Hello and welcome to my Short and Sweet review roundup for March 2023, here on Track of Words. I’ve picked out another three books to talk about this month, and I suspect I’ll be hard pressed in coming months to find another set with such a wide range – there’s a 650-page Warhammer novel that’s only actually half a book, a 130-page dystopian novella (I guess) about a spry 100+ year-old man in a future Japan, and an anthology of Star Wars short stories from no fewer than 40 authors! As always, these are books that are well worth talking about, but which for one reason or another I don’t have the time or headspace to cover in a full standalone review.
The End and the Death Volume 1 by Dan Abnett
Book 8 of the Siege of Terra, or more accurately book 8.1, this returns to the usual Siege approach (after Echoes of Eternity went for something different) and picks up most of the big character arcs, setting them up for the epic finale of the whole series. Sanguinius, Malcador (who gets a lot of focus), Fafnir Rann, Loken, Keeler, Sindermann, Oll and John and the Argonauts…all these characters and loads (I really mean loads) more have their part to play, along with some rare POV scenes for Horus himself. I can’t say too much about what happens without giving major spoilers, but suffice it to say Abnett is the master of blending the micro with the macro, and in this first volume he does a great job of reminding us just how bad things are for the loyalists, and getting everything set up for the long-awaited endgame.
It only feels appropriate for Abnett to write the final book in the Horus Heresy, and there’s an awful lot to enjoy here, but it’s hard to make a final judgement on the series finale when this whole book – all 660 pages of it in hardback – only gets us part of the way there. Black Library hasn’t yet revealed how many more volumes there will be, and even having read the first one it’s tricky to call whether there’s going to be one or two more to come. Based on this I’m pretty confident that Abnett’s going to stick the landing, but I really wish BL would get on with it and at least let us know when volume 2 is due out! Until they do, I’ve got a lot to think about in terms of what’s happened so far – I don’t feel like there have been any major surprises, but it’s all been compelling stuff and I’ve a feeling there might be some surprises still to come.
For more about The End and the Death Volume 1, check out my recent interview with Dan Abnett.
The Last Children of Tokyo by Yoko Tawada
Sort of science fiction, subtly dystopian, fully strange, I’ve never read anything quite like this, and I’m really not sure what I think about it. It’s set in a future version of Japan which has become closed off from the world, in which the older generations – who remember a time when their country wasn’t poisoned and insular – live longer and longer lives while the young sicken and struggle. Yoshiro, over 100 and still fit as a fiddle, lives with his sickly grandson Mumei and cares for the boy, and over a short 130-or-so pages he reminisces about what life was like in an earlier Japan, his memories all revolving around Mumei and his family.
In theory there’s also an element of the plot involving a secret society in search of a way to save the children of Japan, but if I’m honest I don’t think plot is really this book’s strength. It certainly doesn’t have a traditional narrative structure, being more of a rambling wander through this odd yet somehow compelling setting and the strange life that Yoshiro has lived. As a short, slightly stream-of-consciousness piece of speculative fiction it sort of doesn’t go anywhere, but at the same time proves unexpectedly funny and, mostly, oddly compelling. Would I recommend it, or revisit it? I’m really not sure. It’s been nearly a month since I read it and I’m still not sure what to think, but it’s one of those books that I’m glad I read, even if just for the opportunity to experience something utterly atypical.
From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back edited by Elizabeth Schaefer
The second of these clever short story anthologies, this celebrates 40 years of The Empire Strikes Back through 40 short stories (well, one of them is a one-page comic strip) exploring and expanding upon moments, scenes and characters from the original film. From how the tauntauns and wampas saw the Rebellion on Hoth through to what life was like for the hard working Ugnaughts living in (on?) Cloud City as the Empire attempted to take over, these stories cover all manner of lesser-seen perspectives on an overall story that will be very familiar for most Star Wars fans. Tragedy, heartbreak, adventure, intrigue, political manoeuvrings, Force ghosts, bounty hunters, droids, pilots and exogorths – all these and more can be found in and amongst these stories.
With the Return of the Jedi anthology having recently been announced, I thought it was about time I finally got around to reading this one – I loved the first volume, and I’d had this on the shelf for a good year or two. I really can’t overstate how great an idea it is to commission these anthologies, as they bring fresh life to much-loved movies in a way that no other format or style of release could. Of course the personal enjoyment of the 40 stories is always going to vary – for me a few were just ok and a handful poor, but most were excellent (off the top of my head I particularly enjoyed those by Martha Wells, Lydia Kang, Emily Skrutskie, Gary Whitta and C.B. Lee, Mike Chen, Catherynne M. Valenta and Mackenzi Lee) – but the sheer variety is a big part of the appeal.
If I’m honest I thought there was a bit too much overlap in some areas (about the first 150 pages are all spent on Hoth, and there were a few quite similar bounty hunter stories) but really I’m nitpicking there. Reading this (much like the first one did) absolutely reinvigorated my love of Star Wars, and played a big part in my decision to finally cave and buy the Jedi: Fallen Order video game, which has been dominating my free time of late, so I guess I should just caveat this with a warning that if you pick it up, you may well find yourself with a sudden urge to rewatch all the movies and/or dive into some Star Wars games! And if I had to pick out just one story I’d go with STET! by Daniel José Older, which is presented as an annotated manuscript of an article submitted to the culture desk of ‘Galactic Digest’, and which is glorious, madcap fun involving bounty hunters, gangsters and an increasingly baffled editor!
See also: my review of the first From a Certain Point of View anthology
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That’s this instalment of Short and Sweet done and dusted – I hope this has been interesting, and maybe given you some food for thought in terms of new books to pick up. I’ll be back soon with another review roundup and more books to talk about, but in the meantime if you have any comments about these roundups, or if there’s anything else you’d like to see me cover, do let me know. You can drop me a line in the comments below, or find me over on Twitter.
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