Player Piano
by Kurt Vonnegut
(4/5 stars)
The best science fiction is the kind that still manages to be relevant
even after almost 60 years. Such is the case with Vonnegut's "Player
Piano," which explores our conflicted relationship with the machines we
create, how they can be both liberating and dehumanizing.
The
book takes place after a great war, presumably World War III, which
America won by designing high-tech (at the time) thinking machines.
Years later, these thinking machines handle pretty much everything from
making products to running the government. This has created a sort of
caste system where people are judged from a young age by certain tests.
Those who pass become part of the "haves"--engineers and
managers--while the rest become the "have nots" known as reek and recs.
Dr.
Paul Proteus is the son of the man who first introduced the thinking
machines and over time has become disillusioned with them and the caste
system. When he goes across the bridge to the poor side of town he sees
how the other half lives and becomes determined to quit his high-paying
job and become a simple farmer. But soon Paul gets swept up into a
revolution against the machines.
What I like is how Vonnegut
creates this world dominated by a sort of benign fascism. In this
system people aren't killed or sent to concentration camps or even
forced to wear yellow stars; instead they're given modest homes and
televisions so they have something to occupy them. So the greatest
horror isn't storm troopers or secret police but boredom and a lack of
dignity that comes from having no purpose.
The mention of things
like vacuum tubes give the book a little dated feel and yet the core
concept is still highly relevant. Instead of giant thinking machines
using vacuum tubes we have tiny machines using microchips and robots and
now 3D printing. As automation becomes more prevalent it forces more
people either out of work or into menial minimum wage jobs. Barring a
global catastrophe, this automation is only going to become more
prevalent and more advanced until like in Vonnegut's world, we have
billions of people who have been rendered obsolete and no longer serve
any useful function.
In the "Star Trek" universe people turn all
this automation into something good by pursuing other life goals. Sadly
I tend to think Vonnegut's outlook is more realistic. But then I work
in Detroit, where you can see the effects of societal change with every
abandoned house and store front.
This was Vonnegut's first novel
and it lacks some of the playfulness of his later books. You don't have
the author's pithy "So it goes" or "Hi-Ho" or any of that. The
narrative feels a little long at times, especially concerning the shah
of some country visiting America. That subplot is included largely to
give readers a look at America beyond upstate New York, but it really
doesn't add that much. Plus it involves a lot of casual racism that was
commonplace in the 50s but would create quite a stir today.
Still for a first novel it is a fascinating read I would highly recommend.
That is all.
Showing posts with label 4 stars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4 stars. Show all posts
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Cypress Lake
Cypress Lake
by Joe Basara
(4/5 stars)
I had this book on my To Read list for a while on Goodreads thanks to Ethan Cooper's marvelous review. Finally I decimated the virtual To Be Read pile on my Kindle enough that I decided to buy this. In part because it's less than a dollar and most big publisher books are eight to twelve times that much. I can at least say I got my dollar's worth.
Since the author likes to reference old TV shows, I find it appropriate to reference an old TV show, in this case "Scrubs" which ended only a couple years ago, so it isn't that old. Like that show this book takes place largely in a hospital and features a twentysomething main character who likes to daydream a lot and lust after his coworkers. Only Basara's book is a lot less wacky and sadly does not feature anyone as hilariously grumpy as Dr. Cox.
Though since this book takes place in 1977 a M*A*S*H reference might have been more appropriate. Actually I think that's one series the author doesn't manage to directly reference in the book. Anyway, Owen Cloud moves back to his old stomping grounds in rural Florida to work as an orderly at a hospital. He almost right away falls head over heels for one of his coworkers, but eventually moves on to another and then to what I'd call the "consolation prize" girl, the one who's been there all along but only at the end does Owen realize is available. (This is incidentally a trope I've used a number of times. Like this book for example: Virgin Territory)
Along the way Owen spends a lot of time daydreaming and philosophizing. The almost constant bombardment of literary quotes and TV/song references from the 50s-70s become irritating after a little while. They give the narrative an ADHD feel, as if the author can't focus on one scene so he keeps jumping from one tangent to another.
If you look past those there's a well-written book about small town life, coming of age, and finding love. Since it's apparently a debut effort it's not bad. If a little more focus were devoted to developing the story and characters and less to quotes and references, it would have the gritty small-town feel of a Richard Russo novel like Empire Falls.
Still for a buck you can do a lot worse.
That is all.
by Joe Basara
(4/5 stars)
I had this book on my To Read list for a while on Goodreads thanks to Ethan Cooper's marvelous review. Finally I decimated the virtual To Be Read pile on my Kindle enough that I decided to buy this. In part because it's less than a dollar and most big publisher books are eight to twelve times that much. I can at least say I got my dollar's worth.
Since the author likes to reference old TV shows, I find it appropriate to reference an old TV show, in this case "Scrubs" which ended only a couple years ago, so it isn't that old. Like that show this book takes place largely in a hospital and features a twentysomething main character who likes to daydream a lot and lust after his coworkers. Only Basara's book is a lot less wacky and sadly does not feature anyone as hilariously grumpy as Dr. Cox.
Though since this book takes place in 1977 a M*A*S*H reference might have been more appropriate. Actually I think that's one series the author doesn't manage to directly reference in the book. Anyway, Owen Cloud moves back to his old stomping grounds in rural Florida to work as an orderly at a hospital. He almost right away falls head over heels for one of his coworkers, but eventually moves on to another and then to what I'd call the "consolation prize" girl, the one who's been there all along but only at the end does Owen realize is available. (This is incidentally a trope I've used a number of times. Like this book for example: Virgin Territory)
Along the way Owen spends a lot of time daydreaming and philosophizing. The almost constant bombardment of literary quotes and TV/song references from the 50s-70s become irritating after a little while. They give the narrative an ADHD feel, as if the author can't focus on one scene so he keeps jumping from one tangent to another.
If you look past those there's a well-written book about small town life, coming of age, and finding love. Since it's apparently a debut effort it's not bad. If a little more focus were devoted to developing the story and characters and less to quotes and references, it would have the gritty small-town feel of a Richard Russo novel like Empire Falls.
Still for a buck you can do a lot worse.
That is all.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Fridgularity
Fridgularity
by Mark Rayner
(4/5 stars)
I think I would have enjoyed this a little more if I hadn't been so busy the last few weeks I hardly had time to read it at all, which made it seem to take forever. My main criticism is that the book is on the long side, something I similarly felt recently when I read "John Dies At the End." It's my opinion that humorous books should stay under 300 pages or it starts to run too long, like one of those annoying SNL skits that keeps pounding the joke into the ground for 10 minutes until there's nothing funny left and you just get up to use the bathroom or something.
Anyway, the book is about a fridge that takes over the world. Well not really a fridge. It's an artificial intelligence that manifests itself through a web-enabled fridge in the kitchen of Blake Given, an Irish-Canadian web programmer who apparently is pretty well off to be able to afford a web-equipped fridge. One day the fridge starts talking to him and calling itself "Zathir". Zathir turns off the Internet while it works to increase its strength. Naturally there's a bit of a panic. Blake ends up pretty well off as Zathir's primarily link to humanity.
There's a lot of other stuff that happens but for a major cataclysm things stay pretty well-mannered. The ending felt a little abrupt especially after as long as it took to get there. I'd have liked a little more of an idea what exactly happens to Blake and the others at the end.
Still, if you've got the time for it, this is a fun read. It'll make you reconsider just how much time you should spend on the Internet--reading book reviews for instance.
That is all.
by Mark Rayner
(4/5 stars)
I think I would have enjoyed this a little more if I hadn't been so busy the last few weeks I hardly had time to read it at all, which made it seem to take forever. My main criticism is that the book is on the long side, something I similarly felt recently when I read "John Dies At the End." It's my opinion that humorous books should stay under 300 pages or it starts to run too long, like one of those annoying SNL skits that keeps pounding the joke into the ground for 10 minutes until there's nothing funny left and you just get up to use the bathroom or something.
Anyway, the book is about a fridge that takes over the world. Well not really a fridge. It's an artificial intelligence that manifests itself through a web-enabled fridge in the kitchen of Blake Given, an Irish-Canadian web programmer who apparently is pretty well off to be able to afford a web-equipped fridge. One day the fridge starts talking to him and calling itself "Zathir". Zathir turns off the Internet while it works to increase its strength. Naturally there's a bit of a panic. Blake ends up pretty well off as Zathir's primarily link to humanity.
There's a lot of other stuff that happens but for a major cataclysm things stay pretty well-mannered. The ending felt a little abrupt especially after as long as it took to get there. I'd have liked a little more of an idea what exactly happens to Blake and the others at the end.
Still, if you've got the time for it, this is a fun read. It'll make you reconsider just how much time you should spend on the Internet--reading book reviews for instance.
That is all.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Breakfast of Champions
Breakfast of Champions
by Kurt Vonnegut
(4/5 stars)
In modern parlance, "Breakfast of Champions" is what would be called a meta-novel. It's largely a novel about writing a novel. Though since this is Vonnegut it's not about a guy sitting at a typewriter or anything that boring. It's more like in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" when characters would go to the holodeck to interact with holographic representations of stories like Sherlock Holmes or noir detective Dixon Hill.
In this case the author is Philboyd Studge (a stand-in for Kurt Vonnegut) and the holodeck is set to Midland City, Indiana in 1972. The town is hosting a Festival of the Arts and the wealthy Eliot Rosewater (of the previous novel God Bless You Mr. Rosewater) contacts his favorite sci-fi author Kilgore Trout, featured in many other Vonnegut books. Trout is shocked anyone's actually read any of his books as his stories are mostly published in porno magazines as filler with the titles often changed. So Trout decides to go to New York City and then hitchhike to Indiana.
Meanwhile in Midland City is Dwayne Hoover, who owns a Pontiac dealership and several other businesses. By all accounts Dwayne has it pretty good, except his wife "ate" some Drano and died while his gay son works as a pianist in the Holiday Inn Hoover partially owns.
The lounge of the Holiday Inn is where Hoover and Trout are destined to meet and where Hoover is destined to lose what's left of his mind. Also in that lounge is Philboyd Studge, who has gathered his creations together to create a sort of creative Big Bang that will wipe out the old Philboyd Studge universe and create a new one.
In the preface, Studge writes about how now that he's turned 50 he wants to sort of clear the air and empty out all these old ideas and characters so that he can create new ones. Ironically though many of these same characters like Kilgore Trout appear in future novels by Vonnegut like "Deadeye Dick," "Bluebeard," and "Timequake." So if the point was to reboot the Vonnegut universe (to use modern comic book/movie slang) it didn't really succeed.
Like many Vonnegut novels, the characters are in no way realistic. Vonnegut via Trout actually takes "realistic" novels to task, claiming that we already know about real life, so why would we want fiction to duplicate that? (I agree in part with that idea. I mean, most of life is pretty boring, so why would I want that in a novel?) Like my colleague Ethan Cooper, I would agree that the characters are largely cartoonish throughout the novel. That didn't bother me too much, maybe because I watch too many cartoons on Fox and Adult Swim.
Throughout the novel Vonnegut includes silly drawing of everything from an anus to a bucket of fried chicken to the abbreviation ETC. The intent of these seems to be to serve as flashcards for a future audience where Earth no longer has apples or fried chicken, though you'd have to think they would still know what an anus looks like unless humanity has evolved beyond that point or superintelligent robots or cockroaches have taken over. Like Ethan Cooper, I found this device tiresome after a while as it didn't really seem to contribute much to the actual story.
Another thing is that this novel frequently uses the "N-word" and the depiction of most of the black characters in the book is pretty demeaning, especially the ex-con Wayne Hoobler. Though I like to think of it not as racist but as a satire to protest the economic segregation that is still largely prevalent in the 21st Century.
Overall, while the end may be a little disappointing, it is a heck of a ride to get there.
That is all.
by Kurt Vonnegut
(4/5 stars)
In modern parlance, "Breakfast of Champions" is what would be called a meta-novel. It's largely a novel about writing a novel. Though since this is Vonnegut it's not about a guy sitting at a typewriter or anything that boring. It's more like in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" when characters would go to the holodeck to interact with holographic representations of stories like Sherlock Holmes or noir detective Dixon Hill.
In this case the author is Philboyd Studge (a stand-in for Kurt Vonnegut) and the holodeck is set to Midland City, Indiana in 1972. The town is hosting a Festival of the Arts and the wealthy Eliot Rosewater (of the previous novel God Bless You Mr. Rosewater) contacts his favorite sci-fi author Kilgore Trout, featured in many other Vonnegut books. Trout is shocked anyone's actually read any of his books as his stories are mostly published in porno magazines as filler with the titles often changed. So Trout decides to go to New York City and then hitchhike to Indiana.
Meanwhile in Midland City is Dwayne Hoover, who owns a Pontiac dealership and several other businesses. By all accounts Dwayne has it pretty good, except his wife "ate" some Drano and died while his gay son works as a pianist in the Holiday Inn Hoover partially owns.
The lounge of the Holiday Inn is where Hoover and Trout are destined to meet and where Hoover is destined to lose what's left of his mind. Also in that lounge is Philboyd Studge, who has gathered his creations together to create a sort of creative Big Bang that will wipe out the old Philboyd Studge universe and create a new one.
In the preface, Studge writes about how now that he's turned 50 he wants to sort of clear the air and empty out all these old ideas and characters so that he can create new ones. Ironically though many of these same characters like Kilgore Trout appear in future novels by Vonnegut like "Deadeye Dick," "Bluebeard," and "Timequake." So if the point was to reboot the Vonnegut universe (to use modern comic book/movie slang) it didn't really succeed.
Like many Vonnegut novels, the characters are in no way realistic. Vonnegut via Trout actually takes "realistic" novels to task, claiming that we already know about real life, so why would we want fiction to duplicate that? (I agree in part with that idea. I mean, most of life is pretty boring, so why would I want that in a novel?) Like my colleague Ethan Cooper, I would agree that the characters are largely cartoonish throughout the novel. That didn't bother me too much, maybe because I watch too many cartoons on Fox and Adult Swim.
Throughout the novel Vonnegut includes silly drawing of everything from an anus to a bucket of fried chicken to the abbreviation ETC. The intent of these seems to be to serve as flashcards for a future audience where Earth no longer has apples or fried chicken, though you'd have to think they would still know what an anus looks like unless humanity has evolved beyond that point or superintelligent robots or cockroaches have taken over. Like Ethan Cooper, I found this device tiresome after a while as it didn't really seem to contribute much to the actual story.
Another thing is that this novel frequently uses the "N-word" and the depiction of most of the black characters in the book is pretty demeaning, especially the ex-con Wayne Hoobler. Though I like to think of it not as racist but as a satire to protest the economic segregation that is still largely prevalent in the 21st Century.
Overall, while the end may be a little disappointing, it is a heck of a ride to get there.
That is all.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
The Unquiet
The Unquiet
by Jeannine Garsee
(4/5 stars)
As full disclosure, I won a copy of this from the author. I just want you to know that so you don't think this is one of the author's friends or family or something like that.
Anyway, I'm glad I did win this book because it was a fun read. I recently read an advance copy of the new Amanda Hocking book that is in the same genre and I have to say I liked "The Unquiet" a lot more. I think the primary reason being that the main character Rinn is a lot brighter than the main character of Hocking's book. That and there weren't obvious typos and bad writing, just one slight factual error concerning slasher movie killer costumes.
As I said the plot involves a girl named Rinn. Like so many of these type of books or movies, Rinn and her mom are new to town. Or at least Rinn is new to town; her mom used to live here before college. They've fled La Jolla, California after Rinn accidentally burned down her grandmother's cabin with her grandmother inside. The main cause for the fire is that Rinn is bipolar and at that time was off her medication and thus careless.
In River Hills, Ohio, she figures she'll get a clean start. She even makes friends with the head cheerleader Meg and her friends Tasha and Lacy. She also makes friend with the neighbor/landlord's son Nate.
Her new friends introduce her to the legend of Annaliese Gibbons, a girl who drowned in the school pool about 20 years ago, back when Rinn's mom went to the school. The pool area is now closed, but Annaliese's spirit is said to live on.
After Rinn and her new friends hold a seance around Halloween, strange things begin happening. The lives of Rinn's new friends begin to unravel and then one dies. Is it Annaliese striking from beyond the grave? Or is it just that Rinn is having a relapse?
I figured out most of the plot well before the ending. If you're familiar with either the original or remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" then you might be able to figure it out as well.
Still, as I said, it's an entertaining read that I breezed through in a few hours. As far as the young adult books I've read it might not be more or less wall-to-wall action like "The Hunger Games" but it's less dull and stupid than "Twilight" or that new Amanda Hocking novel I mentioned.
So I would definitely recommend reading it, even if you weren't lucky enough to win a copy of your own.
That is all.
by Jeannine Garsee
(4/5 stars)
As full disclosure, I won a copy of this from the author. I just want you to know that so you don't think this is one of the author's friends or family or something like that.
Anyway, I'm glad I did win this book because it was a fun read. I recently read an advance copy of the new Amanda Hocking book that is in the same genre and I have to say I liked "The Unquiet" a lot more. I think the primary reason being that the main character Rinn is a lot brighter than the main character of Hocking's book. That and there weren't obvious typos and bad writing, just one slight factual error concerning slasher movie killer costumes.
As I said the plot involves a girl named Rinn. Like so many of these type of books or movies, Rinn and her mom are new to town. Or at least Rinn is new to town; her mom used to live here before college. They've fled La Jolla, California after Rinn accidentally burned down her grandmother's cabin with her grandmother inside. The main cause for the fire is that Rinn is bipolar and at that time was off her medication and thus careless.
In River Hills, Ohio, she figures she'll get a clean start. She even makes friends with the head cheerleader Meg and her friends Tasha and Lacy. She also makes friend with the neighbor/landlord's son Nate.
Her new friends introduce her to the legend of Annaliese Gibbons, a girl who drowned in the school pool about 20 years ago, back when Rinn's mom went to the school. The pool area is now closed, but Annaliese's spirit is said to live on.
After Rinn and her new friends hold a seance around Halloween, strange things begin happening. The lives of Rinn's new friends begin to unravel and then one dies. Is it Annaliese striking from beyond the grave? Or is it just that Rinn is having a relapse?
I figured out most of the plot well before the ending. If you're familiar with either the original or remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" then you might be able to figure it out as well.
Still, as I said, it's an entertaining read that I breezed through in a few hours. As far as the young adult books I've read it might not be more or less wall-to-wall action like "The Hunger Games" but it's less dull and stupid than "Twilight" or that new Amanda Hocking novel I mentioned.
So I would definitely recommend reading it, even if you weren't lucky enough to win a copy of your own.
That is all.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
StarBridge
StarBridge (StarBridge #1)
by AC Crispin
(4/5 stars)
These books first appeared in print starting in 1989 but now they're being reprinted in eBook format. When this first one went on sale for a dollar or free, I decided to give it a try. I had already "friended" the author on Facebook and we were in the same online writing message board for a while, so what the heck.
For the low price it's not bad. Better than a lot of the self-published stuff you can get. That said it's not great either. The writing is blase and the characters are flat. There was no one in this book I ever really felt could be a real person.
The story is that old tried-and-true first contact scenario. A human freighter called the Desiree is heading to Earth when it picks up some mysterious signals. They investigate and find a planet of sort-of-lion-looking aliens called the Simiu.
A lot of time is spent then on the two cultures trying to communicate with each other. On the forefront of this is 17-year-old Mahree Burroughs, who makes friends with one of the aliens. (I won't try to spell his name since the alien names all have a bunch of Rrrs and Kkkks and apostrophes.)
When things go sour between humans and Simui, Mahree and her friend decided to go look for the Cooperative League of Systems (a Federation-like entity) to intervene. The dreamy Dr. Gable goes with them. But will they save the day? (Considering there are at least SIX more books, what do you think?)
Anyway, for those who want more of a Star Wars-type space opera there's not lots of action to be had. While there's some science-type stuff, I wouldn't consider this "hard" science fiction either. It kind of falls in the middle then. Then not-so-nice way I described it was "the homeless man's Vernor Vinge."
Probably the biggest fault I had with the novel was with the main character, Mahree. She's so immature that I never could imagine her as anything besides a whiny twelve-year-old, despite that she was seventeen and by the end does some adult things. I think part of it might be that half of the story is her talking into her diary about her crush on Dr. Gable. You certainly wouldn't hear Captain Kirk doing that.
Anyway, despite its deficiencies, it's a good light sci-fi read, especially at the low price. Though really I'd rather read "Conqueor's Pride" by Timothy Zahn or "Expendable" by James Alan Gardner. The writing of both is of about the same quality but there's a little more action and no sighing teenagers talking into diaries. I'm just saying.
That is all.
by AC Crispin
(4/5 stars)
These books first appeared in print starting in 1989 but now they're being reprinted in eBook format. When this first one went on sale for a dollar or free, I decided to give it a try. I had already "friended" the author on Facebook and we were in the same online writing message board for a while, so what the heck.
For the low price it's not bad. Better than a lot of the self-published stuff you can get. That said it's not great either. The writing is blase and the characters are flat. There was no one in this book I ever really felt could be a real person.
The story is that old tried-and-true first contact scenario. A human freighter called the Desiree is heading to Earth when it picks up some mysterious signals. They investigate and find a planet of sort-of-lion-looking aliens called the Simiu.
A lot of time is spent then on the two cultures trying to communicate with each other. On the forefront of this is 17-year-old Mahree Burroughs, who makes friends with one of the aliens. (I won't try to spell his name since the alien names all have a bunch of Rrrs and Kkkks and apostrophes.)
When things go sour between humans and Simui, Mahree and her friend decided to go look for the Cooperative League of Systems (a Federation-like entity) to intervene. The dreamy Dr. Gable goes with them. But will they save the day? (Considering there are at least SIX more books, what do you think?)
Anyway, for those who want more of a Star Wars-type space opera there's not lots of action to be had. While there's some science-type stuff, I wouldn't consider this "hard" science fiction either. It kind of falls in the middle then. Then not-so-nice way I described it was "the homeless man's Vernor Vinge."
Probably the biggest fault I had with the novel was with the main character, Mahree. She's so immature that I never could imagine her as anything besides a whiny twelve-year-old, despite that she was seventeen and by the end does some adult things. I think part of it might be that half of the story is her talking into her diary about her crush on Dr. Gable. You certainly wouldn't hear Captain Kirk doing that.
Anyway, despite its deficiencies, it's a good light sci-fi read, especially at the low price. Though really I'd rather read "Conqueor's Pride" by Timothy Zahn or "Expendable" by James Alan Gardner. The writing of both is of about the same quality but there's a little more action and no sighing teenagers talking into diaries. I'm just saying.
That is all.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Clockwise
Clockwise
by Elle Strauss
(4/5 stars)
I got this book free from Amazon mostly because as a fan of Star Trek, Quantum Leap, The Twilight Zone, and such the concept intrigued me. It was a fun light read, though by the time I got to the end I really couldn't be sure what the point of it was. The story really lacks any dramatic heft. I had worked out the two biggest twists long before they occurred.
In case you're too lazy to read the jacket description, the story is about a teenager named Casey, who like Henry in "The Time Traveler's Wife" seems to have some natural disorder that causes her to go back in time. Only in her case she goes back to 1860. She's been doing this since she was 9 years old. Along the way she's made friends with the Watson family, especially a boy named Willie, but he's a red herring so don't worry about him.
In the 21st Century, Casey worries endlessly about her curly hair, which in true Hollywood fashion, along with her height, makes her completely repulsive to every boy at school. There is the cute quarterback named Nate she has a crush on. Then one day she accidentally takes Nate with her in the past and everything turns upside-side down in her life.
On the scale of female YA heroines, Casey falls somewhere between Bella Swan of "Twilight" and Katniss Everdeen of "The Hunger Games." She's as whiny and insecure as Bella, though she has some hunting skills like Katniss so that she's not a total bore. None of the other characters really come off as anything other than one-dimensional archetypes. For instance, there's her friend Lucinda, but about all I know is she's Casey's friend and has a crush on some guy named Josh. Apparently that's all I need to know about her.
Like many "indie" books this could have used a competent editor to clean up the typos. The dialog formatting especially was atrocious. Sometimes two different characters would speak on the same line. Other times the same character would speak on one line and then the next one too. Compounding the problem is the author hardly ever uses dialog tags, so often I wondered who was speaking.
As I said at the beginning, the story really lacks much in terms of drama. The problems that crop up are dealt with pretty easily. There seemed little in the way of a dramatic arc. By that I never felt the story was really building towards anything, which didn't leave for much of a payoff. It really amounts to girl meets boy, girl and boy travel in time, girl and boy come back but can't express feelings for each other, and so on in that way.
Also as someone who's watched/read plenty of time travel fiction, one thing you really need are consistent rules. The one thing that bugged me was when Casey goes back in time she's wearing her clothes from the 21st Century. She usually ditches these in favor of 19th Century garb. But when she comes back, she's again wearing her 21st Century clothes. This made little sense to me. Did the clothes just reappear? Did they change shape? I mean apparently when she goes back in time she's not leaping into someone else's body like Quantum Leap or a disembodied spirit or anything, so why is it different on the way back? Maybe I'm being overly picky.
Anyway, despite my concerns, the book was a fun read. It would probably be more fun for its target audience--teenage/tweenage girls--which is why I'm rounding it up to four stars. I'm sure they'll get more out of it than a crusty old nerd like me.
That is all.
by Elle Strauss
(4/5 stars)
I got this book free from Amazon mostly because as a fan of Star Trek, Quantum Leap, The Twilight Zone, and such the concept intrigued me. It was a fun light read, though by the time I got to the end I really couldn't be sure what the point of it was. The story really lacks any dramatic heft. I had worked out the two biggest twists long before they occurred.
In case you're too lazy to read the jacket description, the story is about a teenager named Casey, who like Henry in "The Time Traveler's Wife" seems to have some natural disorder that causes her to go back in time. Only in her case she goes back to 1860. She's been doing this since she was 9 years old. Along the way she's made friends with the Watson family, especially a boy named Willie, but he's a red herring so don't worry about him.
In the 21st Century, Casey worries endlessly about her curly hair, which in true Hollywood fashion, along with her height, makes her completely repulsive to every boy at school. There is the cute quarterback named Nate she has a crush on. Then one day she accidentally takes Nate with her in the past and everything turns upside-side down in her life.
On the scale of female YA heroines, Casey falls somewhere between Bella Swan of "Twilight" and Katniss Everdeen of "The Hunger Games." She's as whiny and insecure as Bella, though she has some hunting skills like Katniss so that she's not a total bore. None of the other characters really come off as anything other than one-dimensional archetypes. For instance, there's her friend Lucinda, but about all I know is she's Casey's friend and has a crush on some guy named Josh. Apparently that's all I need to know about her.
Like many "indie" books this could have used a competent editor to clean up the typos. The dialog formatting especially was atrocious. Sometimes two different characters would speak on the same line. Other times the same character would speak on one line and then the next one too. Compounding the problem is the author hardly ever uses dialog tags, so often I wondered who was speaking.
As I said at the beginning, the story really lacks much in terms of drama. The problems that crop up are dealt with pretty easily. There seemed little in the way of a dramatic arc. By that I never felt the story was really building towards anything, which didn't leave for much of a payoff. It really amounts to girl meets boy, girl and boy travel in time, girl and boy come back but can't express feelings for each other, and so on in that way.
Also as someone who's watched/read plenty of time travel fiction, one thing you really need are consistent rules. The one thing that bugged me was when Casey goes back in time she's wearing her clothes from the 21st Century. She usually ditches these in favor of 19th Century garb. But when she comes back, she's again wearing her 21st Century clothes. This made little sense to me. Did the clothes just reappear? Did they change shape? I mean apparently when she goes back in time she's not leaping into someone else's body like Quantum Leap or a disembodied spirit or anything, so why is it different on the way back? Maybe I'm being overly picky.
Anyway, despite my concerns, the book was a fun read. It would probably be more fun for its target audience--teenage/tweenage girls--which is why I'm rounding it up to four stars. I'm sure they'll get more out of it than a crusty old nerd like me.
That is all.
Monday, May 28, 2012
The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood
(5/5 stars)
It's just as well I didn't read this book when I bought it in December 2011 on sale. I probably would have scoffed at the idea that a hard-line fascist patriarchy could take over what was once America. Reading it in May 2012 now I'm not nearly as skeptical. Hearing the hard-line stances of those like Rick Santorum and Rush Limbaugh infamously calling a woman a [rhymes with "glut"] for wanting birth control makes me think there is a portion of this country that would enact something just like Atwood describes.
What she describes in "The Handmaid's Tale" is a patriarchal society where most women are stripped of all rights. There's a caste system of sorts enacted. At the top are the "Wives" who are (obviously) the wives of high-ranking officials in the new regime. There are also "Econowives" who are the wives of lesser officials. The Wives have servants called "Marthas" who toil away in the kitchens and so forth. And then since most Wives are older and infertile, there are the Handmaidens. The Handmaidens are tasked with giving birth to a baby, which is then turned over to the Wife to raise.
Now since this is a hard-line religious establishment where doctors and scientists are killed or locked up, they can't use scientific means like artificial insemination. Instead there's a whole bizarre ritual that takes place every few nights that involves the Commander (the male head of the household) getting it on with the Handmaiden while the wife is present. There's nothing seductive or kinky about all of it; it's all pretty sterile, which might be why it's ineffective.
The person telling the tale is a Handmaiden known as Offred (as in she's Fred's property). She describes life in her household and at other intervals talks about life before the new order took over. In that life, Offred had a real name and a husband named Luke and also a daughter. She had a feminist mother and a lesbian friend named Moira.
I think if you want to complain about anything it's that not a lot really HAPPENS in terms of plot. So if you were looking for a taut thriller or anything like that, then you wouldn't enjoy this. The obvious point of comparison would be "1984". I would also say that was a better book in that Orwell has more of a story arc concerning Winston being seduced by the "rebellion" and then betraying the one he loves in order to save his own skin, thereby crushing his spirit. (Oh sorry for the spoilers.) While Atwood's book is riveting, the world she builds doesn't really go anywhere. Offred isn't forced to make the same choices as Winston. And I have to say I found the last 6% or so, the epilogue, to be a little corny.
Still, with the recent events I already mentioned, the hard-line anti-abortion laws being enacted in "red states" and so forth, I think this is an important book to read (or reread) at this point in history. Especially if you're female you should read this to see the worst that can happen.
That is all.
by Margaret Atwood
(5/5 stars)
It's just as well I didn't read this book when I bought it in December 2011 on sale. I probably would have scoffed at the idea that a hard-line fascist patriarchy could take over what was once America. Reading it in May 2012 now I'm not nearly as skeptical. Hearing the hard-line stances of those like Rick Santorum and Rush Limbaugh infamously calling a woman a [rhymes with "glut"] for wanting birth control makes me think there is a portion of this country that would enact something just like Atwood describes.
What she describes in "The Handmaid's Tale" is a patriarchal society where most women are stripped of all rights. There's a caste system of sorts enacted. At the top are the "Wives" who are (obviously) the wives of high-ranking officials in the new regime. There are also "Econowives" who are the wives of lesser officials. The Wives have servants called "Marthas" who toil away in the kitchens and so forth. And then since most Wives are older and infertile, there are the Handmaidens. The Handmaidens are tasked with giving birth to a baby, which is then turned over to the Wife to raise.
Now since this is a hard-line religious establishment where doctors and scientists are killed or locked up, they can't use scientific means like artificial insemination. Instead there's a whole bizarre ritual that takes place every few nights that involves the Commander (the male head of the household) getting it on with the Handmaiden while the wife is present. There's nothing seductive or kinky about all of it; it's all pretty sterile, which might be why it's ineffective.
The person telling the tale is a Handmaiden known as Offred (as in she's Fred's property). She describes life in her household and at other intervals talks about life before the new order took over. In that life, Offred had a real name and a husband named Luke and also a daughter. She had a feminist mother and a lesbian friend named Moira.
I think if you want to complain about anything it's that not a lot really HAPPENS in terms of plot. So if you were looking for a taut thriller or anything like that, then you wouldn't enjoy this. The obvious point of comparison would be "1984". I would also say that was a better book in that Orwell has more of a story arc concerning Winston being seduced by the "rebellion" and then betraying the one he loves in order to save his own skin, thereby crushing his spirit. (Oh sorry for the spoilers.) While Atwood's book is riveting, the world she builds doesn't really go anywhere. Offred isn't forced to make the same choices as Winston. And I have to say I found the last 6% or so, the epilogue, to be a little corny.
Still, with the recent events I already mentioned, the hard-line anti-abortion laws being enacted in "red states" and so forth, I think this is an important book to read (or reread) at this point in history. Especially if you're female you should read this to see the worst that can happen.
That is all.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Slipstream
Slipstream
by Michael Offutt
(4/5 stars)
Slipstream starts off simply enough. Jordan Pendragon lives in Salt Lake City. He's a star hockey player on his high school team. All the girls want him, but he's not all that interested in them. Then he goes out with his sister and a couple of friends and there's an accident that lands Jordan in the hospital. He sees a young man kill a fellow patient. Later Jordan sees that young man again and after an altercation finds a strange bracelet.
While at a state fair with his sister and a couple of friends, Jordan comes under attack. With the help of the young man who owned the bracelet, they escape only to find themselves in a parallel universe. This parallel universe is similar to ours in some ways, but very different in others. In this universe much of the world has been laid to waste. A corrupt artificial intelligence known as the Shadow has taken over. What the Shadow fears more than anything is death, which necessitates it sucking the life out of people.
Jordan and his sister end up being rescued by some freedom fighters trying to defeat the Shadow by freeing another AI known as the Light. To do that involves Jordan becoming a hockey star. But even that is extremely dangerous in this world.
This plot has so many twists and turns that it would take far too long into going through all of them. It would also reveal too much of the plot and we wouldn't want any "spoilers" right? It is the most imaginative book of any genre I've read in quite a while.
The book would be even better if the publisher had hired a competent editor. I've seen self-published books with fewer mistakes. I don't know about you, but I find that distracting. Maybe at some point they can put out a revised edition.
That is all.
by Michael Offutt
(4/5 stars)
Slipstream starts off simply enough. Jordan Pendragon lives in Salt Lake City. He's a star hockey player on his high school team. All the girls want him, but he's not all that interested in them. Then he goes out with his sister and a couple of friends and there's an accident that lands Jordan in the hospital. He sees a young man kill a fellow patient. Later Jordan sees that young man again and after an altercation finds a strange bracelet.
While at a state fair with his sister and a couple of friends, Jordan comes under attack. With the help of the young man who owned the bracelet, they escape only to find themselves in a parallel universe. This parallel universe is similar to ours in some ways, but very different in others. In this universe much of the world has been laid to waste. A corrupt artificial intelligence known as the Shadow has taken over. What the Shadow fears more than anything is death, which necessitates it sucking the life out of people.
Jordan and his sister end up being rescued by some freedom fighters trying to defeat the Shadow by freeing another AI known as the Light. To do that involves Jordan becoming a hockey star. But even that is extremely dangerous in this world.
This plot has so many twists and turns that it would take far too long into going through all of them. It would also reveal too much of the plot and we wouldn't want any "spoilers" right? It is the most imaginative book of any genre I've read in quite a while.
The book would be even better if the publisher had hired a competent editor. I've seen self-published books with fewer mistakes. I don't know about you, but I find that distracting. Maybe at some point they can put out a revised edition.
That is all.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Virgin Territory
Virgin Territory
By Patrick Dilloway (aka Grumpy Bulldog)
4/5 stars
Full disclosure: I wrote this book. But I hadn't read it in years. Then someone mentioned a scene from it and I realized I didn't really remember it too well, so I thought I'd go back and reread it. Not having read it in so long I think I'm almost as objective as a regular reader.
This is what I would consider a Nicholas Sparks-type scenario. Gary Sinclair is sad and lonely in the little town of Dagger Lake, Michigan. One cold October night he's patrolling the beach to pick up the litter left by the summer tourists and finds something far more important washed up on shore: a naked body! It turns out to be a young woman who is alive. There's just one problem: she has no memory of who she is or where she came from or how she ended up by the lake.
Gary takes her to his house and since he looks kind of like his old girlfriend Andrea, that's the name he gives her. At first Gary tries not to get too involved with Andrea, but finds he can't help himself. The more time he spends with her, the more he loves her. And with all the kindness and tenderness he's shown her, she loves him too.
Some stories would end there, but "Virgin Territory" goes a step further. Five years later we pick up with Andrea and Gary trying to make a life together. But Andrea's desire to have a family starts to drive a wedge between them. Can their love survive?
As a somewhat objective reader, I like the first part better, where Gary and Andrea are falling in love. There are a few things I think are a little rushed, that I could have drawn out a little more. The finished product is less than 60,000 words so it's not like the story was too long.
The second part gets a little darker than your standard Nicholas Sparks story. Then there's a surprise twist. Maybe you can see it coming or maybe you can't. I think it makes for a satisfying conclusion, but you might think differently.
Anyway, the story is less than a dollar--FREE if you have Amazon Prime--so I think I got my money's worth out of it and so should you if you're looking for a good love story.
That is all.
By Patrick Dilloway (aka Grumpy Bulldog)
4/5 stars
Full disclosure: I wrote this book. But I hadn't read it in years. Then someone mentioned a scene from it and I realized I didn't really remember it too well, so I thought I'd go back and reread it. Not having read it in so long I think I'm almost as objective as a regular reader.
This is what I would consider a Nicholas Sparks-type scenario. Gary Sinclair is sad and lonely in the little town of Dagger Lake, Michigan. One cold October night he's patrolling the beach to pick up the litter left by the summer tourists and finds something far more important washed up on shore: a naked body! It turns out to be a young woman who is alive. There's just one problem: she has no memory of who she is or where she came from or how she ended up by the lake.
Gary takes her to his house and since he looks kind of like his old girlfriend Andrea, that's the name he gives her. At first Gary tries not to get too involved with Andrea, but finds he can't help himself. The more time he spends with her, the more he loves her. And with all the kindness and tenderness he's shown her, she loves him too.
Some stories would end there, but "Virgin Territory" goes a step further. Five years later we pick up with Andrea and Gary trying to make a life together. But Andrea's desire to have a family starts to drive a wedge between them. Can their love survive?
As a somewhat objective reader, I like the first part better, where Gary and Andrea are falling in love. There are a few things I think are a little rushed, that I could have drawn out a little more. The finished product is less than 60,000 words so it's not like the story was too long.
The second part gets a little darker than your standard Nicholas Sparks story. Then there's a surprise twist. Maybe you can see it coming or maybe you can't. I think it makes for a satisfying conclusion, but you might think differently.
Anyway, the story is less than a dollar--FREE if you have Amazon Prime--so I think I got my money's worth out of it and so should you if you're looking for a good love story.
That is all.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
(4/5 stars)
I have to admit I am not this book's target audience. As a thirtysomething man, I'm pretty far from this book's target audience. In fact I wouldn't have bought this except it was on sale and with the movie coming out and whatnot I decided to see what the hubbub was all about. I was more than a little surprised to find it engrossing enough that I decided to forsake going to bed tonight to finish the last 15%. I can't remember the last time that happened.
The story itself isn't all that new. There's been natural disasters and wars and a fascist regime has taken over what used to be North America but is now called Panem. There are 12 "districts" that each supply the Capitol (formerly Denver) with goods and materials. While people in the Capitol live high off the hog, possessing technology that sometimes rivals "Star Trek," the people of the districts live in practically the Middle Ages.
In District 12 is a girl named Katniss Everdeen. After her father died, Katniss took over raising her family--her mother and her younger sister Primrose (Prim). The situation reminded me a lot of "Winter's Bone" and like the elder daughter in that book/movie, Katniss is the one who puts food on the table by hunting and foraging with her friend Gale.
Then along come the moment of the Hunger Games. Each year there's a sort of gladiatorial fight between a boy and girl taken from each district. The 24 "tributes" fight to the death and the last one standing lives a life of comfort, which reminded me of Stephen King's "The Long Walk." When Prim is picked to go, Katniss volunteers herself instead. (I don't consider that as a spoiler since it's in commercials for the movie...) Katniss and a boy named Peeta are shipped off to the Capitol where they are eventually herded into "the arena," a landscape that if not artificially created is at least artificially controlled.
From there it's basically like the TV show "Survivor" mixed with Stephen King's "The Running Man" where the tributes are all trying to survive the elements while also trying to kill each other. As a skilled hunter Katniss has an edge in that, but she's reluctant to kill human beings.
Anyway, unlike the over 5000 5-star reviewers I'm not going to gush about how amazing the book is. It's not really. The writing is plain and there were at least four errors I highlighted on my Kindle. It's certainly not Hemingway or Faulkner or Proust but then again the book's audience has probably never heard of any of those gentlemen.
So really taking the book at what it is, it is an exciting story of survival and romance. The romance is a little blah but then I'm a bitter old man (at least to the target audience) so what do I know? Once the Games begin, it's hard not to get drawn into Katniss's struggle to survive.
One of the things that annoys me though is that she gets a lot of help in this. It reminded me of Perseus (the guy in "Clash of the Titans" for all you kids), who was given all this stuff by the gods: a magic sword, a shield, a helmet, a Pegasus. For Katniss it was more down-to-earth things like medicine and food, but still there was always someone to bail her out. It devalues her struggle a little when she has to rely on the kindness of strangers.
Also Katniss seemed a little dense at times, especially regarding Peeta. I suppose you could chalk it up to her lifestyle in District 12, but really it was pretty obvious what was going on with Peeta. Why was she the last one to see it?
Anyway, I'm not sure what the sequels are about and I don't really care. Maybe they explain why that pin the mayor's daughter gave her was so important? I thought it must be some talisman for certain rebellious elements, but nothing really happens with it in this book.
Still, even for this bitter old man it wasn't a bad read.
That is all.
by Suzanne Collins
(4/5 stars)
I have to admit I am not this book's target audience. As a thirtysomething man, I'm pretty far from this book's target audience. In fact I wouldn't have bought this except it was on sale and with the movie coming out and whatnot I decided to see what the hubbub was all about. I was more than a little surprised to find it engrossing enough that I decided to forsake going to bed tonight to finish the last 15%. I can't remember the last time that happened.
The story itself isn't all that new. There's been natural disasters and wars and a fascist regime has taken over what used to be North America but is now called Panem. There are 12 "districts" that each supply the Capitol (formerly Denver) with goods and materials. While people in the Capitol live high off the hog, possessing technology that sometimes rivals "Star Trek," the people of the districts live in practically the Middle Ages.
In District 12 is a girl named Katniss Everdeen. After her father died, Katniss took over raising her family--her mother and her younger sister Primrose (Prim). The situation reminded me a lot of "Winter's Bone" and like the elder daughter in that book/movie, Katniss is the one who puts food on the table by hunting and foraging with her friend Gale.
Then along come the moment of the Hunger Games. Each year there's a sort of gladiatorial fight between a boy and girl taken from each district. The 24 "tributes" fight to the death and the last one standing lives a life of comfort, which reminded me of Stephen King's "The Long Walk." When Prim is picked to go, Katniss volunteers herself instead. (I don't consider that as a spoiler since it's in commercials for the movie...) Katniss and a boy named Peeta are shipped off to the Capitol where they are eventually herded into "the arena," a landscape that if not artificially created is at least artificially controlled.
From there it's basically like the TV show "Survivor" mixed with Stephen King's "The Running Man" where the tributes are all trying to survive the elements while also trying to kill each other. As a skilled hunter Katniss has an edge in that, but she's reluctant to kill human beings.
Anyway, unlike the over 5000 5-star reviewers I'm not going to gush about how amazing the book is. It's not really. The writing is plain and there were at least four errors I highlighted on my Kindle. It's certainly not Hemingway or Faulkner or Proust but then again the book's audience has probably never heard of any of those gentlemen.
So really taking the book at what it is, it is an exciting story of survival and romance. The romance is a little blah but then I'm a bitter old man (at least to the target audience) so what do I know? Once the Games begin, it's hard not to get drawn into Katniss's struggle to survive.
One of the things that annoys me though is that she gets a lot of help in this. It reminded me of Perseus (the guy in "Clash of the Titans" for all you kids), who was given all this stuff by the gods: a magic sword, a shield, a helmet, a Pegasus. For Katniss it was more down-to-earth things like medicine and food, but still there was always someone to bail her out. It devalues her struggle a little when she has to rely on the kindness of strangers.
Also Katniss seemed a little dense at times, especially regarding Peeta. I suppose you could chalk it up to her lifestyle in District 12, but really it was pretty obvious what was going on with Peeta. Why was she the last one to see it?
Anyway, I'm not sure what the sequels are about and I don't really care. Maybe they explain why that pin the mayor's daughter gave her was so important? I thought it must be some talisman for certain rebellious elements, but nothing really happens with it in this book.
Still, even for this bitter old man it wasn't a bad read.
That is all.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Empire State
Empire State
by Adam Christopher
(4/5 stars)
Other than time travel, I'm not sure there's a more overused plot element in science fiction than parallel universes. You can look at shows like "Sliders" and "Fringe" that have leaned heavily on that. DC Comics had so many parallel universes that in the mid-80s they had a huge war between them all to establish one continuity. "Empire State" takes the sci-fi convention of parallel universes and combines it with noir detective fiction.
It all starts one night in 1930 when bootlegger Rex and his buddy are trying to flee from some cops. They wind up crashing near the Empire State Building, which at that time isn't finished. They don't get arrested because the cops are busy at the same place with a titanic fight between the city's two superheroes: The Skyguard and the Science Pirate (who has one of the worst superhero names ever). The fight ends when both crash hard into the pavement and seemingly disappear.
From there we meet Rad Bradley, a private investigator in the "Empire State." The Empire State is basically a world that consists solely of Manhattan circa the mid-30s. (If you saw the movie "Dark City" it's kind of like that because people in the Empire State think there's a world outside of it and a past beyond the nineteen years of the Empire State, but they can't really remember the details of that world or past.)
There's strict rationing there as they're engaged in "Wartime" against the "Enemy" who is never seen as no one who goes off to fight them ever returns. Then like in most stereotypical detective novels, a dame walks into Rad's office. She's looking for her partner, Sam (as in Samantha) Saturn, who's gone missing.
The case of course leads Rad to much bigger things. I don't want to give away more than I have by detailing all those things.
Overall I think while the story was interesting, it could have used a little more paring. There were so many explanations and double-crosses and failed schemes it was hard to keep track of what all was happening and who was on what side at what moment. Also for young writers who worry about "showing instead of telling" I could highlight many passages here of blatant telling over showing. Also point of view shifts during scenes. (So really if an agent's minion is telling you that's why they don't want your story they're probably lying because clearly they take those kinds of stories if the story is clever enough. Mini-rant over.) There was also at least one case where the British author got his American details wrong where he mentioned something was as big as a "football pitch." Football meaning soccer. Maybe in the parallel universe they like soccer instead of football? I doubt it.
Still, I did want to know what all was going on with the Empire State vs. New York and what happened to Sam Saturn and all that good stuff. So in that way the novel succeeds.
Basically if you like sci-fi and noir detective fiction then you'd enjoy this book.
That is all.
by Adam Christopher
(4/5 stars)
Other than time travel, I'm not sure there's a more overused plot element in science fiction than parallel universes. You can look at shows like "Sliders" and "Fringe" that have leaned heavily on that. DC Comics had so many parallel universes that in the mid-80s they had a huge war between them all to establish one continuity. "Empire State" takes the sci-fi convention of parallel universes and combines it with noir detective fiction.
It all starts one night in 1930 when bootlegger Rex and his buddy are trying to flee from some cops. They wind up crashing near the Empire State Building, which at that time isn't finished. They don't get arrested because the cops are busy at the same place with a titanic fight between the city's two superheroes: The Skyguard and the Science Pirate (who has one of the worst superhero names ever). The fight ends when both crash hard into the pavement and seemingly disappear.
From there we meet Rad Bradley, a private investigator in the "Empire State." The Empire State is basically a world that consists solely of Manhattan circa the mid-30s. (If you saw the movie "Dark City" it's kind of like that because people in the Empire State think there's a world outside of it and a past beyond the nineteen years of the Empire State, but they can't really remember the details of that world or past.)
There's strict rationing there as they're engaged in "Wartime" against the "Enemy" who is never seen as no one who goes off to fight them ever returns. Then like in most stereotypical detective novels, a dame walks into Rad's office. She's looking for her partner, Sam (as in Samantha) Saturn, who's gone missing.
The case of course leads Rad to much bigger things. I don't want to give away more than I have by detailing all those things.
Overall I think while the story was interesting, it could have used a little more paring. There were so many explanations and double-crosses and failed schemes it was hard to keep track of what all was happening and who was on what side at what moment. Also for young writers who worry about "showing instead of telling" I could highlight many passages here of blatant telling over showing. Also point of view shifts during scenes. (So really if an agent's minion is telling you that's why they don't want your story they're probably lying because clearly they take those kinds of stories if the story is clever enough. Mini-rant over.) There was also at least one case where the British author got his American details wrong where he mentioned something was as big as a "football pitch." Football meaning soccer. Maybe in the parallel universe they like soccer instead of football? I doubt it.
Still, I did want to know what all was going on with the Empire State vs. New York and what happened to Sam Saturn and all that good stuff. So in that way the novel succeeds.
Basically if you like sci-fi and noir detective fiction then you'd enjoy this book.
That is all.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Lyon's Legacy
Lyon's Legacy (Catalyst Chronicles #1)
by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
(4/5 stars)
As I've said before in reviews, there are some books that are much too long and there are others that are much too short. This falls into the latter category. While I enjoyed reading the book, I wished it had been longer, to give more time for the story and characters to grow.
The story takes place in the late 21st Century, in a future world that isn't apocalyptic, but not a utopia either. Getting into a PhD program is difficult because of government regulations, but Joanna Lyon still yearns to be a geneticist anyway.
Her rich uncle offers her a way to get the money for enrolling in grad school. All Joanna has to do is get on a spaceship, go through a wormhole, and find her famous ancestor, music legend Sean Lyon.
That's a problem for Joanna because she's grown up in Sean's shadow her entire life. Her uncle even tried to make her go on tour as a tribute act, but Joanna refused, creating bad blood between them. Still, if it means making her dreams come true, maybe she can do what her uncle wants and meet the man who inadvertently ruined her life.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. For a novella, there is quite a bit happening. I really wanted more interaction between Sean and Joanna. Though maybe that will happen in the sequels. Certainly everything is set up for a sequel.
As I said at the beginning, the only real complaint I have is that I wish there had been more. Everything, especially her relationship with George, seems to move so quickly. A full novel would have given the story a little more time to breathe.
Still highly recommended.
That is all.
by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
(4/5 stars)
As I've said before in reviews, there are some books that are much too long and there are others that are much too short. This falls into the latter category. While I enjoyed reading the book, I wished it had been longer, to give more time for the story and characters to grow.
The story takes place in the late 21st Century, in a future world that isn't apocalyptic, but not a utopia either. Getting into a PhD program is difficult because of government regulations, but Joanna Lyon still yearns to be a geneticist anyway.
Her rich uncle offers her a way to get the money for enrolling in grad school. All Joanna has to do is get on a spaceship, go through a wormhole, and find her famous ancestor, music legend Sean Lyon.
That's a problem for Joanna because she's grown up in Sean's shadow her entire life. Her uncle even tried to make her go on tour as a tribute act, but Joanna refused, creating bad blood between them. Still, if it means making her dreams come true, maybe she can do what her uncle wants and meet the man who inadvertently ruined her life.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. For a novella, there is quite a bit happening. I really wanted more interaction between Sean and Joanna. Though maybe that will happen in the sequels. Certainly everything is set up for a sequel.
As I said at the beginning, the only real complaint I have is that I wish there had been more. Everything, especially her relationship with George, seems to move so quickly. A full novel would have given the story a little more time to breathe.
Still highly recommended.
That is all.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Vallar
Vallar
by Cindy Borgne
(4/5 stars)
This is from that old school of space opera with lasers and space ships and not a lot of highly technical explanations for everything. It's not as cheesy as say old "Flash Gordon" serials, but it's not "hard" science fiction either. Which is fine for people such as myself who enjoy "Star Wars" and the like.
The story takes place on Mars, which is divided into a bunch of corporate factions. The largest faction is Marscorp, whose goal it seems is to return to Earth. Marscorp's philosophy is that if you don't agree with us, then prepare for a hostile takeover. (And we're not talking about buying out your stock.)
To help them with this, they recruit a couple of young psychics, Ian Connors and his friend Nate. One day Ian has a vision of himself with a beautiful redheaded girl and becomes obsessed with finding her. But she turns out to be part of a rival corporation, Gentech. Ian has another vision of her in trouble during a Marscorp attack, so he goes to the battle to try and help. But that only winds up getting Nate killed and Ian in big trouble.
As the plot progresses, Ian discovers that while he's the one with the visions, a lot of things are not what they appear.
I found the plot intriguing. As I said at the beginning, it's not really hard sci-fi. There aren't explanations of how everything works. That's just as well for me, because that stuff can get tedious. Though I was curious why radar deflection is such a big deal. We have stealth technology on airplanes now that uses radar deflection. There was even a prototype ship made using those principles, though it was too expensive to put into production. Since this is in the future, shouldn't they have something better? At the very least if radar isn't working, shouldn't they have infrared or something to spot the ship?
Other than that, some of the dialog was kind of cheesy. Like many self-published novels it could have used another editing pass to eliminate some errors.
Overall though it was an exciting light read that's worth the discount price.
That is all.
by Cindy Borgne
(4/5 stars)
This is from that old school of space opera with lasers and space ships and not a lot of highly technical explanations for everything. It's not as cheesy as say old "Flash Gordon" serials, but it's not "hard" science fiction either. Which is fine for people such as myself who enjoy "Star Wars" and the like.
The story takes place on Mars, which is divided into a bunch of corporate factions. The largest faction is Marscorp, whose goal it seems is to return to Earth. Marscorp's philosophy is that if you don't agree with us, then prepare for a hostile takeover. (And we're not talking about buying out your stock.)
To help them with this, they recruit a couple of young psychics, Ian Connors and his friend Nate. One day Ian has a vision of himself with a beautiful redheaded girl and becomes obsessed with finding her. But she turns out to be part of a rival corporation, Gentech. Ian has another vision of her in trouble during a Marscorp attack, so he goes to the battle to try and help. But that only winds up getting Nate killed and Ian in big trouble.
As the plot progresses, Ian discovers that while he's the one with the visions, a lot of things are not what they appear.
I found the plot intriguing. As I said at the beginning, it's not really hard sci-fi. There aren't explanations of how everything works. That's just as well for me, because that stuff can get tedious. Though I was curious why radar deflection is such a big deal. We have stealth technology on airplanes now that uses radar deflection. There was even a prototype ship made using those principles, though it was too expensive to put into production. Since this is in the future, shouldn't they have something better? At the very least if radar isn't working, shouldn't they have infrared or something to spot the ship?
Other than that, some of the dialog was kind of cheesy. Like many self-published novels it could have used another editing pass to eliminate some errors.
Overall though it was an exciting light read that's worth the discount price.
That is all.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Merlin's Charge
Merlin's Charge
by Peter Joseph Swanson
(4/5 stars)
The Arthurian legend is a subject that's been around so long that there are all sorts of adaptations of it from realistic takes like Bernard Cornwell's "Warlord Trilogy" to musicals like Camelot to cartoons like Disney's "Sword in the Stone." "Merlin's Charge" falls on the "Sword in the Stone" end of the spectrum. It's a lot of whimsical, lighthearted fun, though not quite as campy as the Disney movie.
The story takes place in the 5th Century when he Roman Empire is fallen. A terrible drought has taken hold of Britain. Mother Hubbard is looking after a group of children, using her magic to lay eggs for them after their magic cauldron was stolen. Meanwhile, teenage Arthur is under the tutelage of the grumpy old wizard Merlin, learning what it's going to take to become king after he pulled the sword from the stone.
Eventually Mother Hubbard is arrested by the Church for being a witch and set to be burned at the stake. Arthur pleads with Merlin to save her, which he does, though he has another purpose in mind--making Mother Hubbard his wife because even wizards need some company in bed.
When they compare notes, Mother Hubbard and Merlin decide they should try to find the cauldron, otherwise known as the grail. Joining them in the quest are Parsifal, son of a Roman general, and a corrupt abbot of the Church, whose primarily function is to go around declaring everything evil.
The book isn't very long; it only took me a few hours to read it on my Kindle. A lot of it is spent talking, which is good in some ways because it means no windy passages of description, although a few more descriptions might have been helpful sometimes. I think what surprised me the most was that despite being called MERLIN'S Charge, Merlin is largely absent from the grand finale.
Still, if you're a fan of Arthurian legend, especially "The Sword in the Stone" then you'll enjoy this hilarious new take on the subject.
That is all.
by Peter Joseph Swanson
(4/5 stars)
The Arthurian legend is a subject that's been around so long that there are all sorts of adaptations of it from realistic takes like Bernard Cornwell's "Warlord Trilogy" to musicals like Camelot to cartoons like Disney's "Sword in the Stone." "Merlin's Charge" falls on the "Sword in the Stone" end of the spectrum. It's a lot of whimsical, lighthearted fun, though not quite as campy as the Disney movie.
The story takes place in the 5th Century when he Roman Empire is fallen. A terrible drought has taken hold of Britain. Mother Hubbard is looking after a group of children, using her magic to lay eggs for them after their magic cauldron was stolen. Meanwhile, teenage Arthur is under the tutelage of the grumpy old wizard Merlin, learning what it's going to take to become king after he pulled the sword from the stone.
Eventually Mother Hubbard is arrested by the Church for being a witch and set to be burned at the stake. Arthur pleads with Merlin to save her, which he does, though he has another purpose in mind--making Mother Hubbard his wife because even wizards need some company in bed.
When they compare notes, Mother Hubbard and Merlin decide they should try to find the cauldron, otherwise known as the grail. Joining them in the quest are Parsifal, son of a Roman general, and a corrupt abbot of the Church, whose primarily function is to go around declaring everything evil.
The book isn't very long; it only took me a few hours to read it on my Kindle. A lot of it is spent talking, which is good in some ways because it means no windy passages of description, although a few more descriptions might have been helpful sometimes. I think what surprised me the most was that despite being called MERLIN'S Charge, Merlin is largely absent from the grand finale.
Still, if you're a fan of Arthurian legend, especially "The Sword in the Stone" then you'll enjoy this hilarious new take on the subject.
That is all.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
A Dead God's Wrath
A Dead God's Wrath
By Rusty Webb
(4/5 stars)
The Old West meets the future in this novella. It starts out as a fairly conventional Western scenario: Thomas's main squeeze Mary is kidnapped by the evil O'Malley brothers gang. They demand Thomas give them a thousand bucks (a lot of money back in 1895) by daylight or they're going to kill Mary.
Thomas of course doesn't have that kind of money. But no problem, because he runs into a black guy with a disfigured face who seems to be an old flame of Mary's. But as Thomas encounters the O'Malley's, he finds things aren't what they seem.
I think if I have any complaint, I wish this were longer. The author's notes indicate this is part of a universe, but without reading any of that, I'm not sure exactly what happens at the end. So I'm really hoping there is a sequel or expanded edition in the future.
Otherwise, this was an engrossing story that I read in about an hour or so. It's definitely worth the 99 cents. The formatting is good too for the Kindle, although I noticed a few typos that could be cleaned up.
That is all.
By Rusty Webb
(4/5 stars)
The Old West meets the future in this novella. It starts out as a fairly conventional Western scenario: Thomas's main squeeze Mary is kidnapped by the evil O'Malley brothers gang. They demand Thomas give them a thousand bucks (a lot of money back in 1895) by daylight or they're going to kill Mary.
Thomas of course doesn't have that kind of money. But no problem, because he runs into a black guy with a disfigured face who seems to be an old flame of Mary's. But as Thomas encounters the O'Malley's, he finds things aren't what they seem.
I think if I have any complaint, I wish this were longer. The author's notes indicate this is part of a universe, but without reading any of that, I'm not sure exactly what happens at the end. So I'm really hoping there is a sequel or expanded edition in the future.
Otherwise, this was an engrossing story that I read in about an hour or so. It's definitely worth the 99 cents. The formatting is good too for the Kindle, although I noticed a few typos that could be cleaned up.
That is all.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Soon I Will Be Invincible
Soon I Will Be Invincible
by Austin Grossman
(4/5 stars)
I'm not really much of a comic book reader, so most of my superhero experience comes from "Superfriends" reruns, video games, and the vast array of movies in the last decade. Because of that I probably missed a few in-jokes in this book. I'm just saying.
Anyway, the story for "Soon I Will Be Invincible" is pretty much a comic book without the pictures. Though actually it's simpler than some of the big comic book story arcs I've read about in recent years. I mean there's no time traveling or dimension hopping or any of that, though those things are referenced as having happened at one point.
When it begins, Doctor Impossible (the resident Dr. Doom of this universe) is imprisoned for the twelfth or more time. Meanwhile, Earth's mightiest hero CoreFire (based on Superman) has gone missing. Fatale, a cyborg who used to work for the government, is brought in as part of a new superteam known as the New Champions to find out what became of CoreFire.
Part of that involves interviewing Dr. Impossible. He uses this as a chance to escape and begin with his master plan for finally taking over the world. Fatale and the rest of the Champions--Damsel, daughter of a former hero and an alien princess; Blackwolf (based on Batman); Elphin (an elf warrior); Rainbow Fire, a teenage cyborg; Feral, a mutant cat; and Mr. Mystic (based on Dr. Strange)--go chasing after Dr. Impossible but in true superhero fashion are always one step behind.
Interspersed in the Dr. Impossible parts of the narration are flashbacks to his origins, although we never learn his entire real name. There's also some stuff about some of his previous schemes and battles with superheroes.
The whole thing plays out pretty straight. There's no real attempt to base the story in a realistic world like the recent Batman movies. There are no social concerns like "Watchmen". There's violence but it's not over-the-top without much in the way of gore. Not really any sex either. So basically it's a little more introspective Saturday morning cartoon.
Yet I have to say I was really curious to find out what Dr. Impossible was going to do and if he was finally going to succeed.
So overall it's fun light reading, especially if you like superheroes. And in terms of plot it's a cut above the more recent "After the Golden Age" I read.
That is all.
by Austin Grossman
(4/5 stars)
I'm not really much of a comic book reader, so most of my superhero experience comes from "Superfriends" reruns, video games, and the vast array of movies in the last decade. Because of that I probably missed a few in-jokes in this book. I'm just saying.
Anyway, the story for "Soon I Will Be Invincible" is pretty much a comic book without the pictures. Though actually it's simpler than some of the big comic book story arcs I've read about in recent years. I mean there's no time traveling or dimension hopping or any of that, though those things are referenced as having happened at one point.
When it begins, Doctor Impossible (the resident Dr. Doom of this universe) is imprisoned for the twelfth or more time. Meanwhile, Earth's mightiest hero CoreFire (based on Superman) has gone missing. Fatale, a cyborg who used to work for the government, is brought in as part of a new superteam known as the New Champions to find out what became of CoreFire.
Part of that involves interviewing Dr. Impossible. He uses this as a chance to escape and begin with his master plan for finally taking over the world. Fatale and the rest of the Champions--Damsel, daughter of a former hero and an alien princess; Blackwolf (based on Batman); Elphin (an elf warrior); Rainbow Fire, a teenage cyborg; Feral, a mutant cat; and Mr. Mystic (based on Dr. Strange)--go chasing after Dr. Impossible but in true superhero fashion are always one step behind.
Interspersed in the Dr. Impossible parts of the narration are flashbacks to his origins, although we never learn his entire real name. There's also some stuff about some of his previous schemes and battles with superheroes.
The whole thing plays out pretty straight. There's no real attempt to base the story in a realistic world like the recent Batman movies. There are no social concerns like "Watchmen". There's violence but it's not over-the-top without much in the way of gore. Not really any sex either. So basically it's a little more introspective Saturday morning cartoon.
Yet I have to say I was really curious to find out what Dr. Impossible was going to do and if he was finally going to succeed.
So overall it's fun light reading, especially if you like superheroes. And in terms of plot it's a cut above the more recent "After the Golden Age" I read.
That is all.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Boxer Beetle
Boxer Beetle
by Ned Beauman
(4/5 stars)
There are quite a few times when I complain about a book's length. Usually I'll say it's too long and thus drags at parts. "Boxer Beetle" is one of those that's the opposite. At roughly 250 pages, it's really too short for its interconnected plots.
The framing device for the story begins with a London man named Kevin who has a rare medical condition that causes him to smell really bad. (There's a medical term for it I won't attempt to spell.) Kevin is also a collector of Nazi artifacts. Not because he is a Nazi or like Nazis. Like the professor of Hitler Studies in DeLillo's "White Noise", Kevin just sees an opportunity to take advantage of a niche market.
Then one night his employer asks him to check on a private investigator who's looking into the whereabouts of the remains of Seth "Sinner" Roach, a dwarf Jewish boxer back in the '30s. There's also something about a rare beetle bred by Dr. Philip Erskine, a fascist doctor in the '30s interested in beetles and eugenics. But like in many mysteries, when Kevin gets to the PI's office, he finds the investigator dead and is soon visited by a Welsh hitman, who enlists Kevin's help in searching for the boxer and the beetle.
The framing story is then interwoven with those of Roach and Erskine. I'm not sure how much I should mention about that. Suffice it to say that Roach and Erskine's stories overlap in surprising ways.
As I said though, the story is too short. Kevin and the hitman find clues much too easily, with no real obstacles in their path. Their story proves to be less interesting than that of Roach and Erskine and really never contributes anything more than the framing device for the narrative. The relationship between Roach and Erskine is interesting and could have used more exploration. Roach himself is especially interesting and I wish there could be a whole book about just him.
The writing is good, though not great. I found this one passage especially awkward: "Although Sinner tried to be nearly as gentle with Erskine as he'd been with his sister, Erskine soon found himself biting into his own forearm through his shirtsleeve." There's a lot of pronouns and it seems the author switches point of view in mid-sentence. It's the kind of thing I would have pointed out in any critique group for the author to change. Not sure why professional editors don't notice these things.
Anyway, this is an interesting book and a quick read. In terms of historical mysteries it doesn't rise to the level of Byatt's "Possession" but it's not bad either.
That is all.
PS: If you do read this, look for a cameo by the author as one of Kevin's Internet "friends."
by Ned Beauman
(4/5 stars)
There are quite a few times when I complain about a book's length. Usually I'll say it's too long and thus drags at parts. "Boxer Beetle" is one of those that's the opposite. At roughly 250 pages, it's really too short for its interconnected plots.
The framing device for the story begins with a London man named Kevin who has a rare medical condition that causes him to smell really bad. (There's a medical term for it I won't attempt to spell.) Kevin is also a collector of Nazi artifacts. Not because he is a Nazi or like Nazis. Like the professor of Hitler Studies in DeLillo's "White Noise", Kevin just sees an opportunity to take advantage of a niche market.
Then one night his employer asks him to check on a private investigator who's looking into the whereabouts of the remains of Seth "Sinner" Roach, a dwarf Jewish boxer back in the '30s. There's also something about a rare beetle bred by Dr. Philip Erskine, a fascist doctor in the '30s interested in beetles and eugenics. But like in many mysteries, when Kevin gets to the PI's office, he finds the investigator dead and is soon visited by a Welsh hitman, who enlists Kevin's help in searching for the boxer and the beetle.
The framing story is then interwoven with those of Roach and Erskine. I'm not sure how much I should mention about that. Suffice it to say that Roach and Erskine's stories overlap in surprising ways.
As I said though, the story is too short. Kevin and the hitman find clues much too easily, with no real obstacles in their path. Their story proves to be less interesting than that of Roach and Erskine and really never contributes anything more than the framing device for the narrative. The relationship between Roach and Erskine is interesting and could have used more exploration. Roach himself is especially interesting and I wish there could be a whole book about just him.
The writing is good, though not great. I found this one passage especially awkward: "Although Sinner tried to be nearly as gentle with Erskine as he'd been with his sister, Erskine soon found himself biting into his own forearm through his shirtsleeve." There's a lot of pronouns and it seems the author switches point of view in mid-sentence. It's the kind of thing I would have pointed out in any critique group for the author to change. Not sure why professional editors don't notice these things.
Anyway, this is an interesting book and a quick read. In terms of historical mysteries it doesn't rise to the level of Byatt's "Possession" but it's not bad either.
That is all.
PS: If you do read this, look for a cameo by the author as one of Kevin's Internet "friends."
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Nightwoods
Nightwoods
by Charles Frazier
(4/5 stars)
I read Frazier's "Cold Mountain" and while I enjoyed it, I think "Nightwoods" is a far more accessible book for more casual readers. After a slow start it becomes a thriller not unlike a Dean Koontz book I once read, though Frazier is a better writer by far.
This takes place in the 1960s in the Appalachians somewhere, a little lake town that isn't really named. Luce lives up there in an old lodge as the caretaker. She's alone since the old man who owned the place died. But then the state brings her slain sister Lily's two kids. You have to suspend a little disbelief that even in the '60s they'd give Luce custody of two small children--especially two small children with psychological problems--when she has no income to speak of and no home of her own. But I digress.
The children are named Dolores and Frank. They're a couple of little pyromaniacs who never speak. Whether they're autistic or something similar or just traumatized isn't entirely answered.
The next fifty pages or so are as dull as Maryanne Robinson's "Housekeeping" only with nature walks and lighting fires instead of braiding hair and making cookies. Things begin to pick up when the children's stepfather Bud is introduced. He of course murdered Lily and perhaps traumatized the kids. Though it's not intentional, he of course winds up in the lake town in search of thousands of dollars he stole and that Lily hid somewhere.
Also arriving on the scene is the beach bum Stubblefield. His grandfather was the one who owned the lodge where Luce and the children are staying. When he was 17, Stubblefield had a crush on Luce that was not reciprocated. But now Stubblefield sees a second chance.
Those are all the pieces of the puzzle. You might be able to figure out how they all go together. Much of it is predictable, though Frazier is a good enough writer that it never seems hackneyed. While it doesn't have the epic grandeur of "Cold Mountain" there's still a lot of rural, American Gothic flavor to be had. It isn't as good as Faulkner, but it's not as bad as Dean Koontz either.
Although something troubling to me is that the book slips from past tense to present tense in the last part. I'm not sure why that happened. It's always odd when authors do that stuff.
That is all.
by Charles Frazier
(4/5 stars)
I read Frazier's "Cold Mountain" and while I enjoyed it, I think "Nightwoods" is a far more accessible book for more casual readers. After a slow start it becomes a thriller not unlike a Dean Koontz book I once read, though Frazier is a better writer by far.
This takes place in the 1960s in the Appalachians somewhere, a little lake town that isn't really named. Luce lives up there in an old lodge as the caretaker. She's alone since the old man who owned the place died. But then the state brings her slain sister Lily's two kids. You have to suspend a little disbelief that even in the '60s they'd give Luce custody of two small children--especially two small children with psychological problems--when she has no income to speak of and no home of her own. But I digress.
The children are named Dolores and Frank. They're a couple of little pyromaniacs who never speak. Whether they're autistic or something similar or just traumatized isn't entirely answered.
The next fifty pages or so are as dull as Maryanne Robinson's "Housekeeping" only with nature walks and lighting fires instead of braiding hair and making cookies. Things begin to pick up when the children's stepfather Bud is introduced. He of course murdered Lily and perhaps traumatized the kids. Though it's not intentional, he of course winds up in the lake town in search of thousands of dollars he stole and that Lily hid somewhere.
Also arriving on the scene is the beach bum Stubblefield. His grandfather was the one who owned the lodge where Luce and the children are staying. When he was 17, Stubblefield had a crush on Luce that was not reciprocated. But now Stubblefield sees a second chance.
Those are all the pieces of the puzzle. You might be able to figure out how they all go together. Much of it is predictable, though Frazier is a good enough writer that it never seems hackneyed. While it doesn't have the epic grandeur of "Cold Mountain" there's still a lot of rural, American Gothic flavor to be had. It isn't as good as Faulkner, but it's not as bad as Dean Koontz either.
Although something troubling to me is that the book slips from past tense to present tense in the last part. I'm not sure why that happened. It's always odd when authors do that stuff.
That is all.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Life of Pi
This was one of those books I heard people talking about seven or eight years ago and I kept meaning to get around to it. Though after I read Martel's first novel "Self" I was less inclined to read this because that novel was so boring that it routinely put me to sleep. But eventually I found a copy of this for a really low price so I figured I might as well do it.
I started to regret that decision during the first 150 pages. Like "Self" these pages are so dull. Mostly they concern Pi Patel as he tries different religions like an Indian version of "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret." This might have been interesting if you haven't read any fiction about India before but I've read Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" and John Irving's "Son of the Circus" which were both far more interesting in terms of Indian culture. Then too there was also the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" that also dealt with India and its religious divisions.
So all of that made those first 150 pages a chore to plow through. I kept wondering, "When are we getting to the shipwreck with the tiger?" That's the hook for this novel isn't it? Boy in a lifeboat with a tiger?
Well it finally happened once Pi's father decides to move his family to Canada to escape the Idira Gandhi regime. The ship they're on with most of the animals from their little zoo in India--to be sold to American/Canadian zoos--sinks shortly after leaving the Philippines.
The crew throws Pi into a lifeboat, where soon he finds that he's sharing space with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a tiger! That's a lot of animals to cram into what's described as one hundred square feet. Actually I have serious doubts that you could hide a tiger under a tarp in that small amount of space.
Anyway (spoiler alert!) it eventually ends up with just Pi and the tiger as they cross the Pacific Ocean. The book at this point deals mostly with Pi's struggle to survive. Not only to find food and water, but also to deal with his boatmate, the tiger named Richard Parker. It's a constant struggle, one that forces Pi to compromise many of his religious beliefs, such as his aversion to eating meat.
This was where the book came to life and became much more interesting. Though the problem with being on a lifeboat is that there's a limit to just how much you can do. With "Robinson Crusoe" or "Lord of the Flies" or even "Gilligan's Island" where the main character(s) is marooned on an island, there's far more you can do because you have a whole island to explore. That makes far more potential for adventure than a boat floating on the water, where essentially everything has to come to you.
For the most part Martel manages to make this interesting with the relationship between Pi and Richard Parker. Then there are strange incidents like meeting another lifeboat or the mysterious island they come upon.
Although what I think is missing is more about his spiritual state. A couple of times he says it brings him closer to God, though which one? Since he believes in the Christian God, Allah, and all the Hindu gods, which one(s) is he getting closer to? Or maybe there's just one ubergod?
The ending is also a little disappointing and mildly offensive with the vaudevillian act between Pi and a pair of Japanese shipping company officers. So basically everything off the lifeboat is far less interesting than everything on the lifeboat. Maybe they should have stayed on the boat.
That is all.
I started to regret that decision during the first 150 pages. Like "Self" these pages are so dull. Mostly they concern Pi Patel as he tries different religions like an Indian version of "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret." This might have been interesting if you haven't read any fiction about India before but I've read Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" and John Irving's "Son of the Circus" which were both far more interesting in terms of Indian culture. Then too there was also the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" that also dealt with India and its religious divisions.
So all of that made those first 150 pages a chore to plow through. I kept wondering, "When are we getting to the shipwreck with the tiger?" That's the hook for this novel isn't it? Boy in a lifeboat with a tiger?
Well it finally happened once Pi's father decides to move his family to Canada to escape the Idira Gandhi regime. The ship they're on with most of the animals from their little zoo in India--to be sold to American/Canadian zoos--sinks shortly after leaving the Philippines.
The crew throws Pi into a lifeboat, where soon he finds that he's sharing space with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a tiger! That's a lot of animals to cram into what's described as one hundred square feet. Actually I have serious doubts that you could hide a tiger under a tarp in that small amount of space.
Anyway (spoiler alert!) it eventually ends up with just Pi and the tiger as they cross the Pacific Ocean. The book at this point deals mostly with Pi's struggle to survive. Not only to find food and water, but also to deal with his boatmate, the tiger named Richard Parker. It's a constant struggle, one that forces Pi to compromise many of his religious beliefs, such as his aversion to eating meat.
This was where the book came to life and became much more interesting. Though the problem with being on a lifeboat is that there's a limit to just how much you can do. With "Robinson Crusoe" or "Lord of the Flies" or even "Gilligan's Island" where the main character(s) is marooned on an island, there's far more you can do because you have a whole island to explore. That makes far more potential for adventure than a boat floating on the water, where essentially everything has to come to you.
For the most part Martel manages to make this interesting with the relationship between Pi and Richard Parker. Then there are strange incidents like meeting another lifeboat or the mysterious island they come upon.
Although what I think is missing is more about his spiritual state. A couple of times he says it brings him closer to God, though which one? Since he believes in the Christian God, Allah, and all the Hindu gods, which one(s) is he getting closer to? Or maybe there's just one ubergod?
The ending is also a little disappointing and mildly offensive with the vaudevillian act between Pi and a pair of Japanese shipping company officers. So basically everything off the lifeboat is far less interesting than everything on the lifeboat. Maybe they should have stayed on the boat.
That is all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)