Both Pretty Good

I've been reading at a pretty good clip. A trilogy and a duology.

1st up, "The Age of Madness" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. I enjoyed his 1st 2 trilogies. This story is set in the same world as the 1st trilogy, "The First Law", 20-40 years later. Some of the characters were around for the 1st trilogy. The 3 books:

1. "A Little Hatred", 2019, 683 pages, 186k words.
2. "The Trouble with Peace", 2020, 739 pages, 201k words.
3. "The Wisdom of Crowds", 2021, 733 pages, 199k words.

So what we have here is a 2,155 page book. There are 9 sections in the book, 3/volume, and the numbering spans the 3 volumes.

I like his writing. Humanly fallable characters. Lots of action. Great plot twists, all tied up nicely in the end.

Funny that the message of the book is so timely. Shakespeare was wrong when he wrote "First, we kill all the lawyers.". He should have said, "First, we kill all the bankers." Seems to me like a jubilee would be a lot easier.

2nd, I reread, for the 3rd or 4th time, "Songs of Earth and Power", by Greg Bear. The complete duology, only $2.99 on Kobo! What an entertainment bargain! The 2 component volumes are:

1. "The Infinity Concerto", 1984, 472 pages, 128k words.
2. "The Serpent Mage", 1986, 430 pages, 117k words.

I've always loved this series. A 17 YO young man is transported to The Realm - of Fairie - to be trained as a mage by Sidhi-human half-breeds (Breeds). It is a compelling story, well paced. I think this should be labeled YA - part of the plot concerns our young male protagonist having his 1st clueless encounters with women - a YA speciality.

I have complained before about theism in Bear's work. I will complain again. In both books the progagonist is in a tight spot and he prays to a very Jehovah-seeming God - despite the revelations in the book that all of earth's gods were Sidhi doing magic tricks to mislead and hold back human development. Sad that such a great mostly sci-fi author - this was his only fantasy until recently - should have his brain infested by theism.

I always loved this one quote from the very end. I think I have used the last line before, this time I'll include the whole thing. A nice humanistic toast:

“To all of us, of all races, and the matter we are made of, and the ground beneath our feet, and the worlds over our head. To strife and passage and death and life.” He held his glass higher. “To horror, and awe, and all strong emotions, and most of all, to love.”