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Novel Tease
Random meanderings about the books I love—or don't.
Interspersed with observations about my hobbies: Beer & Wine, Bridge, Bikes and Bow-wows.
Finally finished. It's not very long - some 40 short pages - but when you can only read it in your browser (or at least, when I can...) it's too easy to ignore it. I've managed to keep a tab open in my browser for a whole month.What can I say: not Atwood's best work. Funny (how on earth Wattpad managed to class this as "horror" is completely beyond me), and occasionally poignant, but on the whole, boring and pointless.
My wife pointed me to Casteel's website a few months back, so when a friend of a friend (I think) posted a review here, and I discovered there was a book, I just had to get it (reasonably priced too!)It's not very long, but her reaction (and mine, when she let me look at it) was priceless. Even if you think you know dogs, you have never seen pictures like this until you've seen Casteel!
A tiny little novella that explores the boundaries between man & machine, being & not-being. What makes a human? Along the way, a robot introduces us to the memes behind myths, from the Sumerian creation to Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel & Gretel & Snow White (and even "Old Macdonald had a Farm")."Love is the Turing test", says Valente - but is it? Through the whole story, Elefsis the house/robot, makes it clear that he isn't human, doesn't have feelings, and only mimics others - and yet, you're left with the unmistakable impression that, yes, he's human.
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I understand that there's so little crime in Sweden that a mystery writer has to look to redder fields, but the whole Latvian plot is so incredibly unbelievable! Why on Earth would Wallander agree to help a bunch of people who repeatedly refuse to tell him what's going on? How could he ever trust them. I'll stick to Brannagh's Wallander, thanks.
A little different from the usual Sandford: this is no mystery - we know whodunnit from page one. And I was disappointed that Virgil was not once referred to as "That fuckin' Flowers", which is the way he is usually introduced.
Still, Sandford's characters are, as always, well drawn and funny, and there's nothing quite like spending a few short hours ripping through another episode in the lives of Virgil, Davenport and their colleagues.
NORTH, EAST, SOUTH, WEST...
The offspring of Simon Tregarth, half earthling, half witch-brood, realized that they alone could perceive the four directions - for everyone else, there was no East!
It was a blank in the mind, a blank in legend and history.
And when new menaces threatened, the Tregarths realized that in that mental barrier there lay the key to all their world... somewhere to the unknown eastward must lie the sorcery that had secretly molded their destinies!
I'm starting a massive re-read of Witch World novels (at least those I can get hold of - which seems to be 24 out of 30+). I read most of them over 30 years ago. I won't be writing major reviews, but let's just say I'm pleasantly surprised how well this one has held up compared to some of her SF novels.
Disappointing. This is not a novel, it's a novella and two somewhat related short stories - and it reads like what it probably is: the season opening two-part episode of the series "Justified" followed by two single episodes. Meh!
Seven Days
Gotta love Deon Meyer. I hate the way so many fictional cops are such broken characters - particularly alcoholic - but somehow Bennie Griessel is completely believable and lovable. Perhaps it's because he's an alcoholic but NOT a drinker. He's reformed and trying to do right, and while he does try to explain WHY he became a drunk he doesn't try to excuse his drinking. Benny suffers from a lack of self esteem, but he doesn't let it stop him from doing his job. In this story, Benny's splitting his time between his job and trying to keep his new girlfriend sober. Alexa is a mirror to Benny's own problems. Benny can't understand why someone as talented as Alexa would be plagued by the demon of self-doubt, but of course he's equally talented in his own field, and has the same feelings of inadequacy.
In the end Benny solves his crime, but not fast enough to suit him. People are hurt, people die, and Benny even gets credited for what he thinks is other people's success, but the fact is, they wouldn't have succeeded without him.
Now, I really like Alan Dean Foster. Sure, he's the undisputed king of movie novelizations (Star Wars: A New Hope). So I was looking forward to this.I should have known it was too good to be true when I read the blurb: "This gripping adventure reveals a place where criminals are punished through genetic engineering and bodily manipulation—which poses profound questions about what it means to be human."
Wow, I'm currently rereading Perdido Street Station".
So, the writing was bad, the plot pitiful, the characters barely one-dimensional and he's no China Miéville. Sorry, Alan, you may have just caught me at the wrong time, but I won't be reading volume two.
I'm really torn about this.I had an argument in the summer about Kevin Anderson's credentials as an author. I think he's technically a pretty good writer, but I'm still not sure he's any good at ideas - after all, a lot of his best selling stuff is actually [a:Frank Herbert|58|Frank Herbert|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1168661521p2/58.jpg]'s ideas. So, anyway, I expected this should be pretty good, as the ideas are [a:Neil Peart|74340|Neil Peart|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1225553441p2/74340.jpg]'s.
And Neil Peart is one-third of the last of the great prog-rock bands, "Rush" (are there any prog-rock bands left in their original lineups?). Neil says he's been a member of Rush for 38 years, so I guess that means I have been a fan since they were founded... sigh. I thought they were older than me.
I was disappointed to find that it was all very Young Adult - which is becoming a laughable stereotype when we deal with Steampunk. But then, when your central theme is the lyrics to 66 minutes worth of album (which necessarily has to involve considerable time given to instrumental solos), how deep can you really go?
Still, I appreciate the ending. And Peart's afterword is almost worth the price of admission.
I feel totally betrayed by this book, so be warned that I don't care if spoilers follow...And if you think [b:Catcher in the Rye|5107|The Catcher in the Rye|J.D. Salinger|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349928703s/5107.jpg|3036731] had any redeeming features, you may not quite agree with me...
For 300 pages, I loved the story. We have two murder investigations, 20 years apart, that may have a connection, a cast of likable characters, and a good, workable plot.
Then the two lead characters sleep together, and he turns into Holden Caulfield: a complete self-absorbed jerk.
I know real people are like that, and it happens all the time - but why on earth would anybody want to read about them? You don't have to have happy endings, but I feel my time is wasted when nobody even tries to reach one.
Three thumbs down.
As always, I loved every moment of this rollicking ride, but what is with his sudden obsession (definitely Asperger-ish) with numbers? How can we not have known that Reacher is practically unable to hear a sentence without parsing the number of words, or the frequencies of the various letters?
A bleak look at what happens when the world passes (and is well on the downhill slide beyond) "peak oil", and GMO agri-businesses control the world's food supplies.Thailand is one of the few countries that is managing to survive without selling out to agri-business, even though the "calorie companies" routinely create new genetically modified crops that sterilize any other crop they contact. But how do you keep the contraband out when everybody takes bribes, and how do you convince everybody that long-term self-interest means not taking the bribe.
Given those questions, it's hard to believe that the story can have a positive ending, but surprisingly I find it does.
Until the Night
A few too many coincidences, and Lise Delorme acting like an idiot, but on the whole an enjoyable and quick read.