using a Club, you are explicitly telling a potential thief that your car will be hard to steal.  The implicit signal, meanwhile, is that your neighbor’s car—the one without a Club—is a much better target.  So your Club produces a negative externality for your non-Club-using neighbor in the form of a higher risk that his car will be stolen.  The Club is a perfect exercise in self-interest.  (pg. 173)

 

Sure, it works in practice, but does it work in theory?  (pg. 115)

    There’s really not much to nitpick about in Superfreakonomics.  I only saw two cusswords, both of which were necessary since they were in direct quotes.  If you’re counting on the topics like terrorism and prostitution to be gory and/or spicy, you’ll be disappointed.

 

    The Notes and Index sections comprise one-sixth of the (paperback) book, which may not be tree-friendly, but are sadly a requirement in any reference book like this.

 

    That’s all I can kvetch about.  It should be noted that I may not agree with every conclusion Levitt & Dubner propose (one example is their Sulfur Dioxide recommendation), but that doesn’t mean I don’t find their propositions well thought-out, easy to understand, and worthy of consideration.

 

    9 Stars.  Superfreakonomics is a fast, easy, fact-filled read, and every bit as interesting and good as Freakonomics was, which I read a couple years ago and is reviewed here.  I have the next book, Think Like a Freak, on my TBR shelf, and am aware that there is a fourth book in the series, When to Rob a Bank.  I think I’ll have to go looking for that last one at my local Half-Price Books store.

Six Days of the Condor - James Grady

   1974; 311 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres : Espionage; Conspiracy Thriller; Suspense; Movie Tie-in.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

 

    Welcome to the Washington D.C. branch of the American Literary Historical Society!  You can tell by its name that its purpose in life is . . . um . . . something literary, I suppose.  Or historical, maybe.  That name seems a bit vague.

 

    Actually, the Society is a CIA front for one of its very unimportant branches.  Its function is to “keep track of all espionage and related acts recorded in literature.”  In other words, its agents sit around and read spy thrillers and murder mysteries, checking to see if any author out there has written a plot with details about espionage that are too close for comfort to how the CIA conducts its business.

 

    All in all, it’s a pretty tame assignment.  Yet today, some person or persons walked in through the front doors of the American Literary Historical Society and shot everybody in the department to death.

 

     Well, not quite everybody.  One member of the group had the good fortune of being out of the office, picking up lunch for the rest of his coworkers.  Ronald Malcolm.  Now all sorts of people, some CIA, others of unknown loyalties, would like to bring Malcom in for questioning.

 

    Or kill him.

 

What’s To Like...

    James Grady’s Six Days of the Condor is the basis for the 1975 blockbuster political-thriller film Three Days of the Condor, although “loosely based” would be a more apt description, as evidenced by the length of the book’s titular chase scene being cut in half.

 

    Malcolm’s chances of staying alive are slim.  The reader may know that Malcolm has had a narrow escape from death, but his employer, the CIA, doesn’t.  They quickly realize they have a turncoat in their midst, and the Number One suspect is that oh-so-lucky employee who just happened to be out of the office when the assassins struck.  Meanwhile, the baddies too learn they’ve overlooked a victim, and are determined to correct that oversight.  Tell me, Malcolm, where do you hide when everybody is after you?

 

    The storytelling is spellbinding.  The reader knows that everything is going to turn out okay, but the bad guys are just as resourceful as the good guys, and logic tells us that a bookish nerd will not fare well against well-armed and highly-trained gunmen.  The technical details felt well-researched, especially when it came to lethal firearms.

 

    Six Days of the Condor was published in 1974, and it was fun to re-experience that era.  At one point, Malcom avails himself to a “battered Corvair”, which I happened to have one of back then, and in battered condition as well.  Later, Malcolm hides out at a “homosexual hangout”, which the author informs us can also be called a “gay” bar.  Soon afterward, he hitches a ride with a driver looking for nubile girls who will do anything, and he means anything for some marijuana.  Even later, the action takes place at an airport, where security is so lax that evidently anyone and everyone can enter with a handgun hidden under their jackets.

 

    The ending is both exciting and twisty.  All the plot threads get tied up, the good guys prevail, and the bad guys are foiled.  There are some sequels, but they appear to be limited to six short stories and a novella.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.2/5 based on 1,853 ratings and 328 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.09/5 based on 16,761 ratings and 448 reviews

 

Things That Sound Dirty, But Aren’t…

    [The man], slightly wounded in the neck, desperately reached for the gun in his back pocket, but his pants were around his ankles.  (loc. 2714)

 

Excerpts...

    That morning at 3:15 Heidegger unlocked his door to the knock of police officers.  When he opened the door he found two men in ordinary clothes smiling at him.  One was very tall and painfully thin.  The other was quite distinguished, but if you looked in his eyes you could tell he wasn’t a banker.

    The two men shut the door behind them.  (loc. 688)

 

    The terminal was beginning to fill with the bustling people who would pass through it during the day.  A wheezing janitor swept cigarette butts off the red rug.  A mother tried to coax a bored infant into submission.  A nervous coed sat wondering if her roommate’s half-fare card would work.  Three young Marines headed home to Michigan wondered if she would work.  A retired wealthy executive and a penniless wino slept in adjoining chairs, both waiting for daughters to fly in from Detroit.  A Fuller Brush executive sat perfectly still, bracing himself for the effects of a jet flight on a gin hangover.  (loc. 2672)

 

Kindle Details…

    Six Days of the Condor sells for $8.99 at Amazon right now.  James Grady has seven other e-books available at Amazon, including two that have tie-ins to Six Days of the Condor.  They range in price from $1.99 to $11.99.

 

“I Imagine there are many who frown on the U.S. government pushing dope.”  (loc. 2560)

    The quibbles are minor.  The cussing, frankly, was a lot less than I expected, just 12 instances in the first 25%.  OTOH, there were also a half dozen rolls-in-the-hay.

 

    Each of the twelve chapters starts out with a quote.  Some are by US presidents about the CIA, and those were quite applicable.  Others were from Fred Reinfeld’s The Complete Chess Course and left me scratching my head, despite the fact that I’m an avid chessplayer.

 

    Last of all, it surprised me that in the one or two gunfights betwixt nerdy Malcolm and the ruthless killers, our hero fares rather well.  Of course, I admit it would’ve been a short, forgettable tale if the Malcolm had been blown away in the first hour of the chase.

 

    But I pick at nits.  For me, Six Days of the Condor was an intense, exciting, fingernails-biting story, and it’s easy to see why it was picked up and developed into a big-budget movie featuring big-budget stars like Faye Dunaway, Robert Redford, Cliff Robertson, and Max von Sydow.  Despite all the changes they made to James Grady’s original story, including renaming most of the characters (Ronald Malcolm becomes Joe Turner) and relocating the setting (Washington DC is replaced by New York City), I may have to see if Netflix carries this movie.

 

    8½ Stars.  At the beginning of the e-book is a “Confession” section wherein James Grady gives the background to his writing Six Days of the Condor, a short biography of his life pre- and post- the book being published, and his experience as a technical adviser on the movie.  This takes up 15% of the e-book.  I suggest reading it after you’ve read the story, not before.

Murder Afloat - Ruby Riverton

   2021; 329 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Book 1 (out of 5) in the “Lottie Lindberg Murder Mysteries” series.  Genres : Cozy Mystery; Amateur Sleuth Mystery; Historical Fiction.  Overall Rating : 7*/10.

 

    It is going to be a bittersweet voyage for Lottie Lindberg.

 

    On one hand, this was supposed to be a honeymoon cruise for Lottie and her husband, Manning.  But Manning recently passed away from the consumption, and Lottie is fulfilling his dying wish that she still go on the trip.

 

    On the other hand, this is the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, the most modern ocean liner in the world!  All sorts of upper crust people will be among the passengers, and maybe Lottie will get to hobnob with some of them.  After all, Manning did arrange their room to be in the first-class section.

 

    Lottie will have lots of free time for her favorite hobby – reading mystery-crime novels.  Who knows, she might even witness something mysterious and get to go sleuthing, just like the brainy detectives in Jacques Heath Futrelle’s crime novels.

 

    That’s about the only chance for anything exciting happening on this cruise.  After all, even though they’ll be traveling through waters laden with icebergs, everybody has been assured that the Titanic is unsinkable.

 

What’s To Like...

    Murder Afloat is the first book in Ruby Riverton’s 5-volume (so far) 1900s Historical Cozy Mystery series featuring our plucky amateur sleuth, Lottie Lindberg.  The emphasis here is on the word “cozy”; there is zero cussing, zero “adult situations”, and zero blood-&-gore.  The setting is easy to determine: 1912, aboard the RMS Titanic, at least until it sinks.  ANAICT, the entire series thus far is set in the pre-World War One era, i.e. before 1914.

 

    The investigation reminded me of the old 1980s-90s TV series Murder, She Wrote.  Lottie befriends several co-passengers and, after witnessing several odd goings-on, they (mostly Lottie) nose around, then meet back together to discuss what they’ve observed.  Jessica Fletcher would be proud.

 

    There are plenty of odd events for Lottie and the reader to ponder.  Who lost a boot?  Why are a bunch of baddies all wearing the same kind of shoes?  Why do some of the passengers seem to have multiple accents?  What happened to Esme’s dowry?  What’s the grand plan of the baddies?  Plus lots more.

 

    Be sure to read the Afterword section at the end of the book.  Ruby Riverton introduces you to a number of famous and/or well-to-do people that were on the fateful voyage.  One of the notables who perished when the Titanic went down was the aforementioned American mystery writer Jacques Futrelle, who, according to Wikipedia, was as famous for his “brainy detective” series as Arthur Conan Doyle was for his Sherlock Holmes tales.  Amazon carries quite a few of Futrelle’s stories, many of which are free due to the copyright having expired.  Being a Conan Doyle fan, reading this book motivates me to get acquainted with his works.

 

    The ending is over-the-top, but that’s okay in a cozy mystery.  This is not an “alternate timeline” tale; the Titanic still sinks on schedule, and I kept wondering how Ruby Riverton was going to “save” Lottie's two male acquaintances, given that lifeboat seats were mostly only available for women and children.  Read the book to find out how that plot thread gets resolved.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.2/5 based on 718 ratings and 84 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.13/5 based on 407 ratings and 62 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “Now that I have you here, I have the most exciting news to share.”  I bounce to a seat on the bed and kick off my shoes, rubbing my feet.  I wore a new pair of heels to breakfast that I don’t think I’ll ever wear again.  I swear, women’s shoes are just a fancy name for torture chambers.  “You don’t mind, do you?”  I suddenly look up, realizing how casually rude I’m being, exposing my bare feet like this in mixed company.

    “Oh, no problem, Miss.  I’ve seen feet before.”  (loc. 1416)

 

    “Perhaps he was just wishing to leave an old life behind and thought he’d turn over a new leaf in America and become a whole new person.”

    “Or maybe he’s a criminal running from the law.”  Esme’s brows lurch up as she tamps down the thought.

    “Yes, well, there’s that, too.”  I swallow.

    “But a baron, of all things.”  She grips her hips.

    “Well, what would you become if you wanted to change your whole life?”

    “Well, certainly not aristocracy.”  Esme scowls.  (loc. 3225)

 

Kindle Details…

    Murder Afloat sells for $0.99 at Amazon right now.  Books 2-4 are $4.99 apiece, with Book 5 currently going for $2.99.  ANAICT, this series is Ruby Riverton’s debut entry into the Amazon e-book market.

 

“You lowly plop of poodle poo!”  (loc. 3557)

    There are some things to quibble about in Murder Afloat.

 

    The characters all tend to be either “black hats” or “white hats”, it is easy for the reader to immediately tell which they are, and I only recall one plot twist that changed a person's “hat color”.

 

    The writing can be a bit clunky at times.  Another reviewer called the problem “writing in the present tense”, and that’s a fair description.  It was distracting, although my “reading brain” learned to ignore it.  Several reviewers pointed out some historical anachronisms.  Curiously, left unmentioned was the only one I noted, the ship’s racquetball courts.  Racquetball wasn’t invented until the early 1950s.

 

    There were also a couple of what I call WTF’s, i.e. things that strain the reader’s believability limit.  One example is when the situation calls for it, Lottie somehow instantly becomes a skilled lock-picker.  To be fair, though, I think cozy mysteries are one genre that are allowed to use a few WTF’s.

 

    The biggest issue, noted by others, was the editing.  Typos and punctuation gaffes abound.  At the start of the book, the author offers a link where readers can leave a note about any errata they find.  I imagine the site is awash with replies.

 

    Nevertheless, I enjoyed Murder Afloat, even though the cozy mysteries I read are few and far between.  Lottie is an interesting and likeable protagonist, and I especially liked that the story incorporates a historically monumental event into its setting.  Keep in mind that the book isn’t a “whodunit”, it’s a “what are they up to”, then tag along with Lottie and see if you can get to the bottom of things before she does.

 

    7 Stars.  Good news!  Ruby Riverton is evidently working on the sixth book in this series.  It is tentatively titled Murder Abounds or Murder Askew, depending on which Amazon blurb is correct.

Sword of Destiny - Andrzej Sapkowski

   1993 (originally in Polish), 2015 (English translation); 374 pages.  Translator: David French.  Book 2 (out of 8) in “The Witcher” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Epic Fantasy; Anthology; Sword and Sorcery.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    Six more tales of the early adventures of the Witcher.  Back before he was featured in comic books, video games, role-playing quests, board games, and even a Russian rock opera called The Road of No Return.  Back when the only language the stories were issued in was Polish.

 

    This was in the early 90s when tales of the Witcher were only penned as short stories.  After a dozen or so of those, Andrzej Sapkowski, moved up to writing full-length novels, and still later his tales were translated into many other languages, including English.

 

    The short stories would be combined into two anthologies, each containing a half dozen tales.  I’ve read the first collection, The Last Wish; it is reviewed here.  I’ve finally got around to reading the second volume of those short stories, which is titled Sword of Destiny.

 

What’s To Like...

    The six tales in Sword of Destiny are:

1.) The Bounds of Reason (81 pages)

2.) A Shard of Ice (46 pages)

3.) Eternal Flame (50 pages)

4.) A Little Sacrifice (65 pages)

5.) Sword of Destiny (66 pages)

6.) Something More (59 pages)

 

    Unlike the selections in the first anthology, the stories here all seem to take place in chronological order.  They have other recurring characters besides the Witcher, who of course is in them all.  The bard Dandelion appears in 4 of the 6 tales, the sorceress Yenefer appears in 3, and the waif of destiny, Ciri, who I don’t recall being in the first anthology at all, makes her debut here via 2 of the stories.  I have a feeling these three will all continue to be present in the full-length novels that follow.

 

    Our heroes cross paths with a host of critters, including basilisks, dragons, dwarves, zeugls, halflings, dopplers, gnomes, mermaids, dryads, and myriapods.  All of them are worthy to be wary of.  There is some magic, including the Witcher’s ability to invoke certain “signs”, but sorcery is not necessarily a cure-all against a hacking-&-slashing warrior.  I liked that.

 

    The paperback version I read is written in English (translated, actually), not American, so you can fight with sabres, eat vittals and molluscs, be as barmy and nosey as you wish, and even carry a child pick-a-back.  The stories are set in various medieval-era villages, including one, Novigrad, which I presume references a present-day town in Croatia.  I enjoyed joining in with the Beltrane celebration in the Story 6, smiled smugly when halflings appeared in Story 3, was impressed by the mayor who haggled with the Witcher in Story 2, and snickered at the mention of cannabis, also in Story 2, where it is used as a balm/elixir.  Sure.

 

    All six stories were good, but my favorite was the first one, The Bounds of Reason, which is also the longest tale.  Without giving any spoilers, let us simply make the point that, while putting together a gang of thrill-seekers to go find and kill a dragon and divvy up the treasure trove it presumably is guarding, one of the group always has to confront the dragon first, and that poor soul almost always ends up burnt to a crisp.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Snug (n.) : a small, comfortable public room in an inn or pub (a Britishism).
Others: Kilim (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 30,294 ratings and 1,195 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.28/5 based on 168,483 ratings and 9,356 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “The Holy Book says,” Eyck said, now yelling loudly, “that the serpent, the foul dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, will come forth from the abyss!  And on his back will sit a woman in purple and scarlet, and a golden goblet will be in her hand, and on her forehead will be written the sign of all and ultimate whoredom!”

    I know her!” Dandelion said, delighted.  “It’s Cilia, the wife of the Alderman of Sommerhalder!”

    “Quieten down, poet, sir,” Gyllenstieren said.  (pg. 53)

 

    “I love her,” Agloval said firmly.  “I want her for my wife.  But for that she must have legs and not a scaly tail.  And it’s feasible, since I bought a magical elixir with a full guarantee, for two pounds of exquisite pearls.  After drinking it she’ll grow legs.  She’ll just suffer a little, for three days, no more.  Call her.  Witcher, tell her again.”

    “I’ve already told her twice.  She said absolutely no, she doesn’t consent.  But she added that she knows a witch, a sea witch, who is prepared to cast a spell to turn your legs into a handsome tail.  Painlessly.”

    “She must be insane!  She thinks I would have a fishy tail?  Not a chance!”  (pg. 184)

 

“To me, frankly speaking, you are equally loathsome.”  “Thank you.”  (pg. 40)

    It’s hard to find anything to grouse about in Sword of Destiny.

 

    There’s a moderate amount of cussing: I noted 27 instances in the first 20% of the book, and I’m curious as to how a translator handles Polish-to-English cusswords.  I imagine scatological and copulative vocabulary exists in both languages, but what about eternal judgment ones?

 

    That’s all I can complain about.  Yes, it is an anthology, and those are rarely as good as an author’s full-length novels.  But that just makes me anxious to start in on Book 3 of the series, Blood of Elves, which is not an anthology, and which I have on my Kindle.

 

    Summing up, Sword of Destiny was a pleasant reading surprise for me.  The writing/translating was masterfully done, and the dialogue was once again rich in Andrzej Sapkowski’s wit and humor.  None of the stories dragged, and deeper subjects, such as destiny and honor, are explored without the text becoming preachy.

 

    I’m tempted to take a look at the Netflix adaptation of the series, just to see how well the author’s literary skills segue onto the silver screen.

 

    8 Stars.  Sword of Destiny was the winner of the 2012 Tahtifantasia Award for Best Foreign Fantasy book released in Finland.  You say you’ve never heard of that?  Me neither, but it is nice to see that Wikipedia has a posting for it, and that Finland appreciates the labors of those who do Polish-to-Finnish translations.

Pushing Daisy - Scott Baron

   2018; 360 pages.  Book 2 (out of 5) in the series “The Clockwork Chimera”.  New Author? : No.  Genre : Space Opera; Alien Invasion Sci-Fi.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    Daisy is the chosen one.  It’s her destiny to save Earth.  That’s what everyone says.

 

    To be fair, though, “everyone” in this case means the dozen or so beings hiding out at the Dark Side Base on the far side of the Moon.  And it doesn’t include the most important one of those: Daisy herself.

 

    She’s already been to Earth once., and almost died there.  The planet’s a forsaken place that’s home to almost no humans anymore.  Instead, there are lots of cyborgs, mutants, and deadly insectoid Chithiids.  That last group came from who-knows-where and is especially committed to, and skilled at, killing humans.

 

    Daisy is fully human, but she wasn’t born on Earth and feels no kinship with it.  She denies that she’s anybody's “chosen one”, has no intention of ever returning to Earth, and lets everybody else at the Dark Side base know that.

 

    Whattaya think the odds are that she’ll end up back there anyway?

 

What’s To Like...

    Pushing Daisy is the second book in Scott Baron’s 5-volume Space Opera “The Clockwork Chimera”.  I’m reading them in order; the first book, Daisy’s Run, is reviewed here.

 

    It’s not a spoiler to reveal that Daisy does indeed make a return trip to our ruined planet, although that doesn’t happen until about halfway through the story.  This time, however, her Terran settings are not limited to Los Angeles; she travels to several more US cities, including my current stomping grounds, Phoenix, which she finds completely overrun with mutants.

 

   Several new beings are introduced, including Craaxit, a Chithiid soldier.  I have a feeling he’ll be developed into a recurring character in the series.  There are a couple of new AIs to meet and be wary of: Alma, who heads the Los Angeles underground, and Freya, a juvenile AI.  We’re also introduced to a new race of baddies called the Ra’az Hok.  If you cross paths with any of them, run away.  Fast.

 

    There are a half dozen or so of plot threads to keep the reader’s interest.  Some are ongoing, such as the Daisy/Vince affair.  Others are new, such as the secret door on the moon that Daisy happens across, and of course her various adventures down on Earth.

 

    The ending is a mixed affair.  It’s not a cliffhanger, but it’s not exactly a climax to the story either.  It’s sort of a stopping off point on the way to what presumably transpires in Book 3, Daisy’s Gambit.  If I were reading Pushing Daisy as a discrete book, I’d be miffed about how it ends, but fortunately, I’m utilizing Scott Baron’s 5-book bundle of the series, which means the story continues on the very next page of my Kindle.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.5/5 based on 637 ratings and 47 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.25/5 based on 483 ratings and 51 reviews.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Miyagi-ed (v.) : (a cleverly made-up word, referencing The Karate Kid).

 

Excerpts...

    “Okay,” she began, “here’s what we’re going to do.  It’s kind of like a game, and if you are really good, I’ll put a movie on and we’ll watch it together.”

    “Wouldn’t it be faster if you uploaded it to me?”

    “Well, you see, that’s the point here.  To help you learn to slow down and appreciate things.  If you watch it with me, you see it at the same speed I do.  Learn to savor the meal instead of inhaling it.”

    “But I don’t eat, Daisy.”

    “It’s a metaphor.”  She sighed.  (loc. 6725)

 

    “And look at these wonderful people you’ve brought with!  Oh, but those outfits.  No, no, that simply will not do.  Oh, this is exciting!  I can’t wait to get your measurements.  I have some wonderful ideas I’ve been meaning to try out.”

    “Habby, we don’t want any trouble,” Daisy said.  “We’re just passing through.”

    “Trouble?  Oh my, but you caused quite a lot of that when you went tearing off through the city last time.  You know, we lost several of our friends because of your foolishness.”

    “You were holding me captive.”

    “Potato, tomato, it’s all a matter of perspective, my dear.”  (loc. 8894)

 

Kindle Details…

    Pushing Daisy sells for $2.99 at Amazon.  The other four books in the series are all in the $0.99-$3.99 range.  The complete set can also be bought in the aforementioned bundle, which presently costs $7.99, and which occasionally is graciously discounted by the author.  Scott Baron has lots of other Sci-Fi series to offer; most of the individual books in those are in the $0.99-$4.99 range.

 

“You should always think outside the box.  "But I am a box.”  (loc. 6882)

    There are a couple of quibbles.  I counted 31 instances of cussing in the first 20% of Pushing Daisy (actually the first 8 of its 40 chapters, since pages aren’t numbered in e-book bundles), although that’s about half the rate that I found in Daisy’s Run.  That's about it for R-rated stuff, though.

 

    Not all of the plotlines get tied up.  I don’t mind Daisy’s relationship with Vince still dangling; I expect that to play out over the full course of the series.  But the Freya plot thread, which was well-developed and fascinating at its inception here, just fizzles out.  Also, at the book’s end, a major character's state of health still hangs in the balance.

 

    For me, the book started out slowly, with Daisy going to too many sparring sessions with Tamara, and too many meditation sessions with Fatima.  I recognize both are necessary to make Daisy a formidable protagonist, but for me, it made for slow spots in the tale-spinning.

 

    But no matter.  Once Daisy has her meds (that’s “meditations”, not “medications”) and can summon the fighting mentality of a seasoned warrior, she’s ready to make a trip to Earth and everything thereafter was a fast-paced, page-turning action-adventure.  The overarching plotline also expands nicely.  Before, Daisy’s aim was to save the few surviving humans in Los Angeles, now her horizons have grown considerably.

 

    8 Stars.  FWIW, I’m 40% of the way through this series, which is called The Clockwork Chimera, and I still have no clue as to why it’s called that.  Ah, but that's just one more reason to continue reading Daisy’s tale.