Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 6/1/2011

(link to serials page here)

Chapter 12

This is mostly character building, establishing and strengthening the relationship between Connie and Autumn, and complicating the relationship between Connie and Jenny. Because Connie twigs to the fact that there's no way that she can think of to rationally explain why she would have dreamed about Amy (who may not even be named Amy) getting sick, but she knows that Jenny will continue to look for a rational explanation. Autumn, however, will be willing to accept that there's something un-, sub- or super-natural* going on.

There's not a lot of action here. Connie limps across campus on crutches, and then has a short heart to heart with Autumn. They discuss the possibility that Connie is pyschic or has precognition of some sort. This is not the sort of thing that normal people talk about - at least not the sort of people that I hang out with. Perhaps I'm hanging out with the wrong people.

In the midst of the chapter, we get this entirely awesome exchange:

It's not like I know a whole bunch about this stuff," she added, sighing. "I've seen a couple bad movies, that's all, and I've read some books. Probably not good books, either. You need...Obi-Wan."
"Yeah, but I don't think Springden admits Jedi."
"I thought you were equal-opportunity," she said, with a nervous little laugh that made me laugh too. "Someone's going to sue you over that one."
Laughing, even at that tense little joke, felt good, like a knot in my back was slowly starting to untwist itself. "That'd be the best trial ever," I said, picturing Luke Skywalker in the witness box and giggling some more. I took a sip of cocoa and actually tasted it this time. "Except wouldn't they use the Force on the jury?"
"Nah. Code of ethics."

which is exactly the sort of thing that real people say (at least, the real people I know would engage in exactly that sort of debate. Perhaps I'm hanging out with the wrong sort of people.)

The chapter ends with this:

"Okay," I said, and remembered the conversation I'd had with Jenny. "So maybe I need to check out the real-world stuff from my dream some more. Julio was a wash, and I've been in my living room without anything happening... but maybe the old chapel gardens?"
"It couldn't hurt," said Autumn.

Which is entirely ominous, neh? Those chapel gardens, where the dead animal was found at the beginning of the book, which seem to be central to the oddness which Connie is experiencing - nothing could possibly go wrong there, right?

My prediction - things will go wrong, and Jenny will find out, and be torqued off that she wasn't included to begin with.

*[Rosencrantz has been flipping coins, and all of them are coming down heads] 
Guildenstern: Consider: One, probability is a factor which operates *within* natural forces. Two, probability is *not* operating as a factor. Three, we are now held within un-, sub- or super-natural forces. Discuss. 
Rosencrantz: What? 

Library Monday - Tuesday After Memorial Day Edition, 5/31/2011

Well, that's a big exciting title, isn't it? Utterly meaningless, however, as I have nothing to put in this post. Here's why.

On Sunday morning, I will be headed to Kansas City, MO, to do research. Long time readers know what that means - trashy book week! There will be two this month, because at the end of the month I'm headed to DC. So, I got a hugeish stack of trashy paperbacks of various genres tonight.

What do I mean by a trashy book? It has to be a paperback. It has to be part of a recognizable genre - I have some sci-fi (I think), a couple of romances, some thrillers, and maybe a mystery novel. Perhaps it is written by a "Big Name" author, someone who writes lots and lots of paperbacks of a recognizable genre. Perhaps it is not. Perhaps it is written by a committee, under a pen name (like the Alex Archer Rogue Angel books - I don't have any of those this trip, but perhaps next trip.)Occasionally, I happen upon something brilliant. Often, I end up with awful dreck. The goal is to read books that shut down my brain so that I can process what I've been looking at in the library. So, that's what I've got, and I'll post about them later this week - maybe Friday, maybe Saturday. I have two plane trips to weather, so I hope my stash holds out!

I should note that my wife did find a copy of Jane Eyre in the Young Adult section.

Memorial Day Contest Post

The libraries are closed today, so my library post will come tomorrow. I suspect that, like me, many of you (in the US, anyway) are headed out to do things in the outside - grilling, swimming, sunbathing - maybe reading outside (that's my plan!) - but I promised you a contest, so here it is!

Zombies vs. Unicorns Photo Contest

The goal is to depict, in photographs, using materials found in the participant's public library, the central premise of the title – a fght between zombies and unicorns.* It is left to the participant to decide which creature, if either, would win such a fight.

The rules:

1) Except for the camera, the participant may only use materials actually found in the library. (If cameras can be found in the library, then the participant is welcome to use them).

2) The entry may contain as many photos as the participant desires, but at least one must show the name of the public library being used – how that name gets included in the picture is entirely up to the participant.

3) Entries resulting from or depicting illegal or immoral acts will be disqualified.

4) Participants should get permission to do photography within the library and also to photograph any human beings in the pictures.

5) Photos remain the property of the photographer; photographer agrees to allow (url) to display photos for the purpose of the contest.

6) One entry per participant.

Judging:

Photos will be judged based on artistic quality, how well they depict the theme, and how hard they make the judges laugh. Bonus points for showing actual librarians in the pictures.

Entries are due 12:00am, EST, July 31st, and should be submitted to mike.timonin@gmail.com, with “Zombies vs. Unicorns Contest” in the subject line.

Prize – one Advanced Reader Copy of Zombies vs. Unicorns.

* yes, I know that the book does not actually depict fights between zombies and unicorns, perhaps the only failing of the work in question.

Library Activism

Two things this week. First, a note that the Queens library system in New York City has announced that it stopped buying new books in December. Here's the story from the NY Daily News. I don't know that there's anything you can do about it, but consider - the Queens libraries typically buy 8,500 books a year. What does cutting that player out of the book buying market do to publishers? Especially as the trend spreads. Cutting library funding is stupid and short sighted.

Something that you CAN do - the community of Slave Lake*, in Alberta, Canada, was hit by a massive wildfire  early in May; the fire destroyed 40% of the town. (Here's the story from the CBC) Among the buildings burned was the local library. They are asking for donations - of money, certainly, but of books, new and very nearly new (nothing older than 2 years old) and in good condition. Here is a link to their website, with more information.

*Slave refers here to the Slavey nation, and not to slavery. Wikipedia explains it all, sort of.

Friday Review Post, 5/27/2011

So, I need to face facts - I'm not going to finish Francis Fukuyama's The Origins of Political Order today. Or tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll finish it by next week, but it's the sort of book that you have to read other books at the same time as. If that makes ANY sense. I have two problems with it - I can't read it while feeding the baby, because it's too massive for me to hold the baby, hold the bottle, and hold the book all at once. And, I can't read it right before bed, because it's too dense - it's not boring, but it's tough to get through and understand if you're already sleepy. So. Watch for a review of that next week.

I did read two other things this week (while reading Francis Fukuyama).

Frank Beddor - The Looking Glass Wars


Beddor re-imagines Alice in Wonderland. He posits that Alice Liddell was actually Alyss Heart (huh. Liddell is not in the spell check, nor is Beddor - but Alyss is? Odd.), heir to the throne of Wonderland. Fleeing a coup led by her aunt, Redd, Alyce finds herself in 18th century London, where she is adopted by the Liddells, eventually meeting Charles Dodgson (who wrote as Lewis Carrol), and confided her story to him. Carrol re-wrote Alyss' story into Alice in Wonderland.

In "reality," says Beddor, Wonderland is the hub at the center of all universes, where inventive ideas begin. Someone in Wonderland has an idea, and that idea is set loose (through a giant crystal), and somewhere in other universes, an inventor invents that idea. As a result, you want a strong, stable queen in charge of Wonderland, so as to avoid dangerous ideas slipping out. Redd is not a strong, stable queen. While Alyss is in London, Redd is creating a totalitarian nightmare in Wonderland, and fighting a running civil war with Alysian rebels - folks loyal to Alyce. Eventually, Alyss is rescued from our world, and returns to fight a final cataclysmic battle for Wonderland, as one might expect.

Things I liked - a novel idea. Beddor has a fun concept, and the congruent timeline at the end of the book is interesting - for instance - July 1865: "Henry Wortz, [Confederate] commandant of Andersonville prison where 13,000 out of 50,000 prisoners died [during the US Civil War], is executed for war crimes." In Wonderland, "Redd awards the Crimson Sash of Success to the wardens of Krag prison, where no prisoners survived." Another example; May 1868: "Last public hanging in Britain at Newgate prison." In Wonderland "First execution under Redd's law outlawing silence. Silence breeds independent thought, which breeds dissent." Beddor has done an interesting job of pairing real events in our world with fictional events in Wonderland. It's a neat concept.

Things I didn't like - Beddor doesn't really explore the concept all that well. The whole book feels a little thin; a little rushed, like it wants to be a trilogy, but it's trapped in a single volume. I mean, you could have had a whole book of Hatter Madigan (yes, he's the Mad Hatter - a highly trained elite warrior tasked with protecting the royalty of Wonderland. His hat turns into a throwing blade.) wandering around the world looking for Alyss. Instead, we get a chapter or two, a couple of notes on it - and nothing more. You could have had a book just on the battles by the resistance paired up with Alyss' experiences in England, and then a third book about Alyss' war against Redd, and the plot would have been deeper and the concept could have been better explored.

It was a neat idea, and I liked Beddor's characters, so I may pick up another of this series, but I doubt it.

Sally Spencer - A Rendezvous With Death


Also set in Victorian England, this was a very interesting police procedural detective novel. Spencer is a pseudonym for Alan Rustage. Spencer is the name under which Rustage publishes his Chief Inspector Woodend series - set in modern England. Under the name James Garcia Woods, Rustage publishes the Paco Ruiz mysteries, also police procedurals, set in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. This series - the Inspector Blackstone series - is supposedly the first that he published under his own name. Except it isn't, because it's actually published under Sally Spencer. Rustage says that these books are written by Sally Spencer writing as Alan Rustage, which is just confusing. So, right from the start, the book is interesting - even before you open the cover.

Inspector Blackstone is a product of the English working class who has bettered himself by serving in the Army in Afghanistan during one of England's attempts to pacify the fractious territory (largely, Spencer/Rustage asserts, to keep the Russians at bay). He translated his military service into a job at Scotland Yard, where he has done fairly well for himself. We meet Blackstone midway through his career - he has some successes under his belt, he has some respect from his superiors, and he is jaded enough that he's an interesting character. In this novel, he investigates the mysterious death of Charles Montcliffe, the youngest son of Earl Montcliffe, a fairly important nobleman. After identifying Montcliffe's body, Blackstone is called before his superior to receive an unenviable (and possibly impossible) task - solve Montcliffe's murder without anyone knowing that it has taken place. Because Victoria's Diamond Jubilee is days away, and the government doesn't want anything to distract from that, least of all some scandal involving the family of one of the people involved in the Jubilee - namely, Earl Montcliffe. Blackstone sets off on this impossible task in classic police procedural fashion - plodding his way through people who know a little bit of something, teasing out information from people who don't want to give him information, and doggedly tracking down enough evidence to prove who killed Charles.

Things I liked - a fine example of the sub-genre. Blackstone is an excellent police detective, and also a very compelling character; old enough to be experienced and cynical, but not so old as to be on his way out to pasture. I really liked him. There was a complex plot that only slowly unfolded. Everything made sense in the end, and there wasn't anything that seemed added in at the last minute. Good, solid detective novel.

Things I really liked - Spencer/Rustage played with the class ideas of the Victorian era very nicely. Plus, s(he) uses the novel to make some subtle comments about current events - on some level, Victorian England is a stand in for modern America, for instance. One of the characters ponders why people in India are less than grateful for the civilization that the British Army is bringing them, and there is this broad assumption on the part of many that the universe revolves around the British Empire. It's subtle, but somewhat pointed - very nicely done.

In final assessment, I really liked this book, and will pick up the next when I get a chance.

Wednesday The Hickey of the Beast Post, 5/25/2011

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Chapter 11

And cue the rising action...

The bulk of this chapter was a description of Connie's big soccer game. It's difficult to describe sporting events - witness the lengthy (an occasionally superfluous) Quidditch chapters in Harry Potter - and I'm afraid this chapter drags a little. But, only a little - the description is lovely, and mostly focused on the players, not on the game - not a lot of description of how the ball is passed, or anything like that. Izzy does a good job of using the soccer game to build secondary characters (in the locker room, on the field), and to present further expansion of Connie's character (she's competitive, and she really loves playing soccer - when on the field she loses track of everything else)  and moves fairly quickly through the (necessary) description of the game to the plotty meat of the chapter - Connie sprains her ankle and ends up in the infirmary, where she sees a girl she thinks she knows a little.

In the last chapter, Connie had a dream featuring this girl she thought maybe she knew, but not well - in other words, not someone that she consciously subconsciously had any ill will for. The working theory behind Connie's dreams (as presented by her friends) is that her dreaming mind is a) allowing her to work out her ill will for others and b) she is subconsciously picking up on early symptoms for flu. This chapter seems to disprove that, which means she'll need a new working theory, which will slowly build towards what is actually happening, which will almost certainly generate a huge burst of climactic action towards the end of the book.

Library Monday, 5/23/2011

No books from the library today. Not even the copy of Jane Eyre my wife specifically requested. (I offered to find her an electronic copy for the laptop. She demurred.) But, on Saturday we all trouped off to Ithaca, where my wife watched the newest film version of Jane Eyre (which sounds delightful in its costuming, and dreadful in its subject matter. Ugh, the Brontes.), which, naturally, prompted her desire for the book. Which we don't own. Anyway, the Ithaca library was having its big book sale (it was the last weekend of it, in fact) so I grabbed a copy of:

John Munschauer - World War II Cavalcade


This is an autobiographical presentation of Munschauer's experiences in the Pacific theater during WWII. I grabbed it for research, but it looks readable.

We also got a whole stack of old Peanuts books (the old ones, where Charlie Brown is hapless, and the Peanuts gang actually does things that kids do, like play aliens and earth folk. You can see how the earlier Peanuts influenced Calvin and Hobbes, especially in the winter sketches.) and some cookbooks. So, not bad, I think.

Next week, the library is closed on Monday, so Library Day will be Tuesday. I will be picking up trashy books, because the week after I'm headed to Kansas City, MO to do research - so you can expect some sort of a post on that, if I have internet access. Fingers crossed!