Since it seemed, in posting these things last year, that I would always wait until I had several of them lined up and then post them all at once, I have decided to do things a little differently this year: I'm going to put up single posts, one per month, that cover that month's entire reading. I am going to continue pretending that people actually read this, even though I know better. Meh. I still like having a public celebration of my reading. Books are good, and should be talked about more on the internet -- and I mean in ways other that picking apart Laurell Hamilton's personal life and starting flame wars over Twilight.
So here's the book list for January.
Oh, I've also settled on a slightly different format for these. I like it better.
1. Naomi Novik: Empire of Ivory 1/2
2. Laurell K. Hamilton: Seduced by Moonlight 1/5
3. Patricia Briggs: Cry Wolf 1/9
4. Merrill Markoe: What the Dogs Have Taught Me 1/13
5. Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time 1/16
6. Trudi Canavan: The Magician's Apprentice 1/31
Empire of Ivory
Pick:
This was the fourth Temeraire book; I thought it would be nice to start the New Year off with dragons. Plus I was hoping for pirates. For my money, you can't go wrong with dragons and pirates in a New Year. I also wanted to finish up a fantasy series, since I'm trying to juggle so many of them simultaneously. Well, this series isn't actually finished, since Novik is still writing these and I still want to read the new ones as they arrive, but at least I'm caught up with what's already available.
Story:
The story was good, though sometimes heartwrenching. It picks up just where the last one left off, with Temeraire coming home to England at last, and carrying several dozen Austrian refugees, fleeing Napoleon's Grand Armee. They make it across the channel despite being harassed by French dragons, and they land at the covert infuriated because nobody came to help -- and not a little worried, as well. And they have cause to be: it turns out that the dragons are sick. All of them. A plague has spread among England's dragons, a respiratory illness that acts much like tuberculosis, and England's skies are pretty much empty. In addition, the situation with Napeoleon is so dire -- he has now conquered every major European power but England, and the Brits don't have enough dragons to keep him from invading by air, as he tried to do in the first book -- that Temeraire is forced to put his plans for dragon emancipation on hold. The government is simply too concerned with finding a cure to worry about equal dragon rights.
It turns out, however, that Temeraire cannot catch the disease; he developed an immunity when he had a minor case that was cured before it could reach the same stage of coughing, exhaustion, and lack of appetite that has grounded all of England's Air Corps. So Temeraire and friends head out to retrace their steps; they remember that he was sick on the voyage to China, but got better just before they rounded Africa -- the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn, I never remember which it is. They discover that there is a particularly vile and gruesome looking mushroom that Temeraire ate in a stew, when his new Chinese chef was experimenting with new flavors, that does, indeed, cure the illness, and Temeraire's old troop, including Lily and Maximus, are saved. But when they fly into the interior of the Dark Continent to find more of the mushrooms, they find something unexpected: a kingdom of men and dragons, living together, who are just about to go to war against the European invaders who have colonized their land and kidnapped their people into slavery. A people that not only grow these necessary mushrooms in quantity, but who resent their being stolen -- and who take the British soldiers prisoner, and threaten them with execution.
Thoughts:
It's a great story, with all kinds of action, and it was only strengthened by the inclusion of the theme of basic rights and basic human -- and dragon -- dignity. Most impressive, and enjoyable. I thought it was a little bit too much, in some ways, because it seems like every book features a new culture of dragons on a new continent -- first we had Europe, then Asia, then Asia Minor, now Africa. If the next book goes to North America or Australia, it might require some eye-rolling. In this case, it also meant that I didn't get to see enough of the new culture, since the ongoing story of the Napoleonic Wars took up much of the action, so the African dragons were more of a tease -- but since they are probably out of the story for now, that's fine. The ending was great, but also a serious cliffhanger, so I very much want to read the next one.
Seduced by Moonlight
Pick:
Toni and I had a brief fling with the Amazon Laurell Hamilton discussions; I got an e-mail update on one of the threads that featured my old pal Ahvenge, so I went and looked, and said mean things to her; she returned the favor in her own inimitably stupid way, and then Toni jumped in and got mocked, and so on, so on. So I was thinking about Hamilton, and since I have no more Anita Blake books to read, I went for this one; I've been enjoying Merry Gentry and want to see how the series progresses. Though honestly, since I'm writing this two weeks after I read the book, I can't remember whether the book or the online crap came first; I might have just picked this up on a whim as something different from Napoleonic dragons.
Story:
The story dragged out too much, which has occasionally been a failing of Hamilton's. She has such excellent descriptions, and such cool world-building ideas, that I feel like her plots sometimes get lost in all of the descriptive stuff; it happened a couple of times with the Anita Blake books -- you know, the ones that get accused of being mindless porn by those e-dolts -- and it happened with this one.
This is the story of Merry going back to the Unseelie Court in order to honor Queen Andais before she goes to her ball at the Seelie court; this was the plotline that was left hanging at the end of the second book, when Merry finally let herself be convinced to visit her crazy uncle Taranis. And in this 400 page book, she never makes it to the Seelie court. That's what I mean about it being dragged out. I'm a little tired of the goblins, as well; I feel like the negotiations have just gone on too long. But at least they came to an arrangement, Merry and the goblin king.
On the other hand, the Unseelie intrigue was outstanding: the revelation of the villain, the faction that tried to put a hit on Merry, was a great scene and a cool idea -- I like that the nobles are worried about her becoming Queen and what it might mean for their immortality. The plotline of Merry somehow being the conduit for the goddess Danu, and bringing the magic back to the Sidhe, is extra cool, as well. I like the way Hamilton wrote the sex scenes in these books; they're different from the Blake scenes, more emotional and poetic and thus romantic, and it's nice. I'm enjoying the continuing revelations about the Guards, who they used to be and who they might be again, and I was extremely glad to see that, even though she is still clinging to power, Andais seems genuinely willing to step down if and when Merry is ready to step up.
Thoughts:
The world is growing more interesting, as are the characters; I'm glad the whole private eye aspect seems to be falling by the wayside. I look forward to seeing more plot movement in the next book -- because if they don't get to the Seelie court in that one, I'll be peeved. But if they do, I expect to enjoy the book immensely. Can't wait until Cel gets out of prison. Should be a hoot.
Cry Wolf
Pick:
Toni said I should read it. I tried reading my new Portable Atheist first, and got through a few essays; I enjoyed them and will continue reading them as much as possible in between books -- though I think I should finish the Emerson essays first -- but it's just too much thinkin' for late at night. So, more paranormal stuff. And another new series, sort of -- why the hell not?
Story:
Fantastic idea, the Omega wolf. If there are Alpha wolves, males who dominate and control and protect, and who enrage and irritate all other wolves, then there should also be their opposite: a female wolf, who calms, who eases the irritation and rage of all other wolves. Really just a brilliant thought. Wish I'd had it.
The story was also excellent: this is an example of great plotting as the focus, rather than world-building. It helped that some of the background was already laid out in the Mercy Thompson books, but really, this book focused on a part of that world that we never got very much information about, Bran the Marrok's pack, family, and history. But the nice thing about it was that the story actually had a life of its own, and the background info was woven into the story line.
The story line featured a truly nasty witch, who ruined a wolf's life centuries ago; that wolf has been going more than a little crazy since (He lost his boo; who wouldn't go crazy?) and has come to the Marrok hoping Bran will either help him, or kill him -- and he's leaning toward the latter. The witch comes back into his life, as she has been hunting him all along; she's nuts, but extremely powerful, and she makes everything go higgledy-piggledy. But fortunately, the Marrok's enforcer, his son Charles, is ready for her, sort of. More importantly, he has help: his new sweetie, a rare Omega wolf, who he rescued from an abusive pack and immediately fell in love with -- well, his wolf did; sort of like Anita and Micah in Hamilton's series. And though things almost hit bottom, they turn out all right in the end, with a lot of help from various people.
Thoughts:
Like I said, Anna, the Omega wolf, is an outstanding idea. I also loved the revelations about Bran's past, and Charles and Samuel, as well -- and my favorite revelation of all, the explanation as to why Bran has such a bitch for a wife. I think this series has limitless potential for future stories, since Charles and Bran and Samuel, and now Anna, have responsibilities that could touch on any area of the world, really, and certainly anywhere in the US, and deal with any concern that affects werewolves at all. This should be a good series -- maybe even better than Mercy Thompson. Though at this point, Mercy's a better character than Anna, who didn't get enough story time to really develop as a character. I'm sure that will be rectified in later books. Which I'll be reading.
What the Dogs Have Taught Me
Pick:
Toni recommended this one, too; actually, she read something like a third of it to me while she was reading it and laughing. Since it was a big change from my last, and since I'm always looking for inspiration for essays as well as novels, I went for it.
Story:
The ideas were interesting, but actually, I thought the essays should have been longer. I understand that these came from Merrill Markoe's professional portfolio, as a writer for magazines, but it felt like some of them got cut off before they could really finish, or were too brief in their development. I guess I'm too interested in longer works, and have been spoiled by David Foster Wallace and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Hmmm. Should I go by three names for my essays? I've always liked Theoden John Humphrey -- but it seems so pretentious to me. What, I need my middle name to set me apart from all the other Theoden Humphreys? Don't think so. And if I use my nickname, it starts sounding like a Southern double name -- Dusty John, Dusty Theoden (ick), Dusty Teddy . . . Nah.
Anyway, apart from the too-short format for some of them, the essays were most interesting. I liked her pet ones best; she has a great ability to write in a dog's voice -- which is, of course, what attracted us to her writing in the first place. I liked the topics of some of the non-pet ones, though the seminars she goes to in order to Find her New Career! were more than a little creepy; I can't imagine myself doing that. Overall I think my favorite essays were "Something Very Important," when Puppyboy tries to cheer up Merrill's friend by getting him to play with his deflated soccer ball, and "My Dinner with Fabio," because, hey, it's Fabio. I really enjoyed the way she wrote it as a romance novel, and Fabio himself was hilarious. Will there ever be, could there ever be, another Fabio? I think not, and the world is poorer for the lack of Fabio these days.
Thoughts:
I'd like to read her other novels. I'm not too sure about more essays that are the same length as these, though I would love to read longer ones. She has great ideas for writing, and she's a solid wordsmith, but I don't like the made-for-publication fluff-piece feel of these.
A Wrinkle in Time
Pick:
Found it going through the box of books-to-be-sold in the closet I cleaned out, along with both sequels, A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. I always meant to read them and never did. And this seemed like a nice, light read, good for my brain as I head into the last week of the first semester -- only two more Freshmen classes left! Woot!
Story:
Excellent, of course -- it's an award-winning classic. I like that it defies genre, with a science fiction edge to the plotline, granted by the idea of tesseracts and the kids' physicist father, along with the fantasy elements of the three angels, Whatsit, who, and Which (great names, too), and the coming-of-age/social commentary of the three kids and the worlds they visit. I love L'Engle's idea of evil, as we see on Camazotz: a total lack of free will, absolute conformity. The scene with the kids bouncing balls and skipping rope in unison, and the follow up piece with the aberrant child being tortured as he learns to toe the line, follow the rhythm properly, was wonderfully disturbing. I plan to write about it.
Thoughts:
I liked the characters, I liked the sudden ending, I loved the feel of it and the message. It inspired me, and that's always the best outcome of reading. I'm going to enjoy the next two, as well.
The Magician's Apprentice
Pick:
This one came from Jaime; she got a book delivery (Isn't that a nice phrase?) of several advanced reader copies, including one fantasy book; she said she immediately thought, "Oh, that one's for Dusty." I love it. I'm getting a reputation. She showed it to me and I was excited, because I've had the first novel in Trudi Canavan's trilogy for a while but haven't gotten around to reading it, and the back of this one says it is a standalone novel set in the same world -- excuse me, a "breathtaking" standalone novel set in the same world. Sweet, so now I'll know whether or not I want to try the whole Black Magician trilogy, and get a chance to review a good fantasy book at the same time.
Story:
My excitement about the book didn't last long. I think it took me about fifty pages, out of this nigh-600 page trade paperback, to realize something: this book is boring. Staggeringly boring. Breathtaking? Not unless you count yawns. A fantasy book of this size should take me perhaps a week to read, considering work and such; this one took me two, and would have taken more if I hadn't gritted my teeth and set to it, like Sisyphus with his boulder. As it is I have lost several good hours that could have been spent reading something I would have enjoyed.
My one caveat with this is that it is possible that this standalone novel doesn't really stand alone; the book might have been utterly fascinating for people who have read the Black Magician trilogy. There are certainly links, since the same country, Kyralia, is the primary setting in both books, and the characters in this book decide to found a magician's guild, which is the title and presumably a major part of the first book in the trilogy. So it may be that my enjoyment of The Magician's Apprentice was doomed from the start. But I don't think so. The problems I had with the book went far beyond missed references and vague characterizations -- things that readers of the trilogy would have known coming in to this book -- and into the realm of bad writing.
Let's start with the nitpicking, shall we? I'm not normally the type to obsess over trivialities, but these were unavoidable because my attention was drawn to them. First: names. This wouldn't have been an issue for me at all, since the names of the characters and places are fine, standard fantasy names that don't go too far into Arggnocxthophlackarogathor territory. Except one of the characters drew attention to it: a man named Hanara is told his name should be shortened to Hanar now that he is living in Kyralia, as no Kyralian man would have a name ending in -a. No, the Kyralian men have names ending in -n. Dakon, Jayan, Mikken, Aken, Narvelan, Sabin, Everran, Orran, Berin, Olleran, Werrin, Crannin, Bolvin -- it goes on and on. And that would be fine if it was standard for the people of Kyralia to end male names in -n -- except there are men whose names don't, including the king, Errik, and his head magician, Wayel. The problem with names is worsened by another poor choice that Canavan (Note the -n. Coincidence?) made, a choice many fantasy authors make: she chose to rename some everyday objects, particularly food and drink, and animals. A sheep is not a sheep, it is a reber. A chicken is a rassook. Coffee is raka in one land, and suka in another. There is a glossary at the back to explain these new names, but really, what is the point? This doesn't add to the atmosphere of a created world, because after all, they are speaking English; and while some things have new names, a chair is still a chair and a house is still a house. Worst of all, if she wanted to rename all the animals, she missed one prominent instance: they ride on horses, while they are leading their rebers to market after a dinner of fried rassook and suka. But in the grand scheme of things, this is a minor annoyance. As was the second nit I would pick, which is, sadly, a nit I never thought I would pick: editing. I know the book is an ARC, and so will not be perfectly edited -- but reading this was often like reading one of my high school students' essays. There were words that made utterly no sense where they appeared in the text, but it was fairly clear that they were transcribed from a handwritten manuscript -- the use of "faced" where "faded" would have made sense, for instance. Or this sentence: "Stara searched the rock surface, frowning as she Friend to find what Ichiva was drawing her attention to." Shouldn't that say "tried?" Now, I can usually ignore typos, but these are the kinds of mistakes that interrupt the flow of the book, and force me to think about the words themselves -- and that makes me think the book never even made it to an editor, because anyone with any competence in editing would have caught these mistakes.
And this book could really use an editor. Because beyond the nitpicking, there are real problems here. The book could just as well be named "The Magician's Anticlimax," because everything that happens is built up and then allowed to simply deflate like a leaking bicycle tire. For the first half of the book, everything happens off stage: a messenger comes and tells the magicians that their town has been invaded and sacked; they go to look, and the title character, Tessia, learns that her parents have been killed. She looks at their graves, is sad, and then they leave. Then as they pursue the invaders, coming on town after town that has been sacked just before they get there, two of their number are captured and tortured, and the point of view characters wait while someone else goes to investigate -- and then refuses to tell the gruesome details. The most important secret of magic, the ability to draw strength from others and store it for one's own use (a fairly horrifying vampiric act, and one that is completely glossed over despite the fact that bloodletting is part of the process), is held back at first, until it is taught to the apprentices in a scene lasting about half a page, when they find out it isn't very complicated at all. The majority of the book is a description of the Kyralian magicians chasing after the invading army, but for most of that time, they do nothing but follow and discuss what they will do if and when they ever catch them. They do love their discussions in this book. Of course, since the point of view characters are the apprentices, they don't take part in the discussions. So for the reader, most of the book is about watching groups of men gather to talk about strategy and other topics which you wouldn't care about even if you could hear it.
And speaking of strategy, the author should have learned some. Not that I expect or want every fantasy book to be a military text, but this book is about war, and so should have at least some insight. Despite spending countless hours debating, the only strategy either side uses in this book is, "Let's wait until we have more men than the other guys." The battle plans are simply this: everybody line up and zap them while shielding yourself. The winner of every conflict is the side that has managed to store more magical strength. And despite an apprentice making an important discovery -- non-magical weapons, especially the element of surprise, can be used to great effect against magicians (He sets a storehouse full of "whitewater" on fire, which forces the magicians pursuing him to use up their stored power shielding themselves from the blast -- which I assume makes whitewater something like kerosene? Turpentine? Maybe petroleum? Oh no, the glossary tells me it is "pure spirits made from tugors [a tugor is a "parsnip-like root]." So there you go.), they never pick up on it, and the next fight is still a magical game of Red Rover. Ten guys with bows, hidden in a forest -- or one sneaky guy at night with a knife -- could take out every magician in this book, and yet nobody has ever figured that out; not even those whom the magicians have oppressed and enslaved. Hard to believe. As is the great magical revelation in this book, the title character's discovery of how to heal with magic. I could understand the magicians in this world not knowing complex things like the inner workings of the body, which is part of Tessia's special insight into healing, as she is the daughter and formerly the apprentice of a healer -- and the parts when she uses her specialized knowledge to heal are some of the most interesting in the book -- but the big secret of actually helping the body to heal itself? Put magical power into the body -- which then heals itself. I refuse to believe that generations of magicians have never figured that out until now. Just like I refuse to believe that nobody has come up with a better way to fight than "Line up and shoot."
I have gone on too long, I know, but this much unenjoyable reading deserves some kind of outlet, dangit. I haven't even gotten to the subplot about Stara, the beautiful wife and daughter of the evil Sachakan invaders. Of course, since her story takes up a hundred or so pages and has absolutely, utterly no point at all, perhaps I shouldn't get to it.
Thoughts:
This was not a good book. It was boring, poorly plotted, poorly written, and poorly conceived. I think I have my answer about the author's trilogy set in the same world: no thank you.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The Wrap Up
So that's it; that's the year in books for me. It was a good one, though I think I worried a bit more than I should have about the accomplishment of reading, rather than the enjoyment of it; I got a little wrapped up in reading as many books as possible, writing stellar reviews for all of them, and keeping careful count of how many books I read and when I read them. I blame the Amazon reviewer ratings for most of that. Or my own obsessions and competitive mania. Either way.
Best Book of the Year: There wasn't a single book that stood out above the rest, really, but I'm most glad about getting to read the Anita Blake series. So pick any book out of those.
Worst Book That I Finished: You know, thanks to Jaime and her book review books, and my own curiosity about crap piles like Venti Jesus and Stubby Amberchuk, I read a lot of bad books this year. A lot. But I'm giving the prize to Breaking Dawn and fucking Renesmee: that book wasn't just bad, it actually ruined three good books because it made the whole series bad.
Worst Book That I Didn't Finish: Probably Eldest, because the author is so clearly arrogant and condescending in the book that it isn't only unpleasant, but also offensively bad.
Book That Was the Most Fun to Make Fun of: Happy Hour of the Damned
Most Surprisingly Enjoyable Book: Either Heloise and Abelard or The BFG.
Most Inspiring Book: As a writer, Tree and Leaf. As a person, Fifty Acres and a Poodle.
Most Demoralizing Book: Twinkie Deconstructed
Book That Made Me Laugh the Most: Why We Suck
Saddest Book: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
On to 2009! Woo hoo!
Book List 2008:
1. The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace 1/2/08
2. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews 1/4/08
3. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman 1/6/08
4. Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold 1/12/08
5. Sandman I: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman 1/13/08
6. You Suck by Christopher Moore 1/15/08
7. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood 1/20/08
8. Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn 1/21/08
9. Empire by Orson Scott Card 1/30/08
10. Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno 2/1/08
11. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer 2/5/08
12. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett 2/7/08
13. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne 2/9/08
14. Lamb by Christopher Moore 2/16/08 (?)
15. Sandman II: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman 2/23/08 (?)
16. Hex and the City by Simon R. Green 3/2/08
17. Ricochet River by Robin Cody 3/6/08 (?)
18. Greywalker by Kat Richardson 3/11/08
19. Mimi and Toutou Go Forth by Giles Foden 3/16/08
20. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer 3/22/08
21. The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King 3/24
22. The Codex Alera Book I: The Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher 3/28
23. Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger 4/2
24. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer 4/7
25. Venti Jesus, Please by Greg Stier 4/7
26. Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida by Victor Martinez 4/11
27. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr 4/15
28. White Knight by Jim Butcher 4/19
29. Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson 4/23
30. The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison 5/2
31. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 5/10
32. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer 5/11
33. Resistance by Owen Sheers 5/16
34. Achilles' Choice by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes 5/17
35. The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King 5/20
36. Sunrise over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers 5/24
37. Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn 5/26
38. Heloise and Abelard: A New Biography by James Burge 6/1
39. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris 6/3
40. The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower by Lisa Graff 6/7
41. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris 6/10
42. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat 6/14
43. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris 6/15
44. The Iron Ring by Lloyd Alexander 6/17
45. Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines 6/20
46. Small Favor by Jim Butcher 6/22
47. The Wastelands by Stephen King 6/29
48. Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry 7/2
49. Utopia by Thomas More 7/6
50. Guilty Pleasures by Laurell Hamilton 7/7
51. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller 7/8
52. The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton 7/13
53. Conquistador by S.M. Stirling 7/18
54. Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton 7/21
55. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson 7/29
56. The Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K. Hamilton 7/30
57. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik 7/31
58. Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton 8/1 Woo! Four in a row!
59. The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks 8/4
60. The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton 8/6
61. Goblin Hero by Jim C. Hines 8/8
62. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer 8/11
63. Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton 8/13
64. Stubby Amberchuk and the Holy Grail by Anne Cameron 8/16
65. Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton 8/18
66. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown 8/21
67. Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton 8/27
68. Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik 8/29
69. Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton 9/2
70. The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow 9/5
71. Cerulean Sins by Laurell K. Hamilton 9/8
72. Black Powder War by Naomi Novik 9/11
73. Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton 9/16 (?)
74. I, robot by Isaac Asimov starring Will Smith by Howard S. Smith 9/21
75. Micah by Laurell K. Hamilton 9/21
76. Tree and Leaf by J.R.R. Tolkien 9/22
77. Descartes' Bones by Russell Shorto 9/27
78. Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton 10/1
79. The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer 10/6
80. The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton 10/8
81. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 10/10
82. Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Allison Goodman 10/12
83. Sandman III: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman 10/13
84. Fifty Acres and a Poodle by Jeanne Marie Laskas 10/16
85. Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton 10/22
86. Possession by Chris Humphreys 10/25
87. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs 10/28
88. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs 10/31
89. Wizard and Glass by Stephen King 11/8
90. The BFG by Roald Dahl 11/9
91. Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher 11/13
92. Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout 11/17
93. A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton 11/21
94. Walking in Circles Before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe 11/22
95. Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb 11/29
96. Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? by Allyson Beatrice 12/2
97. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn 12/4
98. Dope Sick by Walter Dean Myers 12/5
99. Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris 12/9
100. A Universal History of the Destruction of Books by Fernando Baez 12/13
101. Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up by Dave Barry 12/15
102. In The Best Families by Rex Stout 12/16
103. A Caress of Twilight by Laurell K. Hamilton 12/19
104. Dog Days by John Levitt 12/23
105. King's Property by Morgan Howell 12/26
106. Why We Suck by Dr. Denis Leary 12/27
107. Goblin War by Jim C. Hines 12/30
108. The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason 12/31
**Tried and Rejected:
Be Sweet: A Memoir of Conditional Love by Roy Blount, Jr.
Crossroads of Twilight (Put off temporarily)
The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Put off temporarily -- twice)
The Tyranny of the Night by Glen Cook
The Man Who Ate the 747 by Ben Sherwood
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
Shadow Play by Charles Baxter
Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart by Jane Lindskold
Eldest by Christopher Paolini
V for Vendetta: The Novelization of the Film by Steve Moore
Best Book of the Year: There wasn't a single book that stood out above the rest, really, but I'm most glad about getting to read the Anita Blake series. So pick any book out of those.
Worst Book That I Finished: You know, thanks to Jaime and her book review books, and my own curiosity about crap piles like Venti Jesus and Stubby Amberchuk, I read a lot of bad books this year. A lot. But I'm giving the prize to Breaking Dawn and fucking Renesmee: that book wasn't just bad, it actually ruined three good books because it made the whole series bad.
Worst Book That I Didn't Finish: Probably Eldest, because the author is so clearly arrogant and condescending in the book that it isn't only unpleasant, but also offensively bad.
Book That Was the Most Fun to Make Fun of: Happy Hour of the Damned
Most Surprisingly Enjoyable Book: Either Heloise and Abelard or The BFG.
Most Inspiring Book: As a writer, Tree and Leaf. As a person, Fifty Acres and a Poodle.
Most Demoralizing Book: Twinkie Deconstructed
Book That Made Me Laugh the Most: Why We Suck
Saddest Book: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
On to 2009! Woo hoo!
Book List 2008:
1. The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace 1/2/08
2. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews 1/4/08
3. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman 1/6/08
4. Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold 1/12/08
5. Sandman I: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman 1/13/08
6. You Suck by Christopher Moore 1/15/08
7. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood 1/20/08
8. Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn 1/21/08
9. Empire by Orson Scott Card 1/30/08
10. Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno 2/1/08
11. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer 2/5/08
12. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett 2/7/08
13. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne 2/9/08
14. Lamb by Christopher Moore 2/16/08 (?)
15. Sandman II: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman 2/23/08 (?)
16. Hex and the City by Simon R. Green 3/2/08
17. Ricochet River by Robin Cody 3/6/08 (?)
18. Greywalker by Kat Richardson 3/11/08
19. Mimi and Toutou Go Forth by Giles Foden 3/16/08
20. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer 3/22/08
21. The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King 3/24
22. The Codex Alera Book I: The Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher 3/28
23. Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger 4/2
24. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer 4/7
25. Venti Jesus, Please by Greg Stier 4/7
26. Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida by Victor Martinez 4/11
27. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr 4/15
28. White Knight by Jim Butcher 4/19
29. Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson 4/23
30. The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison 5/2
31. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 5/10
32. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer 5/11
33. Resistance by Owen Sheers 5/16
34. Achilles' Choice by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes 5/17
35. The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King 5/20
36. Sunrise over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers 5/24
37. Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn 5/26
38. Heloise and Abelard: A New Biography by James Burge 6/1
39. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris 6/3
40. The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower by Lisa Graff 6/7
41. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris 6/10
42. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat 6/14
43. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris 6/15
44. The Iron Ring by Lloyd Alexander 6/17
45. Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines 6/20
46. Small Favor by Jim Butcher 6/22
47. The Wastelands by Stephen King 6/29
48. Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry 7/2
49. Utopia by Thomas More 7/6
50. Guilty Pleasures by Laurell Hamilton 7/7
51. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller 7/8
52. The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton 7/13
53. Conquistador by S.M. Stirling 7/18
54. Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton 7/21
55. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson 7/29
56. The Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K. Hamilton 7/30
57. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik 7/31
58. Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton 8/1 Woo! Four in a row!
59. The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks 8/4
60. The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton 8/6
61. Goblin Hero by Jim C. Hines 8/8
62. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer 8/11
63. Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton 8/13
64. Stubby Amberchuk and the Holy Grail by Anne Cameron 8/16
65. Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton 8/18
66. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown 8/21
67. Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton 8/27
68. Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik 8/29
69. Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton 9/2
70. The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow 9/5
71. Cerulean Sins by Laurell K. Hamilton 9/8
72. Black Powder War by Naomi Novik 9/11
73. Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton 9/16 (?)
74. I, robot by Isaac Asimov starring Will Smith by Howard S. Smith 9/21
75. Micah by Laurell K. Hamilton 9/21
76. Tree and Leaf by J.R.R. Tolkien 9/22
77. Descartes' Bones by Russell Shorto 9/27
78. Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton 10/1
79. The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer 10/6
80. The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton 10/8
81. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 10/10
82. Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Allison Goodman 10/12
83. Sandman III: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman 10/13
84. Fifty Acres and a Poodle by Jeanne Marie Laskas 10/16
85. Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton 10/22
86. Possession by Chris Humphreys 10/25
87. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs 10/28
88. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs 10/31
89. Wizard and Glass by Stephen King 11/8
90. The BFG by Roald Dahl 11/9
91. Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher 11/13
92. Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout 11/17
93. A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton 11/21
94. Walking in Circles Before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe 11/22
95. Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb 11/29
96. Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? by Allyson Beatrice 12/2
97. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn 12/4
98. Dope Sick by Walter Dean Myers 12/5
99. Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris 12/9
100. A Universal History of the Destruction of Books by Fernando Baez 12/13
101. Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up by Dave Barry 12/15
102. In The Best Families by Rex Stout 12/16
103. A Caress of Twilight by Laurell K. Hamilton 12/19
104. Dog Days by John Levitt 12/23
105. King's Property by Morgan Howell 12/26
106. Why We Suck by Dr. Denis Leary 12/27
107. Goblin War by Jim C. Hines 12/30
108. The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason 12/31
**Tried and Rejected:
Be Sweet: A Memoir of Conditional Love by Roy Blount, Jr.
Crossroads of Twilight (Put off temporarily)
The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Put off temporarily -- twice)
The Tyranny of the Night by Glen Cook
The Man Who Ate the 747 by Ben Sherwood
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
Shadow Play by Charles Baxter
Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart by Jane Lindskold
Eldest by Christopher Paolini
V for Vendetta: The Novelization of the Film by Steve Moore
Book #108
The Rule of Four
by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
I rushed this one, trying to get it in before the year was ended; I managed to read it in about 24 hours, and so here we are with the 108th and final book of 2008.
It was okay: the writing was excellent, the characters were nice, but the plot was a little bland. The setting didn't help, either, as it did not lend itself to either interesting stories or characterizations and descriptions that I could relate to -- though I'm sure Princeton alumni loved every second of it. The basic story begins with four friends, all seniors at Princeton, who are heading into their last month at the school. Charlie is moving on to become a doctor, though he hasn't picked a med school yet; Gil has no apparent plans, but also little need of them owing to his family's wealth and his own general competence and winning personality; Tom, the narrator, has to make a decision whether he wants to pursue a PhD in Literature, or take a job offer from an internet startup with more money than mission in its business model. The last of the four, Paul is still working on his senior thesis, and time is running out. But Paul's thesis is not simple: he is looking to solve a 500-year-old riddle, in the form of a mysterious and puzzling book from the 15th century.
The good part about this book was definitely in the character interactions. The authors did an excellent job of making these friends seem both realistic, and special in their abilities and their bond with each other; they also wrote an outstanding romance, between Tom and his girlfriend, Katie, who forces Tom to choose between his own share in Paul's obsession with the ancient book -- a book that Tom's own father spent his life trying to decipher, a pastime that influenced Tom in more ways than he knows -- and his ever-growing love for her. Although the romance ends well, it is not a simple, happily-ever-after story, which was both refreshing and annoying, as such endings are. The villains in this book, though they do not dominate the storyline -- the focus is as much on the friendships as anything else -- are outstanding: mysterious, vile, infuriating, and also realistic and very much complex human beings, just like the heroes.
My complaint about this book relates to the mysterious book. The mystery was not terribly interesting, nor was the solution; the Rule of Four is nothing deserving of a title reference, despite a weak attempt to make it more meaningful than it was. And while I was pleased to get the answer, it was far too obscure to have any real meaning for me personally; this is a mystery, a solution, and a set of implications that really only matter for Renaissance scholars, which I ain't. So while I liked reading about these people -- apart from the unconscious elitism, such as when the narrator castigates himself for leaving Katie in the lurch when she needs him: when she is dealing with the pressure of applying for membership in one of the exclusive Princeton dining clubs. Yeah. That's rough. -- I didn't really care for the events they were going through, which made me want the book to move on from its own plot. This is not the way a thriller should read.
All in all, I'd like to read another book by these authors, as long as it isn't set in an Ivy league school and it doesn't center around a five-hundred-year-old diary.
by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
I rushed this one, trying to get it in before the year was ended; I managed to read it in about 24 hours, and so here we are with the 108th and final book of 2008.
It was okay: the writing was excellent, the characters were nice, but the plot was a little bland. The setting didn't help, either, as it did not lend itself to either interesting stories or characterizations and descriptions that I could relate to -- though I'm sure Princeton alumni loved every second of it. The basic story begins with four friends, all seniors at Princeton, who are heading into their last month at the school. Charlie is moving on to become a doctor, though he hasn't picked a med school yet; Gil has no apparent plans, but also little need of them owing to his family's wealth and his own general competence and winning personality; Tom, the narrator, has to make a decision whether he wants to pursue a PhD in Literature, or take a job offer from an internet startup with more money than mission in its business model. The last of the four, Paul is still working on his senior thesis, and time is running out. But Paul's thesis is not simple: he is looking to solve a 500-year-old riddle, in the form of a mysterious and puzzling book from the 15th century.
The good part about this book was definitely in the character interactions. The authors did an excellent job of making these friends seem both realistic, and special in their abilities and their bond with each other; they also wrote an outstanding romance, between Tom and his girlfriend, Katie, who forces Tom to choose between his own share in Paul's obsession with the ancient book -- a book that Tom's own father spent his life trying to decipher, a pastime that influenced Tom in more ways than he knows -- and his ever-growing love for her. Although the romance ends well, it is not a simple, happily-ever-after story, which was both refreshing and annoying, as such endings are. The villains in this book, though they do not dominate the storyline -- the focus is as much on the friendships as anything else -- are outstanding: mysterious, vile, infuriating, and also realistic and very much complex human beings, just like the heroes.
My complaint about this book relates to the mysterious book. The mystery was not terribly interesting, nor was the solution; the Rule of Four is nothing deserving of a title reference, despite a weak attempt to make it more meaningful than it was. And while I was pleased to get the answer, it was far too obscure to have any real meaning for me personally; this is a mystery, a solution, and a set of implications that really only matter for Renaissance scholars, which I ain't. So while I liked reading about these people -- apart from the unconscious elitism, such as when the narrator castigates himself for leaving Katie in the lurch when she needs him: when she is dealing with the pressure of applying for membership in one of the exclusive Princeton dining clubs. Yeah. That's rough. -- I didn't really care for the events they were going through, which made me want the book to move on from its own plot. This is not the way a thriller should read.
All in all, I'd like to read another book by these authors, as long as it isn't set in an Ivy league school and it doesn't center around a five-hundred-year-old diary.
Book #107
Goblin War
by Jim C. Hines
I made a bit of a mistake in picking this one, I think; I love the goblin books, and it seemed like the right genre choice after reading Leary's caustic non-fiction memoir/social commentary, but I wasn't really in the mood for this book right at this time. It made me shy away from reading it, so it took longer than it should have, and I didn't really pay as much attention to this one as I did to the first two.
That being said, this was a great book, especially the ending. This one wrapped up Jig's story beautifully; since most of the fantasy and paranormal series I read don't actually have an ending, getting to the finish line here was a very nice change, particularly since I liked the finish line. I liked everything leading up to it, as well, of course, just as I have with all three of Hines's books about Jig's adventures.
This one starts off with the goblins leaving the lair because their mountain, sealed off in the first book and then unsealed in the second, is under attack by humans. The goblins lose, of course, since that is what goblins do, and a few dozen are taken as slaves to work on shoring up the defenses of a nearby human town -- a town that is soon to come under assault from a massive army of monsters, everything from goblins to kobolds to orcs, led by an orc named Billa the Bloody. Jig and two of his companions escape, and go to seek out this monster who has managed to unite such disparate and troublesome races into a single group; when they find that the rumors are true, and all of these monsters are really working together to fight off the humans, Jig and his friends eagerly sign up -- at last, Jig thinks, there is a chance for the goblins to be free of the humans, to escape the neverending flow of adventurers and treasure seekers who keep troming into the lair and killing as many goblins as they can find. Maybe if Billa can win this war, all of the goblins can live in peace.
We also get to hear the backstory of Tymalous Shadowstar, Jig's patron deity; scenes from his downfall are woven into Jig's story, and make for excellent little vignettes all by themselves as well as showing more about the god of peace who became the patron of goblins. The two stories come together when it turns out that Billa the Bloody is, like Jig, the champion of one of the Forgotten Gods, but this god has different plans for the monsters, and Jig and Tymalous have to decide whether they are with Billa and her master, or against them.
As I said, it all works out in the end -- though like the previous books, because these characters are goblins and their ilk, no character is safe here; all of them are expendable, and some of them are expended. But the book was great fun to read, and I look forward to Jim Hines's next series.
by Jim C. Hines
I made a bit of a mistake in picking this one, I think; I love the goblin books, and it seemed like the right genre choice after reading Leary's caustic non-fiction memoir/social commentary, but I wasn't really in the mood for this book right at this time. It made me shy away from reading it, so it took longer than it should have, and I didn't really pay as much attention to this one as I did to the first two.
That being said, this was a great book, especially the ending. This one wrapped up Jig's story beautifully; since most of the fantasy and paranormal series I read don't actually have an ending, getting to the finish line here was a very nice change, particularly since I liked the finish line. I liked everything leading up to it, as well, of course, just as I have with all three of Hines's books about Jig's adventures.
This one starts off with the goblins leaving the lair because their mountain, sealed off in the first book and then unsealed in the second, is under attack by humans. The goblins lose, of course, since that is what goblins do, and a few dozen are taken as slaves to work on shoring up the defenses of a nearby human town -- a town that is soon to come under assault from a massive army of monsters, everything from goblins to kobolds to orcs, led by an orc named Billa the Bloody. Jig and two of his companions escape, and go to seek out this monster who has managed to unite such disparate and troublesome races into a single group; when they find that the rumors are true, and all of these monsters are really working together to fight off the humans, Jig and his friends eagerly sign up -- at last, Jig thinks, there is a chance for the goblins to be free of the humans, to escape the neverending flow of adventurers and treasure seekers who keep troming into the lair and killing as many goblins as they can find. Maybe if Billa can win this war, all of the goblins can live in peace.
We also get to hear the backstory of Tymalous Shadowstar, Jig's patron deity; scenes from his downfall are woven into Jig's story, and make for excellent little vignettes all by themselves as well as showing more about the god of peace who became the patron of goblins. The two stories come together when it turns out that Billa the Bloody is, like Jig, the champion of one of the Forgotten Gods, but this god has different plans for the monsters, and Jig and Tymalous have to decide whether they are with Billa and her master, or against them.
As I said, it all works out in the end -- though like the previous books, because these characters are goblins and their ilk, no character is safe here; all of them are expendable, and some of them are expended. But the book was great fun to read, and I look forward to Jim Hines's next series.
Book #106
Why We Suck
by Dr. Denis Leary
That's right -- Dr. Denis Leary, proud alumnus of Emerson College in Boston, has received an honorary doctorate in humanities and letters. He's a Doctor. So now you have to do what he says, just like Dr. Phil. Unlike Dr. Phil, however, Dr. Denis is hilarious, insightful, and in almost every instance, absolutely correct, if a wee bit brutal.
Because we do suck. We suck a lot, and Dr. Leary has a hundred reasons why. The most prominent are: Americans are fat, lazy, loud, and stupid, and getting worse all the time; our celebrities are all of these things and a bag of chips on the side, and our worship of them is not only inane and depressingly pathetic, but also harmful; and lastly, because we have no idea how to raise our children. Because of these things, not only has America lost its way, but the rest of the world knows it, and hates us when we stick out big stupid rhinoplastied noses into their business, and laughs at us when said foreshortened nose is crammed up our own backsides.
The book is hilarious, as all of Leary's comedy is. The nice thing about a book is he gets to go a little bit more in depth in his ranting than he does in his stand up routine, and the deeper Denis goes, the funnier he is. This book actually made me laugh out loud, something that almost never happens; even when it wasn't doing that, I was usually either giggling, chuckling, or nodding as I read.
The only place where Dr. Leary and I disagree is on gender issues. He is of the opinion that men are the grunting, meat-eating, sports-obsessed thoughtless clods that so many comics make them out to be; he does take the next step and point out that men are also strong, brave, and hardworking along with these things, which I appreciated. But Denis's experience of maleness is not mine; it might relate to the respective collar colors of our upbringings, or simply a difference in our basic structure. His understanding of what makes women tick also does not coincide with my experience of women, most particularly my wife -- but again, simply a difference in our experiences. For the men and women who parallel the roles Dr. Leary ascribes to them, he's got it down, so even if my life is different, it was still fun to read. I loved it, and I would highly recommend it.
by Dr. Denis Leary
That's right -- Dr. Denis Leary, proud alumnus of Emerson College in Boston, has received an honorary doctorate in humanities and letters. He's a Doctor. So now you have to do what he says, just like Dr. Phil. Unlike Dr. Phil, however, Dr. Denis is hilarious, insightful, and in almost every instance, absolutely correct, if a wee bit brutal.
Because we do suck. We suck a lot, and Dr. Leary has a hundred reasons why. The most prominent are: Americans are fat, lazy, loud, and stupid, and getting worse all the time; our celebrities are all of these things and a bag of chips on the side, and our worship of them is not only inane and depressingly pathetic, but also harmful; and lastly, because we have no idea how to raise our children. Because of these things, not only has America lost its way, but the rest of the world knows it, and hates us when we stick out big stupid rhinoplastied noses into their business, and laughs at us when said foreshortened nose is crammed up our own backsides.
The book is hilarious, as all of Leary's comedy is. The nice thing about a book is he gets to go a little bit more in depth in his ranting than he does in his stand up routine, and the deeper Denis goes, the funnier he is. This book actually made me laugh out loud, something that almost never happens; even when it wasn't doing that, I was usually either giggling, chuckling, or nodding as I read.
The only place where Dr. Leary and I disagree is on gender issues. He is of the opinion that men are the grunting, meat-eating, sports-obsessed thoughtless clods that so many comics make them out to be; he does take the next step and point out that men are also strong, brave, and hardworking along with these things, which I appreciated. But Denis's experience of maleness is not mine; it might relate to the respective collar colors of our upbringings, or simply a difference in our basic structure. His understanding of what makes women tick also does not coincide with my experience of women, most particularly my wife -- but again, simply a difference in our experiences. For the men and women who parallel the roles Dr. Leary ascribes to them, he's got it down, so even if my life is different, it was still fun to read. I loved it, and I would highly recommend it.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Book #105
King's Property
by Morgan Howell
I figured, what the heck, I'm only in the middle of, what, nine or ten fantasy series? Let's see, there's Jim Hines's goblin books, the Temeraire novels, the Tawny Man trilogy, the Furies of Calderon, the Mistborn series -- and of course the Wheel of Time. That't not counting the paranormal series I'm into, including both Anita Blake and Merry Gentry, plus Rachel Morgan, Harry Dresden, Sookie Stackhouse, and Kitty Norville. Yeah, one more new series can't hurt, can it?
Of course not. So I picked up the first in the Queen of the Orcs trilogy, King's Property, by Morgan Howell. I was intrigued because I'm always intrigued by attempts to tell the other side of the classic fantasy schism; I've read several attempts to depict the world of goblins and orcs over the years, and I liked the way this one pitched it: this slave girl, Dar, becomes the Queen of the Orcs. Interesting concept, and I want to know how she'll pull it off.
So far, this one is off to a great start. This first book tells the story of Dar's kidnapping and enslavement by the army of her king; it seems the king uses orcs as shock troops, and the orcs have an odd compunction: they will only allow women to serve them food, never men. This means that the army needs to find women to serve in the orc regiments, and they do what any ruthless and amoral army would do; they steal them, brand them, and use them until they are destroyed, when they go out and find new ones.
This is a pretty brutal book, especially considering it is fantasy, and I even found it shelved in the YA section -- where it probably shouldn't be. Then again, it is simple and easy to follow, and far be it from me to say which themes are too adult for young people to read about; my book does include a bit of matricide and child abuse, after all, not to mention something about murder? Anyway, Dar at first resents the orcs and hates them for being the reason for her enslavement. Soon, though, she realizes the orcs are being used up and cast away just as much as the women are; the orcs, it turns out, are not brutal and mindless savages, but simply a different race with a different culture and different values -- ones which don't often coincide with human values. And, most important to Dar, they are willing to protect her from what she fears most; Dar, having been sexually abused by her father, absolutely refuses to do what every other slave woman does, and whore herself out to a human soldier for protection. Instead, she befriends the orcs.
It's a very interesting book, though I almost wish more time had been spent with the orcs than with the humans; the humans in the book are almost universally craptacular, whereas the orcs are very cool. But the way it was done was reasonable, too, as the orcs are not fond of humans and Dar's acceptance into their midst is -- well, let's just say, "grudging." I loved the author's creation of the orcs' culture, and I really liked how Dar learned about it and explored it -- very realistic and interesting. I even liked the language, and I, like most lifetime fantasy fans, am hard to please. But this one was nicely done, and also felt very orcy.
I enjoyed the book, and I'll finish the trilogy. Once I get through all the other series, that is.
by Morgan Howell
I figured, what the heck, I'm only in the middle of, what, nine or ten fantasy series? Let's see, there's Jim Hines's goblin books, the Temeraire novels, the Tawny Man trilogy, the Furies of Calderon, the Mistborn series -- and of course the Wheel of Time. That't not counting the paranormal series I'm into, including both Anita Blake and Merry Gentry, plus Rachel Morgan, Harry Dresden, Sookie Stackhouse, and Kitty Norville. Yeah, one more new series can't hurt, can it?
Of course not. So I picked up the first in the Queen of the Orcs trilogy, King's Property, by Morgan Howell. I was intrigued because I'm always intrigued by attempts to tell the other side of the classic fantasy schism; I've read several attempts to depict the world of goblins and orcs over the years, and I liked the way this one pitched it: this slave girl, Dar, becomes the Queen of the Orcs. Interesting concept, and I want to know how she'll pull it off.
So far, this one is off to a great start. This first book tells the story of Dar's kidnapping and enslavement by the army of her king; it seems the king uses orcs as shock troops, and the orcs have an odd compunction: they will only allow women to serve them food, never men. This means that the army needs to find women to serve in the orc regiments, and they do what any ruthless and amoral army would do; they steal them, brand them, and use them until they are destroyed, when they go out and find new ones.
This is a pretty brutal book, especially considering it is fantasy, and I even found it shelved in the YA section -- where it probably shouldn't be. Then again, it is simple and easy to follow, and far be it from me to say which themes are too adult for young people to read about; my book does include a bit of matricide and child abuse, after all, not to mention something about murder? Anyway, Dar at first resents the orcs and hates them for being the reason for her enslavement. Soon, though, she realizes the orcs are being used up and cast away just as much as the women are; the orcs, it turns out, are not brutal and mindless savages, but simply a different race with a different culture and different values -- ones which don't often coincide with human values. And, most important to Dar, they are willing to protect her from what she fears most; Dar, having been sexually abused by her father, absolutely refuses to do what every other slave woman does, and whore herself out to a human soldier for protection. Instead, she befriends the orcs.
It's a very interesting book, though I almost wish more time had been spent with the orcs than with the humans; the humans in the book are almost universally craptacular, whereas the orcs are very cool. But the way it was done was reasonable, too, as the orcs are not fond of humans and Dar's acceptance into their midst is -- well, let's just say, "grudging." I loved the author's creation of the orcs' culture, and I really liked how Dar learned about it and explored it -- very realistic and interesting. I even liked the language, and I, like most lifetime fantasy fans, am hard to please. But this one was nicely done, and also felt very orcy.
I enjoyed the book, and I'll finish the trilogy. Once I get through all the other series, that is.
Book #104
Dog Days
by John Levitt
Since this is a milestone book -- the ones that marks two books a week for the year -- I wanted it to be the Emerson collection I started and didn't finish, so I got back into that. Unfortunately for my geekery, I still can't read Emerson for more than half an hour or so without my brain getting twisted into a nice pretzel shape. Though I liked what I read this time as much as the other three times I've tried to finish that book; I read four more essays, including really great ones on art and being a poet, and once I wait a month or so -- not eight months like this last hiatus between essays -- I should be able to finish the book. However, I have also realized that a single reading is not going to enable me to really grasp these things, and so I plan to read them again, a second time, and maybe again after that -- though I may look for some of his other writings after the second time through. I did read a very nice thing in the introduction to this collection, when the scholar introducing Emerson said that he doesn't try to study his work, just enjoy it, and also that Emerson's essays are not logical step-by-step constructions of arguments, but more explorations of themes, and as such are not really meant to be grasped as a single totality. Emerson is best at the level of the sentence, he said, and that's what I've found to be true. I loved some of the sentences I found this time through, and I look forward to reading them again after I have a basic initial grasp of his topic.
But after three or four days of slogging through that -- while we were snowed in and school was being cancelled prior to Christmas Break -- I gave it up and went for something nice and light, and stopped worrying about which book appears where in this list, which is a stupid consideration in the first place. So I read Dog Days, by John Levitt.
It's a good story, nicely written without being overly complex. The main character is a part-time musician and part-time magician, and too unambitious (okay, lazy) to really focus on either one and make it work. Much is made in this book of his undeveloped potential, and in some ways, I can relate to that. My own laziness and lack of focused ambition has held me back in both my writing career and my teaching, erm, career -- inasmuch as I would be better at either if I could focus on one. Not that I would ever focus on teaching, or that my unrealized potential means a whole lot to me; I'd be an excellent janitor if I focused on that, too, along with probably a hundred other jobs. But Mason, the narrator of this book, is only bothered when it is pointed out to him that he could be, but is not, a truly great jazz guitarist; I feel that way about my writing, sometimes. But then again, my real ambition is for a happy life, and today, on Boxing Day, when I'm about to start reading my new Denis Leary book after playing my new God of War video game, I have no complaints and no regrets.
Mason's closest companion in his relaxed, unmotivated life is his "dog," Louie, who is actually an Ifrit -- a semi-magical creature who will choose a practitioner of magic for a companion and stick with them, usually for life. Nobody knows why Ifrits choose the ones they do, or where they come from, or even what they really are; Louie is basically a dog, but also much more. Louie is extremely well-written, and is a very sweet and interesting character. The way the plot ties into the Ifrits was excellent, and it made the bad guy really a bad guy.
Other strengths of this book were the magic, which is very nicely imagined but could be explained more, and the magical action scenes, which were brilliant. Mason is attacked repeatedly in this book, and it isn't clear why until the end; what is clear is that the person attacking him is both powerful and clever, using mundane and magical distractions to great advantage, as well as having good ideas for ways to get rid of Mason. It is also clear that Mason's greatest strength, his ability to improvise -- and it's a clever strength, nicely done, and the tie to his jazz is very cool -- is what saves his butt from these attacks, along with Louie. I really liked the way Mason's creativity was compared to the strengths of other practitioners, to Eli's education and brilliance, to Victor's raw power and mastery, to Sherwood's subtlety and empathy, to Campbell's specific talent, which sort of is magic and sort of isn't -- and that's a realm that has never been explored enough, and really should be. But I would like to know more about the basic theory of magic here: what is it? Where does it come from? Why do these people have it, and not others? How can Mason "pull" the aspects of his surroundings into his spells? Why isn't he more powerful, and why is Victor? How is it that words are nothing more than rhythm to Mason, but they are the main aspect of the summoning for Harry Keller, and others?
So in the next book, which we just bought but haven't read yet, I want to hear more about how magic works, and Mason's place in the magical world -- why he is the way he is, and what exactly he's going to become. At least some hints about that. I'd also like to meet a female character who doesn't have a masculine sounding last name for a first name, though that's less important, I admit.
by John Levitt
Since this is a milestone book -- the ones that marks two books a week for the year -- I wanted it to be the Emerson collection I started and didn't finish, so I got back into that. Unfortunately for my geekery, I still can't read Emerson for more than half an hour or so without my brain getting twisted into a nice pretzel shape. Though I liked what I read this time as much as the other three times I've tried to finish that book; I read four more essays, including really great ones on art and being a poet, and once I wait a month or so -- not eight months like this last hiatus between essays -- I should be able to finish the book. However, I have also realized that a single reading is not going to enable me to really grasp these things, and so I plan to read them again, a second time, and maybe again after that -- though I may look for some of his other writings after the second time through. I did read a very nice thing in the introduction to this collection, when the scholar introducing Emerson said that he doesn't try to study his work, just enjoy it, and also that Emerson's essays are not logical step-by-step constructions of arguments, but more explorations of themes, and as such are not really meant to be grasped as a single totality. Emerson is best at the level of the sentence, he said, and that's what I've found to be true. I loved some of the sentences I found this time through, and I look forward to reading them again after I have a basic initial grasp of his topic.
But after three or four days of slogging through that -- while we were snowed in and school was being cancelled prior to Christmas Break -- I gave it up and went for something nice and light, and stopped worrying about which book appears where in this list, which is a stupid consideration in the first place. So I read Dog Days, by John Levitt.
It's a good story, nicely written without being overly complex. The main character is a part-time musician and part-time magician, and too unambitious (okay, lazy) to really focus on either one and make it work. Much is made in this book of his undeveloped potential, and in some ways, I can relate to that. My own laziness and lack of focused ambition has held me back in both my writing career and my teaching, erm, career -- inasmuch as I would be better at either if I could focus on one. Not that I would ever focus on teaching, or that my unrealized potential means a whole lot to me; I'd be an excellent janitor if I focused on that, too, along with probably a hundred other jobs. But Mason, the narrator of this book, is only bothered when it is pointed out to him that he could be, but is not, a truly great jazz guitarist; I feel that way about my writing, sometimes. But then again, my real ambition is for a happy life, and today, on Boxing Day, when I'm about to start reading my new Denis Leary book after playing my new God of War video game, I have no complaints and no regrets.
Mason's closest companion in his relaxed, unmotivated life is his "dog," Louie, who is actually an Ifrit -- a semi-magical creature who will choose a practitioner of magic for a companion and stick with them, usually for life. Nobody knows why Ifrits choose the ones they do, or where they come from, or even what they really are; Louie is basically a dog, but also much more. Louie is extremely well-written, and is a very sweet and interesting character. The way the plot ties into the Ifrits was excellent, and it made the bad guy really a bad guy.
Other strengths of this book were the magic, which is very nicely imagined but could be explained more, and the magical action scenes, which were brilliant. Mason is attacked repeatedly in this book, and it isn't clear why until the end; what is clear is that the person attacking him is both powerful and clever, using mundane and magical distractions to great advantage, as well as having good ideas for ways to get rid of Mason. It is also clear that Mason's greatest strength, his ability to improvise -- and it's a clever strength, nicely done, and the tie to his jazz is very cool -- is what saves his butt from these attacks, along with Louie. I really liked the way Mason's creativity was compared to the strengths of other practitioners, to Eli's education and brilliance, to Victor's raw power and mastery, to Sherwood's subtlety and empathy, to Campbell's specific talent, which sort of is magic and sort of isn't -- and that's a realm that has never been explored enough, and really should be. But I would like to know more about the basic theory of magic here: what is it? Where does it come from? Why do these people have it, and not others? How can Mason "pull" the aspects of his surroundings into his spells? Why isn't he more powerful, and why is Victor? How is it that words are nothing more than rhythm to Mason, but they are the main aspect of the summoning for Harry Keller, and others?
So in the next book, which we just bought but haven't read yet, I want to hear more about how magic works, and Mason's place in the magical world -- why he is the way he is, and what exactly he's going to become. At least some hints about that. I'd also like to meet a female character who doesn't have a masculine sounding last name for a first name, though that's less important, I admit.
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