Books in January 2020

I read a lot more than I expected this month, meaning I'm significantly ahead of track on my target of a book a week this year as a minimum.

Agent Running in the Field (John le Carré)
John le Carré's novels are ones that I look forward to immensely, and I've rarely been disappointed. This one tells the tale of an SIS officer who is close to retirement being surprised and ending up with an assignment in London. Brexit is underway, and the author's distaste for the project is clear, but it doesn't dominate the story; it motivates it. Rather, it gives an excuse for a rather different tale. The story is told from a first-person perspective, much more successfully than some of le Carré's other takes on this perspective. My only criticism is that I would have liked to have seen more, but I guess it's good to leave your audience imagining what happened next. In many ways, this is more gentle than some of his more recent novels ('A Most Wanted Man', 'Our Kind of Traitor', 'Absolute Friends'), but there's a dark streak to it.

Auberon (James SA Corey)

[A novella set in The Expanse universe.]
Interesting story about what happens when someone brought up in a rigid society ends up responsible for a world that hasn't had the same background. Arriving as the representative of an occupying force, the new Governor and his wife, a research scientist, must find their path in a completely different culture. Only rated this three stars on Goodreads as it didn't really excite me; yes, it adds more flavour to the setting but it isn't indispensable.

City of Mist RPG (Amit Moshe)

I'll post further on this later.

Made Things (Adrian Tchaikovsky)

I enjoyed this; Tchaikovsky's flexibility and world-building are excellent, and this novella showed his capabilities well. It's a fantasy novel; set in a city and world where magic is common, and powerful magic users dominate. The protagonist is a young thief and puppeteer who has small, living, animated puppets that help her. She becomes drawn into a heist whose consequences change the city's power balance. A pleasure to read.

Precious Little Things (Adrian Tchaikovsky)

A short prequel to 'Made Things', well worth the time. There's a D&D scenario in this if you wanted to convert it and perhaps even an alternative character class. I enjoyed this; Tchaikovsky writes cracking short-form fiction.

A Prayer for the Ship (Douglas Reeman)

I first read this in the first year of secondary school (Year 7 to you youngsters) and haven't returned to it since. The book tells the tale of a new first officer joining a motor torpedo boat squadron operating on the east coast, and I believe that it draws off the author's experiences. It's very evocative and actually quite hard to put down. It pulls no punches about the impact of the fighting on the men involved (and yes, it is mainly men as the primary female character is pretty much a love interest), and doesn't glorify the war. Gritty, fast-paced and believable, I'm glad I came back to it. It showcases the short and brutal lives that the crews of MTBs could expect.

Blood of Elves (Andrzej Sapkowski)

The third Witcher book, and the first that is a full novel. I found it a bit unfocussed at the start, feeling more like short stories melded together. However, the narrative strengthens and focusses at the end which left me wanting more. This sits somewhere between 3 and 4 stars on my Goodreads ratings. Enjoyable but unfocussed until the last quarter, and left me wanting more.

Time of Contempt (Andrzej Sapkowski)

This is a book that meanders through its plot and definitely doesn’t feel like it has its own arc. It feels like we’ve dropped in on old friends to follow them and see what happens. Big political moves happen in the story, but we mainly see the effects on the protagonists as they are washed in the tides.

Geralt is not the main character; rather the book focuses around Ciri, his ward. Dandelion, Yennefer and other family faces circle around that orbit. The perspective shifts a lot, as threads all over the continent are pulled together.

I enjoyed this more than its predecessor, but it still doesn’t feel like the author is comfortable in the larger form.

Romance of the Perilous Land RPG (Scott Malthouse)

Reviewed here

City of Mist All Seeing Eye Investigations Starter Kit (2019)

This is the revised starter set for City of Mist and it restored my faith in the line's potential. It is very well put together, easy to use and reference and a great counterpoint to the core book (s). Recommended.

(But don't read the case if you're playing my first game at Revelation)