Books: The Fall of Io by Wesley Chu (2019)

"When Ella Patel's mind was invaded by the Quasing alien, Io, she was dragged into the raging Prophus versus Genjix war. Despite her reservations, and Io's incompetence, the Prophus were determined to train her as an agent. It didn't go well. Expelled after just two years, Ella happily returned to con artistry, and bank robberies. But the Quasing war isn't done with them yet. The Genjix's plan to contact their homeworld has reached a critical stage, threatening all life on Earth. To complete the project they need Io's knowledge - and he's in Ella's head - so now they're both being hunted, again."

Much like the The Rise of Io, The Fall of Io is grand, goofy, action-adventure book that blends science fiction with thrills of old-fashion spies vs spies, with quick escapes and people doing sort-of magical things in pursuant of the goals of the plot (the mobilization of men and equipment seems to come together very fast here).

Wesley Chu remains great at creating interesting characters, with Ella being a wonderfully designed, complex, yet dumb heroine. A lot of her adventures seem overtly contradictory to survival when she is being perused both Genjix and the Prophus, but sometimes just watching blunder into her own issues is amusing.  Nice to see Roen back in action as well, as he remains my favorite character.

The further development of Io and her actions gets a back seat here, and the fighting between the alien and Ella becomes a bit repetitious and the book goes on way too long (both Shura and Roen’s team can’t seem to keep a handle on Ella, which seems rather odd considering the power both seem to have), but there is still plenty of humor and a lot of violence to get through to distract you from that fact.

While I faced walking pneumonia for the last week or so, I did complete this book in the last day, so it does have some great pacing. Which is good, because I’m so far behind in reading already for 2019.

Books: Night Relics by James P. Blaylock (1994)

“Seventy years ago in southwest California, Dr. Landry killed his wife's lover when he found them together; she then flung herself and her illegitimate son over a nearby cliff. Dr. Landry disappeared. Unaware of the bloody murder, architectural draftsman Peter Travers now lives in the Landrys' old cabin. When his ex-wife Amanda and their son David disappear just before the two are to go on a vacation to Hawaii, Travers's anguish is exacerbated by the appearance of ghostly apparitions, some of whom seem to be Amanda and David, while others are the figures of those involved in the earlier tragedy. Also plagued by spectral visitations are Lance Klein, a real estate developer with a shady past and Bernard Pomeroy, a deeply disturbed salesman with an eye for blackmail.”

Much like his long-time friend and fellow Southern California based author Tim Powers, James P. Blaylock (known for his fantasy novels of the late 1980s) is attempting a Gothic style (but not dark fantasy) ghost story set within the present day foothills of Orange County. But Night Relics –the first of a trilogy of ghost tales set with-in SolCal- works for a while, and then it sort of falls apart. I felt that the whole disappearance of Peter’s wife and child –which was why I wanted to read about) and the subsequent search for them took a back seat to the very unappealing and annoyingly dumb Pomeroy and his interactions with Lance Klein.  I also found it interesting that the disappearance of a white woman and child did not raise suspicion of the police. I mean today when this happens, its huge news. And granted, this book was released in 1994, long before 24/7 news and social media, but husbands’ making their spouses disappear is a believable, if overused plot trope.  So the fact that the police seem almost apologetic Travers wife and sons has virtually vanished off the planet and seem so unconcerned is very weird. Then again, should I be happy Blaylock did not go there?

So yeah, while I enjoyed Blaylock’s prose and fine descriptions of the area, but the plot wears thin because it’s a bit overlong, and because of that problem, we learn what’s happening well before the characters do.