Greetings, Earth dwellers,
4.5/5 Stars
Perelandra, by C.S. Lewis, Book Two of the Space Trilogy. This one felt a hair slower than Book One for the large part. Highly poetic and descriptive, Perelandra takes Dr. Ransom to yet another elaborately-imagined fantasy world, ditching most of the golden age Sci-Fi in favor of the supernatural and fantastic. The novel is highly allegorical and philosophical, taking Ransom to a time and place like the Garden of Eden, where the tempter has come and is now trying to sway the fate of Perelandra. Much of the book is taken up by philosophical debate between a bare few characters regarding this topic, but it is as fascinating as it is bizarre.
Once the full picture of the novel, not just the gist, comes into view, however . . . wow. Perelandra is quite mind-blowing. The cosmological scope and level of theology presented in the last quarter is quite something, challenging me to think in whole new ways. As far as Christian fiction centered on allegory goes, this certainly has to take the cake thus far for me—even if I actually enjoyed the overall journey of Out of the Silent Planet just a bit better. I’m docking half a star for the slow start and middle, but full marks for everything else. The ending will blow your mind, even if it is a bit hard to wrap the human mind around.
1/5 Stars
The Shadow of the Gods, first in John Gwynne’s latest series, The Bloodsworn Trilogy. I tried this a while back and was highly disappointed, putting it down around the 1/8 mark. So I picked it up after finishing and largely loving The Faithful and the Fallen, and . . . I got halfway. Couldn’t make it any farther, as I just couldn’t wrap my thought-cage around why his thought-cage was so obsessed with the term thought-cage. (No, I’m not exaggerating—it was cripplingly bad and only getting worse.)
I don’t often DNF books, but I returned this one on Audible with no compunction whatsoever. What bothered me most was the strange feminism thing where every warrior that is introduced has, I’d say, over a 50% chance of being female. I started calling it quite accurately. Jarl so-and-so? Woman? Yep, I knew it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that they’re bad characters, nor that I don’t like women characters in fiction (only Elvar really bothered me, as she kept getting praised as strong when that was her only redeeming quality, so yes, I’m going to dislike her). Here is my issue: The book is extremely well-researched. He’s a proper historian. The research shows, and is such a bright point, so why did he feel like he had to change one aspect of Viking culture so hugely to fit an egalitarian, modern worldview? I just find that so jarring. Like . . . who is watching the kids?? I know it might sound trite, but who’s taking care of the homes and villages? Who crafts their clothing? I truly don’t understand. And no, the “shieldmaiden” argument does not suffice. The funniest part is that it’s still consistently described as a “man’s book” because of how masculine it is in almost every way. So I don’t think he’s winning over female readers.
But hey, that’s just my take.
5/5 Stars
Another bright spot in my recent reading. This absolute masterpiece, The Will of the Many, took the Fantasy world by storm two years back. After James Islington’s first trilogy and all the hype for this one, I expected nothing less. Now that I finally got around to reading it, I can confidently say it did not disappoint. Frankly, the less I say about it, all the better. I was blown away. It’s mercilessly gripping from front to back, despite its chunky length. Islington continues to push worldbuilding and magic-infused action to the limits, but this time around, it’s both more focused and streamlined, despite the ambitious complexity.
It carries a lot of similarities to Red Rising and other such works, coming with a similarly pretentious premise—but oh, does it ever carry through. It also stands strong on its own, featuring a familiar Roman-inspired theme but very unique worldbuilding. This time, its themed after the Roman Republic, not the later Empire. Despite being quite dark at times and on the mature side of YA, it doesn’t cross into that edgy territory that Red Rising so fully embraces, which I appreciate. Islington is good at presenting a dark world without glorying in the gritty and and dirty side of it. I cannot wait for the sequel later this year.
Do yourself a favor—Just read it.
— Jacob Gamber