DAUNTLESS - Jack Campbell

Not a bad read. There are enough good science fiction concepts and questions - such as how do you communicate across a spread out fleet when relativistic speeds affect and delay communications; also the use of a .1 speed of light speed limit is a clever way to ensure there's no time dilation upon the fleets return to home.

Beyond that, the main character's incredibly overstated self doubt, the overuse of the co-president's questioning of his every move and the baffling formation descriptions that, even when provided, didn't help me with a mental picture - each reduced the enjoyment of a fun and intriguing bit of space opera. I'll probably try the next in the series but there'd need to be a lot less introspection and a bit more plot and character development to hold me beyond that.

ROCANNON'S WORLD - Ursula K. Le Guin

Great story (and at 112 pages, a very quick read). I first ran into Ursula Le Guin back at school when I read the Earthsea Trilogy which was a showcase for her mastery of world building. Rocannon's World was her first novel and that world-building skill was already evident.

Protagonist Rocannon is a geographic surveyor putting together key details of all of the planets he visits... break down of types of sentient life forms, levels of intelligence, geographic specificities etc. He'd slot right into Star Trek's reconnaissance services or Hari Seldon's Encyclopedia Galactica.

He provides assistance to one particular world and then, thanks to time dilation from near-light-speed travel, visits them some decades later (only a handful of his own years) to find they're in need of his help from other races who DON'T respect Trek's Prime Directive.

I'll stop there... no spoilers... but it's a very clever story that effortlessly crosses over between sci-fi and fantasy with the life forms on said world analogous to several fantasy tropes.

The best science fiction stories ask "what if" questions and shows us worlds we have barely imagined. Le Guin, a bona fide grand master of science fiction, delivers in spades... weaving time dilation into the plot (one of the first stories to do so) and even inventing the "ansible" device which many subsequent SF writers have borrowed.

Rocannon's World was followed by another eight loosely-connected novels in the Hainish Cycle (including the award winning Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed) in addition to a bunch of short stories, so this is the perfect place to start. You can buy the first three novels in an omnibus edition - World's of Exile and Illusion. So do yourself a favour.

WET GRAVES - Peter Corris

This is the first Cliff Hardy yarn I've read since my late teens/early twenties. The first time I went on an adventure with the private detective I was not long out of school and living in Sydney and it was the first time I'd read a book where the landscapes, streets and points of interest were all local. I clearly remember Cliff pelting down Anzac Parade trying to lose someone following him, and in my mind I was urging him to turn into High Street (where I lived in 84)... and he did. There's something engaging about finally reading a yarn where the addresses helped paint the picture unlike exotic but unfamiliar backdrops like Hollywood Boulevarde and Route 66 that I'd never seen and didn't help me picture a thing. So picking up another Cliff Hardy yarn - which I read entirely on a smartphone - was a bit of a walk down memory lane (another street address I'm familiar with).

Author Peter Corris is a bit minimalist on scene setting and character building but that works just fine for this world weary, ambivalent Aussie gumshoe. This yarn is a good one... short and direct with a plot and subplot that more or less come together in the end. The lead character is a former soldier and former insurance investigator and a half-decent fighter who seems to lose more fights than he wins. But the Harbour city, and the Harbour and Harbour Bridge, are characters themselves. And just what could tie together relatives of the original bridge makers? Corris' descriptions of parts of Sydney that Hardy visits aren't elaborate and the author probably relies a little too much on the readers ability to bring their own memories and knowledge of the areas to the table. But it's a good Aussie yarn and a good whodunnit.

In short, I want to get back into reading the adventures of Cliff Hardy. This one was first published in 1991 and there's a sizeable queue of other Cliff Hardy's waiting to be read. Unfortunately goodreads doesn't let us do half stars in our star ratings or I'd give this a solid 3.5 (or 7 on the ten scale) but have rounded down to fit the available stars.

BRUCE - Peter Ames Carlin

They say you shouldn't meet your heroes, and that's one of the reasons I put off reading this Bruce Springsteen biography for a while. At the time it was printed in 2012, it was one of the first semi-authorised biographies about "the Boss". While it makes it clear that it isn't authorised in the sense of being commissioned by Bruce and co., it features comments and details from Bruce, most of his family members (except wife, Patti) all of the E Street Band, many former band member and all key management and production staff. Bruce's advice to the author is to write the truth... and that appears to be what he has done.

The book definitely doesn't fudge or hide Springsteen's flaws. At times he is shown to be selfish, brooding, self absorbed and controlling... it even has accounts of times when he raises not only his voice, but a hand to a former girlfriend. But the book also recounts tails of Bruce's generosity, loyalty, idealism and self-doubt. We hear about the people he has stood by through thick and thin, and some that he parted with seemingly at a whim (and then frequently re-invited them into his circle).

Is it warts and all? Who knows... maybe it skipped a few warts. But with multiple views provided of most events and incidents in the book it seems like a thorough attempt at triangualting the truth. The Bruce shown in this book is one who was emotionally stalled by the almost loveless relationship with his dad in his youth through to his early 20s (spoiler alert... it gets better) and who finds a way to deal with the many binary contradictions inside of him through therapy in later adulthood.

The author has built the story around key moments with more detail of the first half of Bruce's career than the latter, but functionally that works. It's where the most of the dramatic developments lie. Bruce's own autobiographt comes out in September this year, and this book (one of MANY Bruce biographies) is a pretty good ounterpoint to compare and contrast with. Personally I would have called it "Darkness on the edge of Bruce"... but it's a great read, especially if you're a fan boy like me, and discovering his flaws didn't in the end change my status as a fan.

END OF AN ERA - Robert Sawyer

End of an Era is a novel variation on a time travel yarn (although I guess every time travel yarn is a novel variation). Thanks to a vaguely described scientific principle and an even more vaguly described time travel macine, the central characters are thrown back 60 something million years to the Mesozoic period, complete with Tyrannosaurs, Triceratops, Brontosauruses et al. But when they get there, things are a bit different than history (or pre-history) had led them to believe. SLIGHT SPOILER: The dinosaurs may have had compay before our visitors.

This is the first Robert J Sawyer book I'd read. It's fairly short and reads like an extended short story. Like Asimov, he likes to get straight into the storytelling without a lot of character development or scene setting. After reading some lenghty yarns recently, I enjoyed the change of pace but it also limits the attachment you develop to the characters and therefore the story. It's a great "what if" with some clever scientific theories and a clever twist. I'm keen to read more by this author now. I'd give it three and half stars if the system allowed, but three stars since it doesn't.

THE SWORD OF SHANNARA - Terry Brooks

Hmmmm.... a lot to say about this book. I didn't hate it, actually enjoyed it to an extent, but the book was burdened by two very powerful flaws. Firstly, it's a shameless copy of so many Tolkien elements and characters (which the author admits he was heavily influenced by). Secondly, the overuse of adjectives and descriptors, and frequent recapping inner monologs and introspection, combine to pad out this book so much it's at times a turgid chore to push through.

In terms of copying (homage?), there's Shea (Frodo/Bilbo), Sam (Flick), Allanon (Gandalf), Menion Leah (Aragorn), Balinor (Boromir), Stenmin (Grima), Hendel (Gimil), Eventine (Elrond), Skull bearers (Ringwraiths), Gnomes (orcs), Brona (Sauron), the Ring (the Sword) and a company (fellowship) of other humans, elves and dwarves to get the two main heroes from A to B.

At least Panamon Creel is original... unless you've seen the Prisoner of Zelda.

Having said that, Brooks takes the story in a number of new directions so that even Tolkien purists who think this is a dead set photocopy get a new adventure. Also (SPOILER ALERT), the author has set this story some thousand years into the future of our very own real life world in a post-apocalyptic Earth where Humans evolved into a range of species... Gnomes, Dwarves, Trolls, Druids (smart humans), and bog-ordinary humans. Elves had been here all along in hiding (who knew).

This is one of the author's first books and since he's knocked out 25 Shannara books now, presumably he has refined the somewhat bloated story telling he uses here. Brooks is revered by many in Fantasy fandom, but for mine this lacks the inventiveness and tight plotting of Raymond E Feist or the political intrigue and cleverness of George R R Martin.

So back to where I started. It's not a bad book and is mostly enjoyable, it just isn't terribly original and a bit prolix. Apparently the series gets better, more restrained and more original. You just may have to work to get to that point.