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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Chuck, The Pizza Snob" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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09:51 pm
[Link] | Those of you who listen to Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me! or WBUR's Only a Game</i> will recognize Charles P. Pierce as Charlie Pierce. In Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free, his recently released book looks at how the American war on intellectualism manifests.
Why should you read this book? Well, for one, the guy is frikkin' hilarious. ( Kind of long, so... )
Tags: books, reviews
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09:54 pm
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Midnight Tales, by Steven Erikson
So this is the 5th book in Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Usually, this late in a series, it becomes very difficult to talk about plot without giving away what has happened in the previous books, since they would build on each other. This time, Erikson takes us to a completely different continent and introduces us to a completely new set of characters. Actually, that is not true, since a few of the characters had been introduced before, but this book takes place some time before many of the other books, so you see them in a slightly earlier time.
Set in a far off and isolated continent, it focuses on two political entities: the Letherii Kingdom of humans, and the newly united tribes of the Tiste Edur (kin to the Tiste Andii of the previous books). The Letherii are a people completely devoted to gaining wealth in any way possible, and they expand mostly as an economic matter. The unbridled desire to gain a coin has led to a vast underclass, largely ignored by the rulers, and the utter destruction of many native cultures. (Hmmm, this couldn't be based on any country in the real world, could it?) The Tiste Edur had recently been living as separate tribes but had recently been united by the Warlock King, and just in time, for the Letheri, prodded by a prophesy of the rise of a great empire on a certain day, have turned their eyes on the Edur. Like all his books, the action is divided among a wide cast of characters: two sets of brothers, one Edur (Fear, the elder and war leaders of the Edur; Trull, the second and the one who questions most; Binadas, the third and delver in the arcane; and Rhulad, the youngest and most insecure) and one Letherii (Hull, the eldest and bitter opponent of Letherii expansionism; Tehol, the financial genius who "lost" his wealth some time ago and brought many people down with him; and Brys, the youngest and King's Champion). There are also the Warlock King himself, some Letherii slaves of the Edur, Tehol's servant Bugg, and the court of Letherii king, and others.
This is another very good book, although it takes some time to get used to the change of terminology. In the other parts of Erikson's world, he mostly uses traditional English words for titles. In the continent, however, the military titles of Letheras are Preda, Atri-Preda, and Finadd. It takes some getting used to, but once it gets going, it works.
Yet again, this is a good series.
Tags: books, reviews
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12:00 am
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Memories of Ice & House of Chains, by Steven Erikson
I recently finished up the third of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, Memories of Ice, and then went and read book 4, House of Chains. It's hard to tell much about the plot of these two books, since in many ways, the first 4 books are one, gigamantic book. Memories of Ice takes up the story soon after the events of Gardens of the Moon (book 1), and takes us into more of the background of the world and what in hell's name is going on, with a bittersweet ending. House of Chains, after what was really an extended prologue, goes back to the area known as the Seven Cities and deals with the Empire's response to the rebellion. Saying much more about the books plots would only serve to reveal much about the ending of the first two books.
Personally, I'm loving reading the Malazan soldiers' dialogue. They are an ornery, disrespectful bunch, one and all. In one battle, an enemy is ambushed and falls off his horse but escapes. After the Malazan sergeant chews them out for a moment, one of the soldiers says:
'Hey, Sergeant, maybe that horse killed the cook.'
Borduke spat. 'The gods smiling down on us this night, Hubb?'
'Well...'
'Right. The truth remains, then. We'll have to kill him ourselves. Before he kills us. But never mind that for now. Let's move...'
On the other side, let me quote a passage from Memories of Ice:
Sirs, you speak of compassion. I understand something, now, of compassion. Would you hear?
'Speak on, mortal.'
We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. Aye, we know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned. ... Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance.
People who can write like that deserve to be read.
Tags: books, reviews
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11:33 pm
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The Veil of Gold, by Kim Wilkins
In The Veil of Gold, Kim Wilkins tells the story of Daniel St. Clare and Rosa Kovalenka and a golden bear. Rosa, a Russian who grew up in Canada and is now living in St. Petersburg, is supervising the reconstruction of an old bath house when one of the workmen discover a golden bear hidden inside one of the walls. Unable to determine much about it, she calls on Daniel, a researcher and her former lover. This sets up an incredible journey, where Daniel stumbles into the world of Skazki, the land of stories, and Rosa has to come to grips with her own past to save him. The tale takes the two of them deep into Russian folktales.
It was a decent book. Daniel quite quickly stumbled into Skazki, and the adventures there are terrifying and interesting. However, it took Rosa much longer to pass through the veil by an act of will, and thus there was a long period where she had a "side quest" as she gained the skills and power necessary for the crossing, which slowed the pace of her story down. In the meantime, there are occasional stories by Papa Grigory, a resident of Skazki who has had many names (including once, "the mad monk") in which he tells the story of the golden bear that has caused so much trouble. It is an excellent primer for learning Russian folklore, and parts told by Grigory are very well done.
But it does seem to drag at times. Also, the characters of Daniel and Rosa are a bit too flawed for my tastes. Daniel is an utter milktoast; he almost has no personality of his own, and seemingly has no will power. Despite having a huge amount of knowledge, he has no decision-making abilities, and constantly needs to be rescued. I don't really like that in a female character, and it goes the same for a male one. As for Rosa, she is more confident and in general a more capable person, but I get tired of characters who keep on making decisions for others and then getting annoyed when the other doesn't appreciate the effort. Also, the ending seemed a bit forced.
Still, the prose is well written. It was not a waste of time reading this, but not a book I suspect I'll ever want to read again.
Tags: books, reviews
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08:30 pm
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Deadhouse Gates, by Steven Erikson
I just finished Erikson's second Malazan Book of the Fallen, Deadhouse Gates. Another rousing story. Some characters from Gardens of the Moon show up, noticeably Kalam the Assassin, Fiddler the Sapper, Crokus the thief, and the formerly really scary girl now known as Apsalar. But there are plenty of new characters, which seems to be a necessity for these huge epics.
The story takes place in the land known as the Seven Cities, an area of mostly deserts that is part of the Malazan Empire. But it is the year of Dryjina, when the Whirlwind is released and the land rises against the Empire in fanatical hatred. Kalam, Fiddler, and Crokus are escorting Apsalar back to her home, through the Seven Cities, when they get ... distracted. Nearby, in the mines of the antimagical Atataral ore are Felisin, the younger sister of the new Adjunct, Heboric, former priest and historian, and Baudin, now slaves in the mines, but not for long. In one of the northern cities, a new military commander (Fist) has arrived, just in time to lead his faithful soldiers on a grueling, months long march through a parched land with every hand against him, while trying to protect thousands of refugees. There is also the tale of Icarium and his companion Mappo, who have been together for centuries, as Icarium tries to find the answers to his past, which is much longer than he could dream. And during this, powerful shapeshifters are in the mix, vying for power in their own way, and killing any who stands in their way.
Again, he manages to keep the pace moving. With very little exposition, he manages to get the sense of the land across. He never explains the powers of the two types of shapeshifters (the Soletaken and the D'ivers), but you know that they are powerful. (And, in the case of D'ivers, really creepy, as they can take the forms of multiple critters. Becoming a pack of wolves is kind of cool, but one becomes an army of rats, and another a swarm of spiders. Ick!) And the stories are powerful. You feel for Felisin, even as she becomes an asshole. You see the souls of the soldiers slowly collapse under the weight of the forced march through deserts under constant harrasment and occasional bloody battles.
I look forward to book 3, Memories of Ice.
Tags: books, reviews
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08:32 pm
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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John le Carre
In yet another episode of reading thrillers for the library, I read John le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. In the early '70s, George Smiley has been forced out of the Circus, the British spy agency. His old mentor, known only as Control, recently died after a power struggle, and so Smiley is on the outs. Then he gets brought back, secretly. An opperative who had vanished suddenly reappears, with a story of betrayal at the highest level. So Smiley goes hunting for a spy in the Circus.
Le Carre creates interesting and human characters. Smiley is kind of nebbish, first seen in the rain in a coat that was "designed to retain moisture." In addition to being unemployed, his wife is also away with her lover. But once he gets working, he is shown to be excellent at his job. It is also, for the most part, an excellently paced book, although there were lots of scenes where characters went on and on. The worst example, which for the most part, was a single paragraph that went on for two pages. But a very good book.
Tags: books, reviews
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11:44 pm
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Gardens of the Moon, by Steven Erikson
I just finished reading Gardens of the Moon, the first book of Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series. To begin with, I should just say that, in this case, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) daysofourknives is my god, mostly for reminding me of the name. This was a fun a read.
The Book of the Fallen (an interesting title for a series, using the singular) is set in a world of high magic. Gods and their instruments walk the earth, as well as powerful mages plying their wills. There is a mighty empire, the Malazan Empire, that is trying to encompass the globe, already having taken one continent and seeking at least one more. It is opposed by ancient mage on a mountain that floats above the land, who is an aspect of the High House of Darkness; also opposed is the Warlord, another nigh immortal, Caladan Brood. But in addition to the Empresses legions, she also has the services of legions of the undead T'Lan Imass. And there are the gods and dead gods and long dead ancient sorcerous beings of tremendous might and demon lords.
Half of the main characters come from the soldiery of Malazan, dissaffected by years and years of war and worried that the politics will crush them. The other half come from the city of Darujhistan, still free but the next target for Malazan. The plot involves the machinations of the Empire, its agents, and various gods and near gods about the fate of Darujhistan.
The book, and I assume the others of the series (it is up to Book 8), are of the ilk of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time and George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire in breadth. But, unlike Jordan, Erikson spends 650+ pages having his characters actually doing things. I picked up the book last Friday and, despite doing things like going to work, I finished it a little while ago. And I am a slow reader, in general. It is quick paced, and yet it has well defined characters. There are lots of them, and I never had any trouble telling one from another. And even the really bad guys had definite human characterists, even some of the non-human ones.
Now I got to get the next book, Deadhouse Gates.
Tags: books, reviews
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09:41 pm
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Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, is one of the books I "read" primarily in the car, as an audiobook. I like history audiobooks, since I get the gist of the "story" while doing other things, and then if I want to get the details, I can always pick up the book, but I don't have to be intimidated by a 600 page book. (It intimidates me because I read slowly.)
This is a good book, which you've probably heard from every person who has ever talked about it. I don't know enough about Lincoln scholarship to tell if she said anything new, but she told it well. While the main subject is Lincoln, it also tells the biography of Lincoln's main rivals for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1860, William Seward of New York, Salmon Chase of Ohio, and Edward Bates of Missouri. These men would, when Lincoln was elected, take over some of the most powerful positions in his cabinet, becoming in order the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, and Attorney General. When Lincoln was nominated, the three were shocked that this no one from Illinois got the nod, while they, who were already senators and governors and national figures, were considered shoe-ins. So the first part of the book is about HOW Lincoln was able to out maneuver his rivals for the spot. The second part dealt with the administration, and how Lincoln was able to deftly maneuver his way among the giant egos of the cabinet he built to win their admiration and trust and affection, so much so that they all opening wept upon his assassination.
Lincoln is depicted as having three remarkable traits. The first was ambition; he wanted the presidency and worked hard for it, and then worked hard to be good. The second was the story teller's art: he learned early the art of passing along ideas in ways that were easily digested by the people, which may have reached its peak in the Gettysburg Address. The third was a magnanimity: he did his best to not hold grudges, and generally succeeded, even insisting on putting as Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who had humiliated Lincoln years earlier. It was the last that was perhaps the most important for Lincoln's administration, as he was willing to give his cabinet a wide leeway, so long as they did their job and did it well. For instance, Chase was even party to people claiming that Lincoln was a terrible president because Chase was hoping to be win the Republican nomination in 1864, but the president, although being perfectly aware of Chase's machinations, still kept him in the Treasury.
There is something about the Lincoln Goodwin portrays that is relevant to today. Lincoln's three main rivals in 1860 were all considered much more qualified than he. They all had distinguished public careers, being senators and governors for many years. Many of Seward's partisans thought that he was the lock for the nomination based on experience and commitment to the newly fledged Republican party, and for many years into Lincoln's administration, Seward was often seen as the real power in Washington. Lincoln, meanwhile, had been a one term US Representative and a two term Illinois state representative; that was his whole public career. Yet he is considered one of the two best presidents in our history, leading the country, from his first day in office, in the most devastating and bloody war it has ever known. Now take the case of Woodrow Wilson, less than half a century later, who was considered one of the most qualified presidents in history. And who, in the terms of one historian, was "a walking disaster for any institution he headed, whether a university, the United States, or an international peace conference."* Which just tells you exactly how important "experience" is for telling of the skills of a newly elected president.
*Norman F. Cantor, Inventing the Middle Ages (1991), p. 249.
Tags: books, reviews
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09:03 pm
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Thrillers
I've been terribly lax about posting lately, including posting about books I've read! So here are two, which I read as part of the library's Reader's Advisory program.
The Breaker, by Minette Walters: On the south coast of England, a dead woman's naked body is found by two boys. It is quickly determined that she was raped and then tossed in the sea to drown. A few hours later, her 3 year old daughter is found wandering alone in a local town. Suspicion falls on an actor who was hiking in the area and seems incapable of telling the truth about anything. However, there is also the victims husband, supposedly at a conference hundreds of miles away, who acts with very little affectation, and whose daughter has the awful habit of screaming whenever he comes near.
Although this book was put recommended to us a "thriller," it really is more of a mystery. The horrible acts all happen before the book begins, and after the death of the victim, no one is really in danger.
As a mystery, it was ok. I found the sudden shifts of emphasis between the two men as suspects a bit too nerve changling for my taste, but the book wasn't badly written. However, it is definitely NOT a book for everyone, as it touches on some disturbing topics. There is the initial rape and murder, of course, but there is also apparent addiction to pornography, gay porn, TEENAGE gay porn, and finally possible hints at pedophilia and disturbing actions by 3 year olds. The author had an interesting gimik of not just telling us what was in reports, but reproducing said reports. But at the end, I thought the author had lead me to one person being the actual killer ... and then I found out it was someone else, which really threw me.
The second was Broken Prey, by . This was another disturbing book, but much more "thrilling." In Minneapolis, the body of a young woman is found. She was flayed to death, then posed, indicating a possible serial killer. Some time later, another body is found, hundreds of miles away, also flayed. This time, it's a man, and his son is found nearby with his head caved in. So a detective for the Minnesota state police is out hunting a lunatic. All evidence points to a sex offender who was recently released from a state mental hospital, and who apparently was goaded beyond his normal MO by a trio of the worst of the worst. But why is he so hard to find?
This is part of an ongoing series, as is obvious by some of the background plots (like how a detective in the homicide squad in Minneapolis is about to retire, and how the main character tries to talk him out of it). All in all, it's a good book, high stakes all the way through. But again, disturbing, as the descriptions of the victims show. Not for everyone, but I can easily see people wanting to read this or more by the author.
There are more books I've read, or rather "read;" a couple of audiobook histories. I'll post them in a while.
Tags: books, reviews
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09:05 pm
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More Dresden books
I have, actually a while ago, read the next four Dresden books (Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, White Night, and Small Favor). As I said before, the series gets better and better, and I'm one of many waiting with bated breath for Turn Coat.
I don't want to get too much into details, in case anyone wants to (but for some reason hasn't) begin the series, but the stories in brief:
Dead Beat: Things get hairy during Halloween, when powerful necromancers come to call on a polka loving medical examiner. Harry manages to prevail, and actually gets a promotion.
Proven Guilty: There's a convention of horror movie lovers in town ... and then they get attacked by horror movie monsters. So it's Harry to the rescue, escpecially since it involves the daugher of an old friend. Whose having trouble at home. (There's a great scene at the end involving an attractive young woman and a pitcher of water.)
White Night: Someone is targetting those with minor magical talents in Chicago. Along with his new apprentice, Harry must figure out who and why, partly because he's Harry, parlty because its his job. But mostly to prove his brother innocent.
Small Favor: (For some reason, this is the first of the nine books to be set in winter.) Harry owes Queen Mab two favors and she calls one in. She wants him to represent the Winter Court for a purpose, but lets him figure what for. But it involves Gentleman Johnny Marcone, the city's underworld boss. It also sees the return of the Nicodeamus and the Denarians. And Harry getting attacked by Gruffs.
Tags: books, reviews
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07:54 pm
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J. R. R. Tolkien
Happy birthday!
Tolkien is, in my mind as well as the minds of many others, the god-father of Modern Fantasy. Yes, people wrote fantastic stories before the publication of The Lord of the Rings and some of them are still influential, such as Howard’s Conan and the whole Sword and Sorcery sub-genre. But none of them have helped develop an entire genre as Tolkien did. The main stories of the genre still either work within the framework he generated or against it. There are some notable exceptions, such as Ursula le Guin and the fantasies set in the modern world, but not as many as have to deal with him.
( I must admit... (Cut for brevity) )
Tags: books
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08:07 pm
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Death Masks, by Jim Butler
Once again, Harry Dresden finds himself in a very familiar position: completely overwhelmed. First, he is approached with an offer he can't refuse: fight a Red Court champion to end the war between the wizards and the vampires, or have the champion's goonies go after everyone Harry knows. Then he's hired by a priest to find the missing Shroud of Turin. Then, while talking to the priest, he's attacked by professional (although "merely" mortal) hit men. Then a headless and handless corpse is discovered. Finally, his girlfriend comes back into town, still battling to keep herself from becoming a vampire ... which is difficult when she's around Harry because she tends to loose control around him.
And then he discovers that once again, there are even nastier nasties out there, and they are gunning for him.
This is the first of these open ended series that I have ever picked up. Actually, that's not true. Brust's Vlad Taltos series is the first, but Brust keeps on experimenting between different books (one of them is told by a character other than Vlad) that each book is different. This is the first where the books are pretty formulaic: Harry gets a job, it turns out more complicated than he thought, the nasties are just a bit nastier than he thought, and then by his wit, power, and friends, he overcomes the obstacles and finds himself in a slightly better place than he was before. This could be boring eventually, but as Butcher has gone along and has become more comfortable with the formula, he has expanded it. Not every bad guy is the same: in one book, the "bad guy" is trying to save humanity, but the consequences would be too horrific; in this book, the big baddy does NOT tell Dresden his secret plot to destroy the world, because he knows that that's a STUPID thing to do.
Also, as I said before, the more we learn of Dresden's world, the more fascinating it becomes.
Tags: books, reviews
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09:30 pm
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Last Call, by Tim Powers
As I was looking at stuff to buy for the library, I came across the name of Tim Powers, an author I'd never heard of, but all of a sudden, I was reading very good reviews of some of his stuff. So I decided to give him a try. I decided to borrow Last Call.
Scott Crane was a professional gambler until he got married, when he gave it up. But now (1991), things are not going well for him. His wife has died of a heart attack and now people are trying to kill him. It has to do with his father and a strange poker game his was in 1969, a game which caused his foster father to disappear. In order to figure out and possibly stop what is going on, Scott has to go to Las Vegas. But there is a layer under the glitz of Vegas, where playing cards invoke the Tarot, and there are many people protecting the western king, while more are trying to dethrone him. And Scott is in the middle of it.
This is a very strange book, but that could be said of any kind of mystical journey, which this is. There is also a degree of quantum mechanics in the background. The Tarot plays a big part, as well as using cards to confuse psychics, and archetypes, and even some Arthurian mythos. There's a lot here, but Powers does a fine job at putting it together. The only problem I have is that I wonder why one part of the final trap doesn't make someone weary of how the trap is set. But all in all, I liked the book, and I'll have to read more of him.
Tags: books, reviews
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11:25 pm
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Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
This was the second book I am reading for the library, billed as a "soft thriller."
To start off, this was a difficult read for me. I read it once before, in 7th grade, and I remember *hating* it, so trying to read it again put me against that psychological block. So I ended up skipping large sections of it, just trying to get a sense of it.
I think that it is a well writen book. But I could not stand the narrator; she was an utter wuss. I mean, I suppose that if I ever met this lady in real life (note that I don't name her; I don't think du Maurier did either), I might like her, but as a main character, she was awful. She didn't really *do* anything on her own initiative and made these complex fantasies of horrible things happening to her. Which were then ripped apart when ... well, good things happened to her. So she would make some different fantasies, rinse, and repeat.
(As a side note, when we talked about the book, a large percentage of the others felt the same way about her as I did. There were probably 20+ people there, and I was the only male.)
Also, the book was slow to develop "suspense." I think it was about half way through the book before things began to happen, although something may have happened in one of the parts I skipped. But I read the second half all the way through. But even then, the ending fell flat, when compared to other thriller/suspense novels, although it was literally appropriate.
So I suppose for a certain group of people who wanted to read about the time and place of the book (uppper class England of the 1st third of the 20th century) or wanted to read lots about the details, it would be a good book. Just not my cup of tea.
Tags: books, ra, reviews
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12:52 am
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The Pelican Brief, by John Grisham
So this is the first book in the Thriller category I'm reading for the library. It is a good book. I post this so late because I wanted to see how it finished.
The story, for any who haven't read it or seen the movie, is that two Supreme Court justices are murdered in one night, one an old liberal and the other a young conservative. There doesn't seem to be any reason some one would want to kill these two, and the murderers left no clues, so the FBI is baffled. But a young law student, Darby Shaw, at Tulane (New Orleans), after several days of digging in the law library, comes up with a highly speculative connection and an obscure suspect. She shows her findings to her lover/professor, who passes it on to his friend in the FBI, who passes it up to the Director, who takes it to the White House. All sort of dimiss "the pelican brief" as way out in left field and baseless speculation. Two days after passing the brief to his FBI friend, the lover/professor is killed by a car bomb, and Darby goes into hiding as someone hunts her...
As I said, I liked it. The plot was pretty well conceived, and it fit. The pacing was good. The characters made sense.
I just hope all the books will be of similar quality.
Tags: books, reviews
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12:32 am
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City at the End of Time, by Greg Bear
I've been hearing/reading for a time about how Greg Bear is one of the premier sci fi writers of the time, but I hadn't ever read any of his stuff. So I decided that it was time and picked up his newest, City at the End of Time. That was a couple of months ago. Part of the reason I took so long to get through it is that I am, in general, a slow reader. Another part is that it starts off slowly. There is a lot of background to set up, so it takes perhaps half the (476 p.) book to get up to speed. But once it gets going, it gets interesting. And even the set up is interesting, but not terribly exciting.
The book takes place in two times and cities, in modern day Seatle, and in the Kalpa, the namesake of the book. The sections that deal with the events in these two cities are denominated by the headings "Ten Zeros" and "Fourteen Zeros". It took me a while to realize that these indicate the age of the universe that the events take place in. Ten zeros is now, at n X 10 to the 10th power, or n X 10,000,000 (i.e., somewhere between 10 billion and 99 billion years old). Fourteen zeros is n X 10 to the 14th power, or n X 100,000,000,000,000 (i.e., in the 100s of TRILLIONS of years old). When you think about it, it boggles the mind. Think of it this way: compare the changes of you go through in the first year after birth against the changes that occur by the time you reach, oh, so 50. Except that in order to get into the same order of magnitude, you would have to live 10,000 years.
Because, despite the age, the Kalpa's inhabitants still claim to be "human." And the Kalpa itself is on Earth.
Of course, the Kalpa has a problem. It is a city under seige by the Chaos, which has already consumed the rest of the universe. And it is struggling for survival.
In Seatle, two young drifters, Ginny and Jack, are being pursued by hunters. Ginny and Jack carry odd stones, and can shift through "fates" when things begin to look bad. But the hunters know about this ability, and know how to counter act it. They main lure the hunters have is a question: "Do you dream of a city at the end of time?" For both Jack and Ginny so. And people in the Kalpa dream of them, too...
The book is generally put into the "Science Fiction" catergory, because one of it's main concepts involves the "every choice makes a new world" theory of quantum physics. But in many ways, it seems a book of fantasy. The technology of the Kalpa is so vastly surperior to anything we could even imagine that it is, as Clarke said, indistinguishable from magic. And there is the employer of the hunters, the Chalk Princess, who is otherworldly in dimensions and power.
In all, it is a good book. It starts off too slowly to be a great book, but if you can wade through the beginning, it makes an interesting read.
Tags: books, reviews
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04:51 pm
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The Great Book of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
One aspect of my job at Gleason is working on the sci fi/fantasy collection. So one thing I've been trying to do is to make sure that we have the first books of several series. A while ago, I made a list of first books that we didn't have, and one of them was Nine Princes in Amber by Zelazny. Unfortunately, they don't seem to publish it any more, and just publish The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10. Of course, since I haven’t read the Amber books in years, I figured I’d check it out and read it.
It is, as you guessed, all ten books of the Amber series (Nine Princes in Amber, The Guns of Avalon, Sign of the Unicorn, The Hand of Oberon, The Courts of Chaos, Trumps of Doom, Blood of Amber, Sign of Chaos, Knight of Shadows, and Prince of Chaos) in one volume, which makes it a big book. However, considering that the books weren’t that long, many written back in the 200 page paperback era, it isn’t overwhelming.
The Amber series is actually two series. The first (Nine Princes to The Courts of Chaos) is about Corwin, son of Oberon, Ruler of Amber, and what happened after he woke with amnesia in a hospital. Amber is the “real world”, the center of Order, and the children of Oberon have some awesome powers. And those same brothers and sisters are a scheming and backstabbing bunch, which makes it an interesting story. The second series (from Trumps of Doom on) is about Corwin’s son, Merlin, who is also a child of the Courts of Chaos. Merlin begins with trying to deal with someone who likes trying to kill him once a year on April 30, and ends up in a deep metaphysical conflict between Order and Chaos.
Personally, I like the first series better. It’s a complicated plot, but not overly convoluted, and I think the writing is slightly better. Of course, my prejudice may have something to do with the fact that the second series was never finished; Zelazny died before completing it, and I haven’t heard of anyone trying to finish it up. Perhaps if he tied together the plots in the Merlin series, I might think better.
As for the physical book, I do have two problems. The first is that volume could have used one more copy editor; there were a few obvious typos and at least one time, the wrong name was used. The other problem was that there is no table of contents. Since these were originally individually published books, how difficult could it be to have one sheet of paper telling where the books start?
Tags: books, reviews
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10:58 pm
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The Shape Shifter, by Tony Hillerman
I got into Hillerman's Lieutenant Leaphorn/Jim Chee mysteries over a decade ago, and I really like them. I think I've read them all, but I may have missed one or two. I'm not a big mystery reader, with Ellis Peter's Cadfael series being the only other that I really got into, but I like this. I think it's the way Hillerman deals with the Navajo view of life that really does it. It's really interesting the way he shows the difference between Leaphorn, an older Najavo cop who was raised in the time when the US government tried to stamp out "Navajoness" by sending their children to special schools, and Jim Chee, the younger man who tries to be a shaman and a cop at the same time.
The Shape Shifter is, I beleive, the latest in the series. Leaphorn is recently retired, but gets a letter from another ex-cop he knew early in his carreer. A rug that was supposedly burned up decades ago has apparently appeared in the home of a very rich man. That the fire that theoretically burned the rug also killed a multiple murderer and member of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted adds another wrinkle to the case. And then the ex-cop who sent Leaphorn the picture disappears.
For those who don't know, the title refers to another way of talking about a Navajo witch: Skinwalker. Many Navajo witches can shift their shape. Of course, the way it is put, the easiest way to find a witch in a Navajo community is to see who has an excess when his family starve.
Tags: books, reviews
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10:54 am
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The Billionaire's Vinegar, by Benjamin Wallace
In 1985, a bottle of wine, supposedly a 1787 Chateau Lafite once owned by none other than Thomas Jefferson, sold at auction for 105,000 pounds, around $156,000, a record price. The bottle was bought by Kip Forbes, son of the owner of Forbes magazine, and was sold for a German named Hardy Rodenstock. Rodenstock was wine collector who claimed to have bought a batch of bottles recently unearthed by construction in Paris. The bottles were engraved with the date of vintage, the chateau of origin, and the initials, "Th. J." Despite some reservations expressed by Monticello, the Christie's auction house and Rodenstock stood by the claim that the bottle had been Jefferson's. Rodenstock's fame and fortune as a wine dealer was sealed with that sale, and the sale of other "Jefferson" bottles.
In The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Wine, Benjamin Wallace examines the culture of wine collecting that was so big in the 80s and 90s that lead to that and other astonishing figures. It is also about the reclusive Rodenstock and his rise in the wine selling business. As a look into the wine collecting culture, it is a fascinating book, talking about the who's who, the various cliques, the history of wine tasting, and eventually even the history of wine forgeries.
I did feel slightly let down by the ending, which is not nearly as crisp as the rest of the book. But that makes sense. The events that happened at the end of the book occurred in 2005, a mere three years before the publication date; probably more like one or two before Wallace finished writing it. So they are in some ways too fresh. In fact, events have occurred in the story AFTER the end of the book, including court decisions given just earlier this year. So of course the ending is vague, because the story hasn't finished yet.
Still, it was a very good book, well told. Wallace has a nice, crisp style, and he can tell the details of wine tasting in a way to impart knowledge to laymen (say, a non-drinker like me) without being boring. He also does a good job describing the various personalities involved.
Tags: books, reviews
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01:33 pm
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Barbarians to Angels, by Peter S. Wells
In addition to reading sci fi-fantasy, I am into history, especially medieval history (an area must come a surprise to many of you, I know). So when Gleason picked up a copy of Barbarians to Angels: The Dark Ages Reconsidered, I had to borrow it.
Wells' thesis is that the "Dark Ages," from the fall of the Roman empire to Charlemagne (his definition), was not the period of decline and endemic chaos and violence that it has been commonly portrayed by historians. While the textual evidence is scarce and supports this view, Wells attempts to use archaeological evidence to prove that the period from about 400 to 800 was one of vibrant societies emerging from the mixing of Roman and "barbaric" societies. For the most part, I think he is successful, at least in his claims that societies did not collapse with the end of Roman rule, but merely altered. It is pretty obvious from the evidence he presents that long distance trade was still going on, and the lack of such trade has been used as an argument for the "decay" theory. Also, cities continued to exist, albeit with stone buildings being replaced by more conventionally wooden buildings, often continuing to use the same street plan as when they were run by the Romans. New cities also began to grow during this period.
One of the most compelling myths he bursts is the idea of "mass migration." Actual examples of cultural objects from various places indicate that in areas generally considered to be where "new peoples" moved in, such as England, the life styles of the general population changed very little, with only gradual shifts from the "native" to the "invader" societies occurring. In other words, it appears that instead of whole peoples moving in and displacing the local populace, a much smaller group took over the leadership positions, and eventually the general populace transformed itself.
This is good, "popular" history book (i.e., it has no footnotes) on the early middle ages. My quips would have to be that most definitions of the "Dark Ages" I am aware of extend it well into the 10th century (900's), rather than ending them with Charlemagne; he might have temporarily unified much of Europe and instituted a cultural renaissance, but it quickly fell into chaos after his death. Also, he goes into great depth telling of such things like the contents of burial sights, which, while fascinating, don't really tell us *that* much, and certainly repeating it two or three times is of little use, except perhaps to bore the reader with repetition. But, if you want to read a bit about the dark ages, and don't want to wade through scores of academic treatises, this is a good book to read.
Tags: books, reviews
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