Book Review:Exiles of the Stars by Andre Norton

The Ship

The Free Trader starship Lydis appears to be making an ordinary run to the Planet Thoth, carrying incense for the great temples of Kartum. And so she is-until a civil war lands her in the middle of a battle between ancient powers and nameless evil, with a Forerunner treasure at its heart.

The Crew

The crew, too, seems normal enough – until you loook closely at two of its members: Krip Vorlund, a man who walks in a body not his own, and his pet, a four-legged beast hiding the mind of Maelen the Moon Singer, a woman whose esper powers can save them all – or bring them to peril and eternal destruction.

The Story

An extraordinary novel of interplanetary adventure in a world where strange and compelling powers of the mind hold sway. Ander Norton has created another fabulous tale that will keep you entralled from the first page to last. Enter once agian into the world of Moon of Three Rings, and let Andre Norton’s magic carry you into the stars…

Excerpt

Lidj had the door open. And, with that, light flashed within. There sat the Throne, facing us squarely. They has not recrated it as yet. Only the cavity in the back was closed again. The captain turned to me.

“Well, what is it?”

But in turn I looked to Krip. “Do you feel it?”

He faced the Throne, his face now blank of expression, his dark Thassa eyes fixed. I saw his tongue pass over his lower lip.

“I feel–something–” But his puzzlement was strong.

Both the other Traders looked from one of us to the other. It was plain they did not share what we felt. Krip took a step forward–put his hand to the seat of the Throne.

I cried aloud my protest. But too late. His finger tips touched the red metal. A visible shudder shook his body; he reeled back as if he had thrust his hand into open fire…

Review

Wrestling to keep one’s identity, even for us, ordinary humans, has always been a challenge. How much harder would it be, if you’ve got at least the memories and habits of one or two beings in your brain, and one not even remotely humanoid. This is exactly what Krip and Maelen strive to stay strong against. And compared to all their other problems, one to two personalities is small potatoes.

In the planet of Sehkmet, Krip, Maelen and the crew of Lydis battle, a cryogenized colony of ancient beings who have enormous esper abilities. They can steal your body at will and control your being, but for Krip and Maelen, the fight is even more painful, because having already lost their own bodies once, to know that their current ones can be taken again is terrifying.

For Maelen, she has been body-transferred only one time by her people, the Thassa, as punishment for a grave transgression(which was never mentioned in this book, to my dismay). However, The transfer has, in no way, been easy for her because with her exchange of bodies, her once powerful esper abilities as a renouned Moon Singer have been greatly reduced. And even harder, she has been transferred into the body of a galia (a four-footed animal which seems to be described as more intelligent and affectionately loyal than a dog).

For Krip, he has been transferred two times. Once, when he was greatly injured and Maelen transferred him into the body of a four-footed animal reminiscent of a wolf, and the second time when he was transferred into the body of a Thassa. He has three insticts warring in his brain, to be Krip Vorlund, animal, and Thassa. All intrude, and it is hard to know if his own actions are truly his own, or are they the habits or memories of the Thassa who is more humanoid than the animal, and therefore more dangerous to Krip Vorlund.

For people like Maelen who has survived one body, and for Krip who has survived two, it must be horrifying to realize that with from the power of one mind, their bodies can be taken so easily. The bodies they now reside in have been freely given, and the thought of a forced transference has never occurred to them. However, they are not totally defenseless in their struggle against the Old Ones, remnants of a powerful Precursor race. Because of their esper abilities, they have known that the only way to fight is to keep into their minds, that one important image of themselves. That essence which embodies who they are through all the changing shells. Sadly, their crew mates are not as lucky.

It’s like a fight between David and Goliath. Here you have this mixed crew of aliens and humans, and aside from Maelen and Krip, the rest have only a smidgen of esper abilities. They are almost defenseless, and if it were not for Maelen’s ability to sense the growing dangers around them, they would be even more unprepared than they are now. The plan of the aliens isn’t only abduction of these small group of bodies. Imagine a crew of these Old Ones flying in Space, and like parasites, taking control of one body after another.

As bodies go, I found it interesting how Krip referred to his two other bodies as if they were external casings. He missed them, but the way he spoke sometimes, it is as if, he’s just one mind being contained in a vessel. He reminisces of times when he dwelt in one such former body, as if it were a house long vacated, and he feeling a touch of homesickness for the moment. For Maelen, she misses her Thassa body more, though she hides it well. How can she not? When she was Moon Singer, she was powerful and respected. It is clearly seen she was arrogant as well, and no doubt her arrogance led her to doing something forbidden enough to merit punishment.

Throughout this book, what kept me interested was all the tiny little details that made situations sharper and kept the rhythm on. When things seemed hopeless, they were, and when scenes seemed gray, they just got darker. Krip and Maelen were not the only ones in danger, even the crew were not spared as one of their own, Griss, was brutally ripped from his own body and transferred to the shell of the alien. His terror was seemed so real. The torture of a mind trapped in the dark, unable to move, unable to speak, slowly going crazy, brought home just how painful the experience was. And amazingly enough, there wasn’t too much description, just a few lines here and there to make the experience felt by the reader, but not too much that you feel over-saturated.

Overall, it has been both an insightful(weird/creep), and exciting, read. Despite body-snatching being a frightening idea, wouldn’t it be awesome if we could transfer bodies like ghosts? And to have Precursor races so powerful, it’s frightening, and yet fascinating at the same time. I would love to see this book in a movie. Krip and Maelen would be difficult characters to mimic. 

 

Night Angel 01: The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

I think this has been one of the most interesting beginnings to a fantasy trilogy I’ve read in a while. It mixes up one of my top ten favorite jobs for a lead character, which is, the Assassin, with a cynical yet somewhat sweet view on life, and a heck of a lot of magic.

Kylar Stern, is actually Azoth, an orphan from the Warrens. The picture he brings to mind is one of those street kids you find living in the most dangerous neighborhoods around the Philippines. Nothing is too cruel or too low that they can’t do it, because the goal is…Survival. Azoth gets himself apprenticed to Durzo Blint, a wetboy, expert poisoner and magic user.

Apparently, there are distinctions between a wetboy and an assassin. An assassin is called an assassin because sometimes he misses, all a wetboy’s got are deaders because they always die.

Pretty arrogant, but I like the pictures it brings to mind. Azoth lives in the Warrens, the place where all losers, prostitutes, thieves, etc…end up, and it’s where they never leave.

I love dark gritty tales, and call me corny, but I also love happy endings. Combine a somewhat cynical-somewhat sympathetic tale and write it well, and I’m sold. Especially where, in here, Azoth is placed in situations where he is forced to choose between his own views on morality, and the views of his master, Durzo Blint, which are completely devoid of selflessness, or even an expectancy on the goodness of people. For Durzo, it’s each man for himself, however, Azoth shows himself to be different from his master and he makes decisions which can only be described as heroic. He tries to save Logan, Durzo, the nobles, and sometimes succeeds. By taking care of Elene, a girl-child he saves from the Warrens, he shows a side of himself that hungers for love.

Azoth. He may be a wetboy, but he hasn’t been swallowed whole by the Warrens just yet.

 

The Liaden Universe:Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Another story out of the Liaden Universe, down-and-out Terran spacer Priscilla Mendoza, abandoned and then chased by a dishonest employer, teams up with Val Con’s brother Shan, who really doesn’t have any life-threatening problems until he meets Priscilla.

Betrayal, gunfights, homour, and romance, what’s not to like? Once again, the Liaden Universe features a book with the fast pacing and adventurous space operas reminiscent of the SF series. Priscilla Mendoza, an outcast of her world and sentenced as dead has been betrayed by her shipmates and left in an abandoned warehouse in a rarely docked spaceport. It’s only her luck, and the strange purposes of Shan yos’Galan which throws them together and allows her to seek revenge. However, even that may not be enough because her previous Liaden employer is certainly cunning enough…and crazy enough, to kill both her and Shan yos’Galan off.

This was a pretty fun read, but not really as good as “The Scout’s Progress”, another Liaden book I have. I was expecting something around it’s caliber, however, for an SF book, this doesn’t entirely disappoint. Like I mentioned, the fast pacing and the unexpected twists here and there does spice things up. And the romance peeking from the corners here and there, mostly coming from Shan, but sometimes from Priscilla, does make you turn pages just so you can figure out how they’re progressing in this unexpected tendre they find themselves in.

However, the drawbacks in the book are that the characters aren’t actually fleshed out all that well. Like with Shan, he’s mostly all flash and not enough meat. He blabbers on like a maniac while still making sense, however, he doesn’t really reveal much of his own character. All you get from the man is that he talks like a magpie, is incredibly rich and intelligent, and is half in love with Priscilla.

Priscilla, again, shallow characterization. Most of the time, she’s got no idea that Shan’s in love with her. She mostly gives off the feeling of every man for herself. She’s too closed off to be appropriately reciprocating. The hardest knot to loosen here is the romance angle they were trying to push. C’mon, it was a half-hearted effort at best. If all they were going to do was mention it here and there, then they should’ve just left it off altogether and concentrated on the fights and twists going on around them. All in all, an awkward book, but interesting enough to merit being read, but don’t expect anything more.

Read Excerpt!

 

EBook Update:Elizabeth Haydon

All the first five books of Elizabeth Haydon’s Symphony of Ages series is up.

Elizabeth Haydon-Official Site

1. Symphony of Ages

• Rhapsody:Child of Blood
• Prophecy:Child of Earth
• Destiny:Child of the Sky
• Requiem for the Sun
• Elegy for a Lost Star

 

A fight with my parents

Damn…I just had a fight with my mom, which makes me too depressed to do anything. It wasn’t even a useful fight since I know that I was in the wrong. I was just to selfish and proud to admit it and now we’re not even talking to each other.

I fought with my dad too, but we seem to just be ignoring what happened. It’s different with my mom though. And also, my brother punched my dad. I don’t even know why he did it. We know are parents never deserve to be hurt, either emotionally or physically. They’re the best parents anyone could possibly have. I guess me and my brother are still immature idiots. Dammit…I wish we’d grow out of it soon.

 

PPCRV: First Meeting

I almost decided not to go since it was my dad’s birthday, but then, I don’t know. My brother says some semblance of a social conscience rose up in my head and took hold me. Maybe I’m finally discovering my inner activist. Lol.

It took three rides on the jeep and one on a tricycle just to get to the office of the PPCRV. Curses! Hehe…my home is a tad far, but it’s not impossible though. When I finally got their, the talk had been thirty minutes underway. Supposedly, it’s to teach us how to speak and convince first-time voters to, in fact, register and Vote. I’m guilty of the first one myself. I’m 19 now, and I still haven’t registered anywhere.

There were two COMELEC officials there, and they explained the mechanics of first registering, then voting. I’m not going to get into the specifics, since thinking about the whole thing again in retrospect seems boring without the visual aids. I’ll just recount the highlights of the talk instead.

What I remember most was feeling sad for the second COMELEC official since he got the brunt of my teacher’s, somewhat, harsh questions. Reading between the lines, what I actually heard was this, “You COMELEC officials have no new machinery, no funds, and no additional personnel because you don’t get off your asses to harass money from the government. All you do is moan and whine that you don’t have money or personnel, and if the effort takes too long or too hard to make, you don’t do anything but complain”. That’s about the gist of it. I don’t know if anyone else got the same input I did, maybe they don’t think too well of my teacher too, but I believe she had the right of it. Change only comes when someone steps up to be the catalyst. If everyone’s too lazy or too used to suffering in silence, then how can anything good come about?

My Pol Sci 11 teacher said it as well. He asked us, “Were we satisfied with our classroom?” It wasn’t air-conditoned, nor was it that comfortable. The chairs were vandalized and the paint was peeling. It projected an air of slow disrepair. Suffice to say, it wasn’t conducive to learning, and yet until the moment when he brought it up, I had felt nothing wrong about it. Was it because I too have adapted, and adopted, an attitude of acceptance? In my first year as a freshman, I remember complaining, and looking askance at the facilities of UPV in Iloilo City. It was a normal thing to do, since it was obvious to me that the facilities in my old highschool were far superior. But now, I think of it as normal if we don’t have enough books, if we squabble over the same multi-media projector, and if we take our exams in the Little Theatre in UPV Iloilo, an old building which looks more likely to be demolished out of safety hazards.

But, going back to the meeting, the second event I most remember was that there was this speaker, a teacher from West Visayas State University. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch his name, but I can describe him. He looked to be in his early twenties, chubby, Chinese-looking, and white. He spoke very well and was quite entertaining. He had these powerpoint presentations which showed some tips and tricks on Public Speaking, and the most important was, BE WELL PREPARED. He repeated this so many times, I think I just might follow it. What followed after that, was this really comedic presentation on how NOT to make your powerpoint. If I could copy the presentation he made and post it here I would. I don’t know, maybe we’ll meet it again and I can beg it off him. I swear, it was both hilarious and informative, two of the most strategic ways to get an audience’s attention short of jumping in front of them naked.

PPCRV is calling out for more volunteers, unfortunately, most of my friends are of the socially derisive and cynical sort. Not exactly what you’d call, moral leaders. I tried convincing my brother, but the religous connection PPCRV has put him off. PPCRV is short for Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting. Who knows, I migh still be able to change his mind, and this way, at least there’ll be “someone” there that I know.

(reposted from previous blog)

 

New EBook Blog

I’ve decided to transfer all the EBooks I’ve got posted here into the new blog I’ve made that’s exclusively for EBooks. This time, I won’t mess around with it and post everything I think about, mess with, or just feel like posting.

Scrounger\’s Online Library-Best Fantasy and Science-Fiction books I can find

The only EBook I’ve posted there that isn’t over here is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It’s a great young adult SF book, although admittedly, a tad violent. A lot of people have posted good reviews on it, so go over there and pull it down from the shelf.