Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
In the wake of the events in Throne of Jade, Lawrence and Temeraire are planning to return to England the same way they got to China: a long, probably adventurous but not uncomfortable sea voyage. Then their ship catches fire, and while it is not destroyed it is going to require long repairs. As they begin the waiting period, worrying about their friends at home and in the line of fire, a messenger who has come overland delivers new orders from England: they are to stop off in Istanbul (not Constantinopol) and pick up three dragon eggs promised to the English forces by the Turks. They cannot wait for the ship to be repaired now; if they do the eggs will hatch before they get to Istanbul. With the aid of the messenger, they set off cross-country, following the old Silk Road back towards Europe.
Crossing the wilds of central Europe in the early 19th century would be adventure enough for many books, but for Novik it is only the first half of the book; the rest is what happens once they arrive in Constantinopol and afterwards, as Temeraire and his crew return to the war against Bonaparte, albeit not in the fashion they anticipated.
Anything more than that would be spoilerous; suffice it to say that this series keeps going along at a breakneck pace, nary a hint of shark in sight thus far. Highly recommended.
Smoke and Mirrors by Tanya Huff
Tony Foster, having survived the attack of the Shadowlord in Smoke and Shadows has added studying wizardry to his day job as a Production Assistant for the Vancouver-based “vampire detective show”, Darkest Night. As we join the story, the cast and crew are on location for a haunted house episode, the location scouts having accidentally found the perfect house. Of course, this being the kind of story it is, you know that the location scout will have done his work a little too well, and the house is genuinely haunted. And Tony will be one of the cast/crew members trapped in the house when the haunting turns lethal. Of course, it’s Tanya Huff, so there are a few surprises along the way.
Recommended.
The Conqueror Worms by Brian Keene
I knew Keene had at least one good book in him. Consider the following line: “The Satanists were surfing down Pratt Street when I found Jimmy’s head floating outside the 15th floor of the Chesapeake Apartments.” If that doesn’t make you want to read on, you can skip the rest of the review and consider it not recommended to you. The half-dozen of you remaining should keep reading.
The story is told by Teddy Garnett, an old man from West Virginia who is writing the story down as he lies, badly hurt and possibly dying, trying to distract himself from what’s really bothering him–tobacco cravings.
You see, for the last approximately forty days, it has been raining. And raining. And raining. All over the world. Coastal cities and island nations have been overwhelmed by tsunamis. New York has been flooded out by its own sewage. And the Mississippi spread out into an inland sea that just kept spreading . . .
Teddy’s pretty much self-sufficient in his cabin, so he refuses to evacuate when the National Guard removes most of the town. Now he’s alone on the mountain, except for a few wild animals, a sinister white fuzzy mold that seems to be growing on everything out in the woods (including the animals), and the worms that have been forced to the surface by the rainfall. Then his old buddy Carl Seaton shows up–each had assumed that the other had evacuated until Carl saw Teddy’s truck go by the one day Teddy tried to get down to town to get some tobacco. They also discover that Earl Harper has remained. Earl can charitably be described as crazy; he’s still standing on guard against the black helicopters. He’s sure the UN is to blame for the rain. When a helicopter actually shows up he shoots it down; it’s not a UN invasion chopper but rather refugees from flooded out Baltimore. Two of them survive; Sarah and Kevin and Kevin tells us their story–a double flashback, for a bit, but not confusingly handled. In Baltimore they faced “Satanists” and the even greater danger of what they worshipped. But is there greater danger to come on the mountain, and if so, what form does it come in?
Well, we’ve read the title, and the back cover, and we’ve seen the front cover illustration; we know what’s coming. But Keene still manages a few surprises on the way back to where the story started.
Just plain fun, and not as gross as you’d expect. Again Keene doesn’t explain his apocolypse, but this time it doesn’t feel like he needs to–he’s gone biblical rather than psuedo-scientific. Classic horror tropes: a small cast in an isolated location experience menace, weird monsters, and suspense . . . what more can you ask for from your horror?
Highly recommended.
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