Spell of Apocalypse

I have just finished Mayer Alan Brenner's Dance of the Gods series, wrapped up with Spell of Apocalypse.

I quite enjoyed the series, but must warn you that editing seemed to get a little more lax with each book. Some of my favored lines from the aptly titled Apocalypse:

"He's a bit too dangerous for that, like deciding to train an asp as a house pet. It can be done, but why bother?"

"You'd think as a freelance, currently beholden to me, you might have a little more discretion where you sling your insults."
He looked thoughtful. "Could that be why I've never had a regular job?"

My brother has a regular diet of appetizers made from people who though they had the drop on him.

"I am not ready to retire. There is always enough energy for revenge. This is a central tenet of godhood."

It would be nice if they could just conveniently destroy each other, which was exactly why it was hopelessly unlikely that would ever come to pass.

"Will you kill him now?" Svin asked.
"No," Gashanatantra said thoughtfully. "I think there's been a bit too much of that lately, don't you?"
"He seemed ready to kill you!," Jurtan pointed out.
"Yes, well," said Gashanatantra, "I think he was only having his fun. I could have most likely talked him out of it."

"For anyone fond of the old order, or of civic order in general I suppose, the situation is fairly apocalyptic."

"If it's all the same to you," stated Shaa, "personally speaking I would rather not be the proximate cause of death to thousands and eradication of races. My medical training, you understand."

The potential audience might be reduced somewhat if it was necessary to learn a defunct language before you could start on the first page.

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I shall now move on to The Sky So Big and Black, by John Barnes. :)

By Request

This review is going to be a little different - I was requested by sagaciouslu for thoughts on a couple books, so I'm going to be writing as I read instead of just a quick "I liked it" summary at the end. That means there will probably be spoilers. Get over it - the book's been out for a decade. The Sky So Big And Black, by John Barnes

sagaciouslu - before you start reading this, keep in mind that I pick things apart and proofread compulsively. Just cuz I point out negative details doesn't mean I don't like the overall total! Though If I don't like it, I'll tell ya... :D

First page and we've already got a phrase I like: I raise my glass to my own reflection in the mirror by the door; lately this is as close as I get to drinking with a colleague.

Hmm. We've got 15 pages of establishing that the narrator is a lonely guy who drinks too much... time to move on?

Ok, we're at 20 pages and whiskey number 4... as-yet-nameless narrator has been waxing philosophical about the next generation for several pages. I am perhaps a bit impatient, but isn't there supposed to be action about here? I understand you have to establish the characters but...

Page 22 we get to what I think is the main character, based on the back of the book.

Page 26; I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about the details of terraforming. I kind of like the concept of getting paid for spreading shit, though.

"Your aunt Callie is real nice about accidentally getting luxury goods to wander into our mail."

So I'm a bit confused here. Earlier, we were told specifically that folks mark age by earth years still, but everything else by Mars time. Now we're in Teri's story, and the only age indicator we have is the year she was seven... but she's talking about getting married and Dad says he got married younger than she is? Clearly there's been some time lapse there, but it's never really stated.
Okay, 5 pages later we have mention of "next 10 Mars years, so you probably won't be forty yet", which makes her about 20 Earth years? Maybe? Makes more sense for marrying, but I feel like trying to work this stuff out is a bit distracting from the story.
Page 41 we get a definitive answer, she's 15. In the meantime there was some pretty interesting discussion of Marsformed humans (as opposed, of course, to Terraformed Mars surface) and the debate about whether it's better to fit their descendants to the planet or fit the planet to themselves. Also, I want a picture of the Marsform, it sounds interesting.

ooh, deep driller sounds seriously dangerous and cool.

Clearly I am a total geek. Teri and her geography lessons are way more interesting to read than narrator and his philosophizing.

hahahahahahahahahahaahaha! "The next time...I hope you're a full adult, so that I can give you a beating and have it be simple assault instead of child abuse." (page 62 now, going a lot faster since we've been following Teri instead of narrator.)

Her dad had a bad habit of telling his little girl the truth, too. Probably spoiled her for life.

Page 80. The more I hear of her beau, the more I think Teri can do better for herself.

Bed time for me. More later. There's clearly been a lot of research put into this book, in geology and astronomy especially. Not a fluffy sort of sci-fi with randomly unexplained major precepts. Makes me wish I knew more about it. Liking Teri steadily more as we go, though her hang-up about the Marsforms is kind of grating on my anti-prejudice nerves.