The Alloy of Law (Mistborn: The Alloy Era #1) by Brandon Sanderson

A beginning of a new series which continues the Mistborn series a few centuries later. Untypically for a fantasy book, there have been radical changes in the world. Technology and society have advanced: there are guns and railroads, and the first cars have been invented. The magic which uses metals still works, but there apparently are no longer people who can use all the metals, but that doesn’t mean that there wouldn’t be some very powerful allomatics and furumantics still around. The world where the story happens is a mix of Wild West and the beginning of 20th century.

A former law keeper, Waxillium Ladrian, who had worked for a while at “the Roughs” (kind of Wild West territory), has returned to his home after a personal tragedy. He is Lord of a House, and his uncle, who was the former ruler of the House, has died. There have been clever robberies that have involved taking hostages. The robbers attack a fancy ball which Wax is taking part and kidnaps his possible bride-to-be. He is forced to return to law-keeping. And his methods are slightly less orthodox than those of the real police. It is refreshing to read fantasy which isn’t happening at the faux middle time. And it is even more interesting to see what has happened in the fantasy world when the original “quest” has been resolved and “normal life” has resumed its course. The heroes of the first series are now mythical creatures of religion – but there still is a strange mist, which cannot be explained by weather phenomena, floating around sometimes, so all mystical things might not have disappeared. After a slightly slow start (seems to be common for this author) the writing was riveting and left one wanting more.

332 pp.

Christian Rönnbacka: Julma (Antti Hautalehto #2)

The police detective, Antti Hautalehto, who endured severe physical and mental hardship, is recovering and has returned to work. The criminals have placed a price on his head. At the same time, a young girl is kidnapped from her home in a very professional manner. She is returned a few days later – she is physically healthy but molested. So there is a lot going on at the same time. It is a smoothly written book where Antti is very pressed once again and does not survive unscathed.

Antti Hautalehdon tutkimukset jatkuvat. Edellinen kirja päättyi varsin synkästi. Antti on palannut työhönsä ainakin fyysistä vammoistaan toipuneena, henkiset ovat vasta arpeutumassa.
Poliisilaitokselle tulee ilmoitus pikkutytön pöksyjen katoamisesta. Pieni asia, jota on vaikea edes ihan vakavasti ottaa, mutta sitten kun pikkutyttö ryöstetään kotoaan näyttää siltä, että kyse on jostain muusta kuin ihan pikkupervon toiminnasta, vielä kun sieppaus näyttää erittäin hyvin, jopa ammattimaisella tarkkuudella toteutetulta. Pari päivää myöhemmin tyttö palautetaan ruumiillisesti kohtuullisessa kunnossa, mutta henkisesti ihan muussa tilassa. Samaan aikaan ruotsalaiset rikolliset ovat asettaneet Antin päästä kunnon palkkion ja palkkamurhaajat ovat jo matkalla. Toiminnantäyteinen kirja, jonka sisältö oli osittain aika kuvottavan ahdistavaa, eikä Antti taaskaan selviä tapahtumista ihan ehjin nahoin. Kirjoituksellisesti se oli kuitenkin kovin vetävä ja sisällöstä huolimatta imi hyvin mukaansa ja oli hyvin sujuvasti kirjoitettua tekstiä.


364 pp.

Helena Ruuska: Hugo Simberg - Pirut ja enkelit

A biography of my favorite artist, who created some very imaginative art and painted probably some of the best examples of symbolism in Finnish art. He also was one of the forerunners in lithography in Finland – and I own two signed lithographs made by him. The biography was well written, comprehensive and interesting. It might have gone into more detail on his work, but as he didn’t keep a diary and didn’t explain his works, the original data about them is very limited.


Elämäkerta eräästä mielitaiteilijastani. Muistan ihastuneeni Simbergin grafiikan töihin taidenäyttelyssä vuosia sitten. En muista varmaksi, milloin tämä tapahtui - ainakin vuonna 2000 on Simbergin näyttely ollut Tampereella, mutta jotenkin itsellä on mielikuva, että tämä ensi-ihastuminen olisi ollut jo ainakin 10 vuotta aikaisemmin. En kuitenkaan löytänyt mainintaa näihin aikoihin olleesta näyttelystä. No, joka tapauksessa jo tuolloin oli täysin mahdottomalta tuntuvana haave, että joskus omistaisin jonkin taitelijan teoksen. Tämä haave on nyttemmin jopa toteutunut. Kirjalta odotin aika paljon ja odotukset aika pitkälle toteutuivat. Kirja käsittelee tyypillisen elämänkertaa tyyliin koko elämän lapsuudesta kuolemaan asti. Varhaisvaiheita oli ehkä jopa hiukan liikaa kuvattu ja elämän viimeiset kymmenen vuotta tuntuivat menevän muutamassa sivussa. Ilmeisesti Simbergin elämän loppupuolella, kun hän eli ilmeisen onnellista avioelämää ja matkusteli vähemmän, ei ollut samassa määrin kirjallista materiaalia käytössä. Kun ei ole matkoilla, niin ei ole tarve kirjoitella kirjeitä ja tämän vaiheen olemassa olevista kirjeistä on ehkä vähemmän säilynyt, koska Simbergin leski ilmeisesti oli hävittänyt osan kirjeenvaihtoa.

Kirjassa oli paljon kuvia, mutta ei siltikään ihan riittävästi. Osaa mainituista tauluista ei löytynyt edes googlaamalla, osa löytyi Simbergin grafiikan täydellisestä luettelosta, joka itsellä on käytössä, mutta “oikeita” taulujahan ei ollut sielläkään. Muutamasta mainitusta taulusta jäi mietityttämään, minkälainen teos oikein kyseessä mahtoi olla.

Kielellisesti kirja oli vetävää tekstiä, jopa tarkemmin olisin voinut maalauksien taustoista lukea, mutta ilmeisesti tietoa ei kaikesta oli, kun mitään yksityiskohtaisempaa päiväkirjaa Simberg ei nähtävästi pitänyt eikä ilmeisesti taulujaan liiemmin julkisesti selitellyt.

Jotenkin tuli vaikutelma, että kaikesta menestyksestään huolimatta Simberg ei eläessään saavuttanut ihan täyttä menestystä: alussa hän oli aikaansa edellä symbolisilla teoksillaan, ja sitten yhtäkkiä, impressionismin myötä hän oli aikaansa jäljessä, vanhan sukupolven edustaja, jolta ei mitään uudenaikaista enää voinut odottaa. Jollainlailla ulkopuolisen vaikutelma hänestä myös sai, vaikka hän ilmeisen seurallinen oli toisaalta. Kirjana teos oli erittäin kiinnostava ja suositeltava.

431 pp.

The Player of Games (Culture #2) by Iain M. Banks

Another book from the Culture-series which tells about a galaxy-spanning, anarcho-communistic, post-scarcity society which is run (if that society needs running) by extremely high IQ artificial intelligence minds. There isn’t actual military, but there is a “Special Circumstances”, an organization which examines possible threats to Culture and responds if necessary. The Special Circumstances has found a large interstellar civilization, the Empire of Azad, from the Magellan Cloud. It hasn’t revealed for Azad Empire the full truth of the Culture and has led the representatives to believe that Culture also originates from the same galactic cloud and isn’t as technologically advanced (and liberal). It really is. They have been careful not to reveal more advanced gadgets and ships.

The political system of the empire is practically based on a game that is used to determine high government positions and also who is the emperor. The better someone is in the game, the better his position will be. However, the empire turns out to be corrupt and is extremely sadistic and cruel in nature.

The drone, who works for Special Circumstances, approaches a professional gamer. He is asked to travel to Magellan Cloud (which will be two years' travel time) and to take part in the game. He agrees and spends years training for the game. When he eventually arrives, he takes part in the competition and manages pretty well with a very different game style which has been traditional. But the Special Circumstances (and the Minds) never reveal everything – not for anyone.

A very good and an interesting book. The Culture-series has somehow fallen between cracks in my reading and I had not read this book before even when it is quite widely known. The plot was appealing and even surprising at places. The writing was very well done and the concept itself was very interesting. The main character was well developed with a full personality. I found this book to be better than Consider Phlebas.

391 pp.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January-February 2020

The Quest for the Great Gray Mossy • novelette by Harry Turtledove
Mieville’s Moby Dick told as a dinosaur story. Mammals are only disgusting small critters (how irritating and disgusting they are is mentioned a few too many times). There are whale-like creatures, though. They are not mentioned to be mammals, but they behave just like whales. They produce oil, ambra, and meat, just like whales. If the mammals didn’t evolve to large creatures on dry land, where did the whales come? Other than the protagonists being lizards, there were no fantasy or SF elements at all. As I haven’t read the original, I most likely missed most of the references and found the story to be pretty boring. ***
Wheel of Echoes • short story by Sean McMullen
After some farfetched circumstances, a recording of Shakespeare acting as Hamlet is recovered. A smoothly moving nice story, but the effects of the find on Shakespearean studies is extremely hard to believe. Why would anyone really care if Shakespeare was a mediocre actor? ***+
Hive • short story by Jay Werkheiser
Humans and insectoid aliens whose entire communication and even intelligence is based on pheromones encountering each others. Both think that the other is a mindless animal. A pretty good story about a truly alien intelligence. ****-
The Greatest Day • short story by Eric Choi
An alternative history of the disaster of spaceship Columbia, where the damage was noticed midflight and an attempt was made to salvage the crew. Things don’t end as badly as in our reality. An OK story, well written, and even partly moving, but not entirely plausible at all places. ***+
Welcome to the New You: Terms and Conditions for the iCRISPR Gene-Editing Kit • short story by Douglas F. Dluzen
An advert on the home kits for crisper DNA modification. An amusing story which isn’t very far on the future (if you don’t consider the fact that changing autosomal DNA doesn’t usually cause phenotypical changes). ***+
The Grass Bows Down, the Pilgrims Walk Lightly • short story by Izzy Wasserstein
Aliens give humanity technological and scientific secrets if humans are able to solve puzzles. The protagonist tries to find out why grass “bows” on a planet and reminisces her life. A bit of a short story with a scant background. ***
All the Turns of the Earth • short story by Matthew Claxton
A youth falls to the past without an explanation and makes friends with a pterosaur. Then he falls back and always partly misses his former life. A fantasy story, not sf. Nice writing and mood, but there is not much of an actual plot. ***-
One Lost Space Suit Way • short story by A. J. Ward
An old, intelligent, and self-aware space suit runs away and has many adventures. A short story that aims for a sad, bittersweet mood and pretty much succeeds. The plot itself is partly implausible, but the story works fairly well nevertheless. ***+
Around the World in Ninety-Six Hours • short story by Wendy Nikel
A sister of two siblings is on a Venus expedition while the brother is on a Mars expedition. The Venus group is using Morse code to communicate with the ground robot vessel for some contrived reason. The siblings bicker like ten-year-olds. The brother gets into trouble on Mars. The solution to how he is rescued is pretty obvious after reading the first two pages or so. A pretty unsurprising, standard “in peril” story. ***-
Birds of a Feather • short story by Gregor Hartmann
A scientist has developed an easy way to create radio telescopes which function at space. His approach uses tiny metallic shards, millions of them, and their reflections are analyzed by a sophisticated computer program. But he doesn’t get funding. His twin brother helps him to test his idea in reality (and most likely to prevent any low orbit space flight for centuries...but that wasn’t mentioned in the story). ***
Guns Don't Kill • short story by Richard A. Lovett
Hunter tries to shoot a deer after hunting season. Game warden gets an automatic message about poaching about to happen. What happens when guns get very automatic and autonomous? A very good story, Hopefully, things go in this direction. ***½
Q-ship Militant • short story by Joel Richards
A spaceship which is a disguised warship is chasing a “slaver” ship - that is, pirates who have stolen AI cores from other ships. Just a fragment that tells the story of one such chase and battle. There was little background and little reason to care about characters or events. **½
The Shocking Truth About the Scientific Method that Privatized Schools Don't Want You to Know • novelette by Sarina Dorie
A teacher teaches in a school where the curriculum is dictated by private contributions. When the contributor supports creationism, the teaching of science is hard and frustrating. A teacher starts an extracurricular course, but the school isn’t happy about it. A pretty good and sadly plausible (at least in the US where schools seem to be in a sorry state) story. ***+
Hubble Rising • novelette by C. Stuart Hardwick
A recovery attempt of Hubble space telescope ends in an accident. Everything looks bad, but a resourceful crewmember manages to save the day. Nothing which hasn’t been seen on a hundred Analog stories before. ***

Boneyards: A Diving Novel (Diving Universe #3) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

The book continues the story perhaps a few years after the last one in a series ended. The Boss now has a working dignity vessel with a crew and has access to “anacapa drive,” an instantaneous FTL -drive. She and her group are studying the tech and are installing the drive on ordinary space crafts. But her friend is obsessed with stopping the empire’s research on the drive – it erroneously assumes it to be a simple cloaking device. She starts a cover mission to destroy all Empire research on the subject. But not everything goes smoothly.

Almost just as entertaining a book as the earlier installments, a part of the story is told on flashbacks going back tens of years. I found those to be illuminating about the personality and past of the characters, but while I was reading them, I was hoping to get over them and continue the “real” plot. The ending was pretty harsh. I didn’t believe that the boss would be ready to go such lengths for her goals. It didn’t seem to be really in character. But I am looking forward to the next part; perhaps there we’ll learn what the “Boneyard” mentioned in the title of the book really is – in this book it was only found.


370 pp.