May Sales Report

Summary: Much better than last month, though still a bit below average. Still trying to figure out how I got a paid sale on Good Landing when it's available for free.

Things to Do: Still plowing forward, albeit slowly, with I Fought the Claw, and I've got an idea bubbling in the back of my head for the unnamed Salli and Ali Get Some Good Luvin' story. Which doesn't involved sex or romance at the moment, but mostly involves Ali reconnecting with the surviving members of her family. Space Cinderalla and Dragon Mom still dormant but waiting patiently.


Sales Report:


Captive of the Red Vixen: 9

Demon Eyes: 1

For Your Safety: 3 (1 FR)

Good Landing: 1 paid + 15 free.

Prisoners of War: 4 (+1 borrow)

Shadow of the Red Vixen: 6

The Dragon's Companion: 1

Teal's Bargain: 1

Teal's War: 1

Teal's Choice: 1

Triumvirate: 1 (1 IT)

Unexpected Diversions: 1

Total Paid Sales: 30

Review: Grand Central Arena, by Ryk Spoor (mild spoilers)

I was going to do this as a video review, but honestly I'm too tired and after the third flub I decided to do it the old fashioned way.

Summary: In this homage to E.E. "Doc" Smith's grand space operas, our heroine, ace racing plot and serious adrenaline junkie Ariane Austin and the crew of the Holy Grail, Humanity's first FTL starship, find themselves rather disoriented when their initial test jump drops them into a 20,000 km wide scale model of the Solar System. [1] Exploring it, they find a docking port that leads them out into The Arena, which is quite possibly the biggest of Big Dumb Objects in science fiction, which is a scale model of the entire universe, and the first and only destination point for any race that develops an FTL drive.

As they explore their new surroundings, the crew make several friends, and a couple of powerful enemies, and discover that Humans have a few inherent strengths that other races might lack. Which is a good thing, because the Holy Grail needs a recharge before it can jump home, and Ariane is going to have to a win few Challenges to earn that power.


Review: First a caveat. Spoor (seawasp here on LJ) and I are LJ friends, so I'm a little nervous about posting this, especially since he's been nice enough to say kind things about my own writing efforts. Going into this book, I'll admit I wasn't immediately turned on by the premise. I was never a big fan of Doc Smith's works, and neither of Big Dumb Object stories. [2] Nevertheless, after a bit of a slow start (the first hundred pages before they reach the Arena are a trifle draggy) it picks up speed and remains at a steady, enjoyable pace that drew me in.

The characters are mostly engaging. Spoor isn't quite on Bujold's level of characterization, but he's way ahead of the original Doc Smith. Ariane herself is mostly defined by her rock hard determination to win no matter what the risk. The standout characters are probably the first alien they meet, the Orphan, who has been surviving the Arena's dangers for a long time, and Ariane's crew mate Marc DuQuense. The latter is quite deliberately named after that DuQuense and is really, really not happy about that. But to tell more would be giving too much away. Suffice it to say that Orphan has some rather ambiguous motives for helping the Humans, though he's honestly ambiguous, and DuQuense is a nice combination of Smithian superman and modern angst that makes him appealing to read about. Aside from them, the secondary characters are all engaging as they do their bits, and the villains are either properly hissable, or honorable opponents.

Like any proper Smith book, it's good guys vs. bad guys, and you know who you're rooting for. And there's plenty of room for further adventures.

Recommended.


[1] I will note that despite the description of it, in the book Spoor neatly avoids mentioning whether Pluto is represented. ^_^

[2] I'll admit to being a fan of the original Ringworld when I was younger, but these days I wish Teela would die in a fire I can't stand it.