Friday Review post, 11/25/2011

I'm writing this on my in-laws desktop, and I just want to say that this monitor is huge - my data entry window, which on my monitor mostly fills the screen, is a tiny rectangle in the middle of a sea of grey. A little difficult to get used to.

Ok, to the reviews. Three this week:

Lee Arthur Chane - Magebane


Chane combines some steampunk sensibilities with a magic world, infuses the whole thing with some potent political plotting, and presents the result - a fantastic novel.

The setting - a magical kingdom completely separated from the rest of the world by a magical barrier. Within the kingdom, magic users are the ruling class (the palace is further separated by a second barrier within which it is perpetually summer) and the common folks are little better than slaves to the whims of the magic users.

Plot one - Lord Falk - a magic user - seeks to use his position as Minister of Public Safety to plot his way onto the throne. Falk is a delightfully mustache-twirler of a villain, entirely willing to use torture and murder of innocents to get what he wants. Once king, he plans to dissolve the great barrier and invade the outside world.

Plot two - a character who I will not name for spoiler reasons also seeks to see the barrier collapse - because si conjectures that this will result in the destruction of magic as a force, allowing the Commons to rise in revolt. Si is also perfectly willing to use torture and murder to get what si wants, but hir cause is righteous, so it MUST be ok, right?

Falk and the unnamed plotter (UP) work together; Falk is unaware of the UP's ultimate goal, and thinks he is using hir to further his aims.

Everything is thrown into disarray when Anton, a young man from the non-magical side of the barrier, drops in (literally) when the dirigible he is using fails. Anton falls in love with Falk's ward, and they end up engaged in yet another plot - escape Falk and survive.

A further complication is the possibility of a magebane - someone who can absorb and redirect magical energy, thus depriving the magic users of their strength. Given the book's title, I don't think it's much of a spoiler to suggest that this character does indeed exist.

The steampunk comes from the idea that technology levels the playing field between the Commons and the Lords. It's a fairly light element in the novel, which is far more concerned with magic and love than it is with technology.

Ultimately, a highly satisfying novel. I'd love to see something further in the world that Chane has created, although this book stands entirely alone. The element that I most liked was the fact that the UP's righteous cause is not sufficient to justify hir unrighteous means - good triumphs despite its dubious allies.

George Martin - A Feast for Crows


This book does not stand alone. It is the fourth of Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series. This is the book that Martin split into two books. The first book (this one) was published in 2005; the afterword suggested that the second book was mostly finished, and would be published, ideally, in 2006. It was finally published this year, in July. As such, this book is a little unsatisfying, since it only tells half of the story it was originally intended to tell. I suspect that the next book (Dance With Dragons) will be equally unsatisfying. One of the elements that I have enjoyed about the series is the way in which plotlines which are geographically diverse feed on each other - this element is missing from this book, and is likely to be missing from the second half as well. Further, the material in the most recent book will occur simultaneously with this book. I want to read the book, and will, as soon as it shows up at the library again. But, ok, that's not so much about this book, but rather about a book I haven't read yet...

This book opens with a reminder not to get attached to characters at all. Martin introduces a character, with a back story, friends, motivations, ambitions, a love - and then kills him. We hear nothing more about him or the circumstances around his death.

Martin is just as casually brutal with characters who we've been following since book 1. Don't get attached - there's a decent chance your favorite character is going to die, probably while doing something disgustingly noble and good. Probably as a result of the noble and good thing they are doing.

So, look - if you're already reading the series, and you've arrived at book 4, you're probably going to continue with book 4, and push on to book 5, and, ultimately, the end of the series (which, I predict, will be cataclysmic and destructive). If you aren't reading the series - this isn't the place to start. If you like politics heavy books with an unrelentingly grey moral tone, in which the person who is mostly likely to die is the one who is most noble and good - start with A Game of Thrones and push on from there. If not - this is probably not the series for you.

Some further musings, however. This book seems to focus heavily on two motifs. One is the character with a romantic view of the world prior to the chaos of the civil war. (There are several characters who fit this mold, but Brienne is the one I'm thinking of.) This person acts as though the romantic image is something that was a) real at the time (Martin suggests, repeatedly, that it was not) and b) that, through dint of will, the romantic version of the past can be re-created in the present (Martin suggests, repeatedly, that it cannot). The other motif is the character who recognizes the endemic ugliness of the world and seeks to do something concrete about it, either to better the world (in this book, I'm thinking of Jamie [oddly enough] and Arianne) or to better themselves (Cersei [naturally] and Petyr Littlefinger [also naturally]). The strong implication is that the last group - those who seek to use the ugliness to improve their own lot in life - are (at least temporarily) the most successful. That is why I think this is leading to a cataclysm - this world is so rotten that it needs a despot (with dragons!) to make it right.

ETA:

I did say 3 books didn't I? The third book:

Lisa Medley - Castle Waiting, Vol I and II

An utterly delightful graphic novel. I had read Vol I ages and ages ago, and Vol II came out earlier this year - a long wait (not unlike George Martin, above). I don't, as a rule, review graphic novels, but I thought I would make an exception for this one, because it is a) gorgeous, and b) really really good.

So. It is gorgeous - the printers chose a nice heavy paper with a pleasant yellow tint. The art is all hand drawn, and highly detailed. The books each have one of those attached bookmark things - the ribbon in the binding so that you can mark your place without losing your bookmark. Both volumes are a pure delight to hold, look at, and read.

The story is brilliant as well. Medley is playing very complex games with fairy tales. The titular Castle is the castle of Sleeping Beauty. When Beauty wakes up to her prince's kiss, she abandons the castle (and everyone who lived in it), and it has since become a place of sanctuary for an odd group of characters.

The cast of characters is quite odd, ranging from some fairly normal fairy tale type humans to a group of dwarves to a whole menagerie of animal headed people. Medley makes no effort to explain why some of the characters have animal heads, and, really, she doesn't need to. No one in the story feels that this is odd in anyway; why should the readers?

Medley weaves a series of interlocking stories together in much the same way that Catherynne Valente does in her Orphan's Tales books. Someone will be telling a story, which will have nested within it a second story, which will have nested within it a third story, and so on. Delightful (but also frustrating, because the stories just keep going on and on without finishing...)

Which is, in the end, the only problem with the books. The second book ends rather abruptly, right in the middle of a story. Presumably, the story will be continued in a third volume - perhaps even concluded - but that's not guaranteed. At the author's request (according to the publisher), Medley's name is nowhere on the second volume. That bodes ill, perhaps... Still, a third volume, even if we have to wait several years, will be well worth it. I recommend this pair of books to anyone who likes fairy tales, strong independent female characters, excellent writing, and gorgeous artwork.

Tuesday Library Post, 11/22/2011

We are driving to Virginia for Thanksgiving this year. Since my laptop is still unable to connect to the internet (although it functions on a very basic level, allowing word processing, for instance) I cannot guarantee that I will be able to post on Friday (although we're staying with my in laws, and they have access to the internet, so it's possible) Also, I'm not sure how much I'll have been able to read by then anyway, since, you know, driving, and then eating my weight in turkey. This is just a heads up if you don't see anything on Friday.

Sorta two books this week. 

James Benn - A Mortal Terror

Benn has been writing a series of historical murder mysteries set during the Second World War. Billy Boyle is the distant nephew of General Eisenhower, and has been given a position on Eisenhower's staff which allows Boyle to poke his nose into things and clear up messes that Eisenhower cannot deal with himself - often, murder. This book is set just prior to the Anzio landings in Italy. Someone is bumping off top officers in the US Army - Boyle's first serial killer? He's sent to deal with it.

The other book - I had to return Eona unread, because it was due back. But I grabbed the audio book copy of it, to listen to on my drive home - I've been tasked with transporting a spare car from Virginia to New York, so I'll have time to listen to a book (probably). So that's the second book.

Welcome Holiday Wish folks!

Last year, when I posted the blog in my Holiday Wishes post, I had not discovered the joy (and agony) of my stats, and so I have no idea what the reaction was. Well, except I know I got at least two readers who comment occasionally. This year, however, I know that, since posting my wish list earlier this afternoon, I am already experiencing a tsunami of visitors - and I would be a bad host if I didn't welcome them, now wouldn't I?

So, welcome! I'm glad you've stopped in! Please, enjoy a virtual plate of brownies (I almost said cookies - but those are something different on the internet, aren't they?)

On the internet, brownies have no calories or allergens

I suggest that, if you are interested in a decent taste of the blog, you take a look at the Honey Month posts (they're tagged - the tag cloud is a ways down on the left) and, possibly, the Hickey of the Beast posts (also tagged) - both offer a coherent thread that is reasonably easy to follow (I think).

Other thoughts. The post recommendations that pop up at the bottom of my posts are ... odd. I think my style of writing doesn't work well with that sort of thing. I will warn you that I'm not as regular a poster as I sometimes hope to be, but you are generally safe in expecting at least two posts a week. Comments posted via the RSS feed frequently don't show up on the main site (although I see them in my e-mail), and, thus far, I have been too lazy/busy to do anything about that. I would love it if people were to suggest books for me to look at. I'm also gearing up for February Theme Month again, and would love suggestions about that as well.

Friday Review, 11/18/11

Friends, I am sick. The cold that I've been trying to dodge for a month now (a MONTH!) has finally caught up with me. My throat is raw, and I have a cough. I do not, yet, have the head full of snot - that may come later or it may not. My sinuses are odd that way. I'm dosing with vitamin C and zinc. My students have requested movies
for the Monday before Thanksgiving break next week, and I may well accede, since I don't know if I'll have a voice to teach with. Updates as warranted.

That being said, I did complete three books this week. Two are even oddly related, for all that they are completely different.

Jon Scieszka, ed. - Guys Read 2: Thrillers


Scieszka is editing a series of books to entice middle school boys who don't like to read into the wonderful world of reading. This is the second - the first was Funny Stuff. This is what the box says on the cover - thrillers. A collection of stories featuring robbers and ghosts and detectives and villains and pirates, and people tied to rail road tracks.

This was not aimed at me. I am so far from being the target audience that I may as well be behind the shooter. I found most of the stories to be trite and predictable, and largely lacking in complexity. But, having worked in a middle school library and talked to the literacy teachers struggling to find material that a) enticed their reluctant male readers to read while b) being written to their literary level, I can say that this book might well be a hit with the intended audience. The writing is simple, without being condescending. The stories are straight-forward without being cute (mostly). A couple were even pretty excellent. The characters were uniformly male (because middle school males tend to have trouble identifying with female characters) and they do things - they get into trouble, they climb things and then jump off of them, they find stuff. All good.

The three standout stories were:

Matt De La Pena - "Believing in Brooklyn" - a story of a young boy who, for some logical reasons, believes that he has a wishing machine in his bedroom. (but he doesn't. Or does he?)

Walter Dean Myers - "Pirate" - a story from the point of view of an 11 year old Somali pirate (great for prompting discussion of current events, perhaps)

Gennifer Choldenko - "The Snake Mafia" - a story about exotic animal smuggling (more current events, maybe).

I would include Bruce Hale's "Nate Macavoy, Monster Hunter," except it doesn't end, which, given that this is a collection of short stories, I would consider a significant flaw.

If you have reluctant reader males in your acquaintance, this might well stimulate some reading. All of the authors are established, so if one of the stories peaks their interest, they can be assured that there is more like it available.

Earnest Cline - Ready Player One


Are you a child of the '80s? Do you like video games from the '80s? How about dystopian visions of the future, with a strong dose of cyberpunk? Then this book is probably for you. Frankly, I think Cline hits it out of the park with this one.

In the future, OASIS, a vast virtual universe, created by James "Anorak" Halliday, has taken over from the internet. People all over the planet log into OASIS to work, go to school, play, and generally interact with each other. For the vast majority, OASIS provides a viable alternative to life off line, which is overwhelmingly bleak - the Great Recession has stretched on for many decades, leaving most of the population stranded in slums while the few live in opulence. When Halliday dies, and leaves his billions, and control of OASIS, to the winner of a deeply complex treasure hunt through OASIS (and the decade in which Halliday grew up - the 1980s), a new "sport" emerges. People all over the world pore over Halliday's creation to find easter eggs - hidden bits of code which allow them to interact with the system in unexpected ways. Vying for the prize along with the citizen hunters (or Gunters - for Egg Hunters) is IOI, a multi-national corporation which seeks to take control of OASIS and run it for a profit; squeezing out the small users in favor of those with vast sums of money.

If you are a geek child of the '80s, the book is a nostalgic trip, full of references to iconic geek movies, music, and games (video and otherwise). No reference to Princess Bride, or the Karate Kid franchise, oddly enough, but otherwise an exhaustive collection - a joy for those readers who enjoy hunting for obscure and not so obscure references to favorite media. If you are not a geek child of the '80s, I can imagine that the constant references and name dropping might grate a little - but the book is clearly not aimed at you.

I loved the book, and my wife loved the book. If you share our (excellent) taste, you will probably also love the book.

Nnedi Okorafor - Who Fears Death


This book was deeply disturbing, and not a little depressing. Set in a vaguely post-apocalyptic Africa, the narrative draws heavily on African stories. However, with the exception of the magic, which seems rooted in fairly deep narrative traditions, the stories which the novel draws on are recent stories. The narrative revolves around female circumcision, rape as a weapon/tool for genocide, conflicts between tribes, and the use of child soldiers. Overlayed with the mystical elements of the magic, and the strong mythic elements of the heroine's quest to restore her land, the whole is deeply uncomfortable, while being eminently readable.

Okorafor offers a compelling collection of deeply complex characters who drive the plot with their conflicts - often petty, but always very real. Up to the last chapter, the book is also deeply satisfying. I found the last chapter to be unnecessary; it almost cheapened the preceding narrative, perhaps. At the same time, however, the last chapter added something to the sense of myth, and possibly allegory. So, I don't know.

In the end, the book was difficult to read, because of it's subject matter, but so compellingly written that it transcended the unpleasantness. I suspect it is an important book, the sort of thing which might well end up on reading lists at the better colleges and universities in the future. The sort of book which makes anti-genre critics shake their heads and hold their noses through the magic elements.

The link between this book and Ready Player One? Both make reference to the School House Rock song "3 is a Magic Number". I was deeply surprised.

Teetering Tower of Books

Don't sneeze!

This is currently next to my computer desk, at about head height. It's mostly not books for review - most of those are books about demobilization, plus some Yank magazines, some Peep and the Big Wide World DVDs, and some tea lights (because otherwise the baby eats them, that's why.) Whenever I look at this, I feel a sense of impending doom - and yet, there doesn't seem to be a better place to put them.

Tuesday Library Post, 11/15/2011

Three books this week:

Isabel Cooper - No Proper Lady


This is the same author as Hickey of the Beast,and I've been wanting to read it since I knew it existed, because I know Izzy (sorta). Plus, the back matter thumbnail description: "It's Terminator meets My Fair Lady in this fascinating debut of black magic and brilliant ball gowns, martial arts, and mysticism." How can I resist? How can YOU resist? Since this will have to go back to the library in 3 weeks (give or take) I won't be reading it serially.

Kevin Mitnick - Ghost in the Wires


Mitnick is, apparently, a big deal in hacker circles. He's known for hacking into computer systems and then evading capture for a long time. Now, he does the same thing, but to test the security of systems. It's Sneakers meets Catch Me if you Can. I love a good caper story (as I'm sure you all know!) so I had to grab this one.

Tom Prerrotta - The Leftovers


I've been, for several years now, following Fred Clark's deconstruction of the Left Behind series (currently hosted here) - what Clark describes as the worst books in the world. Perrotta attempts to look at the same material - what the world would look like after the Rapture (or something that looks like the Rapture) - but from a realistic, rather than a propegandistic point of view. So - lots of people just vanish, Perrotta writes about the folks who didn't, and how they adapt.

Nano Update

8123 words. I begin to doubt that I will get to 50,000 words, and I'm mostly ok with that. I'm a busy guy; I'm also writing dissertation stuff (yes, Lora, I totally am!), teaching, and doing full time Dadding and such. As one of my writing buddies says that every word that is written towards the 50,000 is one more than I had before, and that's all good. I'm not even sure that the story will take 50,000 words to tell.

I've just introduced a new character, and discovered that she has an unusual way of talking - mile a minute, totally scattershot, shifting from one topic to another, for paragraph on end. That makes her quite fun to write, but means I'm going to have trouble keeping all of the other characters from adopting her patterns. Also, she claims to be from Texas. And I don't know ANYTHING about Texas. That's not true. I know a great deal about Texas - I know how it joined the Union, and I know where it stood during the Civil War, and I know it's the second biggest state in the Union, and I know lots of stuff. But not much about what it's like to live in Texas, or to be from Texas.  So that's interesting.