Book-post!
Dec. 16th, 2008 02:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseHaving just placed a (somewhat larger than intended, but what else is new?) Amazon order, I was realizing that I've been remiss in my usual habit of writing a bit about the various books I've read. Admittedly, my usual voracious level of book consumption has been put on hold slightly by taking a job where I don't end up sitting around for half the day reading and waiting for the phone to ring. But I've still been reading, both for myself and to Brian. Here's what's been on my plate recently:
A. Lee Martinez's The Automatic Detective: It has all the classic noir tropes - a strong and snarky protagonist who can barely pay his rent but never gives up on a case, a wealthy, brainy and gorgeous dame who can't stay out of trouble, a mobster who quietly controls things behind the scenes, a vast and far-reaching conspiracy with the potential to cost thousands of lives. The catch? Meet Mack Megaton, a seven-foot-tall humanoid robot built for destroying civilizations but instead trying to make it as a cab-driver-cum-private-eye in Tomorrow's Town, a 1950's-pulp paradise of flying cars and robot servants ("drones", as opposed to sentient citizens like Mack), along with all the toxic sludge and genetic mutation and other problems you'd expect in such a place. Not exactly great literature, but one of the most joyously, genuinely fun reads I've ever come across. A-
Jim Butcher's Backup: A droll little jaunt into the mind and daily life of Harry Dresden's vampire half-brother Thomas, I found this story to be simultaneously enjoyable and unsatisfying. While not every new Dresden adventure has to be a grand sprawling five-course meal of friendship, love and betrayal, this particular concept felt like there was originally more to it but the actual writing got sandwiched in between deadlines. That said, there's still enough here for a perfectly tasty snack, and it was good to see some of my favorite fictional characters again - even if the penultimate effect was only to get my mouth watering for more. (...no, I'm not at all hungry right now, why do you ask?) B
Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds: Master Li and Number Ten Ox, a Holmes/Watson-esque duo who live in "Ancient China That Never Was", make their debut appearance in what has to be one of the most delightful adult fairy tales I've ever read. Stylistically, the book is a masterpiece - a lighthearted mélange of Chinese fables, tall-tale adventures, trickster archetypes, and childrens' stories, with a good old-fashioned mystery at the heart of it all. And yet, thanks to a thorough grounding in plain human nature, it all works together; for all the plot twists and turns, the tone and the characters never feel inconsistent. And if some of their escapades seem to stretch one's disbelief suspenders a tad far, well, one must remember that we're reading Number Ten Ox's memoirs, and perhaps a few of his adventures have grown in the telling. (Especially recommended for reading aloud - Hughart's vividly drawn characters and occasional use of oral-story tropes such as alliteration and repetition make it a sheer joy to share.) A++ with cherries on top
Jim Butcher's Furies of Calderon: A while back, I tried to make up a rubric to give a general idea of how I judge books (and stories in general). However, a large part of said rubric simply came down to subjective enjoyment - we read different stories at different times in our life, and what speaks to us profoundly on one reading may simply seem pointlessly preachy years later, and sometimes stories that seem like they should be just fine completely fail to capture our attention. Furies ended up falling into that last category for me. I can't for the life of me find anything in particular wrong with it; the story/characters could be accurately called derivative, but no more so than any number of other novels I've read and enjoyed. And (as you can probably tell from the above review of Backup) I completely and irrationally adore Jim Butcher's other major series. Perhaps I'll pick this one up again in the future, but for now it honestly doesn't work for me. C
Jim C. Hines' Goblin Quest & Goblin Hero: One of the more comical entries in the Unlikely Hero genre, Goblin Quest chronicles the story of Jig, a runty member of his race who has nonetheless been gifted with smarts above the average goblin (not that that's saying much, as he thinks to himself during any number of bitter moments). Almost as amusing is the story's ruminations on what, exactly, goblins do when they're not getting whacked by adventurers (part answer: sing about getting whacked by adventurers). Goblin Hero expands the conceit as well as the cast, and both are surprisingly charming (if ultimately insubstantial) stories. B+
Jane Lindskold's Through Wolf's Eyes: Just as I didn't really enjoy Furies of Calderon despite there being nothing particularly wrong with it, I found myself enjoying Through Wolf's Eyes quite a bit despite there being nothing particularly right with it. It's overlong, just as derivative, with a meandering plot that never seems to quite find its focus, and characters who seem to grow in fits and starts rather than naturally over the course of the story (admittedly, a tricky thing to pull off, and something that Butcher does exceedingly well in The Dresden Files). And yet I found myself reading it all through Thanksgiving weekend (and not for lack of other reading material nearby - my mother's almost as much of a bibliophile as I am, although her collection leans more towards religious studies). I even read the preview of the sequel at the back, which I never do. I honestly can't figure out what it is about the story that's kept me coming back to it, but something has to be working. If nothing else, the writer definitely shows promise; I stuck the second book in my Amazon order on a whim, so we'll see. B-
That's it for now; however, a certain subscriber to this blog may well be interested to know that I found a copy of Dead To Me at the local bookstore today, which I fully intend to read just as soon as I've finished my current book. (An accompanying librarian-costume pin-up photo may or may not be forthcoming, depending on my ultimate impression of the book and Brian's willingness to do the portraiture ;). Anton Strout, the author, is apparently Patrick Rothfuss' mortal enemy, although they've both been a bit fuzzy as to why. Judging by the apparent chronological closeness of the "pre" and "post" pictures, however, Brian came up with the following explanation:
Between the first picture and the second, Mr. Strout sneezed and grew a beard even more beardly than Pat's. In a fit of jealous rage, Pat tore off Strout's beard follicle by follicle (but blazingly fast!), and demanded an apology since he is, after all, the Beardliest Fantasy Author. Stout apologized, but Pat, still incensed, has never truly forgiven him.
But the truth will likely never be truly known...
A. Lee Martinez's The Automatic Detective: It has all the classic noir tropes - a strong and snarky protagonist who can barely pay his rent but never gives up on a case, a wealthy, brainy and gorgeous dame who can't stay out of trouble, a mobster who quietly controls things behind the scenes, a vast and far-reaching conspiracy with the potential to cost thousands of lives. The catch? Meet Mack Megaton, a seven-foot-tall humanoid robot built for destroying civilizations but instead trying to make it as a cab-driver-cum-private-eye in Tomorrow's Town, a 1950's-pulp paradise of flying cars and robot servants ("drones", as opposed to sentient citizens like Mack), along with all the toxic sludge and genetic mutation and other problems you'd expect in such a place. Not exactly great literature, but one of the most joyously, genuinely fun reads I've ever come across. A-
Jim Butcher's Backup: A droll little jaunt into the mind and daily life of Harry Dresden's vampire half-brother Thomas, I found this story to be simultaneously enjoyable and unsatisfying. While not every new Dresden adventure has to be a grand sprawling five-course meal of friendship, love and betrayal, this particular concept felt like there was originally more to it but the actual writing got sandwiched in between deadlines. That said, there's still enough here for a perfectly tasty snack, and it was good to see some of my favorite fictional characters again - even if the penultimate effect was only to get my mouth watering for more. (...no, I'm not at all hungry right now, why do you ask?) B
Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds: Master Li and Number Ten Ox, a Holmes/Watson-esque duo who live in "Ancient China That Never Was", make their debut appearance in what has to be one of the most delightful adult fairy tales I've ever read. Stylistically, the book is a masterpiece - a lighthearted mélange of Chinese fables, tall-tale adventures, trickster archetypes, and childrens' stories, with a good old-fashioned mystery at the heart of it all. And yet, thanks to a thorough grounding in plain human nature, it all works together; for all the plot twists and turns, the tone and the characters never feel inconsistent. And if some of their escapades seem to stretch one's disbelief suspenders a tad far, well, one must remember that we're reading Number Ten Ox's memoirs, and perhaps a few of his adventures have grown in the telling. (Especially recommended for reading aloud - Hughart's vividly drawn characters and occasional use of oral-story tropes such as alliteration and repetition make it a sheer joy to share.) A++ with cherries on top
Jim Butcher's Furies of Calderon: A while back, I tried to make up a rubric to give a general idea of how I judge books (and stories in general). However, a large part of said rubric simply came down to subjective enjoyment - we read different stories at different times in our life, and what speaks to us profoundly on one reading may simply seem pointlessly preachy years later, and sometimes stories that seem like they should be just fine completely fail to capture our attention. Furies ended up falling into that last category for me. I can't for the life of me find anything in particular wrong with it; the story/characters could be accurately called derivative, but no more so than any number of other novels I've read and enjoyed. And (as you can probably tell from the above review of Backup) I completely and irrationally adore Jim Butcher's other major series. Perhaps I'll pick this one up again in the future, but for now it honestly doesn't work for me. C
Jim C. Hines' Goblin Quest & Goblin Hero: One of the more comical entries in the Unlikely Hero genre, Goblin Quest chronicles the story of Jig, a runty member of his race who has nonetheless been gifted with smarts above the average goblin (not that that's saying much, as he thinks to himself during any number of bitter moments). Almost as amusing is the story's ruminations on what, exactly, goblins do when they're not getting whacked by adventurers (part answer: sing about getting whacked by adventurers). Goblin Hero expands the conceit as well as the cast, and both are surprisingly charming (if ultimately insubstantial) stories. B+
Jane Lindskold's Through Wolf's Eyes: Just as I didn't really enjoy Furies of Calderon despite there being nothing particularly wrong with it, I found myself enjoying Through Wolf's Eyes quite a bit despite there being nothing particularly right with it. It's overlong, just as derivative, with a meandering plot that never seems to quite find its focus, and characters who seem to grow in fits and starts rather than naturally over the course of the story (admittedly, a tricky thing to pull off, and something that Butcher does exceedingly well in The Dresden Files). And yet I found myself reading it all through Thanksgiving weekend (and not for lack of other reading material nearby - my mother's almost as much of a bibliophile as I am, although her collection leans more towards religious studies). I even read the preview of the sequel at the back, which I never do. I honestly can't figure out what it is about the story that's kept me coming back to it, but something has to be working. If nothing else, the writer definitely shows promise; I stuck the second book in my Amazon order on a whim, so we'll see. B-
That's it for now; however, a certain subscriber to this blog may well be interested to know that I found a copy of Dead To Me at the local bookstore today, which I fully intend to read just as soon as I've finished my current book. (An accompanying librarian-costume pin-up photo may or may not be forthcoming, depending on my ultimate impression of the book and Brian's willingness to do the portraiture ;). Anton Strout, the author, is apparently Patrick Rothfuss' mortal enemy, although they've both been a bit fuzzy as to why. Judging by the apparent chronological closeness of the "pre" and "post" pictures, however, Brian came up with the following explanation:
Between the first picture and the second, Mr. Strout sneezed and grew a beard even more beardly than Pat's. In a fit of jealous rage, Pat tore off Strout's beard follicle by follicle (but blazingly fast!), and demanded an apology since he is, after all, the Beardliest Fantasy Author. Stout apologized, but Pat, still incensed, has never truly forgiven him.
But the truth will likely never be truly known...
