tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814572402820466342024-03-05T09:46:54.408-08:00Cyber-buffalo Buffalo buffalo cyber...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-15369068600383228172013-08-26T18:58:00.001-07:002013-08-26T18:58:16.655-07:00Review: The Daylight War<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9268487'><img alt='The Daylight War' border='0' src='http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1360777092m/9268487.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9268487'>The Daylight War</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1405152'>Peter V. Brett</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/704627327'>3 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> So, the second book in the demon cycle, The Desert Spear, was remarkable because it managed to recast the events in the first book in a way that significantly changed my perspectives about the main character while also successfully advancing the overall story. It was a tremendous, George R.R. Martin-ian achievement, and I really really liked it. <br /><br />Consequently, I had incredibly high hopes that this book would do the same. <br /><br />It it utterly fails to do so.<br /><br />Spoilers for all three books from here on out. <br />The major thing that happens in book two is that we realize that Jardir betrayed Arlen because his wife, Inevera, told him to. This revelation, and the added detail of just how awful Jardir feels about the whole thing, turns him into a sympathetic character where before he was just an asshole. <br /><br />And it is kind of implied by the fact that Inevera is the principal character in this book, that a similar kind of revelation was waiting for her. And the main failing of this book is that such a revelation never occurs. She told him to betray Arlen. She doesn't have a particularly good reason for it, and while knowing some more of her back story makes her more sympathetic than she was, there isn't anything giant or earth shattering about her story arc*.<br /><br />Meanwhile, since the book makes it so incredibly clear that the demons are the real enemy, the inevitable clash between Jardir and Arlen just felt forced and lame. They are both sympathetic characters, so I approached the thing with annoyance rather than interest about who would survive. Oh yeah, and the answer to that question is left as a cliffhanger. <br /><br />Now, one should give credit where credit is due. Peter V. Brett is an amazing writer. These books beyond readable; they are downright unputdownable. The characters are great; there's lots of sex, violence, badassery, triumphs of the human spirit, etc; the plot moves at a steady pace, with a healthy selection of bad characters turning out to be good, and good characters delivering just dessert to the bad characters that stay bad. Plus I absolutely adore Renna, and I really liked her relationship with Arlen in this book. <br /><br />Bottom line, I still recommend this series, fairly heartily, but this was weaker than it could have been. <br /><br />* What's that you say? Her magic truth telling dice tell her that Deliverers are made not born? I'm shocked. Shocked, I say, particularly since this has.......been a theme of the novels since the very beginning. <br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/704627327'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-88751174569008785652013-08-26T18:13:00.001-07:002013-08-26T18:13:18.520-07:00Review: The Theory of Poker<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104825'><img alt='The Theory of Poker' border='0' src='http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348281049m/104825.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104825'>The Theory of Poker</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/60661'>David Sklansky</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/704600076'>5 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> This is an excellent introduction into the mechanics of good poker play. <br />The explanations are clear and detailed, and the writing is actually pretty engaging for a two hundred book that is basically a lecture about odds ratios. <br /><br />There were a few minor things that bothered me about this book. In order to have the aforementioned discussion about odds ratios you have to know what the probability of various things happening are. For certain poker events, you can calculate these things readily.* For others you can't, and yet the author just states these things as given. In other words, I lost count of the time an example includes assume you know there's a 30% chance your opponent will beat you." How the #$%^ am I supposed to know this?!?!?! I found this somewhat frustrating.**<br /><br />Secondly, the reason I picked up this book is that I was playing a fair bit of Texas Hold 'em at the time, and I was interested in improving my game. Certainly, the concepts presented here are extraordinarily valuable regardless of which game one is playing, and in particular for Hold'em, but, the examples across lots of different games got to be kind of annoying. Seriously, who the #@$% plays 7 Card Razz? <br /><br />But again, these are minor complaints. I got from this book exactly what I needed: the fundamental mathematical concepts behind good poker play, and I can actually say it has worked for me.***<br /><br />* Wikipedia has a fabulous article on Texas Hold 'em probabilities amongst others. <br />** I am being too hard on the book. The author says repeatedly, that the estimates of opponents hand strength are for didactic convenience, and that in actual play you attempt to glean this knowledge from learning how your opponent plays and reading their hand strength, the author also talks some about how to do this. Nevertheless, I found it frustrating. <br />*** By which I mean I have finished "in the money" in the last three poker tournaments I've played in. <br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/704600076'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-42515060925481259792013-08-23T13:26:00.001-07:002013-08-29T06:13:09.647-07:00Review: Detroit: An American Autopsy<br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15811520" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Detroit: An American Autopsy" border="0" src="http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1350363602m/15811520.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15811520">Detroit: An American Autopsy</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/217174">Charlie LeDuff</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/702153198">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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At some point when I was a kid, I decided that I wanted to be a reporter. I'm sure this was a reaction to too many detective novels, but at the time it seemed like a perfect fit: I would be kind of like a detectives, uncovering crime and corruption lurking in the seedy underbelly of the city, without having to walk a beat, get shot at, etc. It was a revelation, a clear path for me to follow, and of course, I told my parents about it. I think it might have been the only time* when my parents flat out laughed at me. "You hate cities," they pointed out, "you don't like talking to people." Although, I probably pouted about it at the time, they were not wrong, and I am tremendously glad I found a different path...<br />
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I like to think, though, that if I had been temperamentally suited to being a journalist, I would have been something like Charlie Le Duff. Fearless, determined, able to use a mixture of wits, detective power, and sneakiness, to get at the root cause of the ills in america.<br />
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There are some problems with this book. There are some factual inconsistencies****. LeDuff has a weird perspective on race and privilege that ranges from vaguely insensitive to downright offensive. <br />
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But overall this is a fascinating read about how greed, incompetence, and corruption (from all sides: absenteeist workers, incompetent executives, and corrupt politicians) can destroy an empire, and how the honest, hardworking people at all levels suffer as a result.<br />
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* This includes a surprisingly lengthy tolerance of my declaration that I was going to be a veterinarian. This was a clear rebellion against my parents no pets rule, but their forbearance was impressive**.<br />
** The veterinarian stratagem came to a spectacular close when my mother (the most stringent enforcer of the pet ban) strongly suggested that if I wanted to be a veterinarian I really ought to examine and dissect the dead squirrel that had been hit by a car in our neighborhood, and I squeamishly refused.***<br />
*** Never play poker with my mother.<br />
**** According to the epilogue (uh, spoiler, i guess?) the city executive gets fired for covering up theft of property, but I thought the who reason Charlie Le Duff was pissed at him was because he was overly zealously pursuing the theft of property, while simultaneously mismanaging the departments resources? <br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/702153198">View all my reviews</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-27078458128468537602013-07-25T20:03:00.001-07:002013-07-25T20:03:02.872-07:00Review: A Game of Thrones<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13496'><img alt='A Game of Thrones' border='0' src='http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1369520317m/13496.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13496'>A Game of Thrones</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/346732'>George R.R. Martin</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60913253'>5 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> I think this might be the great American Novel. A Game of Thrones simultaneously celebrates and deconstructs the American obsession with bravery and heroism; it interrogates the trend of the powerful towards corruption, and even has time to explore the nuances of privilege. <br /><br />What's really amazing with this book is how effectively it subverts the tropes of modern fantasy, and at the same time revels in them. There are no particular heroes, barely a quest to be found, and the dragons don't show up until literally the last page At the same time we get heroic showdowns*, a fabulous detour through of a mountaintop fortress, and a creepy undercurrent of the wonders yet to behold in this world.<br /><br />And there are wonderful characters, pithy dialogue, some well written battle scenes, and lots of sex, to boot! <br /><br /><br />* just not necessarily between the people we would choose to face off...<br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60913253'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-74602339671560879702013-07-24T21:31:00.001-07:002013-07-24T21:31:20.430-07:00Review: Towers of Midnight<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8253920'><img alt='Towers of Midnight' border='0' src='http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1358109459m/8253920.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8253920'>Towers of Midnight</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6252'>Robert Jordan</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/676618084'>4 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> I really really liked The Gathering Storm, and so I was super enthusiastic about Towers of Midnight. Sadly I didn't like nearly as well as the previous one. <br /><br />Brandon Sanderson continues to do some things very well. <br />One of Robert Jordan's major weaknesses was in buildup*. Very frequently the big finale of a book just happened sort of abruptly and arbitrarily. Conversely, the slow build to the conclusion of a few of the storylines here is very satisfying. This is particularly true of Perrins Arc: the grindingly slow progress of Perrin vs. the Whitecloaks; Perrin vs. the Wolf Dream, and finally Perrin vs. Slayer build and build until they come to an epic conclusion**. <br /><br />And the fights are great! I loved Mat vs. The Golam; and I really loved the multiway Tel'aran'rhiod/Wolf Dream/Holy @#$%, there incredibly powerful assassins in the white tower battle***, ****. <br /><br />Honestly the biggest weakness in this book was the actual Epic Finale. We have been waiting for Mat's return to the Ael/Eel'finn for eight 1000 page books: It really deserved to a) have been more than 60 pages long and b) be more than just a kind of lame fight scene*****. The ultimate reveal was cute enough, i suppose, but this is one area where I would have most like Robert Jordan's more assured handling of Mat's roguish nature. <br /><br />But, all in all, it was a very satisfying penultimate volume. On to A Memory of Light! <br /><br />* Yes, yes some things were built up for Books on end, that's not really what I'm talking about. <br />** Ok, maybe a little too much. I did get kind of tired after the fourth Perrin vs. the Whitecloaks standoff. <br />*** Egwene continues to be a bad-ass. I really am enjoying Brandon Sanderson's handling of her. <br />**** Can Brandon Sanderson write Star Wars VII? I would pay good money to see that. <br />***** Although I did appreciate that the inside of the Tower of Ghenji is the random room puzzle that's been in every top down scrolling rpg video game since Final Fantasy II. <br /><br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/676618084'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-76568090777785218532013-07-24T20:46:00.001-07:002013-07-24T20:46:41.572-07:00Review: The Rook<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10836728'><img alt='The Rook' border='0' src='http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327619585m/10836728.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10836728'>The Rook</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4730894'>Daniel O'Malley</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/676595276'>3 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> I don't know how sophisticated Goodreads' add generation is, but they certainly work on me. I would never have even heard of it if it hadn't shown up here, and I was intrigued enough by the blurb to pick it up. <br /><br />I'm glad I did, too, although I can't say I loved it. The premise is very compelling--a young woman with no memory wakes up in a park surrounded by dead bodies and discovers in her pocket a note from her past, obliterated, self explaining what's going on.*<br /><br />The counterpoint between the old self and the new self was delightful. Apart from that the book is just so so. It has the usual modern urban fantasy hijinks: A secret governmental organization that protect us from supernatural threats**, a hodgepodge of barely believable superpowers, and lots of quirky asides about the bureaucracy and mundanity of both these things. <br /><br />These are the same old tricks as you will find in the Dresden Files, or the Laundry, and these are no better or worse than the ones you'd find there, which is frankly this books downfall. Apart from the conceit mentioned above the book really does nothing to distinguish itself. <br /><br />* Spoiler alert she's the member of a secret government organization that protects us from supernatural threats. <br />** I hate this device, by the way. See *. <br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/676595276'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-67919430876596421142013-05-02T11:13:00.001-07:002013-05-02T11:13:42.350-07:00Review: Dauntless<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112292'><img alt='Dauntless' border='0' src='http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309198180m/112292.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112292'>Dauntless</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/55547'>Jack Campbell</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/605341077'>3 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> Dauntless is a perfectly serviceable, good-not-great, sci-fi naval adventure. <br /><br />I rather liked the conceit: the military hero long thought dead is found in cryogenically frozen in a survival pod, only to suddenly find hims self in command of the fleet, deep into enemy territory, and surrounded by people he can barely trust.<br /><br />The themes* are presented in a somewhat heavy handed manner, but the plot moves quickly, the narrative voice is strong, and there are enough hooks for the future development of the universe that i'm interested in reading more. <br /><br />* Military discipline is Important! Follow the chain of command! Respect your commanding officers! Don't fight stupidly! (Wait, one of these things is not like the others...) <br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/605341077'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-3580708666567089282013-05-02T10:59:00.001-07:002013-05-02T10:59:51.265-07:00Review: Tribulations of the Shortcut Man<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12394813'><img alt='Tribulations of the Shortcut Man' border='0' src='http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348129607m/12394813.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12394813'>Tribulations of the Shortcut Man</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4384397'>P.G. Sturges</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/605335452'>3 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> Ah, the shortcut man. these books have such potential, but they are beyond infuriating. <br /><br />The shortcut man is a highly amusing anti-hero unleashing a fairly inventive set of methods to enact some measure of justice for the downtrodden. I did particularly like his voice, and his color commentary on his misdeeds particular in the form of jokes and short stories is an endearing trait. <br /><br />The villains and the utter trainwreck that is their story arc is giddy fun. <br /><br />And, to Sturges credit, he attempts to fit in a nuanced commentary on race relations in america that upon reflection I think is more right than it is problematic. <br /><br />Unfortunately, in the narrative, none of these three subplots have much to do with each other. The save-the-ex-girlfriends house from gentrification story is utterly disconnected from the rest of the plot and the tonal shift was beyond jarring. Plot holes abound, from minor research issues*, to serious inconsistencies**, to just plain nonsensical plot twists.***<br /><br />And sturges should be jailed for the abomination that is his point of view structure. The narrative jumps willy-nilly from character to character, occasionally in and out of first person within a few paragraphs. <br /><br />I have said it before and will say it again, p.g. sturges is in no way shape or form the heir apparent to any of the detective mystery greats. I really wish people would stop saying that, in fact, because it detracts from the some of the truly fantastic mystery writers who are working now. The shortcut man is an enjoyable, but flawed series of mystery novels, and that's just fine. <br /><br />* A glock 17 is not a revolver. Do you even know what a revolver is?! Hint, it has something quite obvious about it that revolves.<br /><br />** If Pussy had the entrance code to the Art's gated community, why did they need to sneak in as gas company employees in the first place?!?! <br /><br />*** Why the #$%^ did he steal the toe only to do nothing with it and feed it to the dog?!?!?! <br /><br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/605335452'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-67111245305463725972013-04-27T14:34:00.001-07:002013-04-27T14:34:08.843-07:00Review: Pandemonium<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3191189'><img alt='Pandemonium' border='0' src='http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320403877m/3191189.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3191189'>Pandemonium</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1343790'>Daryl Gregory</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/601331947'>4 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> You can get away with your novel being as weird as you like as long as you make it readable. <br /><br />Pandemonium is pretty weird. It features a number of bizarre characters including demons who make their possessed hosts act out elaborate superhero fantasies, a lake monster, Sinead O'Connor re-imagined as a priest of an obscure catholic sect,, a paramilitary force on the watch for (effectively) the aliens from They Live*, and a demon who has taken over the persona of Philip K. Dick. <br /><br />And it all mostly works because everything is delivered in a straight-up , thoroughly readable fashion. <br /><br />Honestly, I'm not sure I got as much out of this novel as I could have because I'm not as familiar as I could be with the collected works of Philip K. Dick and A.E. van Vogt. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it thoroughly. <br /><br />* Actually Slans, but really the parallels are uncanny. <br /><br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/601331947'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-24990352056543580752013-04-03T17:58:00.001-07:002013-04-03T17:58:27.200-07:00Review: Savages<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8008928'><img alt='Savages' border='0' src='http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347970189m/8008928.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8008928'>Savages</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/37795'>Don Winslow</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/580284620'>3 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> I read this book, because I thought the movie was interesting (but not, particularly good) and I wanted to see how it was handled in text.* <br /><br />The good news is that in terms of just the reader (or watchers) experience the book just works better. The manic, free floating text of the book works much better than the weird after-thought voice-over narration.**<br /><br />On the other hand, I actually liked the story of the movie better. Showing the relationship between O and Elena was a nice touch, and the twist at the end was very cute.***<br /><br />In the end, I think that neither of them are very good. Savages the book was an awful lot of fun to read, though. <br /><br />*As a result this is kind of a simultaneous review of the book and the movie. Sorry. <br />** And when said voiceover uses the text directly it's much more awkward without the context of the rapid fire, all knowing adhd voice of the book. <br />*** Although it would have been better if I'd read the book first. Oh well. <spoiler> And while we're on the subject, I even think the movie got the ending wrong. It should have ended with Chon and Ben going to Indonesia without O, because that was what was set up from Elena telling her that they loved each other more. Of course, that couldn't have been the ending to the book, because none of that happened in the book. </spoiler><br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/580284620'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-21287234580612428042013-04-03T17:47:00.001-07:002013-04-03T17:47:29.544-07:00Review: Gun Machine<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14739231'><img alt='Gun Machine' border='0' src='http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355080041m/14739231.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14739231'>Gun Machine</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12772'>Warren Ellis</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/580276611'>5 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> Going into gun machine I wondered how warren ellis was going to insert his trademark tidbits of all that is horrible in humanity into what, from the jacket copy appeared to be a straight up police procedural. <br /><br />The answer is genius in its simplicity: The characters listen to a police scanner. There you have it, all the depravity you could ever hope for. The other answer is that this is so much more than a "straight up police procedural." <br /><br />Because, really, what this book is is a sterling example of what warren ellis does best: he presents highly competent, severely damaged characters, performing exceptionally, and through them says something about the world we live in for better or for worse. <br /><br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/580276611'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-10608167760081131592013-03-16T10:26:00.001-07:002013-03-16T10:31:28.802-07:00Review: The Gathering Storm<br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1166599" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Gathering Storm" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312064325m/1166599.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1166599">The Gathering Storm</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6252">Robert Jordan</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/562700664">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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OOOOOOOH! So THAT's what's been going on for the past 7000 pages. <br />
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That was my first impression upon finishing this book. And I gotta say, beyond the big reveal that has the nice touch of being simultaneously completely believable and TOTALLY unexpected, I really liked it quite a lot. <br />
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Brandon Sanderson was an inspired choice to finish the Wheel of Time. His prose style has a lot of similarities with Robert Jordan, which made the transition from the last book seem natural, and Sanderson has a nice way* of making things happen in a way that feels appropriate. True, I, like everyone else on the internet, found the too-modern sounding phrases annoying, but the vast majority of the time, I don't think I could tell whether a particular scene was written by either author. <br />
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The best part of the book by far is the Egwene story line. I mean, we've been waiting for this to happen for years, and it's pretty great. Egwene has always been one of my favorite characters and her dramatic moment defending the White Tower is both one of the best action sequences the series has had plus a nice showcase of her cleverness, determination, and leadership.**<br />
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Rand's story line is also very good. He get's a lot of "screen" time, which is nice since he's been absent for a while, his character undergoes some stark and significant changes which Sanderson handles deftly in my opinion. This is the first book in a while that felt like it had a complete story line for Rand, and it really worked well.*** Just as one example, the devastating scene with Tam is the most emotionally resonating thing in the series since...actually maybe ever. <br />
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Not that all story lines are winners. <br />
Maybe it's just rose colored glasses, but I don't remember Gawyn being so <i>annoying</i> under Robert Jordan. And not even Brandon Sanderson can save Siuan's chapters.****<br />
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On the other hand, unlike the rest of the internet, I actually thought Mat's story line was pretty good. It was kind of silly, but then Mat has always been the joker so I think it's OK that his plot line is kind of silly. <br />
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Before I conclude, let's pause to reflect on how dreadful the cover art is of the print version, (and how awesome it is on the ebook.) <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.tor.com/images/stories/wallpaper/WheelofTime/TheGatheringStorm/WOT12_ebookart_wallpaper_640x960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.tor.com/images/stories/wallpaper/WheelofTime/TheGatheringStorm/WOT12_ebookart_wallpaper_640x960.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously, it's a picture of Egwene blasting a To'raken out of a <br />
destroyed wall in the White Tower. (source tor.com)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I mean, even if you insist on drawing for your cover Rand basically standing there doing nothing, you could have had the decency to choose the scene where Rand stands and does basically nothing ON TOP OF A FUCKING VOLCANO!!!!!<br />
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* Maybe even better than Robert Jordan who in many of these books got stuck in a "things and the same; things are the same; things are the same; SUDDENLY <br />
DIFFERENT!; things are the same;..." rut. <br />
** <spoiler>Plus, (minor spoiler), the absolutely awesome moment where everyone in the white tower realizes, "Wait, why are you even here?! You could have Traveled out of the white tower at any time..."</spoiler> <br />
*** With some minor complaints. (Spoiler alert and technical wheel of time nerdery follows:) <spoiler> Like the part where, Rand is wondering how is possibly going to defeat The Dark One since using Saidin to seal his prison allowed him to taint it and then in <i> the very next scene </i> suddenly he can use the True Source! I kinda had it already figured out, thanks Brandon.</spoiler><br />
**** Blood and bloody ashes, woman, just bed the man already. <br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/562700664">View all my reviews</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-75311165390917865472013-03-14T19:30:00.001-07:002013-03-16T10:31:48.364-07:00Review: Heart-Shaped Box<br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/153025" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Heart-Shaped Box" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328043955m/153025.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/153025">Heart-Shaped Box</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/88506">Joe Hill</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/561360416">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
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So, when I checked this book out from the library, I found a 9 of Clubs serving as a bookmark about 90 pages in. As it turns out, this is a fabulous way to make a horror novel way scarier. I mean, it raises some creepy questions: if you use a playing card as a bookmark, you must mean to do so temporarily--so why was the book returned, apparently unfinished, with the card in place? What happened to the reader? And what of the deck of cards, now ruined due to the misfortune of the reader? Is there eve anyone left to play with the broken deck?* <br />
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But this is a digression from the actual book.** The actual book is pretty good. For one thing, playing card or no, it's actually pretty scary. One sleepless night in and the book was tossed on the the DO NOT READ AT BEDTIME pile, so that tells you something. <br />
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Joe Hill does a nice job of making the supernatural threat feel genuinely threatening, while also having weaknesses that the heroes could plausible exploit. <br />
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The best part of the book, though, is that the characterization is very good. Jude, in particular, is nicely balanced. He is interesting and appealing--one has no trouble rooting for him, but he is also flawed, and not completely good. He feels like a real person, even if his existence is kind of implausible.***<br />
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* When I returned the book to the library I put the 9 of clubs back where I found it, obviously. <br />
** But keep in mind that my opinion is influenced by the creepy playing card bookmark. <br />
*** Seriously, how many heavy metal frontmen are actually still millionaires into their fifties. I'm guessing not too many. <br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/561360416">View all my reviews</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-68035182822267646022013-03-11T18:18:00.001-07:002013-03-11T18:18:08.926-07:00Review: Libriomancer<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12844699'><img alt='Libriomancer' border='0' src='http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318277038m/12844699.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12844699'>Libriomancer</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/172490'>Jim C. Hines</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/558463848'>4 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> The thing that makes Libriomancer really sing is the magic system. In this book, magicians (or Libriomancers) can reach into books and pull out items described therein. It's a really clever device and Jim C. Hines uses it extremely well, coming up with lots clever ways this magic can be used and creating a downright adorable urban fantasy world.*<br /><br />To me, Jim C. Hines is best known for his blog and his writing about feminism and other diversity issues in Science Fiction and Fantasy.**<br />Not surprisingly, he does a decent job of diversifying the characters in this book***, and he even takes on women's sexuality and the problems with how that is portrayed in much of genre fiction. And honestly, I think he does a pretty decent job with these subjects. <br /><br />So, yeah, cool magic system. Decent treatment of Issues of Importance to the Genre. Oh, and some fine action scenes and set pieces. I recommend this and am looking forward to the sequel. <br /><br />* As a sample, the libriomancers are dismayed at the success of the Twilight books because it caused a new breed of sparkly vampires to come into existence. <br /><br />** OK fine. To me, Jim C. Hines is best known for taking pictures of himself attempting the poses from trashy novel covers. For a middle aged guy, he's surprisingly flexible. <br /><br />*** His principal female lead is a not-slender woman of color. But to be completely fair (and this is a mild spoiler) since her race is pleasure nymph, her color really doesn't affect her characterization. (I'm not saying that this is a bad thing or that skin color should have any bearing on behavior. On the other hand, this particular bit of diversity is purely cosmetic. Most of the characters (yes, except for the pleasure nymph) just kind of act like midwesterners. ) <br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/558463848'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-45758794227205461992013-02-25T19:04:00.001-08:002013-02-28T19:21:01.717-08:00Review: Foundation<br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29579" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Foundation" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320416085m/29579.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29579">Foundation</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16667">Isaac Asimov</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/546405782">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
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I was talking to a friend about science fiction recently; he was waxing poetic about the good old days when a science fiction novel was 150 pages jam packed with ideas, and with none of the bloat of recent offerings in the genre.* <br />
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I am quite certain that my friend adored The Foundation novels because honestly there's hardly a character or other description to be found.<br />
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I'm not really complaining; I liked Foundation quite a lot, but it's kind of like reading the bible. It's not really a traditional narrative so much as an opportunity for Asimov to lay out his opinions about religion, science, economics, and technology and he's going to construct and ubermensch to cleverly tell you all about it and suddenly everything is right with the world again. <br />
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It's fun, it really is. It has some delightfully pithy** quotes like "For it is the chief characteristic of the religion of science that it works..." (That whole chapter is great, actually.) But everything is so easy. Near the end, I was really hoping for some Lannisters to show up*** and get in the way with their selfish ambition and politicking.<br />
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Don't get me wrong, I would be happy to live in the world that Asimov describes, but I think maybe those fatter science fiction titles with their nuanced characters and intricate relationships are a bit more real.<br />
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* And no, he's not that much older than me, but yes, I am trying to make his rant sound like "*sigh* the kids these days with their well defined characters and a complicated interpersonal relationships." <br />
** And dishearteningly relevant<br />
*** Or, you know, a SINGLE FEMALE CHARACTER****!!!!!<br />
**** Yes, I know the Commdor's wife makes an appearance near the end, but she really doesn't count. At some point, I got so sick of this particularly brutal imbalance that I just started imagining some of the characters as female.<br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/546405782">View all my reviews</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-51101447554314225052013-02-02T11:23:00.001-08:002013-02-02T11:23:01.290-08:00Review: New Spring<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187065'><img alt='New Spring' border='0' src='http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328959234m/187065.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187065'>New Spring</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6252'>Robert Jordan</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/524352877'>2 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> And I was so excited about this book. Moiraine and Lan have always been two of my favorite characters in the Wheel of Time series, and I was really excited to see their Origin story. <br /><br />Too bad it's not any good. <br /><br />First off, the plot. Really beloved and wise Amrylin, your plan to find the dragon reborn is to offer a ridiculous amount of money to everyone who had a kid in the vicinity of the prophesied location? That's not going to arouse suspicion or anything. And it seriously never occurred to you that that he might be born of the Aiel? Sheesh. <br /><br />And secondly the characters. I know, I know, it's a subtle reference to the character struggles in Eye of the World, but Moiraine and Siuan as a ditzy school girls just didn't work for me. On the other hand, Lan apparently has never changed on iota from the day he was born. And, of course, the unending parade of minor characters, most of them Aes Sedai continues. For the eighteenth time, I know your world is impressive in its depth and scope. You don't have to remind me by breaking our 400 new Aes Sedai in every scene. <br /><br />And finally, the ending. Seriously, why were any of those characters there doing those things? I like that it was all dramatic and brutal and that it let Lan and Moiraine grow into the heroes they are destined to be, but I have no idea why they were fighting that particular battle. <br /><br />The book is not all bad. The "courtship" of Lan and Moiraine was fun. I liked Moiraine's Aes Sedai trial. There were some cute foreshadowings of the series. But all in all, this has been the most disappointing entry in The Wheel of Time. I'm sorry it's the last complete book of Robert Jordan's that I'm likely to read. <br /><br /><br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/524352877'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-29784888859681041692012-12-28T18:41:00.001-08:002012-12-28T18:41:22.113-08:00Review: The Last Detective<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241936'><img alt='The Last Detective' border='0' src='http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347637480m/241936.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241936'>The Last Detective</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8944'>Robert Crais</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/488087210'>5 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> This might be the great American detective novel.<br /><br />It perfectly captures the spirit of the genre:<br />It is a once-in-a-series opportunity for Elvis Cole to solve a deeply personal mystery, and it delivers on <br />all fronts. The mystery is pernicious, and is solved by honest-to-god detective work. <br />There are actual consequences for character actions. The characters* emerge at the end<br />changed from how they were at the beginning. (And I trust Robert Crais to carry these changes through <br />the series). But really, what makes this novel work is that it presents the detective as hero: Intelligent, <br />determined, and in the end, indomitable. This world is the kind of world I want to live in. <br /><br />The only (minor) negative is that the main threat never quite feels fully threatening, <br />but this quite forgivable in the face of how awesome everything else is. <br /><br />* Except, perhaps, Joe Pike, which is as it should be. <br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/488087210'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-49890680715621418932012-12-28T18:30:00.001-08:002012-12-28T18:30:04.374-08:00Review: The Stand<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/149267'><img alt='The Stand' border='0' src='http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1213131305m/149267.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/149267'>The Stand</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3389'>Stephen King</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/488074663'>4 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> ** Spoiler alert for both this book (and minor ones) for the Passage by Justin Cronin ** <br /><br />At long last*, my review of the classic post-apocalyptic** novel. <br /><br />Stephen King is a very talented writer, and commensurately, The Stand is very good. And yet, I still found this novel not completely to my taste. <br /><br />I have always found Stephen King to be highly readable, and able to make both the pedestrian and the wildly implausible seem equally interesting and engaging. In particular, the characters in this book are pretty good. They're all distinctive, which is a pretty neat trick seeing as there are way too damn many of them. The main ones at least get a fair bit of character growth and maturation (even the bad guys change and grow--if not always towards the light...) <br /><br />Despite this, the best parts of the novel don't really have much to do with the main characters at all. The chapter which documents the deaths, not by the the flu, of dozens of the survivors really sings, as does the creepy graph-theoretic montage of disease transmission. <br /><br />But here's the problem. I get that King is really telling a story about religion and the arbitrariness of ritual sacrifice.*** But it makes the novel feel kind of hollow when the heroes whom over the past 1100 pages have been charged with saving the world don't actually have to do anything but be there to get snuffed.**** And beyond the climax, a bunch of the the other character endings didn't really have enough meat to them.***** <br />In the most egregious case, I get that King needed his villains to have some teeth, but, dude, you suddenly and capriciously killed my favorite character when there were like 4 (for lack of a better term) red-shirts <br />in the room. Not cool. <br /><br />A few other details and comments. I read the extended version (why bother with anything else...) Having spent <br />a bit of time on the wikipedia page to figure out the differences, I think I'm glad I <br />read the expanded addition, if for no other reason than that "The Kid" is scary and funny. That being said, his is another character whose denouement was not...big enough for the novel. Nextly, what is up with the cover art? I get that it's the final climactic battle between good an evil,****** but that scythe guy that has been on the cover for basically every edition of the novel I've ever seen is not even actually hinted at in the text. Is he supposed to be Flagg?...why the scythe?!?!?!<br />And finally, is or is this not, basically, the exact same damn book as The Passage. Seriously, right down to the damn nuke. At least the Passage has some surviving characters (and a sequel)...*******<br /><br />* This book has been on my radar since like the mid-90s...<br />** Does it count as "post" apocalyptic if the apocalypse happens during the events of the novel? <br />*** Or maybe Stephen King really believes in the cleansing power of arbitrally killing good people. I don't <br /><br />know. <br />**** Don't get me wrong the nuke was pretty cool. But the hand of god thing was kind of dumb. <br />***** Like basically all of the bad guys, most of whom went up with the aforementioned nuke. I was ok with <br /><br />Harold's exit, but Nadine could have used, you know, a couple more paragraphs, or something. <br />****** Except it's not, see *******. <br />******* Yes, yes, I know there's a larger Stephen King continuity. I'm slowly working my way through the dark <br /><br />tower series, but i really don't think that counts. <br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/488074663'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-37046551715182513562012-12-28T17:14:00.001-08:002012-12-28T17:20:25.813-08:00Review: Knife of Dreams<br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13888" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Knife of Dreams" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317065385m/13888.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13888">Knife of Dreams</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6252">Robert Jordan</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/488005429">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
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Oh, goodness, this is going to have spoilers galore. <br />
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After a long hiatus (with the intention of making it so that I would finish Towers of Midnight just in time to read A Memory of Light; but with that date something like a week away and with me being about half way through New Spring with two more full-lengths to read after that, it looks like I may have over shot...oops) I am back at my wheel of time re-read.*<br />
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And so, without further ado, and enumerated for your convenience, my thoughts on The Knife of Dreams. <br />
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1) I TOLD YOU MOIRAINE WASN'T DEAD! (On the other hand, I'm kind of impressed at Robert Jordan for stringing that particular plot thread along, basically without barely so much as a hint for six 800 page books.) By my recollection, the only plot thread that's now been hanging on longer is who killed Asmodean....) <br />
2) Boy, for what might be the biggest plot revelation in the whole book, the loss of Rand's hand <br />
is...underwhelming. I mean, we knew his meeting with the Daughter of the Nine Moons was fake, cause, uh, she's with Mat, thanks...., but the "oh hey it's Semihrage, and oh hey she burnt off his hand" was just.....kinda pedestrian.** <br />
3) I never felt the same fatigue at the Faile, Perrin subplot. Its conclusion was mostly satisfying, except that I thought Aram's death sucked. Even though I liked him, I didn't really mind that he got brainwashed by Masema. He was always was intended to be a tragic figure, but killed randomly by Aiel? bull$#i^.***<br />
4. It kind of seemed to me like Robert Jordan was going out of his way to avoid Heroic Charges. (I mean, this has been a theme of his for some time....) I guess that the one actual charge (Guybon against the darkfriends) was pretty heroic, but I thought the rest of that battle (i.e. to retake Caemlyn) was kind of a mess. We're just going to Travel to right behind them and start fighting. Have fun! <br />
5. I rather liked the ending of the epilogue, it was delightfully creepy. on the other hand, I'm kind of disappointed that Mazrim Taim is actually a Darkfriend. Partially that's because I liked him, but more so, cause I wanted him to *just* be a bastard....<br />
6. I was also disappointed with the title. I mean, it's called "Knife of Dreams" I was expecting some crazy Tel-aran-rhiod shenanigans, and there was basically nothing. Just a random quote from yet another historical figure in one of the heroes' heads. <br />
7. Likewise, holy God is the cover art bad. Is that supposed to be Gual on the cover? He looks dumpy! There are _so_ _many_ iconic scenes in this book: The loss of Rand's hand, the taking of Caemlyn, the charge against the darkfriends, Mat does...anything, the meeting of Pevara with Marzim Taim. The dead walking among the living, that guy sinking into the ground. Galad Fights Pedron Niall. Egwene getting spanked. <br />
And yet Mr. Sweet chose....Perrin sitting around a table. What. the. Fuck. <br />
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As you're probably gathering from these bullets, I actually liked this book quite a lot. An awful lot more happens in this book than in the last one, it advances the story well, and reemphasizes some of the themes of the burden of leadership, the necessity of war, etc. Still, there were some moments when I wanted to fling the book across the room. Like in the first chapter. Did we really need the excruciating detail of Siuan's walk (and ride, and moon for Gareth Bryne) through the Aes Sedai camp? I could barely remember who half of the people she encountered were, nor why I should care****<br />
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* Well, since Path of Daggers it's just been my Wheel of time read. <br />
** I mean, it's not that surprising a revelation to anyone whose, oh, SEEN THE COVER OF THE GATHERING STORM, (and people on the internet claim this was well foreshadowed.) All I really have to say to that is, "I never thought I'd miss a hand so much." (Pic related)<br />
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*** On the other hand, I did like the kind of awful conclusion to the Faile-Rolan storyline. It's gruesome, inevitable, and heartbreakingly sad. <br />
**** Turns out for most of them, I probably shouldn't. <br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/488005429">View all my reviews</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-85955805258838472222012-10-29T08:25:00.001-07:002012-10-29T11:29:34.554-07:00Review: Synechdoche, New YorkNote: So, I wrote this review right after I watched the movie, about 8 months ago. I just noticed that I never posted it. So, here you go!
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Review: Synechdcohe, New York<br />
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.<br />
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.....what....the....fuuuuuuuuuuuuck?<br />
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This is one weird movie. It's packed to the gills with imagery and symbolism.
I actually liked it quite a lot. I think Charlie Kaufmen does a tremendous job of using his weird plot devices to capture something significant about life*, love**, art***, death****.<br />
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Unfortunately, as a consequence, I'm not sure I have much more to say. I mean, the symbolism of the film is fairly transparent. The acting is fine***** (but is really not the point), the highlight of the film is really the background detail: the various clues as to what's going on in the world as we zip forward into the future, the ever increasing detail of the warehouse.<br />
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So, lacking anything more profound to say, I want to talk about the poop. One of the things that makes this movie remarkable is that it talks about human feces.
This is kind of remarkable, because outside of the sub-sub genre of gross-out comedies, I defy you to find feces discussed in any serious film, and yet it's hard to argue that it's not an important part of the human existence. I mean, every one produces it on a near daily basis.
And so, I present this as a microcosm of why Synechdoche is so successful. Synechdoche doesn't shy away from any part of the human existence, no matter how taboo.<br />
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Afternote. I am tremendously glad I watched this movie BEFORE I saw this episode of community. Bravo, Mr. Harmon.<br />
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* Being John Malkovich<br />
** The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind<br />
*** Adaptation (my personal favorite)<br />
**** And, finally Synecdoche. Not that each of these movies are about only one thing, of course...<br />
***** I think I'm just getting tired of Phillip Seymore Hoffman, I mean, he's been in, like, everything. I have to say though, the guy that plays his double was outstanding. <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-28858003833680966262012-10-29T08:11:00.001-07:002012-10-29T08:12:38.167-07:00Review: Hell and Gone <div>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9583670-hell-and-gone" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Hell and Gone" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1344270038m/9583670.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9583670-hell-and-gone">Hell and Gone</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/97136.Duane_Swierczynski">Duane Swierczynski</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/443772583">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Sigh. This book was no where near as good as its predecessor. <br /><br />I mean, it takes some doing to be even less realistic than Fun and Games<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9583669.Fun_and_Games" title="Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski">Fun and Games</a> but here you have it. <br /><br />In summary (some mild spoilers for Fun and Games): After royally pissing off The Accident People, Charlie Hardie is abducted and sent to a bizzaro kafka-esque prison. There he interacts with the various guards the prisoners and plots his escape.* <br /><br />So, one of the things that made Fun and Games so engaging was the claustrophobia invoked by the Hollywood Hills. Ironically, the claustrophobia induced by the prison where most of the action in the book takes place has the opposite effect. The Hollywood Hills are sufficiently accessible that new characters could be introduced or removed, where as the prison was static and as a result the stakes felt waaaaay lower. <br /><br />Plus, I don't know, the way my brain is wired I'm willing to accept that there is a secret society of assassins that, for the right price, commit murders and make them look like accidents, but i'm not really willing to accept that those same people would own an underground prison**. Nor still would they at the very end.***<br /><br />* Major pet peeve here: the conceit of the prison was _both_ bewilderingly obvious, and tremendously badly explained. <br />** (Mild Spoiler) Let alone one affiliated with a major university. <br />*** If you've read the book (or even the synopsis of the sequel you'll know what I mean.) <br /><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-21631677556900751742012-10-28T18:48:00.001-07:002012-10-28T18:48:55.705-07:00Review: This Crooked Way<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6470948'><img alt='This Crooked Way' border='0' src='http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1348752450m/6470948.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6470948'>This Crooked Way</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2669754'>James Enge</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/443762932'>3 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> This might be the most uneven book I've ever read.<br /><br />Part of it is obviously due to it's structure. The novel is made up of a sequence of short stories. Some of them were probably going to be duds. <br /><br />Don't get me wrong. Some of them are awesome. "Where Nurgnantz Dwells" is amazing, for one thing. For another, despite his general weakness in characterization*, James Enge does a surprisingly impressive job with his female characters, and the two stories with female narrators are certainly the best of the middle sequence. <br /><br />On the other hand, Morlock is something of a Mary Sue. He's _always<br />_ one step ahead, always has the magic to win the day, or just happened to have built the bridge your standing on and knows how to knock it over. This isn't bad in and of itself, but the book gets a little tiresome, when for the 15th time, Morlock concentrates, does something impressive with Tal**, summons his magic sword and.... Yup, Morlock wins again. <br /><br />I liked Blood of Ambrose because it gently and subtly rose the stakes from "oh, political intrigue." to "is Morlock and Friend or a Foe?" to "holy shit zombies!" But this book had none of that escalation. I will give some consideration to reading the next Morlock book, since I already own it,*** but probably not for a good long while. <br /><br /><br />* Part of this is a problem of the medium. It's hard to introduce good characters in a short story...<br />** The magic systems sucks. There, I said it. <br />*** Bought on the strength of Blood of Ambrose alone. Oops. <br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/443762932'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-26853483557673722242012-10-28T18:37:00.001-07:002012-10-28T18:37:56.631-07:00Review: Angelmaker<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12266560'><img alt='Angelmaker' border='0' src='http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1326121401m/12266560.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12266560'>Angelmaker</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1100593'>Nick Harkaway</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/443753241'>5 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> With only two books out, Nick Harkaway has rocketed to near the top of my favorite authors list. This is the best book I've read in a while. It is fun, complex without being convoluted, has great action, and Something to Say. I love Nick Harkaway's writing. I love the intricate sentences and the extraordinary amount of detail given to the characters, the settings, the scenes.* And as I was reading Angelmaker and writing other reviews, I would notice over and over again just how much Nick Harkaway's writing has influenced my own. Even though he's ONLY WRITTEN TWO BOOKS!**<br /><br />But. <br /><br />Yes, unfortunately, there's a sizeable:<br /><br />But. <br /><br />I loved this book, but I didn't love it as much as I loved The Gone Away World. The ambiance was great, but some of action didn't quite fit the tone. Every scenes moves forward at a brisk pace, but in between scenes I would put the book down for months at a time with no apparent desire to pick it up again.*** Nick Harkaway is near the top of my favorite authors list, but he was before Angelmaker ever came out. <br /><br />So, I declare: Go out and buy this book. Support Nick Harkaway. Join me in eagerly waiting his next novel.**** Read his blog.*****<br /><br />But get the Gone Away World first. <br /><br /><br />* Aubergine porn. 'Nuff said. <br />** Technically not true; I think he has a nonfiction book out, but I haven't read it. . . <br />*** Which is why I wrote so many reviews in the interim. <br />**** Which I think might be coming soon due to delays in publishing Angelmaker? Here's hoping that's true. <br />***** Nick Harkaway writes some fabulous essays on his blog. For example, http://www.nickharkaway.com/2012/09/mistruth-and-the-lexicon/<br /><br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/443753241'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-5327314816282304582012-09-25T08:31:00.001-07:002012-09-25T08:31:48.827-07:00Review: How To Be Black<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12959743'><img alt='How To Be Black' border='0' src='http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1347917009m/12959743.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12959743'>How To Be Black</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/974638'>Baratunde R. Thurston</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/421803637'>3 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> Baratunde Thurston seems like a pretty cool guy. He has a fairly interesting story about how (basically <br />through his mother's determination) he grew up in "inner city*" Washington, DC, attended the Sidwell <br />Friend's school and Harvard, and then became a dominant internet personality. (He made his name on <br />the internet writing for the Onion, and Jack and Jill Politics and his twitter coverage of the 2012 republican national convention was hilarious.) I would love to get the chance to hang out <br />with him and talk about race and class in modern American society. I was hoping that this book would be like <br />a distillation of that experience in easily portable book form. <br /><br />Unfortunately, it's not. <br /><br />The problem I had with this book is that it's just not enough. It's not funny enough, it's not provocative <br />enough, it's not prescriptive enough. I mean, the book is called "How to be Black." But the answer to the <br />question: "How to be black?" is "Just be yourself (assuming you're black)." <br /><br />The greatest sin is the first, of course. The Onion has produced some of the most incisive humor of the last <br />decade. I was expecting more from this book, but unfortunately, far too often the humor boils down to: list 3 <br />real but outrageous things followed by one wildly outlandish thing.<br /><br />The best part of the book is the black panel of experts, but there's no dialogue presented, just paragraph <br />responses to the author's questions.**<br /><br />Occasionally the book shines. There are maybe 3 very funny pages.*** There's a really interesting interplay <br />between the author Christain Lander about how to the extent that there's a white culture, it's a product of <br />privilege and wealth and what this means for other cultures.**** But again, it's just not enough. <br /><br />* Questions I would have liked answered in this book: What are white people supposed to call the crack-blighted neighborhoods where so many black people live. <br /><br />** I did appreciate that Christian Lander of Stuff White People Like was included on the black panel, but <br />again, it would have been much more effective to have Baratunde Thurston and Christian Lander have a <br />discussion on some issue, and explore it in depth rather than (i'm guessing) cutting and pasting an email <br />response into the book. <br /><br />*** The office party section from the chapter: How to be a Black Employee is my favorite. <br /><br />**** Persistent readers of my reviews will notice a theme here. <br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/421803637'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181457240282046634.post-91531789835057587252012-09-25T07:57:00.001-07:002012-09-25T07:57:24.698-07:00Review: Liar's Poker<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1171'><img alt='Liar's Poker' border='0' src='http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309285703m/1171.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1171'>Liar's Poker</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/776'>Michael Lewis</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/421786071'>3 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> Liar's Poker<br /><br />It's hard not to compare this book to the Big Short. For one thing that book was my introduction to Michael Lewis, and my introduction to reading popular nonfiction about the financial industry. Unfortunately, the book doesn't stand up to the comparison well. <br /><br />There are two major problems with this book. First and foremost, the events discussed are coming up on 30 years old. It's hard <br />to get too excited about financial misdeeds that have been so thoroughly overtaken by events.* Second, it's just not as <br />interesting as The Big Short was. The middle third of the book which delves into the formation of a real estate backed bond market<br />is much too light on story or details. Michael Lewis's talent is creating engaging biographical sketches of the people who are involved <br />in these world changing actions, but for the stories that he didn't participate in directly, his access wasn't good enough to tell a compelling or plausible story.**<br /><br />By way of comparison, The Big Short managed to both explain how the Mortgage Backed Securities crash happened, and tell an engaging story about how certain individuals figured it out and bucked the system. <br /><br />Despite it's shortcomings, this is a pretty important book. It meticulously documents just how awful the world financial system is. Moreover, the observation that money shouldn't be the end goal*** is highly relevant in today's political landscape. But it doesn't offer much in the way of solutions beyond: "the only way to win is not to play." <br /><br /><br />* Of course, that being said, it's downright chilling to read about the original formation of the mortgage backed<br />securities that would lead to the financial crash 25 years later (And which Michael Lewis would also write about...) <br /><br />** For example, it's never made terribly clear why Lewie Ranieri was so insistant on forming that particular bond market. <br />Many reasons are given for why it's a bad idea, and obviously it ended up being very lucrative, but how did this guy know? We're left wondering...<br /><br />*** Which I acknowledge is an attitude that can only be adopted by someone who is extremely privileged to begin with. (As Randall Monroe put it: "'Because it's there' is more poetic than, 'I'm rich enough that my goals are arbitrary.'" http://www.xkcd.com/1110)<br /><br /> <br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/421786071'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com