Review of "The Keeper: Cal Hooper #3" by Tana French

  

This is the final book in the 'Cal Hooper' trilogy. The book works fine as a standalone, but the entire series is worth reading.

*****

Fiftyish Cal Hooper was a Chicago police officer who became disillusioned with his job and relocated to the Irish town of Ardnakelty.



After three and a half-years Cal is an accepted member of the community, where he owns a house, grows vegetables, supports himself as a carpenter/furniture maker, and is part of an 'old boys club' at Seán Óg's pub. The group is comprised of Cal and several farmers, including Cal's rascally old neighbor Mart Lavin - who's always scheming about one thing or another.



Cal is nominally engaged to a widow named Lena Dunne (though there are no actual wedding plans).....



.....and Cal and Lena 'look after' 16-year-old Theresa (Trey) Reddy, who was a troubled, shoplifting, 13-year-old loner when Cal first met her. Trey is now in high school, has friends, is on a football (soccer) team, and assists Cal with woodwork - which Trey plans to make a vocation.



Ardnakelty folks are an insular lot who solve their own problems and avoid interaction with the Garda, whose police station is only intermittently open in any case. So when 21-year-old Rachel Holohan goes missing.....



.....and Cal finds Rachel's body in the river, the Garda essentially let the townsfolk deal with the tragedy themselves.



Most Ardnakelty citizens choose to believe Rachel's death was a tragic accident, or perhaps a suicide. Rachel had been going with Eugene Moynihan, scion of the wealthy Moynihan family, for five years, and there was chatter about possible romantic woes.



Conversely, Cal's ward Trey - who knows the dark side of Ardnakelty - suspects Rachel was murdered. To satisfy Trey, Cal and Lena quietly look into Rachel's death. This infuriates Eugene's father, Tommy Moynihan, who runs the region's processing plant, and is considered the 'boss man' of Ardnakelty.



Tommy expects everyone to dance to his tune, and people usually do because Tommy has ways of dealing with folks who defy or annoy him. The town's gossip, Mrs. Duggan, acknowledges this when she says to Lena, "How many people would you guess have called in to ask me about Rachel Holohan?....Not a one. You'd think there'd be a queue at my door, wouldn'tja? You'd think this room would be knee-deep in jars of jam and boxes of chocolates. Not a one. No one's asking."



When Cal and Lena won't 'smooth over' Rachel's death, Tommy resorts to his usual coercion and revenge, including spreading malicious rumors; using his police connections; making threats; and more. All this is especially hard on Lena, when people start whispering about her and Rachel.



More trouble follows when townsfolk hear Tommy has a secret agenda for Ardnakelty - plans that will harm farmers but make the Moynihans even richer. The revelations split the townsfolk into two factions, people who insist Tommy can do no wrong, and people who think Tommy's a son-of-a-you know what. This leads to mayhem and murder.



An espionage operation by Trey and her friends helps unearth the truth about things in Ardnakelty, but no matter what, change is coming.



Referring to the historic stone walls in the town, and the colorful fields, Mart Lavin says, "In ten or twenty or thirty years, that'll be gone....Mosta the hedgerows'll haveta go as well - some a them are here since the stone age...but sure, you can't let sentiment get in the way of business."



Cal prepares most of the meals for himself, Lena, and Trey, having taken up cooking out of the belief that Trey needed to eat something other than hamburgers and grilled cheese. So Cal prepares a soufflé for one meal, and chicken casserole for another.





Tana French creates wonderful characters, like the grocer Noreen, whose store is gossip central;



the shy bachelor Bobby, who's obsessed with UFOs and finally has a girlfriend;



and the teenage couple Aidan and Ciara, whose friends negotiate their first date.



I was also drawn in by the town's ambiance, with its cloistered atmosphere and picturesque landscape of mountains, ravines, forests, bogs, farms, domestic animals, etc. I could picture all this and feel for the cowed townsfolk who’re nervous of saying a word wrong.



To top things off, Cal, Trey, Lena and others have pet dogs and working dogs that add a touch of fun to the novel.



This is a fine series that immerses the reader in (what feels like) a real Irish town. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, Tana French, and Vking for an ARC of the book.

Rating: 4 stars

Review of "Eyes Of The Void: The Final Architecture (Book Two)" by Adrian Tchaikovsky

  

This is the second book in 'The Final Architecture' trilogy.

Background: The story takes place in the distant future, when humans have colonized space and encountered many kinds of intergalactic species. The most frightening of these entities are called Architects, each one as large as a moon, with crystalline spikes radiating from its surface.



An Architect will suddenly appear over an inhabited world, then quickly reshape it into a gigantic sculpture, killing everything that lives there....as if the Architect doesn't 'see' the inhabitants.



An Architect destroyed Earth, and the remaining shards of humanity reside elsewhere in the universe. Over time, humans became divided into two rival groups: The Colonies - composed of biologically natural men and women (Colonists) that live on habitable planets and moons;



and The Parthenon - comprised of parthenogenetically grown women (Partheni) who reside on spacecraft fitted to their needs.



Other species in the universe include artificial intelligence creatures called hivers (made of insects), as well as beings that resemble giant versions of slugs, crabs, clams, fungi, locusts, aquatic blobs, and more.







During the Architect onslaught, a human girl called Xavienne Torino was able to mentally connect with an Architect and persuade it to cease its attack and go away. Xavienne was termed an "Intermediary' (Int) and a program was developed to tinker with people's brains to make more Ints.



Almost no one survived the procedure. However, a spaceship navigator called Idris Telemmier was transformed into an Int.



In addition to communicating with Architects, Idris is able to steer spacecraft through a region of the universe called unspace, where distances of lightyears can be traversed in a few days. Idris is the navigator on a salvage vessel called the Vulture God, whose crew consists of a handful of humans and aliens.



Since Ints are VERY valuable commodities, the Colonists, Partheni, and other groups are constantly trying to conscript or kidnap Idris for their own purposes, one of which is making more Ints.

*****

As 'Eyes Of The Void' opens, the Architects, who've been gone for fifty years, return and start destroying worlds again. By now, it's known that planets containing remains left behind by mysterious 'Originators' are immune from destruction. For this reason, communities are built on Originator ruins, which are supposedly safe from destruction by Architects.



Idris Telemmier is currently working on a Partheni garden ship called Ceres, a huge spaceship that produces food and contains thousands of individuals. Some of Idris's old crewmates are with him on the Ceres, and others remain on the Vulture God, doing salvage work.



Idris's job is to take groups of Partheni into unspace, to identify potential Ints and train them



The universe is in constant turmoil with various groups competing for power, money, and Ints. This leads to hijackings, kidnappings, battles, and deaths, all of which is exacerbated by the deadly Architects.

In this fraught atmosphere, a Colonial intelligence agent called Havaer Mundy uncovers a nefarious plot.



While Colonials, Partheni, and other groups fight each other - and the Architects cause chaos - a few rich human conspirators plan to build and launch arkships, containing people they've selected, to roam the universe and preserve humanity. The schemers even foment war among other groups, to distract attention from their activities.



The novel's action accelerates when an Architect shows up near Arc Pallator, a planet with vast Originator ruins. A community of Colonials live among the relics, confident the Architects won't destroy their world. How wrong they are!! An Architect arrives and sends down mobile crystal shards to excavate the ruins, and prepare for the planet's destruction.



To rescue Arc Pallator's residents, Colonials, Partheni, the Vulture God, Idris, and other beings rush to the planet. In the chaos, Idris is kidnapped by a human-alien symbiont named Emmaneth.



Emmaneth takes Idris to a planet called Criccieth's Hell, where scientists found an Originator machine. The researchers are using the high-tech device, with a cot for a passenger, to enter and study unspace, where they've found an Architect nursery.....and they need Idris's help.



At the same time, Idris's crewmates and friends, along with Havaer Mundi, set out to get Idris back. Havaer is also working to expose the human conspirators secretly building arkships.





This is the crux of the plot, but the story is very complicated, with a large array of characters, and a great deal of action and adventure. [I frequently had to consult Tchaikovky's endnotes, where he provides a timeline, glossary, and lists of characters, worlds, species, and ships.]

By the end of the novel, a coalition of species are working in a powerful Originator installation, to find a way to stop the Architects. Does this mean genocide of the spiky aliens? Book three should reveal all.



This is a good story, but it requires careful attention. I'd advise reading the trilogy straight through, to keep on top of everything that's happening. Recommended to sci-fi fans.

Rating: 4 stars

Review of "Crown Of Midnight: Throne of Glass, Book #2" by Sarah J. Maas

 

This is the second book in the 'Throne of Glass' series.

Background (with minor spoilers): In the debut novel, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is released from slavery in a salt mine.....



.....to compete in a contest set up by King Havilliard of Adarlan, a tyrannical and oppressive ruler whose court is in Rifthold. The contest winner will win a large amount of gold and become the king's 'Champion' - his personal assassin.



During the competition - with nice rooms, good food, new clothes, and a maid - Celaena regains her beauty and poise. Being intelligent, talented, well-read, and well-spoken, Celaena draws the attention of two members of the king's retinue.



The two courtiers, who are actually close friends, are the Captain of the Guard Chaol Westfall.....



.....and Prince Dorian Havilliard, the king's oldest son. Both men are attentive to Caelana, but she's wary of getting seriously involved with either one.



Celaena wins the competition, and becomes King Havilliard's 'Champion', which means she's obliged to kill anyone the king wants to dispatch.



*****

As 'Crown of Midnight' opens, Celaena - who King Havalliard ordered to kill Lord Nirall and his wife - strides into the monarch's Council Chamber carrying a sack. Celaena presents the king with the decaying severed head and hand of a man, and the rotting severed hand of a woman - both hands bearing distinctive rings.



Satisfied that Celaena completed her assigned task, King Havilliard says "There's a growing rebel movement here in Rifthold, a group of individuals who are willing to do anything to get me off the throne...Your next assignment is to root out and dispatch them all before they become a true threat to my empire." The king goes on, "There are several people on the list of suspected traitors, but I will give you one name at a time. The castle is crawling with spies." And the king passes Celaena a piece of paper with the name 'Archer Finn.'



Celaena is shocked because she's known Archer Finn since she was a child. Celaena has no intention of killing Archer, and in fact, Celaena hasn't assassinated any 'traitors' for King Havilliard. Instead, Celaena warned the 'victims' to leave the kingdom, and used decaying corpses from the morgue to fool the monarch.



Celaena arranges to meet Archer, a handsome courtesan, and - in return for information about the king's enemies - gives Archer four weeks to get his affairs in order and leave the region.



Celaena plans to use Archer's information against the king. For months, Celaena and her friend Princess Nehemia of Ellywe, whose population King Havilliard has decimated, have been plotting against the monarch.



And Celaena has resources. She discovered hidden tunnels beneath the castle, and found the ancient tomb of Elena, the first queen of Adarlan.



Queen Elena's spirit wants to rid the kingdom of evil King Havilland, and her ghost provides assistance to Celaena. By way of a talking doorknocker called Mort, Elena says the king has acquired supernatural powers, and Celaena must find the source of his powers and take it away.



In her quest to learn how to dethrone King Havilliard, Celaena confronts danger and death in Rifthold, and encounters hellish demons in the castle's tunnels. Finally, Celaena finds a book and a riddle that point her in the right direction.



The riddle speaks of a trio of hidden Wyrdkeys (ancient magic symbols). Whoever finds all three Wyrdkeys will be able to open a Wyrdgate and acquire great power. It seems King Havilliard has found one Wyrdkey, which helped him conquer neighboring regions, but he's searching for the other two symbols.....so he can take over the world.

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In the midst of all this, there's a great deal happening in Rifthold:

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King Havilliard places Lord Roland Havilliard of Meah (Prince Dorian's cousin) on his council, and Roland has an agenda.



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Celaena decides Prince Dorian isn't an appropriate match for her, and she becomes romantically involved with Captain of the Guard Chaol Westfall. Regardless, Dorian and Chaol remain close friends.



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Prince Dorian has an experience that will change his life.



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Prince Dorian's spoiled ten-year-old brother Hollin returns from school, and the Queen engages the 'Carnival of Mirrors' to entertain Hollin and the court.



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At the Carnival of Mirrors, Celaena consults a witch called Baba Yellowlegs about Wyrdkeys - not knowing the witch has secret plans.



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Chaol Westfall's father, Lord Westfall of Anielle - from whom Chaol is estranged - comes to Rifthold to try to convince Chaol to return home.



As the story unfolds, Celaena learns that people are not always what they seem, and she experiences grief and enlightenment. At the book's climax, Celaena embarks on a special assignment for King Havilliard, and Chaol Westfall learns a secret. It will be interesting to see what happens next.



The novel is engaging and moves the story along nicely. Recommended to fans of heroic fantasy books.

Rating: 3.5 stars