Book Review: Red Country by Joe Abercrombie

Red Country is technically a stand-alone novel, but like Joe Abercrombie‘s other stand-alones (Best Served Cold and The Heroes), it draws heavily from events that transpired in his FIRST LAW series. Reading Red Country before FIRST LAW will spoil things for you and you will lose out on a lot of the fun surprises and mystery characters that Abercrombie has set up for fans of the previous books.

The events in Red Country take place in a location west of the setting of the other books. The story draws heavily from Old West themes that are prevalent in American Western movies and folklore. The mud, dust, cattle, wagons, and scruffy adventurers are all here. Abercrombie unapologetically paints the scene with the brush of an old Clint Eastwood movie. I was even expecting those ominous whistled notes followed by a tumbleweed rolling through a dusty ghost town. Firearms do not really exist in this world yet, so everyone is still carrying swords. You can picture it like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly with swords. There was a very specific feel Abercrombie was going for, and he nailed it.

Fans of medieval fantasy that are unwilling to accept departures from that mold may find themselves feeling a little out of sorts with Red Country. My response to them is “too bad.” You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You loved Abercrombie for spitting in the eye of modern fantasy tropes only up until the point he decides to mess with your own particular beloved trope. There is nothing wrong with the setting Abercrombie created for Red Country, and it meshes perfectly well with the world he already established in previous stories. I thought the Western elements were brilliantly executed, and it provided yet another refreshing angle from Joe Abercrombie.

The story itself is fairly straightforward in its premise. A plains farming family already familiar with tragedy is victimized by bandits, and their children are stolen. The remaining adult sister named Shy, and their stepfather called Lamb are determined to get them back. The journey to save the children gets increasingly difficult, complicated, and violent as the story progresses. Everyone has a past that seems to hang over them. The decisions they made years ago suddenly have significant ramifications in the present. As with any Abercrombie tale, it is often hard to tell who the good guys are, but the characters are easy to sympathize with even if they’re rotten bastards.

The gore and violence is ever-present, and the main cast is in constant peril. It’s a given from the start that a lot of the cast will not make it to the end of the book. Every Abercrombie novel I’ve read so far has had certain moments that really made me react strongly, usually to some terrible plot event. In Best Served Cold there was a moment where a character was tortured to the point of breaking. It was so real, and visceral — it stuck with me, maybe even disturbed me a bit. The Heroes had one or two of those moments as well — moments I will never forget. Moments that changed how I perceive fantasy fiction and its place in literature.
Red Country did not have those moments for me. There were plenty of great moments, but at no point did I feel like I got sucker punched. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Justin, why on earth would I want to be punched… unexpectedly even?” Well, because good writing should make you feel something, and great writing will make you feel something more. Brilliant writing will make you cry yourself to sleep that night. In some of my favorite Abercrombie books there are moments of brilliant writing. Red Country was very good; it just seemed to be missing a hard hitting moment.

I know that seems like a pretty hollow complaint. Sorry Joe, but your book didn't “change me” so I won’t give it 5 stars. As unfair as it is, it’s my reason for a half-star deduction. Abercrombie has set the bar so high that not keeping me awake at night becomes a half-point deduction. Red Country is fun, nail baiting, and brutal. All the gritty elements I have come to expect from an Abercrombie story are there. It challenged me in philosophical and moral ways, and it continues to push the boundaries on what we expect to see in the fantasy genre. Any fantasy fan that loves to see the genre bent and tested in creative ways should read Red Country.

Originally posted over at FanLit as a 4.5 star review

Been Awhile and Then Some- My State of the Blog Address 2013

More poor blog. I neglect it so. I will be the attentive blogger for a few weeks, teasing a faithful relationship....then wooosh! I'm gone. I don't mean to be that way, but unfortunately my fluctuating desire to share coupled with a lack of content I deem worthy seem to arrive simultaneously, but that doesn't matter now, I'm back baby!....again!. Maybe for a long time...possibly for a few weeks. I'm not sure. I do have some things to share, so I see potential for a lot of content. I'll even have a couple book reviews up here soon.

The content I provide will shift a bit. I've dialed back some hobbies, like reading Fantasy and have replaced them with others, such as fatherhood and work. I've started a new business of growing Elm Oyster mushrooms, and I'll be sharing my trials an tribulations of that as it teases me with impending financial Armageddon. The mushroom thing is my hail Mary for a truly independent life. It's my shot at doing a thing I love to do and making a living at it. I'll go into further detail in a future post, and will try to provide some insight for those that may be thinking of getting into the fungus business.

I am also going to Gencon again this year, and will be providing some kind of report for the lovely people over at FantasyLiterature.com, whom I've not forgotten. I'll be spending three days and two nights there this year and I hope to catch wind of some cool new stuff to share here on the blog and at Fanlit if they'd like. I will still be playing Warmachine, but considering it's been since last Gencon when I played....I'll essentially be starting over.

Last but not least, I've slipped back into watching professional wrestling. I know it's not often a hobby one admits to partaking in. However, I think that should change. I'm enjoying my current run at wrestling fandom more than I ever have, even as a child. My work as a writer, and reviewer of stories has added a new layer of interest to me in how the stories unfold on a weekly basis. I'm watching from a different perspective now, but  I am still getting the same level of enjoyment. I plan to add a wrestling feature to the blog, it'll be a semi-regular article that is going to be part analysis and part trying to sell the muscle bound ballet to the non-initiated.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming days. I'll leave you with a picture of me, in my ninja breathing mask. I bought it for keeping out mushroom spore, and for looking like a bad ass ninja. Unfortunately it caused near ninja suffocation while still looking so bad ass. I had to buy a real respirator that isn't nearly as awesome. So in it's memory I'll immortalize it here.

Ninja Beard-Zero squints at you like a badass.

Warmachine: Nerd Room Achievement Unlocked

Yep, it's done. Well mostly...is it ever completely done?  I need to build some buildings for cover, and maybe a mountain or two. I want all the pieces to movable so we can can change up the terrain each time we play. This also a similar set up you might see at a tournament.

Book Review: Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer

     What would it be like if Neanderthals had become the dominant race of humans on the planet? Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer explores that very idea. This book follows a brilliant Neanderthal physicist named Ponter Boddet. Ponter and his partner, while working on experimental quantum computers, accidently open a bridge between universes. The bridge leads to the world we (Homo sapiens sapiens) currently reside in. Ponter fell into our world accidently and has now become stranded here. Robert J. Sawyer is a master at taking an interesting thought experiment and turning it into a full-length novel. What would a Neanderthal world be like? What would a modern Neanderthal do if he were dropped into our world? It’s fascinating to think about. Sawyer answers those questions in a thoughtful, heavily researched, and entertaining manner.

     Ponter Boddit is one of the most dynamic and interesting characters I have ever read. He is thoughtful, intelligent, and quick-witted. He is the key to making Hominids an amazing work of fiction, and is a big part of the reason it won a Hugo Award. As with many of Sawyer’s books, Hominids has a bit of a mystery novel woven into the overall story. Since Ponter totally vanished from his own world, his partner Adikore has been accused of his murder. Adikore has been left trying to prove his innocence. The problem is that is he trying to explain a hiccup in advanced quantum computing to laymen who believe he’s murdered his best friend. Adikore’s part of the novel is a riveting legal fight taking place in the Neanderthal world while Ponter is trying to adjust to his surroundings in the other universe. There is not a single wasted word in this entire novel. I listened to this on Brilliance Audio CD, narrated by Jonathan Davis. Davis is smooth as butter, and provides so much life to the characters he reads. I highly recommend getting the audio version of Hominids if you can. —Justin Blazier for FantasyLiterature.com

Book Review: Zoo City by Lauren Beukes

The main character of Lauren Beukes’s Zoo City is a former freelance journalist named Zinzi December. Zinzi is cool, intelligent and carries some big mental baggage. Despite her flaws, you will love her almost immediately. Zinzi lives in Zoo City, which is essentially a slum in Johannesburg for people who have been burdened with animals. In the world of Zoo City, people are magically attached to animals after they’ve done something particularly awful. People with animals are the outcasts of society, and the more conspicuous the animal the harder it is to lead a normal life. Zinzi carries a sloth, which isn’t the easiest critter to conceal.

Since Zinzi is not able to work a real job due to her fuzzy companion, she makes ends meet by using her natural ability to find lost things for people. On one of this lost item cases she stumbles onto a murder, which starts a chain of events that will change her life forever.

The South African setting is unique, and I was completely immersed in the world. Beukes paints a hip and gritty view of Johannesburg that is totally captivating. Her writing is sharp with detail, but never overburdened with description. I was able to get a feel for the environment everywhere Zinzi went.

The characters in Zoo City are clearly defined and interesting to read about. Everyone has a dark past that lurks in the background. You are constantly left wondering what they did to get their animal. This can be frustrating at times since those back stories are only lightly touched upon, even those of the main characters. In later works, I hope Beukes continues some of the stories she started in Zoo City.

My experience with Zoo City was one to be remembered. The story takes many unexpected turns. Things that seem important at the time often turn out to be not much at all. At times this left me scratching my head wondering what just happened, but it usually worked out in a surprising way. I recommend keeping an open mind to the flow of the story when reading Zoo City and trust that the end will justify the means.

Beukes is a gifted writer. Her abilities with description and dialog alone put her in a special category. Zoo City is a clever and unique piece of fiction, and a fantastic addition to the Angry Robot library. I listened to Zoo City on CD from Brilliance Audio. The narration is done by Justine Eyre. Justine does a wonderful job giving life to the characters, and I highly recommend the audio version of this book. —Justin Blazier for FantasyLiterature.com