Elizabeth Tai

Digital Content Specialist and freelance writer, editor and proofreader based in Adelaide

Jun
12

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Review: The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg

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THE SPIRIT LENS
By Carol Berg
Publisher: Roc, 480 pages
ISBN: 978-0451463111

IT’S tough having to live up to some kind of standard, especially one set by your family. It’s near impossible when you’re desdended from a prestigious bloodline of magic users and do not have a jot of magic talent.

Thus, our hero Portier de Duplais is forced to abandon his dreams of becoming a sorceror and settle for a quiet and boring life as a librarian at the Collegia Magica, where potential magicians go to be trained.

Depressed and dispirited by the way his life has turned out, and tortured by his demons that author Carol Berg coyly hints at – setting up future storylines, no doubt – Portier glumly trudges through his days in the dusty confines of the library.

Then, Phillipe, the king Sabria, gives him a purpose in life when he sets Portier a “little” problem to solve: Someone is trying to assasinate Phillipe and the king, who happens to be Portier’s distant cousin, wants Portier to find the culprit.

Although he has about as much experience as an investigator as he does a magician, Portier accepts the new “job”. Though he probably would’ve thought twice if he had known that he’d have two unconventional partners foisted on him: the foppish Chevelier Illario and the surly sorceror Dante.

Portier has his hands full with his fellow “agentes”. Having two unpredictable characters as colleagues while conducting an undercover operation in the politically-complex Sabrian court certainly does a number on his sanity.

I have to say that, although Ilario and Dante seem like complete cliches in the beginning – Illario is the consumate fashion-obsessed fop and Dante, the typical tortured-genius of sorcerer with a bad attitude – I was glad to discover that the two do indeed have some complexity to them. In fact, Dante and Illario’s actions sometimes left me dumbstruck with amazement. Unpredictable characters make for interesting tales!

This is Berg’s fourth series, yet she has maintained, if not exceeded, her track record of producing compelling fantasy yarns.

While her last series, The Lighthouse Duet, crawled at the start, The Spirit Lens sprints off, with Portier receiving the missive from his royal cousin and going undercover in the Sabrian court as Illario’s supposedly brown-nosing secretary in double quick time.

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Mar
27

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Review: Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

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For some reason, I could never get into Butcher’s more popular Harry Dresden series. But if he writes those books as well as he wrote Codex, I’m in.

What attracted you to this book?
The magic system. I’ve always had a thing for elemental magic. The concept of a people (the Alerans) being able to “bond” with the elements of earth, fire, water and air was fascinating.

What do you think of the story?
To be honest, Butcher tale isn’t anything new. It’s the standard “farm boy finds himself through an adventure” tale that I’ve read/watched in a dozen fantasy books (Wheel of Time!) and films (Star Wars).

So we have a boy – Tavi – who is an oddity of sorts. He is “fury-less”, unable to bond with an element. Therefore, unlike his fellow Alerans, he has to rely on his wits most of the time. One day, while going after some wandering sheep, he ends up trapped in a violent fury storm (where the elements literally rip you to shreds) and encounters a slave girl – who isn’t really a slave girl at all – called Amara who’s actually a Cursor (a kind of spy).

Apparently, the Marat are planning an attack, aided by rebels, and Amara is there to stop it. Tavi ends up holding the key to the empire’s salvation (of course!).

Describe Alera.
It’s a Roman-esque world with legionnaires, togas and with people named Gaius and all.

Flaws?
Well, towards the end, the book became a Battle of Helm’s Deep clone. I was both amused and a little annoyed. But it is not bad at all – in fact, Butcher writes action scenes very well, and the book is just one big action scene after another – but I kept having flashbacks to Aragorn storming the orcs!

And this is probably not Butcher’s fault, but I kept imagining the Marat as the blue Na’vi folks from Avatar. What with the whole ‘native American-esque’ thing they have going there…

Also, we didn’t really get to know Tavi very deeply in this story. And then there’s the whole thing with the Marats that seemed so … convenient. But hey, we have five more books after this one to find out more about our fury-less hero…

What did you like?
How Butcher just doesn’t let up on the action. I felt exhausted just reading it – the characters are plunged from one drama after another. It sucks to be them.

On the whole, I did enjoy Furies of Calderon, even if I was sometimes annoyed with its flaws and clichéd plots. Butcher is a great yarn spinner, that’s for sure.

Rating: B-

Mar
15

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Review: Star Trek Enterprise: Last Full Measure

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Still going through a “nostalgic for all things Star Trek Enterprise” phase, so have been reading one Enterprise novel after another.

Story: Set in the third season of the series, we see the crew grappling with a near-impossible mission: Find and stop the perpetrators of a devastating attack on Earth which killed 7 million people.

We see Archer putting aside his idealistic view of the universe and using less-than-ethical ways to achieve his mission. We also see how the MACOs, the elite military unit which joined the ship in the third season, first interacted with the crew. It wasn’t easy for both sides.

What stood out? I didn’t like the third season of Enterprise at first, thinking that it was an overbearing way to illustrate 9/11 in the Trek universe. But after rewatching the season, I realised that it was a stellar season not because of the plot, but because it placed the characters in a high pressure situation, and they developed wonderfully. Of all the Trek series’, Enterprise characters seemed more real to me.

What surprised you? That the MACO’s were painted in an especially harsh light. I understand how the crew – especially Malcolm Reed – may be suspicious of the MACOS in the first few months, but my beef was that they weren’t behaving in a very professional manner. Both the Starfleet crew and MACO wore  their hostility on their sleeves, something we didn’t see at all in the series.

Even Archer, to my surprise, wasn’t a fan of the MACOs, sometimes showing his displeasure quite openly. That’s odd as Archer – in the TV series – was the one who insisted that the MACOs be brought on board in the first place.

What didn’t work: Some Amazon reviewers complained that Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels imposed their views of the Iraq war on the story. At first I thought it was a very odd criticism and dismissed it as rants from extreme right-wing readers, but now I have to agree with them.

There was a very clumsy attempt at torture by Archer in the book, and it just seemed really out of character for me, eventhough Archer did nearly suffocate a prisoner in an airlock in one episode. The scene seemed over the top and Archer seemed more like a bully. And then the subsequent argument for and against torture between Archer and Reed…? Again, it felt forced.

The mission also seemed pointless … but I supposed they can’t really write a  game-changing tale in the long-running arc of the third season.

But did you enjoy it? Yes, I did, but only because I was especially nostalgic for the characters. But I could see how some readers would be frustrated by the OOC-ness of the characters.

Rating: C+

Mar
14

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Review: Taboo by Jess Michaels

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There’s a time and season for everything, and I guess I’m in the season for romance.

When I picked up Jess Michaels’ Taboo, I wasn’t expecting much. I’ve accepted that most romance novels are formulaic to a painful degree, and I was just looking for a nice diversion.

The story: Cassandra Mannings and Nathan Manning, the Earl of Blackhearth, has a past. And that’s Past, with a capital P. Nathan’s pretty bitter about what happened to their young, innocent romance, while Cassandra just wants to forget it all.

During their years apart, Cassandra has made a name for herself as a tailor of repute to the ladies of the ton; she has also become a mistress to several noblemen — something which irks Nathan to no end.

Which is why he threatens to ruin her success unless she complies with his demands….

What caught your attention? The cover. Okay, that’s half the truth. (Tis a nice cover, no? Those “men ravishing half naked ladies” covers are such turn offs.) It was also the fact that Cassandra was a seasoned mistress. I was getting tired of young, innocent, naive heroines who had to be “taught” by their beaus. Cassandra sounded like someone with a backbone, and the fact that she’s “experienced” puts her on a more equal footing with Nathan in that department.

Is it hot? Oh yeah. Cili padi hot.

What surprised you about the novel? Y’know, I was still expecting a pretty generic read, and in many ways Taboo is quite fairy tale-ish and eye roll-inducing, and some parts just too convenient and pat.

However, I was surprised by the genuine chemistry between Cassandra and Nathan. I was actually interested in finding out what f**ked up their relationship so many years ago.  What actually happened between the two in the past is pretty standard stuff, however – you’ve probably read it in some romance book somewhere – but I enjoyed the interaction between the two.  It was real, heart-felt and they had great chemistry.

Criticisms: Too short, and the overly saccharine ending … I don’t know, I just expected something different. Something a little more cynical, perhaps.

Rating: B+

Feb
23

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Review: Star Trek Enterprise: What Price Honor? by Dave Stern

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I suddenly feel nostalgic about the last Star Trek TV spin off:  Enterprise.

That’s surprising, since I was quite disappointed with the series when it first aired around 2001. Its first two seasons were yawn worthy, and the third season had a heavy-handed Sept 11-inspired plotline that made my eyes roll to the back of my head.

It picked up in quality significantly in the fourth season but the powers that be decided to end a stellar season with an abysmal and horrid episode called These Are the Voyages. That episode has lived on in Trek fandom infamy since then … ah, but that’s a tale for another day.

What made me nostalgic were the characters, however. The plots may be blah, but the characters were fascinating. It’s frustrating that they weren’t all developed thoroughly.

Malcolm Reed, most of all.

It’s a crime that such a fascinating character was given such little attention. Fortunately, we have Star Trek Novels to fill the gap, and in What Price Honor?, Malcolm is the lead character.

Story: Ensign Alana Hart dies at the hands of Malcolm Reed when he tries to stop her from sabotaging the Enterprise. Riddled with guilt, he tries to find out why she did what she did … and Enterprise ends up caught between two warring civilisations.

Thoughts: Malcolm Reed fans would love how Stern explores Reed’s character and motivations. I’ve always found him to be one of the most intriguing characters on the Enterprise besides the fan-favourite Trip Tucker. Reed is reserved, utterly professional in everything he does – to the point of being distant from his crewmates.

His relationship with Alana Hart explores how he struggles to balance his two sides: the professional Armoury Officer and the flesh-and-blood Malcolm who desires an emotional connection. Ultimately, his decision with Alana is really poignant and touching.

The story, however, is a very conventional whodunit by Trek standards.I guessed in the first few chapters what had happened. At times, I wanted to shake the characters and say, “Hey, all the clues are there right in your face! Can’t you figure it out already?”

Well, since this book takes place in the first few months of Enterprise’s deployment into the great uknown – they are the first Earth vessel to explore deep space after all – I’ll peg it to inexperience.

Verdict: A really good read for Malcolm Reed fans. I say – buy it! Non-Reed-fans may be frustrated with the pedestrian mystery, however.

I just wish there were more novels with Malcolm as the lead character. Sigh!

Feb
21

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Review: We Know by Gregg Hurwitz

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Years after a traumatic event uprooted Nick Horrigan from his comfortable life when he was 18, Nick thinks that he finally has a handle on his life. He has put his past behind him and now has a stable job in Los Angeles. As far as he knows, nothing extraordinary will ever happen to him again.

Then a SWAT team explodes into his apartment, whisks him away in a Black Hawk and tells him that a terrorist is demanding for his presence.

Thoughts: We Know‘s premise called me like a siren; I like stories about folks with a tragic/shady past, and I sure wanted to know what in the world happened to Nick when he was 18.

But a few chapters in and I began to have my doubts about the book.

My biggest stumbling block in liking this book? It’s illogical and the characters can be downright silly in their actions.

To echo Nick – why couldn’t the SWAT team have knocked on his door instead of barging into his apartment, all commando style, and dragging him into a Black Hawk like he was a covert agent for Al Qaeda? And seriously, a Black Hawk hovering above a Los Angeles suburb? Way to be discreet, dudes.

And then you these super agents worrying about this terrorist who’s threatening to blow up a nuclear plant. They explain to Nick why it’s important not to have a bomb blow up in the nuclear reactor’s spent-fuel pool where the terrorist is only to … (spoiler!) get rid of the terrorist with a bomb? Hello, what if the terrorist threw the cell phone into spent fuel pool, which – if it blew up, apparently – will render LA uninhabitable for 500,000 years? (Though, having written an article on nuclear energy once, I think some nuclear scientists would have some issues with this. For one, it is not that easy for one unarmed(!) terrorist to get into the spent fuel pool!)

It doesn’t bode well for a book when you start to doubt the realism of the story just two chapters in. And when I finally found out what happened to Nick 18 years ago, I could only shake my head in disbelief. Nick must’ve been seriously naive when he was 18 to do what he did.

I just couldn’t read on after that. Though for the sake of completion, I flipped to the end to see who did the nasty deed. I wasn’t surprised at the revelation at all.

So, should you read it? To give Hurwitz some credit, it is a page turner and he writes reasonably well. If you could overlook its logic flaws you could get some entertainment out of it.

I say just borrow it from a library or a friend.

Feb
4

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Review: The Night Angel series by Brent Weeks

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This review was originally published in The Star (Shadowy World, Jan 22, 2010).

The Way Of The Shadows (Book 1, 688 pages)
Shadow’s Edge (Book 2, 656 pages)
Beyond The Shadows (Book 3, 720 pages)
Author: Brent Weeks
Publisher: Orbit
I’VE always had a weakness for assassins. Maybe it’s because of my enduring love for the movie Grosse Point Blank’s Martin Blank (played to great effect by John Cusack), the efficient professional killer with a sardonic wit. Since then I’ve been searching for another assassin to fall in love with – someone who’s good at his job yet has a good heart (at least very deep inside).

Brent Weeks’ Night Angel trilogy is the standard fantasy set in a Western, medieval-ish world, but it has the right ingredients for a good read. There are assassins, magic, evil empires and rebellions to keep you longing for the next page.

The first book, The Way Of The Shadows, is breezy and exciting.

Weeks does an excellent job in painting Ceneria – a cruel, mirthless country in a land called Midcyru. There, orphans sleep in the sewers to stay warm and a career in prostitution and thievery for these unfortunates is considered a step up from their dismal existence. There are enough colourful mentions of the filth that cake the slums of Ceneria and the depraved acts that go on there to make me smell the decay of that society.
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Feb
4

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Celebrity interior decorators dish out secrets

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This review was originally published in The Star: Design dons

GOOD DESIGN CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
Beautiful Rooms, Inspiring Stories
By Ty Pennington
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 224 pages
ISBN: 978-0743294744

THOM FILICIA STYLE
Inspired Ideas for Creating Rooms You’ll Love
By Thom Filicia
Publisher: Atria Books, 222 pages
ISBN: 978-1416572183

TY Pennington and Thom Filicia brandished their wicked interior designing skills on television and became stars. Their secret? Their stand-out personalities, and their ability to create gorgeous, personalised interiors that inspire viewers and fulfill their clients’ desires and dreams.

It’s a pity that Pennington’s reality show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, is not shown in Malaysia. It’s the kind of reality television that even reality TV haters like me will watch.

The show has an altruistic premise: Pennington’s mission is to give deserving folk in desperate circumstances a new home in seven days. (These folk are often good Samaritans who have contributed much to their communities.) These new dwellings offer hope and healing to the recipients, many of whom have gone through a very difficult time. (Judging from online viewer comments, it is not unusual to sob your heart out while watching!)

The new abodes come complete with fabulous interiors. Pennington is a former carpenter so he often custom builds furniture and decorative items that reflect his clients’ tastes and personalities – it’s always fun to see what he comes up with. For example, for New York policeman and single father John Vitale, Pennington created large black and white pictures of his three children because Vitale “loved waking up to (his) kids and seeing their faces”.
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Feb
4

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Review: Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist

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This review was originally published in The Star.

HANDLING THE UNDEAD
By John Ajvide Lindqvist
Publisher: Quercus, 464 pages
ISBN: 978-1847249906

I MADE the mistake of reading this book in bed at midnight. (Yes, what was I thinking?) After the fourth chapter, I had to put it down with cold, shaking hands as I was overcome by vivid descriptions of the dead coming back to life.

Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist is a master at describing the stuff of nightmares. His vivid and often graphic descriptions of the effects of decay on the human body have been seared into my mind, and my near-slumbering brain threatened nightmares that night.

But it isn’t just the gore that will scare you; Lindqvist expertly grounds his book in reality – so much so that you believe that this could actually happen in our world.
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Jun
11

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Review: The Last Eunuch of China

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THE LAST EUNUCH OF CHINA:
The Life of Sun Yaoting
By Jia Yinghua, translated by Sun Haichen
Publisher: China Intercontinental Press, 314 pages
ISBN: 978-7508514079
(Published in The Star)
IN Chinese costumed dramas, the eunuch is often a hated figure; he flatters the top officials with his often falsetto voice but slyly plots their downfalls behind their backs.

But Sun Yaoting, a former eunuch in the court of Pu Yi, China’s last emperor, has a different story to tell in this engrossing biography. Although he mentions infamous eunuchs who manipulated their way into power, he also speaks of the less glamorous side: Eunuchs’ livelihoods, and their very lives, often depended on the whims and fancies of their often capricious upperclass masters. Eunuchs had to literally trade their genitals for the possibility a better life, enduring a painful and often deadly do-it-at-home castration procedure. Not only did they have to deal with the physical problems of castration for the rest of their lives, these men also had to bear the scorn of a society that regarded them as less than human. Even their families, who often benefited from their elevated status, held them in scorn.

Sun, though, wasn’t motived by just the riches and power; he wanted to protect his family from being bullied by powerful people and to help them escape crushing poverty.

Castrated by his father when he was eight – and that painful act is recounted in gruesome detail in the chapter simply called The Castration – Sun set out to become a eunuch in the glorious Forbidden City in 1912 – only to be told that the child emperor had just abdicated.

Fortunately, Sun managed to find a job at the home of the kind but tight-fisted Prince Zai Tao, Pu Yi’s uncle. From there, Sun, through sheer hard work and determination, entered the Forbidden City (when he was 15) and crawled his way up by serving one mean master after another. Eventually, he became an attendant to Empress Wanrong, Pu Yi’s wife, and later to Pu Yi, when he was the puppet emperor of Manchukuo (a state created in 1932 by still-loyal Imperialists with help from imperial Japan; it was abolished at the end of WWII).

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