ECHO - Review

Jack McDevitt is a master at presenting humanity of the future in terms we can identify with today. ECHO is a fine example of this. In the far future, when people are flung throughout several galaxies, ECHO shows how humanity still yearns to answer a basic question: Are we alone? Are other sentient, conversant people somewhere primed for contact?

In ECHO, antiquarian Alex Benedict (this is the fifth book in the series) is curious about an artifact he see advertised for sale. It has unknown glyphs on it and is very large. Benedict learns the object once belonged to the late Sunset Tuttle--a man renown for his SETI-type searches. The object goes missing, and all Benedict has are visual facsimiles. When he sets out to investigate what happened to the object, events become both puzzling and dangerous.

This pursuit is not handled solely by Benedict. Although he initially recognizes a mystery that begins the adventure and always deduces the solution, the Benedict novels are written as first-person accounts by Chase Kolpath. Chase is the administrative assistant for Benedict's antiquities company. She is also Benedict's pilot, both on world and off; when action heats up, Chase is at the center of conflict resolution.

Each adventure (book) is a memoir, recording Chase’s perspective of events. She sets the story down for people of her era, although she often puts in asides: "The station’s name, as you probably know, is Tsarendipol..." (page 104). On page 288, after a particularly dangerous misadventure, she shrugs off Benedict's apology and writes, "...when I started putting this memoir together, I'd intended to leave this sequence out...Alex advised me to tell the whole story."

This styling of the book allows a casual comfort when the future technology and circumstances are related. Nothing is overly explained and it’s easy to accept everything presented, such as jackets that, when you put them on, automatically adjust heating for different temperatures (I wish I had one of those!). The language and writing are strong.

As a mystery, the unfolding story of what happened to the object and why has abundant tension, a few red herrings and plenty of action. ECHO is a 2011 Nebula nominee, and I wouldn't be surprised if Jack McDevitt takes top honors.

Bone and Jewel Creatures - Review

Stories about wizards and sorcery aren't usually my preference; the interesting title and cover compelled me to take this from my public library shelf.

I was not sorry. Elizabeth Bear's story about a wizardry power struggle was--enchanting :-)

Protagonist Bijou, is an artificer who creates and animates creatures from bone, gem and other inanimate objects. She is old, and her thoughts and struggles with her infirmities are well told. The reader will also sense she has a "past." This aspect of mystery is enhances when her former apprentice and colleague, Brazen the Enchanter, brings her a feral child with a withered and festering arm. Bijou agrees to help the child, although she feels discomfited by the circumstances. Her worries are substantiates when she discovers a purposefully placed item in the child's rotting hand that is causing the limb deterioration. She suspects who has done this, but isn't sure why.

In this well-written novella, Bear gives three points of view: Bijou, Brazen, and the child Emeraude. Bear moves effectively from one to the other in clearly-delineated passages that add dimension to the story. The writing and vivid descriptions quickly immersed me in this magical world, from Bijou's workshop and her intricate companions she constructed, to the surrounding City of Jackals. I enjoyed the book, and the brevity seemed fitting for the story. Too much more could have been too much.

The Glass Rainbow - Review

Dave Robicheaux is an ongoing series character [more than 16 titles] I hadn’t read other Roicheaux books and was relieved not to feel left out with his personality. In this story, Robicheax follows a possible lead about the murder of a young woman. This sends him to other leads and on various interviews and confrontations with some well-presented characters. Characterization is one of Burke's strong suits. Other murders take place and Robicheaux’s instincts send him along dangerous paths.

My descriptions is without detail to avoid spoilers. The convolutions within this novel, including involvement of family members and friends, are so many even author Burke didn’t get them all sorted. As a mystery, this didn't work for me.
1) The protagonist didn't investigate as much as he did instigate.
2) I like police procedural stories, and this didn't have much; in fact there were lots of rules broken.
3) I wasn’t satisfied with the ending and some writing style elements detracted. Burke uses first person for the Robicheaux sections, but also presents other characters in third person. Although the writing and use of language was all top drawer with vivid descriptions and character depictions, I found the third person segments to be superfluous, often detracting from the story. The information from those segments was rehashed in the Robicheaux scenes, and the tension of the supposed-to-be-gripping finale of the book was diluted by a third person presentation.

Development of the protagonist's foibles and concerns were quite good, and when I began to think of The Glass Rainbow as a novel, not a mystery, I liked it much better. In all, I felt it was a 2-star mystery and a 3-star novel. I know I'll remember the characters and emotion of the story.