Don't Forget to Read a Book!

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Pat Murphy's  The Falling Woman. The Short of It Plot:  An estranged mother and daughter are reconnected on a troubled archaeological dig. Page Count: 287 Award:  1987 Nebula Worth a read : No Primary Driver:  (Plot, World, or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Pass Technobabble:  None Review:  A bland coming of age story/relationship drama with pretensions of being either horror or suspense. Characters are flat: the woman who threw herself into her career and ignored her family, the man who needs to protect people, the old woman who is superstitious. Story is a plodding mess that is meant to give the characters and their interactions the spotlight - but characters don't deliver, and the whole thing crumbles. Boring and predictable. The Medium of It Spoiler Free! One spoiler, but it's in the blurb of the books, so, deal. This is another book that falls into the broad category of dull, tedious, and dry stories withou...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Roger Zelazny's  Chronicles of Amber (Merlin Cycle). The Short of It Plot: As much as Merlin wants to be his own person, Amber keeps pulling him in. Page Count:  Trumps of Doom: 184 Blood of Amber: 215 Sign of Chaos: 217 Knight of Shadows: 251 Prince of Chaos: 241 Award:  Trumps of Doom: 1986 Locus Fantasy  Worth a read : Yes Primary Driver:  ( Plot ,  World , or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Fail. Technobabble:  Mild fantasy babble. Review:  A remarkable job of creating a sequel series. Takes the previous five books as a foundation and develops it, filling in details of the world. Also adds a new magic system – or, more accurately, adds new aspects to the already neat system of magic. Zelazny struggles a bit in giving Merlin a distinct voice from Corwin. Pacing stays quick, writing is cleaner than the earlier books. Merlin’s motivations are much clearer than Corwin’s as well. Totally enjoyable. ...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Gene Wolfe's Soldier of Arete. The Short of It Plot:  The great amnesiac adventure continues! Page Count: 354 Award:  None, but books one and three of the trilogy won. Worth a read : No Primary Driver:  (Plot,  World , or Character) Bechdel Test : Fail. Technobabble:  None. Review:  A less-inspired continuation of the Latro's journey. Wolfe's love of obtuse allusions to historical events and figures would make this a compelling mystery if this was even remotely engaging. Neither characters or situations draw the reader in enough to make this feel like more than a slog. Actual quality of writing is quite high - deft use of imagery, poetic phrasing that avoids feeling overdone. But all in service of an underwhelming product. The Medium/Long of It Spoiler Free! But that's all you get! There is almost nothing to say about this one other than that it is more of the same. It’s effectively the same book: a string of semi...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Roger Zelazny's  Chronicles of Amber (Corwin Cycle). The Short of It Plot:  Amber, a parallel realm to ours, is in a state of turmoil. Fantasy hijinks ensue.  Page Count:  Nine Princes in Amber: 175 The Guns of Avalon: 223 Sign of the Unicorn: 192 The Hand of Oberon: 188 The Courts of Chaos: 189 Award: None, but Book 6 (which begins the next quintet) won. Worth a read : Yes. Primary Driver:  ( Plot, World, or Character ) Bechdel Test : Fail (Unsure...) Technobabble:  Fantasy Babble - yes Review:  Delightful fantasy. Wildly unpredictable, charming protagonist, neat world. A deftly handled update to the standard sword and sorcery formula. Clearly written with tropes in mind, and uses them (or subverts them) to excellent effect. This is not an impactful read; it is not profound, or deeply thought-provoking, or anything else. It is instead a perfectly streamlined snack, and as such it is one of the best. The Medi...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Gene Wolfe's Soldier of the Mist. The Short of It Plot:  Latro forgets everything: he must keep a close record on a scroll. Even his meetings with gods.  Page Count:  335 Award:  1987 Locus Fantasy Worth a read : No Primary Driver:  (Plot, World, or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Fail Technobabble:  Nah. Review:  A lot of fun elements that do not quite gel. All of the basic elements of story are good: interesting cast of characters, particularly the cameos from different gods; cool settings as we wander through ancient Greece; generally good pacing. It is the central conceit of this book that makes it hard to read: it feels like 20% of the text is Latro either being informed or informing others that his memory does not work. It gets exhausting - and while the rest of this is better than competent, it's not enjoyable. Also, Wolfe's terrible at ending books. The Medium of It Spoiler Free Gene Wolfe is an exce...

Hello, Stranger. More book reviews coming next week! Apologies for the delay. And don't forget to read a book! Or sleep. Don't forget to do that either.

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Orson Scott Card's  Xenocide and Children of the Mind. The Short of It Plot:  Buggers, Piggies, and Humans all live together in uneasy peace. But the descolada virus lives with them, lethal to humans. Perhaps the only way to stop it is to destroy the planet.  Page Count:      Xenocide: 592     Children of the Mind: 370 Award: Books 3 and 4 of a series; 1 and 2 won awards. Worth a read : No. Which hurts to say. Primary Driver:  (Plot,  World , or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Pass Technobabble:  Mucho. Review:  Were you satisfied with the evolution of Ender from Ender's Game to Speaker for the Dead? Good, because we're done with character development. Massive cast of characters, each with one negative character trait, which is fixed by the end of the story. Slapdash inclusion of galactic politics to try to add stakes instead rips out the human core of the Enderverse. Meanders unpleasantl...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Orson Scott Card's Speaker for the Dead. The Short of It Plot: Ender Wiggin travels to the only planet where humans are interacting with another species, in the hopes of finding somewhere to leave the Bugger Queen.  Page Count: 419 Award:  1986 Nebula, 1987 Hugo Worth a read : Yes Primary Driver:  (Plot,  World , or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Pass Technobabble:  Moderate. Review:  A very different side of Ender, but a believable development. A truly massive cast of characters to keep track of, for the most part successfully. The Piggies are excellent - aliens with confusing customs, misunderstandings, physiology, and so on. And all grounded with some compelling and heartbreaking human drama. A worthy follow up to Ender's Game .  The Medium of It Spoiler Free! Well, spoilers for Ender's Game  but not this one. Go read that first! Well, here we are, hanging out with Ender once more. This is a different En...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Orson Scott Card's  Ender's Game. The Short of It Plot:  When the Buggers return, we're going to need the greatest military mind Earth can produce to stop them. Which means we need to start training young. Page Count: 256 Award:  1985 Nebula, 1986 Hugo Worth a read : Absolutely Primary Driver:  ( Plot , World, or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Possible Technical Pass? But Likely Fail. Technobabble:  Moderate. Review:  Look, it's great, okay? Writing is solid, characters are consistent, pacing is deftly executed. Stakes are maintained throughout. Relentless nature of issues brilliantly done - the moment one issue is solved, another appears. It's just a really great book. It's got some flaws, sure. But it's just a joy to read. I'm also extremely biased: this is also the first real science fiction book I can recall reading, when I was nine. The Medium of It Spoiler Free! I read this book under Mr. Hess's desk, duri...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Patrick Süskind's  Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. The Short of It Plot:  If he gathers enough material, he'll be able to craft the perfect smell. He'll finally smell human. Page Count:  263 Award:  1987 World Fantasy Award  Worth a read : Yes Primary Driver:  (Plot, World, or  Character ) + Atmosphere Bechdel Test : Fail. Technobabble:  Barely. Review:  Evil is a challenge. How do you make a monster believable? If it's too ridiculous, there's no justification. If motivations are too believable, well, your monster is not really evil. Süskind nails it. This is evil as a fundamental lack of morality; an indifference to the needs and wants of others. And it's terrifying. Pacing is not always great, plot meanders a bit - but the mood, which is the essential characteristic of a horror story, stays oppressive, and unsettling. At less than 300 pages, this is worth reading for that alone. The Medium of It...