Debris by Jo Anderton

Review by Barbara S. (barbsis)

Four Stars

In Movoc-under-Keeper you are either a pion worker or a debris collector.  A pion handler gets paid the rather big bucks because they can create darn near anything from buildings to statues to electricity and everything in between.  A pion handler is sort of a magician.  They use an inherent magical ability to manipulate pions. On the other hand, a debris collector is sort of like a garbage man and gets paid accordingly; picking up the hazardous waste by-producs of the pion usage.  The debris is strong enough to dismantle pion workings and fell buildings.  A debris collector has a special suit which reminded me a little of Inspector Gadget where anything you would need to collect debris can be instantly “created” from inside you.  The suit involves some sort of metal that is injected into the blood.  It’s not really a suit per se, but separate units at neck, waist, wrists and ankles that emits blinding light.  They can project all kinds of tools from their wrists to help collect debris – shovels, picks, pincers, etc.

Tanyana Vladha is a brilliant pion manipulator who says someone magically attacked her causing her creation to fall and darn near kill her and the spectators.  Interestingly enough, the Veche (kind of like a ruling council) had respresenatives on hand that day doing a surprise inspection.  Suspicious?  It certainly was to Tanyana.  After the accident, Tanyana is “demoted” to debris collector and has to adjust to a life as a garbage picker.  She’s good at it but hardly plans to live this way forever.  She continues to investigate her accident and runs into road block after road block with the Veche.  Suspicious?  You bet!

It took a long time to figure out what the heck was going on and what the heck they were talking about but once I figured it out, I really enjoyed Tanyana’s struggles with this new life.  She made friends with her debris team and hasn’t lost all hope of a reversal of fortune.

Secret Sanction by Brian Haig

Review by Vicky T. (VickyJo)

Not too long ago, one of my patrons came into the library to return a book.  She mentioned that she had really enjoyed it, but that it was the sixth book in a series.  She wanted to know if I had the first five books.  I checked our card catalog, and sadly, I didn’t have any of the other books.  This happens sometimes.  We will receive books in a donation, or sometimes I purchase a book, not knowing that it’s a part of a series.  And most people, myself included, like to read series….and they like to read them in order.

Anyway, a couple of weeks went by, and this particular patron came back.  She had purchased the first five books in this series, and she donated them to my library.  Now, if someone wants to read a series so badly that she will buy the books…and is then willing to share them with us so we have a complete collection…well, let’s just say I’m going to take notice!  (Not to mention be extremely grateful for the generous gift!)

Obviously I had to try this author, and so I took the first one home with me.  The title is “Secret Sanction” and it was written by Brian Haig.  You may recall Brian Haig’s father, Alexander Haig, who was the Secretary of State under President Reagan.  So it shouldn’t have been a surprise to me to see that “Secret Sanction” had a strong military theme.  Uh-oh.  I’m not big on military novels.  But still, this patron really liked this author.

So, I cracked open “Secret Sanction” and was hooked.  Our hero, Sean Drummond, is a Major in the Army.  He’s served for 14 years; the first five in the infantry, then three years at law school, then six months at the JAG school (which stands for Judge Advocate General’s Corps) and then the rest of the time he’s been practicing military law.  He’s got a wicked sense of humor, he can be a real smart aleck, he’s confident, but doesn’t take himself too seriously…and most important of all, he’s a sharp judge of character.  That’s probably why he’s been chosen to investigate an incident that could turn into one of the biggest media-frenzies the military has ever seen.

A Special Forces A-team, made up of nine men commonly known as Green Berets, had been assigned to train a group of Kosovar Albanians who had been driven from their homeland by the Serbian militia.  It was part of the effort to build up the Kosovar Liberation Army, or the KLA.  They spent seven or eight weeks training their recruits, then were given secret orders to accompany the unit they trained back into Kosovo.

A week later the Kosovar unit tried to raid a Serbian village, and the entire unit was killed.  The A-team took it upon themselves to seek vengeance; they set up an ambush, and massacred a Serbian unit traveling along a supply route, killing 35 Serbs.  The Army arrested the A-team, and called in Sean Drummond to determine if there is enough evidence to court-martial the Green Berets in custody.  Talk about a no-win situation.  Drummond is a loyal Army man, but it’s his job to see that justice is done.  What he finds as he digs into this case will make him question his vows of duty and his sense of honor.  And it just might get him killed.

This book is fast-paced, with moments of tension interspersed with wry humor.  Haig reminds me of Nelson DeMille a bit.  His plot flows along, he doesn’t bog the story down with excess terminology…bottom line, he’s a good storyteller and this was a gripping novel.  Sean Drummond’s adventures continue in five other novels, including Mortal Allies, when he is asked to defend an American officer accused of murdering a South Korean war hero’s son, and The President’s Assassin, in which Drummond must race against the clock to find the group who has executed six people in a Washington D.C. mansion (including the White House Chief of Staff) and has promised that the President is next; within 48 hours.

If you’re looking for legal drama with a military flavor and a bit of humor, Brian Haig is the perfect choice.

Rule 34 by Charles Stross

Review by Bowden P. (Trey)

Rule 34 picks up five years after the events of Halting State. Its a sort of sequel, because Liz, coder and Sue are nowhere to be found (I assume coder & Liz are busy working for the government and Sue has earned a well deserved promotion). Instead our guides to the weird and disturbing world of police and criminals in the 21^st century are:

Liz Kavanaugh, one of our two points of continuity with Halting State. Formerly a high flying star with a lot of potential, but after her involvement in the events of Halting State she’s been on a long term punishment detail heading up the ICIU – Internet Criminal Intelligence Unit – aka the Rule 34 squad. Yes, that Rule 34.

Anwar, a recently paroled computer criminal and poster child for the Dunning Kruger effect. He’s also bisexual, a family man Pakistani-Scottish and nominally Muslim.

The Toymaker, someone who’s true name is never learned and I’d like to avoid meeting ever. He’s a violent criminal, practicing what he calls Gangster 2.0 (criminal enterprise without the inefficient management), talks a good line of self serving patter and is a sociopathic schizophrenic. He’s also a very broken human being.

We also get minor viewpoint characters from a minor criminal (Jaxxie), to a poly- corporate ethics auditor, a professor and Kemal – the cop in black from Europol in Halting State.

So what do we have? A wild tale of of technologically influenced crime and policing. It starts with a two wetsuit fatal accident that summons Liz to the scene. It has Anwar taking advice from a sometime lover leading to a consular job for an odd new country. Then we meet Jaxxie a local crook that’s fairly savvy, but “no likie the learning”and leads to the Toymaker who has to clean up after Jaxxie’s screw up.

As it moves along we get to know them all and learn that there have been a series of unlikely “accidents” affecting spammers and other internet criminals (like the “fatal accident” that brings Liz to the scene. Then things begin to get rolling.

Rule 34 is frequently neat (ICIU, drones sniffing out dog poop, Segways as police drones, widespread 3D printers (and the DRM and crime that goes with them)) and disturbingly widespread to ubiquitous surveillance (and what it takes to avoid the same), ruthless government plans and execution of those plans. Its also pretty liberal for a crime thriller. None of the major viewpoint characters are heteronormative.

I liked this a lot, a lot more than the e-ARC I’d read. The minor characters have more of a role and do more to connect the major characters as well as move the action along. It also brings the panopticon singularity in a big way.

Folks, go out and get this book. Five stars easily. Its fun, disturbing, thought provoking and occasionally (if uncomfortably funny.

Likes: Cop space augmented reality; Life logs and the chain of evidence; The idea of Gangster 2.0; Liz Kavanaugh; 3D printers and what its version of ransom ware and penis enlargement spam is like; the ICIU for all that its a brutal posting; Artificial intelligence vs. artificial identification; The economics and global political maneuvering.

Dislikes: The Toymaker’s aliases – those got a bit heavy handed; The fact that the characters couldn’t do a thing against Athena.

Suggested for: Charles Stross fans; folks who liked Daemon and Freedom™ by Daniel Suarez and This Is Not a Game by Walter Jon Williams. I’d also suggest it those who enjoyed Cory Doctorow’s For The Win, Makers and Little Brother.

Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair

Review by Cynthia (Frazerc)

I love Linnea Sinclair’s books – all of them – but this is one of my very favorites.  It’s one I have to keep getting new copies of because I keep giving mine away to friends, acquaintances, perfect strangers [well, not really PERFECT strangers].  But when you have a book you love you just want to share…

Our heroine is Tasha Sebastian lives in interesting times.  She is currently the captain of a U-Cee huntership and a veteran of the recent war between the United Coalition and the Triad.  But before that she had other names and other lives…

Our hero is Admiral Branden Kel-Paten, brilliant strategist, military leader and a human who has been altered physically, mentally and most of all cybernetically.  He can interface directly with his ship and there are those who say “Tin Soldier” is more ‘cybe than human.  But they’re wrong…

As part of the treaty, ‘mixed’ ships are being established and Kel-Paten has specifically requested Tasha for his first officer.  Thus begin the games of command;  why did he ask for her, what does he want?

Enter a second plot starring the empathic best friend of Tasha, Doctor Eden Fynn, and Jace Serafino, renegade Nasyry priest, telepath, and all round rogue.  Kel-Paten would like to squeeze every drop of information out of Serafino personally.

And then there are the furzels, Tank and Reilly.  They are rather cat-like in nature with some VERY special abilities.  Even more special than their humans, Tasha and Eden, know because they can identify and sometimes the true evil creatures which they simple call ‘Bad Things’.  They know the Bad Things are watching their people and resolve to protect them…

Her world building is consistently outstanding and the world of Games of Command is no exception.  The poignancy of Kel-Paten’s love and the utter wrongness of what was done to him grab your heart. Tight, page-turning plot, great characters [and her aliens are outstanding] and dialog that grabs you – it is a must read.

Unfortunately this is a stand-alone novel.  Sigh.  But I’m still hoping…

LIONHEART by Sharon Kay Penman

Review by Jerelyn (I-F-Letty)

I have read Lionheart twice and have just had the extreme pleasure of listening to it.  Yes finally a Penman novel on audio.  The Narrator Emily Grey does a fine job and one of the things I like most about listening to an audio book is for the pronunciation of languages I am unfamiliar with.

Ms. Penmen’s works are dense and take concentration, the world often fades away as I read or in this case listen to her work, and when I am interrupted it takes time for me to come back to myself.

Lionheart is the 4th book in the Angevin saga that will end up spanning five  books. The 5^th book is also a bridge to her earlier work: Here be Dragons and the accompanying books collectively known as the Welsh trilogy.  But all of Ms. Penman’s books can stand alone.  I am a devotee of Penman’s work and have read and reread all of her books.  She never ceases to amaze me with her skill; her writing is as close to perfection as one could ask.  She is a novelist true but she offers characters so fully rendered, that at times you have to remember to tell yourself that besides the thorough research, the rest is supposition. She gets the psychology of the characters right, and their reactions to situations are so real that it is uncanny.  She knows the history, customs, morals, the religion and the political climate of the time period, I feel very comfortable with her conclusions.

Richard I has been a prisoner of propaganda for so long that it must have been a mammoth undertaking, separating the wheat from the chaff so to speak.  Sharon Penman is one of the only people I can imagine trusting to do this.  She shuns the salacious, and as in the case of Richard’s Queen Berengaria (about which very little is actually know) Sharon give an intelligent hypothesis of what she was like, going on the knowledge of the time period, customs, and practices of noble women in the last years of the 12^th and early 13^th centuries; and leaves us with a fully fleshed out believable character.

So whether you are like me and love to read whatever Ms. Penman writes, or you want a painstakingly researched and thoroughly readable history of the third crusade with a story to accompany the facts, I cannot recommend Lionheart highly enough.  5 stars!