tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54123922024-02-20T16:37:25.714-05:00The Reading Diary of John DupuisThis blog will include short, informal reviews & commentary about my current non-professional reading. The initial series of postings are reviews I wrote a few years ago for Warp, the MonSFFA zine. The main genres at work here are science fiction, horror, contemporary fantasy, popular science, mysteries, thrillers and some general fiction and non-fiction. I also read a fair bit of what used to be called slipstream.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.comBlogger161125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-16339865922437928252010-01-20T15:13:00.003-05:002010-01-20T15:24:33.694-05:00Founders College Book SaleI went to the <a href="http://www.yorku.ca/founders/">Founders College Book Sale</a> today and was lucky enough to find a bunch of cool older mystery books (and a couple of other books too). Here's my take:<ul><li>Darker than Amber by John D. MacDonald<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Turquoise Lament</span> by John D. MacDonald<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Pale Gray for Guilt</span> by John D. MacDonald<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Soft Touch</span> by John D. MacDonald<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Long Lavender Look</span> by John D. MacDonald<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Scarlet Ruse</span> by John D. MacDonald<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">A Tan and Sandy Silence</span> by John D. MacDonald<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">You Live Once</span> by John D. MacDonald<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Last One Left</span> by John D. MacDonald<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Sleeping Beauty</span> by Ross Macdonald<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Book of Bourbon: And other Fine American Whiskeys</span> by Gary Regan<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Archangel</span> by Robert Harris</ul>All that for about $8.00.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-81773593100968398942009-10-24T22:51:00.001-04:002009-10-24T22:53:20.268-04:00Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, vols. 2-4.<span style="font-weight:bold;">Vaughn, Brian K., George Jeanty and Joss Whedon. <i>Vol 2: No future for you.</i> Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse, 2009.<br /><br />Goddard, Drew, George Jeanty and Joss Whedon. <i>Vol 3: Wolves at the Gate.</i> Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse, 2009.<br /><br />Whedon, Joss, Karl Moline and Jeph Loeb. <i>Vol 4: Time of you life.</i> Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse, 2009.</span><br /><br />Now this is more like it!<br /><br />A little while ago, when I <a href="http://jdupuis2.blogspot.com/2009/08/whedon-joss-and-george-jeanty-long-way.html">reviewed</a> the first volume of the collected <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_Season_Eight">Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8</a> series from Dark Horse, I was kind of disappointed. I felt the story telling was choppy and jumbled and that it lacked a lot of the real character development strengths of the original TV series.<br /><br />Well, the next three volumes of the series are a huge improvement. <br /><br />They are Volume 2, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159307963X?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=159307963X">No Future For You</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=159307963X" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />, volume 3, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595821651?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1595821651">Wolves at the Gate</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1595821651" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> and volume 4, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595823107?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1595823107">Time of Your Life</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1595823107" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />.<br /><br />The main V2 arc is a Faith story, wherein Giles employs Faith to do some Council-type wetwork, stuff he wouldn't want to get Buffy involved in. It's a good, compelling read, getting two somewhat less involved characters in V1 back into the main line of Season 8. V3 Brings Dracula back, this time on Buffy's side, battling against some rogue Japanese vampires. V4 brings the futuristic Fray back into the mix, as Buffy travels into the future. V4 also brings Willow back into the main stream of the Season 8 arc.<br /><br />Each volume also has a shorter stand-alone story, which is basically used for some character development, which often gets a bit of short shrift in the main volume arc.<br /><br />Over all, I am pleased with how the S8 arc is developing -- just like more season arcs developed. Slowly during the first part of the season, setting up the big push later on. And the Twilight Big Bad arc for S8 is still pretty mysterious, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops.<br /><br />I still have a few quibbles, of course, and I think the biggest is how a lot of the character stuff if peripheral to the main story arc. In the tv series, the character development and the story arc were always very tightly bound, basically one growing out of the other. Buffy and the other characters grew and changed because of what was happening to them, and even by S6 what was happening to them became the main story arc. In the comic series so far, they've much more tended to seal off the plot from the characterization. And I think it's a mistake. We really need to get back into the hearts and minds of the characters by the end of the arc, that's what needs to drive everything else. And if it doesn't happen, it'll be hard to judge S8 as a success.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-49352051985871624022009-08-25T17:06:00.003-04:002009-08-25T22:23:34.553-04:00Fox, Andrew. The good humor man. San Francisco: Tachyon, 2009. 282pp.Andrew Fox's first two novels, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345463331?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345463331">Fat White Vampire Blues</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0345463331" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345464087?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345464087">Bride of the Fat White Vampire</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0345464087" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> were entertaining and over-the-top, a couple of innovative entries into the vampire cannon. Cinematic and funny, touching and absurd, they were terrific reads if not quite great literature.<br /><br />Now comes <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1892391856?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1892391856">The Good Humor Man</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1892391856" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />. It's a lot of the same things as the earlier books: obsessed with pop culture, very cinematic, funny and absurd although not quite as touching and romantic. On the other hand, it's also a lot more thought-provoking with a satirical edge that's a lot more upfront than the earlier work.<br /><br />What's it about? Think of it as <i>Fahrenheit 451</i> for the diet industry. Imagine a future USA where high calorie foods are illegal, and a gang of government-sponsored thugs will raid any high-cal party they find. Imagine if one of the founders of the movement suddenly thinks it's all going too far and that people should really be free to make their own choices in life.<br /><br /><br />Furthermore, it's also not hard to imagine that Big Food has come up with a few secrets of it's own. Our newly converted hero then needs to save the day.<br /><br />What results is an amazing road trip into the heart of American food culture – Fat Elvis. Yes, Fat Elvis is the driving force (but not character, remember, it's the future) and inspiration for the book. More than that, I cannot reveal. Anyways, it's all kinda indescribable anyways. Liposuction, for example, is also a strangely important driving force in the novel.<br /><br />Read it. It's fun and thoughtful and way OTT. In fact, every time you think Fox can't possibly go more OTT, he pulls another fried peanut butter and banana sandwich out of his hat.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-76319493882074551602009-08-25T16:59:00.002-04:002009-08-25T17:06:01.895-04:00Cooper, Seamus. The mall of Cthulhu. San Francisco: Night Shade, 2009. 235pp.Seamus Cooper's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1597801275?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1597801275">The Mall of Cthulhu</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1597801275" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> is a seriously strange and funny book.<br /><br />Okay, here goes. A decade before the main action, Ted, a regular college kid, saves his lesbian best friend, Laura, from a horde of vampires trying to initiate her into their sorority; he's traumatized by having to massacre the whole nest of vampires (including a recently turned frat friend). Ten years later, she's joined the FBI as an analyst while he's unable to overcome his past and is following her from city to city as her career progresses, all the while working a series of McJobs.<br /><br />Now, he stumbles on a Lovecraftian conspiracy. A bunch of white supremacists are working to bring the Great Old Ones back from their dimension. Ultimately, Ted and Laura work together along with a shadowy yet underfunded government agency to fight them back.<br /><br />Light-hearted yet still a bit scary, this is a fantastic first novel. Good adventure, engaging characters, some self-deprecating insights into slacker/nerd culture, more-or-less tight plotting, tons of Lovecraft and other pop culture in-jokes not to mention a whole lot of winking and nudging – this is an entertaining melange. I certainly hope Cooper will bring Ted and Laura back for more supernatural adventures.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-22822981766840205682009-08-23T16:54:00.002-04:002009-08-24T16:43:51.505-04:00Maberry, Jonathan. Patient zero. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2009. 421pp.If the vampire novel is slipping down into the realm of the bodice ripper, it seems to me that zombies are the new vampire – able to actually embody horror without romance or any kind of soft and fuzzy feelings. Zombies mostly evoke fear and terror and a almost fatalistic wonder at the randomness of the universe. <br /><br />In the hands of a great up-and-coming horror novelist, zombies can be gold. Jonathan Maberry is just such a writer, the award-winning author of the <i>Ghost Road Blues</i> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Deep_Trilogy">series of horror novels</a>. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312382855?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0312382855">Patient Zero</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0312382855" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> is another real winner from Maberry, if anything even better than his earlier trilogy. It's a combination zombie horror and medical thriller – a very good example of the kind of hybrid science fiction horror genre that's bound to become more and more popular.<br /><br />Basically, the idea is that a Baltimore cop is recruited by a secretive government agency to help stop what seems to be a Middle Eastern terrorist plot to flood the world with a plague of zombies that spread quite easily via victims being bitten. The action is non-stop, the main character, Jack Ledger, is quite well drawn, the plot points are a bit of a stretch but well within thriller limits.<br /><br />One of the most interesting aspects is that Ledger's best friend, who also gets drawn into the fight, is a therapist who helps cops deal with the stress of their jobs, especially when they are forced to shoot someone. Throughout the novel, he's talking both Ledger and us through what it means to be a human being caught up in a whirlwind of violence and death, helping his friend and the other agents cope with what they're going thought at that basic human level. Very interesting and very well done.<br /><br />Overall, an exciting and surprisingly thoughtful read. Highest marks in the summer reading sweepstakes. I anxiously await sequels.<br /><br />(Yeah, I know. Zombies and humour. Zombies are strangely funny, it seems. Argh.)John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-75772211225166740972009-08-23T16:52:00.001-04:002009-08-24T16:44:51.142-04:00Frost, Jeaniene. Destined for an early grave. New York: Avon, 2009. 355pp.Anne Rice, Joss Whedon and the makers of the Underworld series of films certainly have a lot to answer for – turning the vampire genre from a true subset of the horror genre into a rather lame subset of the romance genre. Not that I have any problem with romantic vampires – as long as they're part of a larger field of vampire fiction that also includes evil, predatory vampires. My problem is that the dark supernatural romance seems to be edging out all the rest.<br /><br />This brings us to Jeaniene Frost's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061583219?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061583219">Destined for an Early Grave</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061583219" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />. Not normally the kind of book I would read, a review copy just happened to land on my desk just as we were leaving for the cottage for a couple of weeks of R&R. So, I took it along. I also read it. Mind you, there were several times in the first 50 pages that I was sorely tempted to hurl it across the room. The romance stereotype characters drove me crazy. The sexy, feisty and tough yet strangely goofy and insecure female lead; the tall, dark, brooding and yet strangely sensitive male lead. The tall, dark, brooding and yet strangely deranged villain. Yeah, they're all there: Buffy, Angel and Spike. The plot and setting also hit all the highlights in the feudal gothic hit parade. Hereditary ruling classes, byzantine rules and regulations that you must just die for, a heroine with secret powers that happens to be the key to everyone's plans.<br /><br />In the end, though, I did end up finishing the book – as stereotypical as the characters were, the plot had enough twists to keep me turning the pages even if the ending was dead predictable. Of course, it didn't hurt that initially I wasn't quite sure I'd brought enough books at the cottage so I more or less felt I had to read it. In different circumstances I might not have made it much past page 10 much less 50 or 350.<br /><br />Sort of recommended. Barely.<br /><br />And speaking of evil vampires, I have enjoyed David Wellington's work and I do look forward to reading the new Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan book, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Strain</span>. It is out there, I just wish the proportions were a bit different.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-33999185791203443752009-08-21T14:55:00.000-04:002009-08-21T14:58:39.074-04:00Whedon, Joss and George Jeanty. The Long Way Home. Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse, 2007. 136pp.Joss Whedon and George Jeanty's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593078226?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1593078226">The Long Way Home</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1593078226" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> is the first graphic novel collection of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_Season_Eight">Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8</a> series from Dark Horse.<br /><br />When the Buffy tv show first came out, my sons were quite small so my wife and I weren't really adding any new tv shows to our roster. But the show did make a psychic impression because a lot of people I knew were watching it and reported loving it. So, now that the kids are older and all the seasons are on DVD, my wife and I basically gorged ourselves on Buffy, watching all seven tv seasons on DVD over about a seven month period -- watching the last couple of seasons in about two weeks each. The season-long story arcs made them very addictive and easy to watch the episodes in bunches. <br /><br />Well, we finished the apocalyptic Season 7 a few weeks ago and it seemed like a good time to give the comics version Season 8 a try. <br /><br />So, what do I think? So far, pretty good but not amazing.<br /><br />There's about a 12 month gap between the end of S7 and the first issue here where some sort of Slayer organization has been set up in Scotland and that whole process is really glossed over very quickly. I could have used a bit more of a explanation of what went on with that, even if it did slow down the opening action. Which actually makes sense, of course, as the tv show never really worried about using up screen time filling in character relationships and back story bits. If anything, that's my big complaint so far with S8, that the characters and their personal stories are really getting short shrift in favour of some rather frenetic and disjointed action. It's understandable that some of the pacing habits of tv would have to change in comics, but so far I'm really missing the characters and their lives and personal stories.<br /><br />The overall arc of S8 seems to focus on something called Twilight, and I do sort of see where they're going, but I'm really looking forward to getting a better sense of where they're taking the characters, in particular some of the minor characters like Dawn, who somehow has been transformed into a giant due to a romantic liaison with something called a "thricewise," whatever that is. In fact, that would have been a great story in itself. As it is, it seems to be an excuse to bring back the whiny, petulant Dawn of S6 rather than the more mature young woman from S7 -- a step back as far as I'm concerned. Giles as well is more or less missing in action so far too.<br /><br />I found the storytelling a bit choppy, disjounted and flashbacky, an odd choice for a book that is presumably aimed quite a bit at comics neophytes, drawn in by the Buffy connection. Something a lot more linear and straightforward would seem to be better suited, especially for the first volume.<br /><br />So, potential, yes. I'll be reading the rest of the series, for sure, but I'm a little concerned by the first collection that Whedon lost track of what made Buffy such a crossover hit the intervening years between S7 & S8.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-13109349823632150752009-08-20T15:17:00.002-04:002009-08-20T15:23:20.331-04:00<b>Slaughter, Karin. <i>Blindsighted.</i> New York: HarperTorch, 2002. 389pp.<br />Slaughter, Karin. <i>Beyond reach.</i> New York: Dell, 2008. 573pp</b>.<br /><br />I don't have too much to say about the two books at hand, both by the aptly-named Karin Slaughter. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380820889?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0380820889">Blindsighted</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0380820889" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> is a fairly typical serial killer novel while <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0440242932?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0440242932">Beyond Reach</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0440242932" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> is a fairly typical crime thriller. Although they don't necessarily have high body counts, the violence and mayhem is intense and brutal, earning the author both her name and her crime writer stripes.<br /><br />Both are well-written and exciting, with a common cast of characters which Slaughter carries from book to book in a couple of vaguely overlapping series. The plots are clever, the pace is breakneck, the characters well drawn, the action at times shocking and surprising. I've read three of her books (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0440242924?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0440242924">Triptych</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0440242924" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> last summer) and I think I'll be reading a whole lot more.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-49118496949045970052009-08-20T15:08:00.001-04:002009-08-20T15:11:27.170-04:00Sawyer, Robert J. Mindscan. New York: Tor, 2006. 370pp.Robert J. Sawyer's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765349752?ie=UTF8&tag=confofascieli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0765349752">Mindscan</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=confofascieli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0765349752" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> is a pretty decent philosophically-based science fiction novel, a real exemplar of old fashioned sf that's idea driven rather than character or plot driven. The novel is basically a wire frame for Sawyer to explore ideas about consciousness, identity and even some legal issues. And that's fine – he's not really trying for a novel of character here. A weakness of this approach, of course, becomes readily apparent. In my mind, any time a novel gets bogged down in a bunch of long, drawn-out court scenes basically to give the various characters the chance to explain their take on the philosophical issues at hand, well, you know you're in trouble. And yes, the novel comes to a screeching halt when that happens.<br /><br />The issue? If you download your consciousness into a cybernetic version of your body, is it really you or just some other being (which may itself be a fully conscious and deserving of it's own personhood) that just thinks it's you. The complication here is that the old meat version of you isn't destroyed after the download, it essentially transfers legal personhood to the new being and then retires to a resort on the Moon. What happens if the Moon version wants it's life back?<br /><br />For all the word salad, data dumps and mind melds that Sawyer presents, in the end I have to say that I did enjoy the book and found it thought-provoking. I just wish the characters and plots were a little more in the forefront.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-71863723622355519322009-08-19T14:33:00.003-04:002009-08-19T14:50:01.090-04:00Summer 2008 readingA bit late on this, I know, but I'm about to start posting some more detailed reading notes from summer 2009, so I thought I'd clear some of this really old stuff out of the "to be posted" pile.<br /><br />Here goes:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Clancy, Tom. <i>The sum of all fears</i>. New York: Putnam, 1991. 798pp.</span><br /><br />Last summer I read <span style="font-style:italic;">A Clear and Present Danger</span> and it was starting to show some of the signs for Clancy's patented literary bloat. This summer, it's <span style="font-style:italic;">The Sum of all Fears</span> and the bloat has pretty well set in. Overall, it's a solid novel, telling the story of Jack Ryan's involvement in some pretty exciting standard Clancy thriller elements like terrorists, submarine tactics, lost nukes, scheming politicians and incompetent and naive liberals. Mostly pretty good stuff, exciting and involving. However, at nearly 800 pages, the book is easily 200 pages too long. Whole sub-plots could have been removed with no difference to the story. The big, explosive climactic event happens around page 600 with 200 pages to go but should have happened at page 200 with 400 to go.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Turtledove, Harry. <i>End of the beginning.</i> New York: Roc, 2006. 519pp.</span><br /><br />Last summer's cottage reading included the first part of this two part series, <span style="font-style:italic;">Days of Infamy</span>. Like with Tom Clancy, summer reading always seems to include a Harry Turtledove novel for me. They're quick and easy to read, light but very involving. The large cast of characters and multiple viewpoints make for quick and lively reading. This one is no different.<br /><br />To quickly set the stage, Japan invaded Pearl Harbor in December 1941 rather than just attacking the American base there. <span style="font-style:italic;">Days of Infamy</span> told the story of the invasion and initial stages of the occupation. <span style="font-style:italic;">End of the Beginning</span> picks up where <span style="font-style:italic;">Days of Infamy leaves</span> off, following the same diverse cast of characters, both American and Japanese, over the next couple of years, until the US bounces back and re-invades.<br /><br />A bit slow-starting, I did ultimately enjoy the novel. It does a good job of showing the brutality of the Japanese Imperial forces in WWII, something that's certainly not as well known as Nazi brutality. POW camps and comfort women brothels are among the aspects that are well portrayed. If Turtledove's narrative seems somewhat boilerplate, well, that's the nature of what he does. He churns them out pretty quickly, all using the same basic plan. Knowing what to expect, he doesn't disappoint. On the other hand, I do often wish he would be a bit more ambitious.<br /><br /><br />Now for some super-capsule reviews:<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Clapton, Eric. <i>Eric Clapton: The autobiography.</i> New York: Broadway, 2008. 344pp.</span><br /><br />Entertaining, frank and surprisingly humble autobiography of guitar hero Eric Clapton. I enjoyed this one a lot, as would anyone interested in guitar players or the classic rock period.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Smith, Scott. <i>The ruins.</i>New York: Vintage, 2007. 509pp.</span><br /><br />Good and creepy, a high quality horror novel with a great ending.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Hill, Joe. <i>Heart-shaped box.</i> New York: HarperCollins, 2008. 354pp.</span><br /><br />Very good first novel by Stephen King's son. A quick read with some good characters.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Hassel, Sven. <i>Comrades of war.</i> London: Cassel, 2004. 362pp.</span><br /><br />War is hell. Dirty, messy, ugly, violent, not for the faint-hearted, not Hollywood at all, this is a provocative read from a controversial author. Supposedly based on his real experiences in WWII, Hassel stretches credibility quite a bit, but much of it rings true.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Latimer, Jonathan. <i>Soloman's Vineyard.</i> London: Xanadu Blue Murder, 1990. 160pp.</span><br /><br />A good period hardboiled noir novel. Snappy dialogue, dangerous dames, perverse plotline, at least for the 1940s when it was written. It's all there.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Slaughter, Karen. <i>Triptych.</i> New York: Dell, 2007. 480 pp.</span><br /><br />Yikes. This is one violent and intense thriller. A solid cast of characters, tons of action, good suspense, lots of twists and turns. I look forward to sequels -- and must more Slaughterific summer reading. Yes, the aptly named Karen Slaughter is the perfect summer thriller reading.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-31435252300348167402009-05-30T22:26:00.000-04:002009-05-30T22:26:49.264-04:00Hauer, Rutger and Patrick Quinlan. All those moments: Stories of heroes, villains, replicants, and blade runners. New York: Harper, 2008.Actor autobiographies are one of those things you need to pick very carefully. I haven't read too many of them over the years, but the ones I have I've been quite pleased with -- Christopher Lee, Leonard Nimoy, Peter Cushing. Ok, William Shatner not so much.<br /><br />Which brings us to Rutger Hauer.<br /><br />Made famous by his role as the replicant Roy Batty in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner">Blade Runner</a>, he's also appeared in a bunch of B movies, tv movies and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutger_Hauer_filmography">host of other things</a>. Most recently, he's appeared in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_Begins">Batman Begins</a>.<br /><br />Most importantly, he's always seemed to be more thoughtful and intelligent than the average Hollywood actor. And he definitely confirms this is his very interesting and engaging memoirs. From his childhood in post-war Holland (yes, he's Dutch rather that German as I always assumed) through all his most notable roles, Hauer takes us along for the ride in a very interesting career. Concentrating on his early years more than the post-Blade Runner era, we see him struggling to find his way. One thing I liked was that no matter how lame the project seemed, he always seemed to give it his all.<br /><br />A good, solid memoir of an important genre actor.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-86683442173986710862009-05-29T21:13:00.003-04:002009-05-29T21:43:34.401-04:00Depp, Daniel. Loser's town. Toronto: Penguin, 2009. 339pp.I must admit I had pretty low expectations for this one. In fact, very low.<br /><br />Daniel Depp, you see, is the half brother of Johnny. The prospect of reading a novel, not by a Hollywood star but by a relative of a Hollywood star certainly set off the alarm bells.<br /><br />Serves me right for jumping to such conclusions. Depp's <span style="font-style:italic;">Loser's Town</span> is terrific. It's basically a Hollywood hardboiled PI noir, set amongst the fakes and phonies of the film industry. The potential series character, David Spandau, is well drawn and believable -- a tough guy, smart, heart-broken and sensitive, has a lot of potential. The voice is strong and assured. I look forward to futher novels in the series, not because it mentions that another is coming, but because you have to believe that Depp won't be allowed to leave it at one.<br /><br />The plot is appropriately convoluted but not improbable at all. It's dark enough by the end to keep even the most cynical reader happy.<br /><br />Good stuff. Give it a try.<br /><br />(Uncorrected proof supplied by publisher.)John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-8937781172440093532009-05-29T20:58:00.000-04:002009-05-29T20:59:43.170-04:00What I read: 2008What do you care what I read in 2008? Nothing, of course, but I do. As I get older (I was 20 in 1983 when I started keeping track of the books I read) I find myself more and more in the position of looking at a stack of books on my shelves by, say, Cornell Woolrich and they all have the word "Black" in the title. I know I've read a couple but I can't remember which ones. Fortunately, I've been maintaining a little list in a little brown book since April 1983 of all the books I've read (or at least attempted). By putting this list here it will be searchable. I may ultimately put at least some of it in something like LibraryThing, but for now I'll be putting it here. The advantage is that the blog is quick and dirty, without a lot of effort per entry. The books are in the order I read them.<br /><br /><ol><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Ambient Findability</span> by Peter Morville<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Year's Best Fantasy 6</span> edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Slide</span> by Ken Bruen & Jason Starr<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Farthing</span> by Jo Walton<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007</span> edited by Richard Preston & Tim Folger (Series Editor)<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Keeper</span> by Sarah Langan<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">A Century of Noir</span> edited by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins <br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/03/isaacson-walter-einstein-his-life-and.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Einstein: A Life</span></a> by Walter Isaacson <br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Hardboiled America: Lurid Paperbacks And The Masters Of Noir</span> by Geoffrey O'Brien <br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/04/ayres-ian-super-crunchers-why-thinking.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Supercrunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbers is the New Way To Be Smart</span></a> by Ian Ayres<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Tin Roof Blowdown</span> by James Lee Burke<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, Oxycontin, and Other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania</span> by Matthew Chapman<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Year's Best SF 11</span> edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer <br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Infected</span> by Scott Sigler<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Pyramids</span> by Terry Pratchett<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations</span> by Clay Shirky<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Free as in Speech and Beer: Open Source, Peer-to-Peer and the Economics of the Online Revolution</span> by Darren Wershler-Henry<br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/06/carr-nicholas-big-switch-rewiring-world.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google</span></a> by Nicholas Carr<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Green Glass Sea</span> by Ellen Klages<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Big City, Bad Blood</span> by Sean Chercover<br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/10/catching-up-on-reviewing-science-books.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Complications: A Surgeon's Note on an Imperfect Science</span></a> by Atul Gawande<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Best New Horror 17</span> edited by Stephen Jones<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Forty Signs of Rain</span> by Kim Stanley Robinson <br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/07/solove-daniel-j-future-of-reputation.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet</span></a> by Daniel J. Solove<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Best of Technology Writing 2007</span> by Steven Levy<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Sum of All Fears</span> by Tom Clancy<br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/08/summer-physics-reading.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Wrinkles in Time: Witness to the Birth of the Universe</span></a> by George Smoot and Keay Davidson<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The End of the Beginning</span> by Harry Turtledove <br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Clapton: The Autobiography</span> by Eric Clapton<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Ruins</span> by Scott Smith<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Heart-Shaped Box</span> by Joe Hill<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Comrades of War</span> by Sven Hassel<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Solomon's Vineyard</span> by <br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/08/summer-physics-reading.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Pursuit of Genius: Flexner, Einstein, and the Early Faculty at the Institute for Advanced Study</span></a> by Steve Batterson<br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/08/summer-physics-reading.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Archimedes to Hawking: Laws of Science and the Great Minds Behind Them</span></a> by Clifford Pickover<br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/10/catching-up-on-reviewing-science-books.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design </span></a> by Michael Shermer<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Triptych</span> by Karen Slaughter<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Dark Crusade</span> by Karl Edward Wagner <br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Little Girl Lost</span> by Richard Aleas <br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/08/summer-physics-reading.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">The Wraparound Universe</span></a> by Jean-Pierre Luminet<br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/09/lacy-sarah-once-youre-lucky-twice-youre.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0</span></a> by Sarah Lacy<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Bad Moon Rising</span> by Jonathan Maberry<br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/10/catching-up-on-reviewing-science-books.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science</span></a> by Natalie Angier<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Best American Science Writing 2008</span> edited by Sylvia Nasar & Jesse Cohen (series editor)<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany</span> by Bill Buford<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2008</span> edited by Jerome Groopman and Tim Folger (series editor)<br /><li><a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/11/jones-sheilla-quantum-ten-story-of.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">The Quantum Ten: A Story of Passion, Tragedy, Ambition, and Science</span></a> by Sheilla Jones<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">The Dime Detectives: a Comprehensive History of the Detective Fiction Pulps</span> by Ron Goulart<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies </span> by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future</span> by Cory Doctorow<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything</span> by Christopher Hitchens<br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Mafiaboy: How I Cracked the Internet and Why It's Still Broken</span> by Michael Calce and Craig Silverman</ol><br /><br />I should mention that there are a significant number of books I've read that aren't on the list. I'm not recording the books I read for the <a href="http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2008/09/sunburst-award-2008-winners-and-2009.html">Sunburst Awards</a> as I don't think the list of books actually submitted for consideration are made public anywhere.<br /><br />One book that I did read that's not on the list is <a href="http://www.lulu.com/content/1869828">The Open Laboratory: The Best Science Writing on Blogs 2007</a>, edited by Reed Cartwright and Bora Zivkovic. Since I was on the advance screening panel of judges for the book, I did read all the posts that are reprinted in it during the judging period at the end of 2007; I also ordered and received the book in 2008. But I never actually cracked the cover and re-read all the posts during 2008. I did re-read a few, but not all.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-17491770068534397312008-01-01T18:14:00.000-05:002008-01-01T18:18:31.925-05:00Catch Up Post August -- December 2007I haven't been posting for a while, so I thought I'd catch up by listing the books I've read since the last post here with a one or two sentence comment. Trying to do real reviews at this point would be too time consuming and I'd rather get up to speed fast and resume regular posting than risk falling so far behind that I don't bother to start posting again.<br /><br /><ol><li>Pohl, Frederik. <i>The Boy who Would Live Forever</i>. New York: Tor, 2005. 384pp.<blockquote>Pretty typical late period Pohl. Kind of rambling and discursive, a bit weak on plot but full of lots of heart and enjoyable characters. Worth it for fans of Pohl's work or the Heechee books but probably not for the casual reader.</blockquote><br /><li>Hamilton, Donald. <span style="font-style:italic;">The Wrecking Crew</span>. New York: Fawcett Gold Medal, 1960. 176pp. <blockquote>Another short sharp shock, the second in the Matt Helm series. Lots of twists and turns, hardboiled and noir, violent and cruel. Good stuff.</blockquote><br /><li>Wellington, David. <span style="font-style:italic;">13 Bullets</span>. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007. 336pp.<blockquote>Over the top horror at it's finest. A modern vampire vs. copy tale, violent and bloody, no refugees from Anne Rice-land either. the vampires are deliciously evil and demented.</blockquote><br /><li>Dozois, Gardner, ed. <span style="font-style:italic;">The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty Second Annual Collection</span>. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005. 704pp.<blockquote>Self-recommending. Full of great stories. Read it and it's brethren from previous and later years if you care about science fiction at the shorter lengths.</blockquote><br /><li>Stracher, Cameron. <span style="font-style:italic;">Dinner with Dad: How I Found My Way Back to the Family Table</span>. New York: Random House, 2007. 256pp.<blockquote>A heart-warming tale of a type-A workaholic dad who tries to slow down a bit and cook dinner for his family more often. A story of overwork, overstress, long commutes and crazy schedules. Mostly, Stracher makes it work.</blockquote><br /><li>Stephen Jones, ed. <span style="font-style:italic;">The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: 16</span>. New York: Carroll & Graff, 2005. 512pp.<blockquote>Another can't miss collection. I've been reading these for 10-plus years and I'm not sure if there's been an over all better selection than in this edition.</blockquote><br /><li>Scalzi, John. <span style="font-style:italic;">The Last Colony<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span>. New York: Tor, 2007. 320pp.<blockquote>A bit of a disappointment. A bit too talky and slow-moving compared to the previous installments with not enough emphasis on the action that has made Scalzi famous. Also, he really needs to expand this palette of characterization. Not everyone wise-cracks constantly. Also, the Perry/Jane/Zoe family unit is way too transparently Scalzi's own family for my liking. Again, to get to the next level as a novelist, he really needs to work on his characters.</blockquote><br /></ol>John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-83699531534554942052008-01-01T14:18:00.000-05:002008-01-01T14:20:31.838-05:00What I read: 2007What do you care what I read in 2007? Nothing, of course, but I do. As I get older (I was 20 in 1983 when I started keeping track of the books I read) I find myself more and more in the position of looking at a stack of books on my shelves by, say, Cornell Woolrich and they all have the word "Black" in the title. I know I've read a couple but I can't remember which ones. Fortunately, I've been maintaining a little list in a little brown book since April 1983 of all the books I've read (or at least attempted). By putting this list here it will be searchable. I may ultimately put at least some of it in something like LibraryThing, but for now I'll be putting it here. The advantage is that the blog is quick and dirty, without a lot of effort per entry. The books are in the order I read them.<br /><br />By way of adding some value to the list, I'll italicize any work that I remember as being particularly wonderful.<ol><br /><li>Hybrids by Robert J. Sawyer<br /><li>The Republican War on Science by Chris Mooney<br /><li>Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik<br /><li>Over My Dead Body by Lee Server<br /><li>The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2006 edited by Brian Greene<br /><li>The Best American Science Writing 2006 edited by Atul Gawande<br /><li>Demons by John Shirley<br /><li>The Open Laboratory: The Best Writing on Science Blogs 2006 edited by Bora Zivkovic<br /><li>Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels by David Pringle<br /><li>Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities by Jeffrey S. Rosenthal<br /><li>It by Stephen King<br /><li>The Google Story by: Inside the Hottest Business, Media, and Technology Success of Our Time by David Vise & Mark Malseed<br /><li>Witness to Myself by Seymour Shubin<br /><li>Lady Yesterday by Loren D. Estleman<br /><li>Follies of Science: 20th Century Visions of Our Fantastic Future by Eric Dregni & Jonathan Dregni <br /><li>Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut<br /><li>The Fabulous Riverboat by Philip Jose Farmer<br /><li>The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next by Lee Smolin<br /><li>Still Life with Crows by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child<br /><li>Balanced Libraries: Thoughts on Continuity and Change by Walt Crawford<br /><li>The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: Knowing What's Real and Why It Matters by Ardea Skybreak<br /><li>The Choir of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli<br /><li>You'll Die Next by Harry Whittington<br /><li>Trials of the Monkey: An Accidental Memoir by Matthew Chapman<br /><li>Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder by David Weinberger<br /><li>Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy<br /><li>Stolen by Kelley Armstrong<br /><li>Days of Infamy by Harry Turtledove<br /><li>The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril<br /><li>The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi<br /><li>The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon<br /><li>The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester<br /><li>Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry<br /><li>The Boy who Would Live Forever by Frederik Pohl<br /><li>Glut: Mastering Information Through The Ages by Alex Wright<br /><li>Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature by David Quammen<br /><li>The Wrecking Crew by Donald Hamilton<br /><li>13 Bullets by David Wellington<br /><li>The Year's Best Science Fiction: 22 edited by Gardner Dozois<br /><li>Dinner with Dad: How I Found My Way Back to the Family Table by Cameron Stracher<br /><li>Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams<br /><li>The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: 16 edited by Stephen Jones<br /><li>The Last Colony by John Scalzi<br /><li>Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts by John McCain, David Dunbar, and Brad Reagan<br /><li>The Best American Science Writing 2007 by Gina Kolata<br /><li>Dead Man's Song by Jonathan Maberry</ol>John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-34991937179992972882007-08-08T22:40:00.000-04:002007-08-08T22:41:42.029-04:00Maberry, Jonathan. Ghost road blues. New York: Pinnacle, 2006. 472pp.A great read, a fantastic first novel full of great action, spooky treats and gonzo villains. Basically, there's this hick town which has turned Halloween into a kind of industry, with specialised boutiques and rides. But, little do we know that the town is haunted by an ancient evil that is reawakening after being defeated 30 years before. The good guys are not really aware of what is going on as the bad guys get all their forces in order for the first cataclysmic encounter. The good guys win, of course, but not without some losses. However, this is the first book in a projected trilogy so I imagine that there's lots of carnage to come.<br /><br />There are some first novel issues here, including a slightly flabby page count, overly precious and smug characters and an over reliance on snappy dialogue. Crow, for example, is far too obviously an idealized version of the way the author sees himself, while Val is equally obviously an idealized version of his adolescent dreams of a powerful, sexy kick-ass women who somehow totally loves the complete goofball main character.<br /><br />Overall, though, I have to say that there are far more positives than negatives for this novel and I'm looking forward to reading the sequels.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-83109742272908973992007-08-08T22:39:00.000-04:002007-08-08T22:40:32.490-04:00Malmont, Paul. The Chinatown death cloud peril. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007. 367pp.Now this is a cool book! A phantasmagorical postmodern pastiche-orama, a 1930s pulp plot involving 1930s pulp authors as the main protagonists!<br /><br />Walter Gibson (Maxwell Grant/The Shadow) and Lester Dent (Kenneth Robeson/Doc Savage) are the main ones, with significant contributions from L. Ron Hubbard, Chester Himes, John W. Campbell, Orson Welles, H.P. Lovecraft, Cornell Woolrich, E.E. “Doc” Smith, Stan Lee, “Otis Driftwood” (I'm not giving that one away...), Blackstone the Magician, even Joe Kavalier gets a mention and Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster get a cameo! And that's not including the ones I don't recognize!<br /><br />Crammed full of colourful action sequences, daring escapes, dastardly villains with evil plots, weird science, zombies, magicians and evil, cruel editors, it's actually a bit short on plot sanity and cohesion, but it's definitely long on atmosphere and good old pulpy fun. I can't recommend this novel enough. I really enjoyed it, despite a few first novel failings.<br />,John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-35600146594422280912007-08-08T22:38:00.000-04:002007-08-08T22:39:26.861-04:00Scalzi, John. The ghost brigades.. New York: Tor, 2007. 343pp.My Scalzi habit seems to be forming. Last summer I read <i>Old man's war</i> at the cottage, exploring a new author, and enjoyed it a lot. This summer, I did the same thing, this time reading Scalzi's second book in his <i>OMW</i> series, <i>The ghost brigades</i>. And guess what, I loved it too. This guy fits as much plot into 343 pages as a guy like Harry Turtledove fits into an entire seven volume series. Action, adventure, romance, intrigue, loyalty, honour, lively smart-ass dialogue, blood and guts. Military sf with brains and a heart, the courage to ask big questions, to challenge easy assumptions about good guys and bad guys. And I'm not even that big a fan of military sf, most times. Habit forming. I hope there's another Scalzi coming out in paperpack next spring/summer to take with me on whatever travels we get up to. Highly recommended. Scalzi has rocketed to the front of the line of my favourite authors.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-77857309905524393962007-08-08T22:37:00.000-04:002007-08-08T22:38:28.524-04:00Turtledove, Harry. Days of infamy. New York: Penguin Roc, 2005. 520pp.A pretty typical Turtledove alternate history novel, nothing more, nothing less. Interesting premise, large cast of viewpoint characters on both sides, lots of plot threads to make room for a bunch of sequels, a fair amount of padding in the text itself in the form of endless repetitions. And most of all, not much plot for a lot of pages. <br /><br />This one is set in the Pacific theatre of WWII, with Japan invading and occupying Pearl Harbor in December 1941 instead of just mounting a surprise attack. The occupation that Turtledove presents seems suitably brutal, mostly in sync with what we know about the Japanese military during the war. Since Turtledove always has some characters conflicted by their situation in his alternate histories, this one is no different. This time it's the substantial population of Hawaiian Japanese, with the older generations tending to favour their homeland and younger siding with the USA. Of course, the Yankee characters are generally fairly arrogant and self-assured about their innate superiority and it's nice to see them taken down a peg by the superiority of the Japanese forces, leading me to at times root for the Japanese (if only temporarily, the occupation is truly brutal). I imagine that we'll see the American forces get the upper hand in later volumes.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-18993687954850297082007-08-08T22:36:00.000-04:002007-08-08T22:37:36.121-04:00Armstrong, Kelley. Stolen. Toronto: Random House, 2002. 399pp.What's the demographic for this novel? I really felt that this novel was squarely aimed at a certain type of fan, the fan of Laurel K. Hamilton & those other spooky sexy romance novels. But could it transcend its demographic and find interest for a 44 year old guy? (Or is a 44yog part and parcel of the demo for a sexy horror novel?)<br /><br />When you get right down to it, it's all adolescent wish fulfillment, to have power in a world that doesn't recognize your specialness, to have secret powers, to be above the morals of mere humans. Even the good characters are more or less amoral killers, I find the Clay character particularly annoying and smug, even the main character, Elena, seemed a bit of an idealized awkward, gawky adolescent goth: tall, skinny, plain, poor fashion sense, not very accomplished in “real” life, snarky and sarcastic but somehow powerful, sexy, ultra-competent and poised. Not to mention, still somehow able to win the affections of the smartest, most competent, best-looking male character.<br /><br />A quick outline of the plot: the secret werewolf society becomes aware of the larger world of supernatural beings, including witches, half-demons, vampires and others. The attend a meeting of leaders of these groups to assess the dangers of a group of humans that seems to be hunting and capturing various members of the races. Ultimately, Elena is captured and imprisoned by the humans, financed and lead by a rogue billionaire software geek. Eventually, she escapes with some of the other captured supernaturals, and, well, you can guess the rest.<br /><br />There's some stuff that's wrong with this novel, mostly that it needed to grow up a bit, to get to adulthood, adult characters and adult situations. The series has a lot of potential, potential I would like to see fulfilled. I liked the first episode of the loose series quite a bit, but this one not quite as much. I do look forward to reading more installments to see how the series and the characters grow, even if the series shifts to the less interesting witches rather than the werewolves. A bit of a sophomore jinx is nothing to abandon the series for.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-34102155356274624322007-08-08T22:35:00.000-04:002007-08-08T22:36:29.528-04:00Clancy, Tom. Clear and present danger. New York: Berkley, 1990. 688ppGood ol' Tom Clancy. A bit of technophilia, some serious obsessiveness about “competence” and honour and duty and gadgetry. On the other hand, there's also a strong emphasis on camaraderie, the vital importance of mentors, relationships with friends, the centrality of families – you would almost call the guy sentimental. Every character needs to have a background, a context, an explanation for their strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes it feels like he's taking a stock character out of central casting, but sometimes it hits the right note. Clancy is also oddly pragmatic or even liberal about a lot of traditional right wing issues, like that drug problem as much about demand as supply, women in the military or US involvement in Central America and other developing nations. His characters also always ask questions about what they're doing, ponder moral rights and wrongs of their actions, the nature of good and evil, the nature and purpose of government action. You don't always have to agree with the characters' conclusions, but it's interesting that Clancy feels the need to have them asked and not always even answered completely. There's a lot of grey in a novel you expect to be black and white. <br /><br />So, what's the big picture plot outline. The novel opens with a horrific execution at sea of a US businessman and his wife and kidson a South American fishing trip. This spins out with the President getting the CIA to launch a real War on Drugs, more no-holds-barred. It gets a bit out of hand with some semi-rogue elements in the government. Some CIA good guys like agent John Clark and new acting Deputy Director Intelligence of the CIA, Jack Ryan, and a whole bunch of army super-grunts need to save the day and get the Agency back on a more legal and ethical track. There's lots of explosions and miscellaneous derring do. I also find it odd that the whole War Against Drugs plot line feels almost like a historical novel. It's a good thriller, but it almost feels like it's about Berlin in 1950. It's worth noting that we don't even see Jack Ryan much until after page 100, and even then he's peripheral to the main action until the very end. <br /><br />And how does it compare to the movie starring Harrison Ford? The movie more or less successfully mixes and matches some of the characters and plots, extracting some and adding others, figuring out a way to make Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) more completely integrated in the action. Pretty good but since it leaves out all the crazy detail that make Clancy novels so much nerdy fun, it seems a bit bland in comparison.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-2167030583011866002007-06-22T15:20:00.001-04:002007-06-22T15:35:52.649-04:00Vonnegut, Kurt. Breakfast of champions. New York: Dell, 1973. 295pp.Vonnegut died a little while ago and I thought I'd dig up one of his novels I'd never read and give it a try, and <span style="font-style:italic;">Breakfast of champions</span> was the one I found first in the vast recesses of my personal library. Now, I never discovered Vonnegut as a teen, the time that most people who are most passionate about him seem to clue in. Vonnegut, like Dick or Ellison or Lovecraft, seems to speak most directly to the emerging adult, the insecurities, the cynicism mixed with idealism, the smart-aleciness. I certainly remember one of my best friends back in the late high school, early college era really catching the Vonnegut bug and endlessly spouting quotes and aphorisms. For some reason, thought, it didn't happen to me with Vonnegut -- although in spades for Dick, Ellison and Lovecraft, of course.<br /><br />I have read a bunch of Vonnegut novels since leaving my teen years, and mostly liked them quite a bit if not quite with that all-consuming passion of the real devotee. <span style="font-style:italic;">Breakfast of champions</span> is mostly considered middle range Vonnegut, not his best but not his worst either. And I have to say that's my opinion too. Loosely plotted around his signiture character, sf author Kilgore Trout, traveling to a conference to accept an award and the various other characters directly and indirectly involved, it's an amusing romp, full of Vonnegut's trademark gentle humour and biting satire. A kind of world-weariness mixed with optimism, if you will. Good stuff, if not quite gripping or compelling.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-5123089227180547532007-06-22T15:07:00.000-04:002007-06-22T15:18:01.370-04:00Farmer, Philip Jose. The fabulous riverboat. New York: Berkley Medallion, 1973. 256pp.This is the second book in Farmer's Riverworld series, the first of which, <a href="http://jdupuis2.blogspot.com/2006/01/farmer-philip-jose-to-you-scattered.html">To your scattered bodies go</a>, I reviewed about 18 months ago. That one was quite a good book, really deserving the classic label. As a reminder, the Riverworld series takes place on a giant planet where everyone from all human history has been reincarnated along a hugely long river.<br /><br />This one, however, was a bit of a disappointment. The story revolves around Samuel Clemens' (yes, Mark Twain) attempts to build a river boat to explore the river and discover the secrets of the mysterious aliens that have created this bizarre scenario. First of all, the book was mostly political wrangling until the very end, the boat project didn't really even get underway until the last 100 or so pages. The story never really grabbed me like the first one.<br /><br />The third in the series is about exploring the Riverworld, so I will probably end up giving that one a try. On the other hand, the extended series rule of diminishing sequel returns may not favour that option. We'll see.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-72774245457783178922007-05-27T21:30:00.000-04:002007-05-27T21:30:53.119-04:00Preston, Douglas and Lincoln Child. Still life with crows. New York: Warner, 2004. 592pp.I love the occasional seriously over the top thriller and this series by Preston and Child fits the bill perfectly. This is the fourth in a loose series, the first being <span style="font-style:italic;">Relic</span>, then <span style="font-style:italic;">Reliquary</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Cabinet of curiosities</span>. There are three or four more that I haven't gotten to yet. <br /><br />Gonzo, grizzly and gruesome, the three g-words that describe this great novel. The setting is a microscopically small town in Kansas where a series of increasingly bizarre and violent killing take place, potentially disrupting a hoped-for economic biotech spin off in the town. The killings draw the very stange FBI Agent Pendergrast who teams up with a local teen misfit to solve the crime. It sounds like it shouldn't work but it does. Preston and Child give the book enough narrative drive and gory detail to keep you interested. And Pendergrast is a quirky and odd enough character to keep you coming back to the series (although he isn't in all the previous books, like I said the series so far is quite loose). While Pendergrast is a little too alien a figure to give the books a intimate human dimension, the authors always come up with a local character to identify with. This time it's teen misfit Corrie Swanson, a goth kid who's ostracized by the community but is smart and savvy enough to be a real help to Pendergrast. I think we'll be seeing more of her eventually, as she would surely make a good long-term sidekick one day.<br /><br />One minor complaint about the series, though. I find they always tease supernatural causes for the mayhem but in the end it always ends with a naturalistic explanation -- and that's ok. I don't need a horror novel to be supernatural, human nature is scary enough. My problem is that they always end up having the whole thing be a bit stretched to the bounds of credibility for my taste, as if they felt the need to push the limit while they were writing and they had to squeeze in the reality at the end.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412392.post-87813031181160993872007-05-26T22:49:00.000-04:002007-05-26T23:32:44.295-04:00Estleman, Loren. Lady yesterday. New York: Ballantine, 1988. 211pp.This is a novel in Estleman's long-running Amos Walker series of novels about a hard-bitten Detroit PI. It's a pretty good novel, nothing too fancy. A girl-gone-bad-gone-good looking for her father gets Walker to help. He digs deeply into her past, finding out some things that she doesn't want to know meanwhile pissing off various members of the criminal underground. A fairly standard tough-guy mystery, but with a good plot, good characters. Short and sweet, to the point. I look forward to trying out more books in this series and by this author.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.com0