The kinda-sorta sequel, The Weapon, is a good novel that is, for me, only marred by what I've taken to referring to as "MadMike-itis": He spends two thirds to three quarters of the book engaged in world-building, setting up plot dominoes, and getting you attached to the protagonist, and then it's like he notices the back cover getting closer and so ohmigodalotofstuffhappensbigfinaledenouementTHEEND. Worse, the book leaves the protagonist, one super commando named Kenneth Chinran, badly broken and rather shabbily treated by the universe, with no real resolution for his woes.
Now comes Rogue
, a sequel to The Weapon (although it is written such that it can be read as a stand-alone novel,) and when I saw that it returned to the story of Ken, I snatched it up in hardback.I was very pleased. It suffered from none of the pacing problems I mentioned above and, even better, ties up all the loose ends for a character who had been rather roughly handled by fate in the earlier work. I read it in one marathon session and feel like it was money well-spent. Recommend.
I'm looking forward to reading it when it comes out in paperback. :)
ReplyDeleteI quite enjoy the Freehold world set. Hoping more comes of it.
ReplyDeleteReading Contact with Chaos, another Freehold Universe book. If you like the way Foreign Diplomacy Sausage is made.....
ReplyDeleteI loved Freehold, and have had Williamson on my "to buy" list for when my TBR shelves are next looking a little depleted.
ReplyDeleteThe Steel Bookshelf
I enjoyed Freehold myself. Haven't read any sequels, but now I might. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI read Freehold and liked it pretty well. I intend to read of The Speaker's work when my evenings are more my own again.
ReplyDeleteAlong related lines, one might like the OhJohnRingoNo/Linda Evans collaboration Road to Damascus. It's got liberty, treason, tyranny, resistance, and a Bolo. :-)
Mad Mike write's well and speak's his own mind. He also respond's to e-mail's and will answer question's. I hold him in high regard and would like to meet him someday. FWIW as a rule after meeting A.C. Clark and a few other writer's I've chosen to avoid author's who's work I read.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone read the Unincorporated Man series by Dani and Eytan Kollin yet?
I just finished the latest in a day, it was that good.
Regards,
"...FWIW as a rule after meeting A.C. Clark and a few other writer's I've chosen to avoid author's who's work I read..."
ReplyDeleteBeen there. I once had the misfortune of meeting harlan ellison, steve king and maggie atwood all in the same night. Bubbles don't burst any harder than that.
Gregg
In "Contact With Chaos" you get a peek at Chinran's laughing child as a young adult.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest problem with The Weapon was how the main character spent half his time proving how tough and macho he was by pissing his pants. This alone made the book seem like a let-down after Freehold.
ReplyDeleteI've been hoping that in Rogue, all main characters will spend much more time with their underwear in less soiled condition.
Finished my first reading of Rogue the other evening and pinged him to let him know I enjoyed it. Of course, he'd pinged me last spring to let me know he was doing signed copies. Turnabout is fair play.
ReplyDeleteI recall picking up "Sheepfarmers Daughter" (Elizabeth Moon), the first of the Deed of Paksennarion trilogy at Future Fantasy, a bookstore in Palo Alto, CA.
ReplyDeleteThe lady at the counter advised me, "Don't pick up the second book ("Divide Allegiance") unless you already have the third one ("Oath of Gold") already in hand. The second book ends so down, you have to have the third to keep going.
That trilogy was the first time I recognized a direct link between what I was reading and my mood. Paksennarion in that 2nd book loses about everything, before the 3rd book starts rebuilding.
I'll look for a copy, thanks!
ReplyDeleteAw, Gregg, there's just no experience that can compare to meeting El Neil....:D
ReplyDeleteHaven't read it, except for the teaser excerpts, and man did they tease me.
ReplyDeleteI do own "Contact with Chaos", which I bought as soon as it came out in paperback. (I had previously read the hardback while standing up in the bookstore; it was the least I could do for Mike.)
It is a classic first contact story, with a twist, and has Captain Chinran's kid in it after she's all grown up.
Just got my copy in the mail yesterday. I'm about 1/4 of the way in.
ReplyDeleteMike delivers again!
Well that is the kiss of death for me.
ReplyDeleteI have seen too many turd polishers using SF to push their idiot politics, and it makes for piss poor story telling. That is when the self important homosexuals, socialists and libertarians that infest the genre get all huffy and tell me that I'm too ignernt and unsophisticated to appreciate their work.
I suppose that if some idiot wants to eat chit and call it ice cream there is no harm in it. In fact, it's has the potential for some sport and entertainment.
One of my favorite series of all time is the War World series by Jerry Pournelle. I resisted them for over twenty years because I judged a book by its cover. I just didn't think I'd like military SF. I've always been a fan of Niven, Pohl, Sheffield, old Clement...(senior moment)
ReplyDeleteAnonymouse 8:44,
ReplyDelete"I suppose that if some idiot wants to eat chit and call it ice cream there is no harm in it."
How anyone could be so uncouth as to disagree with a witty sophisticate who drops bon mots like "chit" in order to avoid being a grown-up and spelling the word "shit" is completely beyond me.
Get down with your bad self and read and dine on whatever you like, but you can go 'head and turn in that "arbiter of fine taste" badge at the door.
Fair enough. And you can continue putting on airs of literary sophistication and intellectual snobbery - but the dunce cap kinda spoils the effect.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the chocolate ice cream girl.
I find it ever so interesting that nameless/faceless troll's are so compelled to muddy the waters with their sewage...
ReplyDeleteSport Pilot,
ReplyDeleteI know, right?
There are sites on the internet written by people I can't stand, too. Generally I don't read them and leave comments.
I guess for Anonymous, it's like he's dipping my pigtail in the inkwell because he's too shy to pass me that sweaty little "I like you!" note with his milk money taped to the corner...
Awww, Tam, now you are being like that girl who sat next to me in second grade, and kept a cigar box-full of crayon shavings. Sadly, I skipped a grade later and lost contact with her. Sigh!
ReplyDelete