How to become the dark lord and die trying by Django Wexler

 This is another one of the books I bought mostly for the title and I'm happy to report that the title match the content and tone. 

Plot

Davi dies being tortured in the dark lords dungeon. Then she wakes up in floating in a pond, just as expected after all this has happened a few hundred times before. It's all part of the time-loop she is caught in. Normally she would go to the kingdom seduce the prince and then rallying the kingdom's armies to fight against the dark lord when one inevitably arises. Before loosing, dying and ending up right back in the pond. 

This time she has a new plan rather than wait for the dark lord to appear she will be the dark lord. 

My thoughts

It's not a book for the faint of heart after all there are quite a bit of gore, sex and the aforementioned torture. Davi also dies quite a few times. Before she manages to convince a small band of orcs to join her and becomes her minions. In general the tone reminded me of Deadpool with fourth wall breaks, violence and humor. But I didn't mind it. I'm less sure about the turns of phrases or references. Basically Davi is from earth but has been in this fantasy world for long (a few hundred loops most lasting a few years) enough to have forgotten most of her life there. However she use English phrases frequently which the wilders doesn't understand or recognize. One would think that after a few lifetimes spent there she would have changed her speech. So how she remembers and how much she says she remembers don't really add up. I know this is a very nit picky thing but it's one of those things that once you notice it you can't stop.

The world-building is one of the strongest points and the conflict between the humans and creatures of the wilds (orcs, humanoid animals, and other things) have nuanced reasons. based on the humans expanding their holdings and the finite supply of Thaumite driving it. Thaumite being stones humans need to do magic and wilders need to live and reproduce. As Davi travels through the wilds she meet different creatures befriending some killing others and adding to her hoard she gains a new understanding of the people she has always just seen as her enemies and their way of life. 

As for the traveling that's most of the plot. In order to become the dark lord she needs to be chosen at the convocation a gathering in a ruined city sacred to the old ones. From previous lives she knows it happens roughly two months after she is reborn Wich is not a lot of time to gather minions or cross a mountain range and miles of wilderness. The plot is the obstacles on the way from cliffs that needs to be scaled, supply issues and hostile locals. Still they are varied and interesting enough to keep me reading. Having a main character who is kind of immortal does lower the stakes. But it was reasonably engaging the book explained why she couldn't just start over when things got difficult. In general I liked it and will probably read the sequel some time.

How to defeat a demon king in ten easy steps by Andrew Rowe

I din't really plan to buy this book. I got it because audible was offering a discount a half price for three months or something and then the second month they had a different discount with two books for one credit. This one just happened to be the most interesting sounding. 

Plot

The planet goes through cycles. A demon king will appears, rules for a hundred years and takes over roughly half the planet. Then the hero is born and defeats them, people rebuild and then a new demon king appears.

This time however it's different. An early alliance with one of the Kingdoms means that by the time the hero is born the whole world will be under the demon kings command. 

Young protagonist Yui is not a hero but has decided that they don't have time to wait for the hero and devices a plan to defeat the demon king anyway. Step one steal the heros sword from the stone.

My thoughts

The setting is very videogameish people get sorted into classes (not in an dystopian way its based on their actions). Classes that levels up with experience points from killing monsters. though slightly arbitrary like the hero class only being for those with a tragic backstory. It's very cliche. But it makes fun of those cliches and has characters who uses them to their advantage. Like making fun of the unrealistic inventory or ken who knows all the traditions and who by making Yui a green tunic is able to trick all the NPCs. I like Yui experimenting with her magic figuring out how it works. What would make her increase her level and skill as quickly as possible. Al with comments from her long suffering parents. 

Maybe I just have a fondness for clever characters who solves problems especially by using tools in unexpected ways. 

All that being said I'm fairly certain I would have gotten more out of it if I had ever played legend of Zelda or any similar game. I haven't all I know about them I do from just cultural osmosis. But its enough to recognize NPC dialog and enjoy the book.

The book does a very modern thing where it questions who the real villain actually is. Is it the demon king or the silver goddesses that perpetuation the cycle. But it does go somewhere with it and not like how I usually see it, in commentary videos or fanfiction. Though thinking about it this whole book might be considered a fanfiction now that I think about it. 

Regardless I enjoyed it.

Nice and short. 

God Emperor of Didcot by Toby Frost

 This is the sequel to Space Captain Smith. It's not really necessary to read it to understand this book but there are several recurring characters from that book.

Plot

Since Smith and his crew succeeded in their mission in the last book someone considers them competent enough to be given a new mission. Meeting the spymaster W (yes it's a James Bond reference) they are told about the vital importance of tea to the war effort. When combined with milk it's apparently the source of moral fiber. 

Now it's threatened by a religious zealot, the grand Hyrax. He is gaining a following on Didcot 4 (also known as Urn) the empires main tea producer. With backing from the Republic of New Eden, the religious fanatics that tried to kill Smith in the last book, this could be a real problem. Clearly they are going, it doesn't hurt that Didcot 4 is the planet Rhianna is on, receiving training to use her Vorl heritage. Getting there they meet up with Ws agent on Urn to start their investigation.

I But Rhianna isn't the only person on Urn. Gilead is not as dead as they thought and neither is 462. They are once again plotting planing to invade urn and breaking the morals fiber of the British.

My thoughts

Clear dune references, with tea instead of spice, the order of saint Camilla the tactile instead of the Bene Geserit. And dragons instead of sandworns. And crusades instead of a jihad. That's mostly where it ends Hyrax is the Paul analog but the Teasmen are on the side of the empire. Which is good I have read Dune and a re-skinned copy would be boring.

Like the first book there are still plenty of references but they are more considered for the plot. More woven in to serve it. The James Bond references at the beginning when they get their mission and are gathering information about the Hyrax. Of course it's still a bit of a everything and the kitchen sink but the plot is more straight forward. With less detours and the ones makes sense for the over arching plot. But I did enjoy the trip to see Suruks family even though they are a bit of a continuity error. Mostly Suruk is a predator (like the movie) and live for fighting and collecting skulls, the ones we meet in the first book were the same. Now we find out that Suruks family and supposedly all the other M'laks on Didcot 6 are living in middle-class suburbia. Of course the M'laks there aren't all there is but still it's a big change for just a few years. 

There are still blink and you miss them references like when they land on a planet for repairs and run into a mix of Lovecraft and Enid Blyton. I did like the Lovecraft one since it focused on the exact things that annoy me about his writing.  

The tea puns are a bit much though like Sam O'varr the tea priestess of the Teasmen. 

The smith Rhiannan ....romance? is something. Smith constantly thinks of having sex with her but also runs away when she tried to kiss him. I don't particularly think they would be good together but not to any point that it bothers me. Apart from sex I'm not sure what either sees in the other. 

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Didcot.

Villains vingettes by Drew Hayes

 In preparations for my Uppsala trip I restarted my Audible account. I didn't actually use it then but once I got home I have been listening on and off. The first book I got was this one. A collection of three short stories set in the same world as Forging Hephaestos. If you haven't read that or the second book then this is not for you. This ties quite heavily into the second book and does contain spoilers for it.

The Plot

The Meta...villain? Spooky Trudy has returned and she has turned a random small town into a Halloween experience. Within the town wearing any costume lets you have the abilities associated with that character. People flock from all over to experience the powers of superheroes and villains alike although in a weaker form. It's harmless fun... during the day at night the town turns dangerous. But staying the night will grant magical boons or even powers especially for whoever wins the nightly battle royal at the grave yard. 

Chloe is adamant that she wants the gifts offered. Tori and Beverly being good friends and roommates tag along to help her and keep her safe. As do their neighbors the superhero team The new science sentries though they have their own hopes for the night. 

However the meta Fashionistadore sees his opportunity to gather powers. He can assume another metas powers if he wears a part of their costume and in a place where all costumes are real this is prime hunting ground.

My thoughts

The Hallowville setting is a nice way to organically contain the story. Fashionistadore is not actually a threat that some of the more powerful characters couldn't deal with instantly. But with Spooky-trudies rules stopping Lode-star from using her power there and the rest unaware he and his grab bag of powers are enough to cause problems. Add to that Beverly, Tori and Cloe are all using borrowed powers and so can't access their own. The question becomes how they can solve this. I personally would have liked to see another solution. 

The problem of is Fashionistadore that bad is one I kept thinking about while listening. Granted we don't know of his final plans this is just to gather power, but still Tori and Beverly at least are villains and even if all the people he stole costumes from died that's still a low death count compared to several other characters. 

I do like how random the powers are. How some people just gets a shitty power and have to make the best of it. It's always a thought with most random powers universes of how useless most are in a non combat environment. This doesn't solve that but rather leans into it occupationally giving powers that are useless in every situation. 

The series has a very large set of characters and I would have liked if this took the chance to explore some of them. Actually that was what I had expected it to be or doing new team ups They are all the ones explored in previous stories. Tori and her roommates, the new science sentries in the first, Ivan in the second, Tori and Ivan in the third along with quick scenes from other familiar characters. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy it and I think anyone who has read the first two books will as well but I expected something more. 

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Vingettes.

A Review of Space captain Smith by Toby Frost

Captain Isambard smith has finally after far to long working behind a desk been given a mission and can do his part to protect the British space empire against aliens and foreigners. Bringing with him his long time friend Suruk the slayer a Molok (think the  predator who speaks like old theater) who is excited for the chance to add to his head collection. The pilot Carveth who unbeknownst to Smith is an escaped sex bot. Whose "owner" wants  her dead. And last but not least is Gerard the hamster. 

He is disappointed to learn that the ship Jon Pym is not a warship and is more rust than he'd have wanted. Also the mission, picking up Rhianna Mitchell from the New Francisco space station and delivering her to the empire, is not as exciting as he'd hoped. But between fighting void sharks, Ghast storm troopers (nazi ants), and Republic of Eden fanatics evidence start to pile up that Mitchell perhaps is more important for the war effort than they thought. Which would be fine until they realize that they were not chosen for this mission for their skill. Rather they are the lure in a trap. But with the ship sent to swoop in and save them destroyed they are truly alone stranded on a backwater planet.

My thoughts

This book is a lot of  funny and very weird. 

I wouldn't call it fast paced so much as problems appear and gets solved within just one or two chapters. Someone gets kidnapped in the next chapter they are rescued, staring down a Ghast Warship some Moloks Suruk befriended shows up and kills them. Thinking about it usually the answer to their problems is violence. This may sound like a bad thing but it's to charming for me to be annoyed at it. It's very turn your brain of and enjoy the ride sort of thing.

Similar to the plot the setting is... everything, as long as it's a reference. So every planet or people is almost a new setting; the British is in the 19th century, New Francisco is 70s hippie era. But plenty is inspired by fiction, Rick Dreckitt a stimulant hitman who's horrified that he can no longer tell the difference between humans and robots and worrying that he might accidentally kill a fellow robot. It's clearly a reversed Bladerunner situation, but there are also quick glimpses or war of the worlds, the matrix and a clockwork orange (the youths gets beat up by a predator). Despite all this it feels cohesive if only because everything is equally as out of place. 

Victorian England wasn't known for being progressive not really about anything but here that mostly manifests as Smith saying he dislikes foreigners and aliens. Though he shows no actual dislike for any he meet and neither does his superior have any problem with Suruk tagging along. When it comes to women it's mostly shown by Smiths inexperience with sex. Instead the Republic of Eden (right wing USA) gets to be evil for their patriarchal ways. It's an interesting choice. 

Now don't get me wrong I don't want my main characters to be upholding the patriarchy but it does feel like it's trying to have it's cake and eat it too.  

The book is a lot, but it's fun and the characters are...I hesitate to call them likable but entertaining. 

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Space captain

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

So this is what I had been hoping for when I read Assistant to the villain. Vulcano lairs, secret meetings, lasers and also cats. 

But I get ahead of myself. The story follows charlie. He had taken time off/been laid off from being a journalist to care for his sick father until his death. He is now living in his father's old house which his half siblings want to sell. Working as a substitute teacher while looking for any journalism or even writing job. It's not going well. 

At the start of the story he's attempting to buy a local pub to break the stalemate (except he can't get approved for a loan). When he is informed that his uncle Jake has died. His uncle was a billionaire but they haven't had any contact since Charlie was a child so he is surprised when he is asked to help with the funeral. He is even more surprised when he finds out he has inherited his uncle's estate and that his uncle was not only the owner of  the country's third largest parking garage company but also ran a villainous empire complete with a volcano lair.

Unfortunately he has also inherited his uncles enemies.

My thoughts

I generally like scalzi's books a lot, they are funny, exciting and clever. Starter villain is no different and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. But with the latest two (starter villain and Kaiju preservation society) have taken a turn to be more relatable. At least to me... and I suspect any other millennial in an unsatisfactory work and/or living situation. In this case it's not so much his money trouble but the soul crushing feeling of sending job application after job application into the void and getting nothing back. Of living in a town I didn't like because of circumstances not because I actively chose it.

At the same time it takes the tropes and asks how would that work in reality. So you have the problem of trillion of dollars sitting unused in a bank because moving it would raise all the red flags. The reasons why you can't drown someone in lava and genetically engineered dolphins going on strike.

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Starter villain.

The Android's Dream by John Scalzi

 Before I begin, I should say that yes the title does indeed refer to the Philip K. Dick novel. Though in this case it refers to a breed of genetically modified bright blue sheep.

Plot

Android's dream is a science fiction novel and it begins with a diplomatic incident between representatives of Earth and that of the alien race Nidu. Nidu has been Earth's ally, but relations have been strained for some time now as many on Earth feel exploited. To restore Nidu's goodwill, Harry Creek is tasked with finding a sheep needed in the coronation of Nidu's new ruler. This is made more difficult by the fact that there is only one sheep of that kind left. It is also complicated by conspirators from Earth, Nidu and a religious order.

And then the book gets really weird.

My thoughts

The book partly reminds me of the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy or Terry Pratchett in that it constantly interrupts the plot to tell stories about the different characters, peoples, organizations and other things. It's the kind of absurd writing style that I quite enjoy when it's done correctly.

I have previously read Scalzi's book Redshirts (which I recommend to anyone who has seen the original Star Trek) and this is similar in many ways. Redshirts is definitely the weirder of them (especially at the end) but androids dream I'd say is more exciting and maybe even the funnier of them. Assuming you're into bizarre humor. 

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Androids dream.