39. (13) Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer 5/26
Pick:
I like the idea of the criminal mastermind at age twelve. I love the name, I like the covers, I'm up for a young adult fantasy series. And I need something lighter and a bit more cheerful after that gorefest. I'm also of the mind that this will be better written than that. Then again, so are the ingredients on the cereal box.
Thoughts:
It wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be. I liked the fairy characters quite a lot, though LEPRecon is a bit too far into the silly realm. I prefer the JK Rowling version of institutions -- paralleling the real world, but not trying to re-define it. But I liked their goals, and their system -- especially the underground and the shuttle flights and the motorized strap-on wings; I liked the techno-whiz centaur and the determined Captain Holly and the grizzled blustery captain and the ladder-climbing suck-up who fails so spectacularly.
Unfortunately, I didn't like Artemis Fowl. I didn't like Butler, and I detested his little sister Juliet. Perhaps I wasn't meant to like him; he is an evil mastermind, after all, and there is a certain amount of redemption at the end with his final wish. But he's a money-grubbing scumbag who uses his badass bodyguard to accomplish his goals, rather than his own brilliance. Sure, he was clever enough to find The Book (a sort of instruction manual for fairies) and use it to hatch his masterplan, but Butler is the one who captures the fairy and protects the compound from the rescue attempt. With a little help, he's the reason Artemis survives the troll. So Butler should have been the hero -- and I would have liked him more, except I didn't care for his blind loyalty to the annoying kid, nor his understandable-but-still-annoying loyalty to his idiot sister.
So how well does this bode for the second book and the rest of the series? Well, I have The Arctic Incident already, so I'll read it and see if Artemis gets more likeable or if the fairies play as big and as fun a role in that one. And if it's a no on both of those, I'll move on to a different YA fantasy series with a better hero.
40. (Toni's Shelf) Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning 5/29
Pick:
For some reason, after reading a book with a pretty annoying hero, I decided to read another book with a fairly annoying hero. I prefer Mac to Artemis, though, and these books are more adult and thus more stirring. I like that.
Thoughts:
The series is improving; I like the villain work in this one, both the ominous Reaper shadow and the final reveal behind it, and the exploration of the sidhe-seer network. I dug the horror elements, the invasion of the shades and the half-eaten fae that Mac keeps finding. I like what Mac is forced to do, and very happy with the final result of that choice. I like V'Lane and his character growth in this one; the all-powerful sex god crap can get annoying, but he was much more interesting in this one.
For the annoying parts? I am heartily sick of Mac's pathetic wish for a stupid life, being all girly and tan and marrying a nice Southern hunk and squeezing out a litter of rednecks. I don't mind the sorrow over lost innocence, but her innocent paradise sounds really freaking annoying to me, which I don't like. Jericho gets on my nerves, as he is supposed to, because he isn't forthcoming enough with information I want. Of course there should be mysteries, and of course there should be a Yoda who knows every secret and refuses to reveal them except in the fullness of time; my books will have the same things. But I hate that he is in every chapter, on every page, standing around all smug and knowing and not saying crap. Makes me want to reach in and shake him. Which isn't at all bad for an author to get that reaction out of me, though it can be a little tough to read books while I'm dreaming of doing violence to a main character. And I don't like Mac's sister, nor Mac's sorrow over said sister, much like I don't like Mac's fantasy life. And my biggest problem, of course, is her name. Thank god Barrons calls her "Ms. Lane;" that's a name I like. I'm not looking forward to when their increasing intimacy leads him to call her MacKayla. I'm hoping she finds out what her birth name was, and decides to drop that travesty of a first name.
But I like the books, I like the writing, I love the world. I like the bad guy, too, and how incapable Mac is of dealing with this stuff -- and the reason why she has Barrons as an ally, and what an interesting ally he makes, in terms of dealing with the supernatural. So definitely going to keep reading them, and pretend her name is actually, hmmm, how about Michelle? I like Michelle.
41. (NTY) Changes by Jim Butcher 6/1
Pick:
New Butcher! Woot!
Thoughts:
So now everything has changed, as the name implies. We're moving into Endgame, which is outstanding (Though sad, as the end of the series is therefore looming.). I wish this book could have shown us something about little Maggie herself, and I REALLY wish it hadn't ended the way it did. But I can't wait for the next book. Oh: and when Sanya hears about Harry becoming the Winter Knight and, err, coupling with Mab in order to seal the deal, his comment -- the deadpan, "So. Mab. You hit that." -- was one of the funniest things I've ever read in this series, and that's saying something.
42. (14) The Road by Cormac McCarthy 6/2
Pick:
I saw it on a list of post-apocalyptic must-reads; actually, I somehow remembered it as being about zombies. It's been on the shelf for a while.
Thoughts:
And for the Most Depressing Books Ever Written Award, our winner is: The Road! Congratulations, Cormac -- though sadly, our judges killed themselves before they could get your name engraved on the award, so we'll have to give it to you blank. I'm sure your own sorrow, which by now must be petrified to a stone-like obduracy and sharpened like a straight razor stropped on your leathery angst, will serve as the implement for carving your name on this thing. Or you could just splash some of your lifeblood onto it, since that seems to be what you used for ink; as you prefer.
I've read a fair number of post-apocalyptic books; it's a pretty standard staple of science fiction. One of my favorite all-time sci-fi books is post-apocalyptic; Niven and Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer. And that one's pretty frigging bleak: people try to hoard, then fight over what's hoarded, and then just fight out of desperation, and then, of course, turn cannibal. But in Lucifer's Hammer, there is some hope; the cannibals are actually defeated by that hope in the end. Well, hope and mustard gas -- it really is pretty bleak. The Road picks up the story about ten years after that, when things have gone past hopeless to desperate to simply vile. The message of the book, if there is one, is: give up. Do it sooner rather than later, and save yourself a lot of misery.
So if anyone has The Road on their To Be Read list, I advise you to do what Mr. McCarthy proposes: give up. Do it before you read the book, instead of after, and save yourself a lot of misery.
43. (Vine) Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance by Alexander Zaitchik
Pick:
I had to grab this one; after reading Common Sense from the Beckster himself, and watching Jon Stewart's parody of Glenn, I have something of a fascination with this particular talking head. So I wanted to know what I could find out about him. I trust that this review will garner me some negative votes, so I'm going to try to be less insulting of the idiot than I would be otherwise in order to minimize Tea Party backlash. And I am so disappointed that my friend is a fan of this schmuck.
Thoughts:
If you are a fan of Glenn Beck: before you start frowning, then snarling, then clicking the "Unhelpful" button and pounding the keys as you compose a new blog, think about how Mr. Beck himself would view this book (and this review, which is of course far too small a venue to gather any notice from Mr. Beck). He would love it. He would be glad for the attention that books like this bring to himself and his causes, and he would simply smile and shrug over the criticism; he would point out that there is no desire to tear down anyone unless he makes himself a target. Unless he is becoming a threat. Glenn Beck himself has said that he is a threat to the establishment in this country, and so this book should be seen as a compliment.
This book is not a compliment, however. It may garner some of the attention that Glenn Beck thrives on, but it is anything but a compliment. It is well-researched, meticulous in its citations and evidence, and thoroughly reasonable in its conclusions, if not always in its tone. This author sees Beck as an enemy, and his descriptions of Beck echo that stance: Zaitchik is insulting, derogatory, and dismissive at every turn, and his bile grows more bitter as the book follows Beck's rise to power and prominence.
On the other hand, he's also correct. Beck is a self-serving, infantile, overly sentimental egotist who seeks power and glory and will let nothing stand in his way -- not truth, not reason, not the best interests of his fellow man. Zaitchik draws an early parallel between Beck and another master showman: P.T. Barnum, perhaps the greatest huckster who ever lived, and certainly the founder of infotainment as it is practiced (and perhaps perfected by Beck) in America today. It's a good parallel, but there is one difference: Barnum, so far as I know, only sought personal wealth and fame; Beck wants power. If he remained nothing but a showman, I would have no problem with the man -- but he is trying to change my country, not simply because he thinks he's on the right path, but also (primarily) in the name of self-aggrandizement. And therefore is he very dangerous.
The book lost coherence near the end for me, as it turned from Beck's personal career to a sketchy analysis of the rise of Beck's 9/12 Tea Party movement. I think the current nature of the Tea Party movement, and the simple fact that whatever his intentions may have been, the Tea Party is no longer Glenn Beck's baby (if it ever was), prevented Zaitchik from gaining as solid a grasp on the subject as he had on Beck. But the majority of the book, the careful delineation and analysis of Glenn Beck's rise from zany morning DJ on Top 40 stations, to the media mogul he is today, was fascinating. This is a study in what it takes to build one of those meteoric rises that so define modern public figures -- though this particular meteoric rise is fueled by lies and ignorance, by hate and fear, by appealing to the lowest common denominator and every selfish, self-righteous taint on the collective American consciousness. I thought the book was great, and would recommend it, though of course, Beck fans risk being upset by the author's disapprobation. It still might be interesting, however, to read about why Beck acts the way he does on camera, why he cries, why he professes simplicity and ignorance, and why he talks about America the way he does. Maybe it would be worthwhile to take a look behind the mask. It was for me.
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