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Never giving up learning new words. And learning them from a novel is just so much more satisfying. They were running thru a series of tunnels and suddenly, debouch! I can kinda feel the whoosh of the open air with the word. From tunnel to a wider space, the air from a cliff the tunnel suddenly opened out onto.
have you read Ascension, by Greg Keyes (2018)?
yes
no
vote yes if you have finished the entire book.
vote no if you have not finished the entire book.
(faq · submit a book)
I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but I fully believe they need to make more IRL Elder Scrolls books
Like how they did with these:
These two books were honestly fucking sick, especially with what they did with alchemy stuff in it.
I definitely believe there are problems to be had with doing too MANY books (like WH40k, for example) but doing barely any is similarly criminal imo
Book #90 of 2024:
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm by Greg Keyes
A surprisingly strong media tie-in novel, especially compared to the same author’s more aimless later work, War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations. Like that volume, this one is aimed at bridging the gap between the events of two films in the modern Planet of the Apes franchise: in this case, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). Released a few months ahead of the latter, in functions in part as an extended (re)introduction to two characters who would play an important role in that movie — Dreyfus, leader of the remnant of humanity eking out an existence in post-apocalyptic San Francisco, and Koba, bonobo lieutenant to Caesar in the liberated ape troupe nearby.
One interesting element here is that both those figures wind up functioning as eventual villains in the film, yet are still rather sympathetic heroes when we meet them on the page. That shouldn’t be too surprising for audiences like me coming to the book after having previously seen the movie, since one of the strengths of that script lies in how its antagonists are generally presented not as evil or overtly cruel, but simply as reasonable yet scared people whose priorities are in conflict with Caesar’s. And in this prologue / prequel, of course, such tensions have not yet arisen, though certain latent trajectories are already being set. So the human is a former police chief turned mayoral candidate, the ape is a newly-freed laboratory subject still processing a lifetime of abuse, and both are easy to root for (along with Caesar and a handful of other viewpoint protagonists not featured in the movie series) as the story unfolds.
Another aspect of this text that I love is how, despite its full title and the presence of Dreyfus, it is written less as the setup for Dawn and more as a direct sequel to Rise. Ten years pass off-screen between those installments, so there is plenty of potential plot that could be spun to link them more tightly. Yet audiences don’t particularly need to know the exact circumstances that lead into the later piece, while the immediate aftermath of Rise is inherently pretty compelling. (Amusingly, the main human characters in the two respective movies, Will and Malcolm, are nowhere to be found in this novel.)
So the present tale traces the downfall of human civilization in the wake of the deadly virus that also amplified ape intelligence, and for a 2014 title, it’s fairly electrifying to read after living through the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our plague’s fictional predecessor is far more fatal, but the commonalities like the politicization of facemasks, the swift overwhelming of hospital capacities, the general social unrest, and the conspiracies about quarantine orders are certainly striking. Meanwhile a dogged reporter is trying to learn the truth behind the recent ape attack on the bridge and why the local government is covering it up, a primatologist and a reformed poacher get tasked by a shady paramilitary group to help track down the animals, and the apes themselves are attempting to get their bearings and establish what their new life will look like, free from human captivity. An air of tragedy hangs over the entire contingent from our species, who like the cast of Star Wars: Rogue One are doomed by the narrative to lose everything as their inevitable fate plays out.
It’s not quite an essential read, even for fans, and obviously most moviegoers will have gone into Dawn without ever being aware of this publication, let alone having read it (whereupon they and readers alike will wonder what’s up with Malcolm’s remarkably thin backstory). But it’s a worthwhile entry in the overall Apes saga, slowing down to explore a key moment in time that the movies quickly glossed past.
[Content warning for gun violence including against children, suicide, torture, and implied rape.]
★★★★☆
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The Final Prophecy - Greg Keyes
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order book 18
Reread: Jan 2024
The penultimate book of the New Jedi Order series! You know when I started my reread of NJO I thought I could finish it before the end of 2023. Lol, did not happen. I could have if I applied most of my free time to reading, but sometimes a bitch needs to also do other things.
Anyways, two storylines here. One with Wedge Antilles and his military operation in Bilbringi. An operation which goes south fast because the Yuuzhan Vong have finally started disrupting communications by destroying holonet relays. The other storyline is all about the Yuuzhan Vong. Discontent on Yuuzhan'tar (Coruscant), evidence from Zonama Sekot pointing to Yuuzhan Vong origins, Nom Anor making prophecies he thinks are bullshit. In the end three Yuuzhan Vong are extracted from Coruscant by Tahiri and Corran Horn and go to Zonama Sekot. Revelations are had, betrayals are made, Nom Anor is an absolute dick.
I like the focus on the Yuuzhan Vong in this book, the introduction of more nuance into them as a species was a wise call imo. They are not a monolith, and I appreciate the depth that was added to them. I also liked that when they arrived at Zonama Sekot they landed very far from the other Jedi already on planet. It gave the Yuuzhan Vong characters time to process Zonama Sekot without influence. It was also nice to have, like, second? third? rank characters have their time without anyone of the Skywalker lineage involved.
Info: Del Rey; 2003
Edge of Victory II: Rebirth - Greg Keyes
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order book 7
Reread: Nov 2023
While the first Edge of Victory book was one story about Anakin on Yavin 4. This one has many plotlines. And not all of them converge at the end. It's kind of like a bunch of separate novellas all put together. All the major characters are in the book, including Anakin and Tahiri after their trauma inducing time on Yavin 4. Jaina is getting tricked into attacking a civilian Yuuzhan Vong target. Jacen is being annoying again, fighting with his father. In happier news however Mara gives birth to her and Luke's son, Ben. Not before almost dying first though.
I couldn't really remember what happened in this one. Which in a series this long is no surprise, but the best bits stick out. And no bits here stuck out. I remember liking it at least. But again it didn't stick so just one of the lag points of the series.
Info: Del Rey; 2001
Edge of Victory I: Conquest - Greg Keyes
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order book 7
Reread: Nov 2023
Keyes really took a liking to Anakin Solo. This book is all about Anakin. This is the first big piece of character work that is put into Anakin Solo. It really establishes him as a Jedi Warrior in his own right. The whole story revolves around the evacuation of the Yavin 4 Jedi Praxeum. This is also the beginning of Tahiri as an "adult" character. She's still a kid, like 14, in this book. It's also the beginning of the romance between Tahiri and Anakin. Which I cannot decide is weird or not. Or handled well or not. But that's beside the point. This book also brings us into the world of the Yuuzhan Vong shapers, their geneticists basically. A different, but also cruel section of Vong society. And we have the introduction of a major character, a Yuuzhan Vong heretic shaper. She'll be very important later. Anakin also uses Yuuzhan Vong plant thing to fix his lightsaber. I think this is how he ends up with a purple blade, which I quite like for him.
Info: Del Rey; 2001
The Briar King (Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone #1) by Greg Keyes
I'd had The Briar King on my TBR pile for quite some time (I actually think it was one of my earliest Kindle purchases literal years ago.) I hadn't read an epic fantasy in awhile, so it was time; however, The Briar King missed the mark for me. I couldn't tell if it wasn't fulfilling my fantasy expectations because it'd be so long since I'd read an epic fantasy, or if it's because this book was published in 2002, and I've come to expect so much more from my fantasy since starting to read fantasy over two decades ago (I could list at least 20 exceptional works of fantasy off the top of my head.)
The story wasn't terrible, but the prologue felt only loosely related to the rest of the story, and felt pretty dull to me: I was much more drawn to the characters who made up the bulk of the story. The adventure and politics were standard fare; nothing that rocked my world, but was still in line with an epic fantasy quest.
There's not much else for me to say, other than this was a so-so read in a day and age where there's so much great fantasy out there.
