Review: The Burning Room

The Burning Room by Michael Connelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Harry has a new partner. Like Harry, she is driven by a tragedy from her youth. Together they are able to work and solve two different cases -- though not entirely with satisfaction. Maddie shows up here and there, and continues to work towards being a cop herself. Like all Bosch novels, Bosch has to push against misguided bureaucracies and striving politicians.

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Review: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy a few years ago and was blown away by it. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is her debut novel and the first book in her series, The Inheritance Trilogy. That it is a debut novel shows a bit, especially already having read her later, more developed and more perfected work. It was actually interesting to see similar themes and ideas from the later series get played with in Kingdoms. It would be inaccurate and short-selling this book to say it was just a first pass with these themes, but Jemisin is definitely exploring similar ideas but without as much skill and depth as she is able to bring to Broken Earth.

Like in the Broken Earth trilogy, the theme of power and who controls that power are central. The Fifth Season (Book 1 of Broken Earth) begins with the end of world, but eschatological themes run throughout The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms as well.

Nevertheless, I loved this book. I really love the way the story is told. At first, it can be confusing, even disorientating because the narrative perspective is not entirely clear. But there is a good reason for that and it soon makes sense.

It is a such a creative and novel world. While there are echoes of different mythologies from the real world, these are remixed and reimagined in new and inventive ways. The cosmology, if you will, are intriguing. And Jemisin doesn’t go overboard. As with The Fifth Season , the world building is subtle and piece meal. You got what you need for the story while knowing there is so much more.

The ending had a few great twists and was satisfying. Tied things up nicely, maybe a bit too neat, but overall it worked. I’m excited to see where the next books go.


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Review: Along Came a Spider

Along Came a Spider by James Patterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the book launched that James Patterson and his best-selling Alex Cross series. As the mystery-detective is one of my favorite genres, I figured it was about time I read a Patterson novel. While I enjoyed the book overall, it is a bit of a mess. There are a lot of plot holes and confusing aspects of the characters. The dialog felt stilted at times and there were odd jumps in the story. The mystery itself was interesting – though not completely unpredictable, there were enough red herrings and twists to keep you on your toes. The sex scenes were a bit much and superfluous.

Frankly, as popular as Patterson is, I was a bit surprised the writing was not better (Connelly, for example, is far better). But this is a debut novel, so I suspect (hope) that some of this gets cleaned up as Patterson develops his style.

Cross seems like an interesting character, especially for the mystery genre. His psychologist background gives his perspective a different twist than your standard cop or private eye protagonist. I am curious to see how Patterson develops him more. That said, I’m not jumping into the next book anytime soon, but it is a series I will return to.




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