The Atlanta Incursion

Once again I'm coming back to the works of Matthew Quinn. He's got a new book for us, the second book in his The Long War series (as it is now titled) and a direct sequel to his first full length novel The Thing in the Woods which I reviewed back in 2017. Here now though, we are given the events of The Atlanta Incursion!

As a warning, some minor spoilers will follow from the events of Thing, but nothing that will spoil the whole plot!

From goodreads.com

The story picks up roughly a year after the events of Thing and takes place in the Atlanta metro area in the aftermath of the Great Recession. There's plenty of abandoned areas, decrepid buildings, and gang activity to keep prying eyes away from things you'd rather not see. Unfortunately, that doesn't work out for young Javion, a member of the the Edgewood Jack Boys who, while out on a mission to bruise up a rival gang, finds that his simple turf war has suddenly taken on implications of an interstellar nature.

Meanwhile, young James Daly is doing what most kids his age are doing; managing his school life, studying for tests and attending classes, keeping his long distance relationship going and also staving off nightmares about confronting an eldritch horror in the woods last summer. Just simple freshman school worries. All through this he's trying to manage his friendship with his roomate Eli, and then with his girlfriend Amber, another survivor of those terrible events last May.

There's something strange going on in Atlanta though. Bizarre sightings, drones flying around, and perhaps Extra Terrestrials roaming the streets at night. James himself begins to see this, confused and worried, he thinks maybe he needs more sleep. However, it turns out that the events from last summer might not be as complete as he would like.

James was much how I remember him from the last book, but has had some definite character growth. Quinn also goes to show that he isn't unscathed from the horrible events he witnessed before, with nightmares, and some survivors guilt. I can say he captures this quite well from a narrative standpoint, and uses those feelings in both James and Amber to display character growth, vulnerability, and even some access to their inner badass when the time calls for it. 

Amber is also well handled. I did criticize the last book for this character failing the Bechdel test, and her treatment has improved. She's far more her own person, not only thinking about her attraction to James and has her own inner demons which haunt her in the story. I do think there was better opportunity for her to have another female character to play off on, instead of just one conversation with her roomate. Overall though, her arc and agency in this story is well handled and I applaud Quinn for upping his game with her and her actions in the story. Near the end she does get a pretty amazing scene which alludes to her rural heritage and something about it is just oh so right!

Our two new characters, Javion and Eli, were much more enigmatic. Javion comes across as one hell of a hardass who progressively survives more and more punishment, becoming something of a badass. He was already someone who grew up tough on the streets of impoverished Atlanta, so his growth is handled nicely and does go some way to explaining his resiliency. I think he was deftly handled for a character who could have ended up as something of a stereotype, and in light of events going on which took place just before this story came out, his life experiences (and distrust of Atlanta PD) were both timeless and timely if that makes sense. I am looking forward to seeing more of him in the future. I will admit though that his third act was less impressive than I had hoped for.

The final new character, Eli, was a bit of a mystery to me. It's true he's not entirely new (I made sure of that) but he's name dropped only a few times in Thing so he felt new at least. He's James's roomate, has some trouble accepting the alienation James is experiencing as James (for obvious reasons) can't really talk it out with him. His Jewish background and life is fairly well explored, and his friendship with James is fleshed out more, but beyond that, I didn't really know what to make of him and his character, unlike the first three, feels almost incidental to the story rather than an integral piece of it.

That being said, there were many fun moments in this book. The shoutouts to popular culture, especially from the 80s, 90s and 2000s was fun for someone like me who grew up immersed in a similar nerdy culture. The many references to the X-Files or Men In Black made me grin. That those were something of a running monologue in Javion's head endeared him to me. The sort of low key cultural jabs at city living Eli and the rural Amber were a fun contrast between rural and urban culture (especially one reference to James 'going native' which also cracked me up) and having transitioned from a rural to urban lifestyle myself it was quite relevant. 

I also enjoyed the 'secret war' aspect of the series. It makes sense for an X-Com style organization to be fighting aliens that aren't landing in big motherships. Though a lack of understanding of the alien goals, more speculation about why they did what they did, and a little bit of frustration with a paucity of prisoners did leave me in the dark to what precisely was going on. A small frustration was a moment where an alien speaks stunted English and then later we're informed the aliens never communicate back which felt...odd? I think I might have understood more if we'd seen or heard about the aliens taking other prisoners because it renders Javion's plot more sensible. That aside, it worked nicely for upping the stakes for the next installment, which I always appreciate.

The third act was quite well done, with very competent and exciting action scenes put forward, as I've come to expect from Mr. Quinn, and it had me on the edge of my seat for a bit (I finished the final third of the book in one sitting). I will admit that one aspect of the final fight made me skeptical, without spoilers, I didn't quite see the reason James got pulled into the fight in the way he did. It performed well and James still came off as a greenhorn, but the set up could have used a bit of tweaking in my opinion.

Overall, this book is great in that it manages the transition quite well in an Alien kind of way. By that I mean that where The Thing in the Woods was akin to the film Alien, what we see in The Atlanta Incursion is definitely a sequel in the Aliens vein of story telling. Fun and filled with equal parts dread and action.

A great read, I recommend it!

Last Argument of Kings

At last I come to the final installment of the excellent First Law trilogy. We finally see how our 'heroes' end up, whether their quests were all in vain, or whether they can save themselves in one last bloody blaze of glory. In doing so can they actually become better people? But what you need to know is that debts are called in, war horns sound, and with fire and steel we come to the Last Argument of Kings!

From the First Law wiki

As the ending to a trilogy, I couldn't really ask for better. The characters have their important arcs wrapped up, the many mysteries which the series are, mostly, answered. The fact that it leaves us with an open ending for the future while bringing the main trilogy to a satisfying conclusion is part of what makes it such a stand out work. 

We have our main cast, Luthar, West, Glokta, Ferro, Logan and Dogman as they have survived war, treachery and pointless quests. Each has risen, or fallen, in the world and learned to take stock of their new surroundings. Some of that though is bloody difficult. And emphasis on bloody. I will endeavor to be brief to avoid any spoilers because this series really deserves to be read in full. Needless to say though, the quest in the west has ended, the Siege of Dagoska is over and the war in the North is still bleeding on! There's scores to settle across the Circle of the World.

The interesting highs that a few characters reach are well worth watching. It makes for some very, very satisfying turns of events. I quite enjoyed how the little things each book added up over time led to this fiery conclusion which worked so well. I liked the action, the tension, and the true pulse pounding terror I felt at parts of the story. No punches were pulled here.

Like any good author, Abercrombie severely raised the stakes across the entire trilogy, no less in the last acts of this story. Every time you thought he might have run out of surprises he throws more at you. I found myself being pleasantly (and unpleasantly) surprised at how the story ended up turning out. There were some betrayals I didn't see coming (or even remember before this re-read), a few fun twists, and some overall great scenes in both terms of action and revelations. The churning chaos behind the scenes is almost as fascinating as what we see on screen as the players begin stepping out of the shadows and various pieces begin to click together in your head.

Then of course he just doubles down on the action. The blood runs red in this piece, and I really felt the viscera flowing alongside the heroism and pointlessness of war here. It locked in a sense of powerlessness the powerful might feel at the top as well as showing how much a bird's eye view of events might not offer us as much control as we think. The great ending set piece battle really drove that home and I was amazed at how well Abercrombie orchestrated it.

Having finally reached the end of the trilogy, I couldn't be more satisfied with my re-read, and really recommend the events of the First Law trilogy to lovers of fantasy.

2069

© 2020 Matthew Stienberg

Mare Tranquillitatis, Luna, United States Lunar Territory, 2069 AD

In the vacuum of space you can’t hear the whir of the drones pneumatic levers as they drive pilons home. There’s no sound from vernier thrusters as they hover above you and gently kick up Lunar regolith around your feet. You can’t even feel it as it brushes against your suit in a fine dust. The barely perceptible mist is only a haze through your helmet. Beyond you lays the scope of the cosmos, stars barely visible, and the Earth not yet rising beyond the thin Lunar horizon.

“Damn pretty innit?” Your partner says to you.

“Mhm.” You agree absently over the radio in your helmet. He’s standing on the other side of the construction site, not even in line of sight, but he knows what you’re thinking all the same. Every old Lunar veteran already knows what a rookie on their first tour is thinking.

“Pretty soon it’s gonna be coming up over the horizon. Just you wait.”

You’ve seen the pictures of course. Who hasn’t? Earth cresting the Lunar horizon,a view so alien from what anyone on Earth is used to. Even the orbital hotels, with their position right above Earth, can’t claim a view like this one. Only the moon could provide it. That’s part of why you're up here though, because there’s only one great place to get a view like it.

The buildings going up already have sponsor logos, all from big multinational companies or the US government. Winged eagles, letters, mousy ears, and shining discs proclaim a ‘who's who’ of sponsors. They’re going to be pieces of the enormous rotunda celebrating mankind's first steps on a non-Terran body. You’re disappointed you can’t see them. They’re covered in heavy tenting, keeping them free of the moon dust as the other workers call it. They won’t be unveiled again until just before the grand opening, probably not until a few months from now. By then your tour on the Lunar surface will be over though.

It seems a shame, coming all the way to the moon and not seeing where the first man planted his footsteps.There were others of course, now brutally obscured by the first working visitors, run over by great automated Lunar rovers, or otherwise lost in the unthinking rush to profit from the cheaper access to orbit. Progress they say. Destruction some call it. All you know is the pay is great, even if no one can give you any real long term prognosis on the health risks. That’s okay, the consortium is footing the bill, and that money is going to keep you comfortable for the rest of your life. It’s well worth the risk.

“They say they’re gonna name the town up here Armstrong,” Your partner chatters away. You briefly wonder if he does this because of the silence of space is so obvious otherwise. It’s way too quiet when you first step onto the Lunar surface. Some people embrace it, others want to drive it away. He seems of the latter type.

“Big debate though. Others want to call it Apollo, more egalitarian to the other guys who flew that original mission you know?”

You resist the urge to nod and just go ‘mhm’ over the radio. Your partner continues obliviously.

“Some saying it should be named after the guys who first mapped it. Some medieval Italians naturally, Giovanni and Fabricio I think, well, F-something or other anyways.”

You're pretty sure he means Francesco Grimaldi. But correcting him would disrupt his flow, and he needs to talk.

“Then some other guy, big billionaire obviously, he says he wants to stamp his name on the spot. Government says no, they won’t let him name the spot no matter how much money he throws at it. Now some weird nerds on the net want to name it after science fiction writers. The one they had in mind has a crater on Mars named after him now though. I think his ghost will be happy with that.”

You nod, briefly forgetting for a moment the action is completely meaningless in a space suit.

“Still, I think it should be Armstrong, only seems respectful y’know?”

“Armstrong sounds fine.” You say. Only mildly interested in the constant one sided conversation floating through your headset.

There’s a flash on your Heads Up Display, a warning, a drone is misbehaving nearby. You swivel your head to give the remote operators at the base a better view and more visual data to supplement telemetry data. There’s a curse over the team radio as someone swings an automated crane out of the way of one of the hovering drones dropping the pylons which will support the great rotunda.

“This is why we watch the construction site, instead of the stars. Isn’t that right people?” The shift supervisor grumbles.

“Yes, of course.” You reply. A blush creeps into your face, and you’re glad no one can see you. It’s a rookie mistake and you’ll be hazed for it in the mess hall when you get back, but it’s okay. The stars are always worth it.

You go through the motions for another hour; watching, feeding visuals back to the drone controllers and supervisors, the monotony of construction in space. Soon the day’s shift will be done and the other work crews will come in. The rotunda is coming along, soon it will be time for the more delicate hands on work the drones can’t quite replicate yet. The later crews will go over your progress with a fine tooth comb and then in a few months the obscenely wealthy will flock to the spot where men first set foot on the moon. Some government official will probably jet up to oversee the ceremony, some fiery speech about something. Definitely not about working together. Not with the Chinese and the Russians already trying to muscle in.

Word had it the Chinese were hard at work developing Shackleton Crater on the South Pole, developing Malapert Mountain for their own needs. There’s always talk in the mess hall about the ‘slow start’ at Peary Crater on the North Pole. The supervisors don’t like that kind of talk, bad for morale they say, but they never crack down on it. They’re too curious.

“You’re doing it again.” Your partner chides. Startled, you swivel back to the site. You’d been looking towards the South Pole. “Look into the feeds when you’re back on base.”

Laughing, you keep focused for the last ten minutes of the shift until the supervisor announces the all clear. There’s a rover coming to drop off the next crew, and you bound towards your own rover, your partner coming around to meet you.

No one really walks on the moon. The gravity is too low. It’s a lot of hopping, or almost dainty foot falls. Moving with slow purpose. You hop, your partner moves daintily, with the careful steps of a Lunar veteran. You beat him to the rover easy, leaning on one of the massive kevlar and mesh tires.

“You’ll get tired of that real quick you know. Loses its charm after probably the fiftieth time you go bouncing around on the Lunar surface. Walk before you run rookie.” He passes you a thumbs up which you return. You don’t think you’ll ever get tired of that.

“Though speaking of running, you hear they’re launching a space probe to Alpha Centauri next week? Those guys on Earth...”

You’re already tuning this news out as the hatch cycles open and you look over your shoulder. The tenting covering the Apollo 11 site is still there. Will be for a while yet. The rotunda takes shape, not yet having the feeling of permanence that the rest of the moon seems to exude. You look down at your own footprint, wondering how long it will take before it fades away, or is more likely walked over.

Your partner's warning rings in your ear. Will you get tired of it? Can all the wonder seen around you really end up as just a background to your work day? That seems impossible. How could it? It’s the moon, it can’t be just another tourist trap. Sparing one last look at the sheets on the rotunda, you wonder. You step inside, the hatch begins to close. It’s just another work day still.

A Storm of Swords

Coming on to the third installment of the fantastic A Song of Ice and Fire series, I've finally reached A Storm of Swords and begun reading it in earnest. This book I probably remember the least about from originally reading it, and I think I had a very dim view of much of the book at the time, and I absolutely remembered certain events wrong. In fact, I even confused some major events in this novel for those which took place in A Feast for Crows! So on sitting down and reading this again, it was very much like reading the book for the first time!

Some major spoilers are following since you can't really have a review of this book without them. If you haven't read this book or watched the show, be warned!

The book begins with House Lannister triumphant. Even though this is a supposed victory for House Baratheon, it rings hollow. The three male heirs are dead or defeated, the King on Dragonstone driven into the sea, the King in North has won every battle but now he faces the united strength of the south and west, while the ironborn have overthrown his castle and occupied much of the North, and Tyrion Lannister himself has fallen from grace.

Meanwhile in the North with the ironborn invasion, now the King Beyond the Wall comes pounding to the South and with him the might of the Free Folk with raiders, warriors and giants, but nipping at their heels are the mysterious but deadly Others. Jon Snow finds himself on the wrong side of the Wall, and maybe on the wrong side of the war.

Intrigue, betrayal, and weddings abound as the realm remains split in A Storm of Swords.

Another copy of a book which owes me nothing.

As laid out, all the characters here are in a moment of transition, the war is still being waged even though it is largely won in the south. However, the North, the Iron Islands, and the Riverlands are still in revolt against the Iron Throne. It is looking less and less likely though that these revolutions can continue. The new King of the Iron Islands has launched an ill fated invasion of the North, but this has only served to weaken the power of the King in the North, and so now the war may be for nothing. Worse, he may have made an indiscretion off the battlefield which may cost him more than any defeat ever could.

Like I mentioned above though, this book is chock full of action and events. I had actually misremembered parts of it and changed them to be part of A Feast for Crows in my head. It was a revelatory experience to go back and read the nail biting build up to things like, the Slavers Bay Campaign, the Battle of Castle Black, the Red Wedding, and the Purple Wedding. Seeing the details intricately built up to, betrayals, poisons, and political chicanery was absolutely amazing. I had forgotten just how much went into this book and how important it became for the later volumes.

One of the great themes was that of victory and loss. None of the victories we see on screen come without loss or complications. I enjoyed that each win still managed to bring with it a series of losses, and in some cases outright defeats.

Dany's arc was fascinating as it shows her maturing, but also questioning some of her goals and motivations while having trouble with some of the issues of her youth. I did enjoy that she became something of a wicked badass when doing all this. It's a tale that hits close to my heart because of my love of Civil War history, and the parallels are fascinating to look for.

Jon Snow's story is also interesting as it careens from a spy thriller to an epic story of siege and diplomacy, with so many twists it really made my head spin as I was reading it. I found the whole story with Mance Rayder to be compelling as it explains the threat of the Wildlings, and the threat that hangs over the whole Seven Kingdoms with the Others.

One story line I remembered astonishingly little of was that of Sansa Stark. I think back when I first read this I mostly skimmed her story, which is probably a grievous error. It was so much richer than I remembered, full of intrigue, subtle hints at the nature of the Tyrell's and their plans, while crossing so well with that of Tyrion Lannisters. He finale in the Vale was so well done, I really did underestimate her as a character when I first read this series.

Outside of Tyrion's arc (because how can you not love Tyrion? And the duel, that duel!) I would say that these were the stories that kept me going. Reading all of Catelyn's arc was gut wrenching as this time I knew where it lead. Seeing all the events coming to a head, in a way that really ties off what I consider to be the perfect trilogy in A Song of Ice and Fire,was immensely satisfying. I have more thoughts on why I think the first three books are so well done, and slide so seamlessly together, but those are for another time.

For now I would just like to finish by saying that A Storm of Swords is truly a masterpiece of the writers craft with such deftly handled foreshadowing and amazing plot arcs that it was well worth my time to reread. I'm in love with Westeros all over again.