20 September 2015
I LOVE Orson Scott Card. Everything he's ever written has been fan-freaking-tastic! He's not afraid to really push the limits of logic in his works, particularly this one. Time travel has always been a fave for all sci-fi writers and readers since the very beginning. But what he does that few others do, is make it logical. The characters use it fully as a tool, not just a fun romp around or endless paradoxes, but in a way that intelligent people would utilize the capabilities to solve serious problems. He also makes very realistic characters (other than perhaps Rigg who is far too self-sacrificial, but you could argue that same flaw in Ender)
I always recommend Orson Scott Card to people. He is a master of seamlessly twining together fantasy with enough logic to make it believable. If you've never read one of his books, pick up Pathfinder (book one in this series).
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Saturday, August 22, 2015
The Warded Man - Peter V. Brett (Demon Cycle Series, Bk 1)
19 August 2015
Great, great, great book! This one came off an online list, but was also concurrently recommended to me from a fellow grad student.
Good fight scenes. Good angst. Good character design. Good visuals. This would also make a superb movie, just so long as they stick to the book.
All the components of a good, solid, entertaining book, but the one aspect of it that really got to me was even when human lives directly depended on it, people were exceptionally poor at retaining the hard-won knowledge over the ages. There are holes all over the colosseum in Rome because people lost the knowledge of how to create the metals that they still used and needed but couldn't even make themselves anymore. I honestly do fear that this will happen again in history. Some of our current politicians make me particularly nervous with their blind clinging to ideas and ideologies that simply don't work in real life.
But enough of that: Read this book!
Great, great, great book! This one came off an online list, but was also concurrently recommended to me from a fellow grad student.
Good fight scenes. Good angst. Good character design. Good visuals. This would also make a superb movie, just so long as they stick to the book.
All the components of a good, solid, entertaining book, but the one aspect of it that really got to me was even when human lives directly depended on it, people were exceptionally poor at retaining the hard-won knowledge over the ages. There are holes all over the colosseum in Rome because people lost the knowledge of how to create the metals that they still used and needed but couldn't even make themselves anymore. I honestly do fear that this will happen again in history. Some of our current politicians make me particularly nervous with their blind clinging to ideas and ideologies that simply don't work in real life.
But enough of that: Read this book!
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Fire - Kristin Cashore (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy, Bk. 2)
11 August 2015
I do really like this author. In both books I have read of hers, she strikes a good balance between sweet and lively.
This book takes place in a different kingdom than the previous with people of a different type of talent. The title character, Fire, is the last of her kind, a sort of super-predator variant of humans. Everywhere she goes, the mere sight of her drives people mad, either with lust or envy or horror. Consequently, she often hides herself and her most outlandish characteristic, her vibrantly, flame-colored hair. Not to sound pompous, but I can kinda relate given the attention I draw down here in south Texas.
Regardless, again, simply a good and interesting book. Certainly one I would recommend to people.
I do really like this author. In both books I have read of hers, she strikes a good balance between sweet and lively.
This book takes place in a different kingdom than the previous with people of a different type of talent. The title character, Fire, is the last of her kind, a sort of super-predator variant of humans. Everywhere she goes, the mere sight of her drives people mad, either with lust or envy or horror. Consequently, she often hides herself and her most outlandish characteristic, her vibrantly, flame-colored hair. Not to sound pompous, but I can kinda relate given the attention I draw down here in south Texas.
Regardless, again, simply a good and interesting book. Certainly one I would recommend to people.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Inca Gold - Clive Cussler (Dirk Pitt Series, Bk. 12)
22 July 2015
I have read many Clive Cussler books. Dirk Pitt is the original character of his books. This particular one is interesting, as always, but not his best or most creative. That being said, you will always win if you pick up a Clive Cussler book.
I have read many Clive Cussler books. Dirk Pitt is the original character of his books. This particular one is interesting, as always, but not his best or most creative. That being said, you will always win if you pick up a Clive Cussler book.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Graceling - Kristin Cashore (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy, Bk. 1)
8 July 2015
I found this book listed in an article titled "# books as enchanting as Harry Potter" and thought, "Eh, why not?" Perhaps not as enchanting as HP, but pretty close, I will certainly give it that. I will be reading the other two books in this series that are already written and keep an eye out for future publications.
It's cute and fun, but didn't cut out slight gore and mild sex, a pretty good balance of everything in a simple piece of fiction.
Conclusion: Recommended, particularly if you like stories like Harry Potter or slightly more action oriented (read murdering) versions of Julia Quinn or Amanda Quick.
I found this book listed in an article titled "# books as enchanting as Harry Potter" and thought, "Eh, why not?" Perhaps not as enchanting as HP, but pretty close, I will certainly give it that. I will be reading the other two books in this series that are already written and keep an eye out for future publications.
It's cute and fun, but didn't cut out slight gore and mild sex, a pretty good balance of everything in a simple piece of fiction.
Conclusion: Recommended, particularly if you like stories like Harry Potter or slightly more action oriented (read murdering) versions of Julia Quinn or Amanda Quick.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
The Maze Runner – James Dashner (The Maze Runner Series, Bk. 1)
3 July 2015
This is a good book. If it had been around when I was a
“young adult reader” (which would have been the ages of 9-13 for me) I would
have been all over this. However, as it happened, it’s just a good book. Not as
dystopian as other things I’ve read, not close, so if that’s your favorite
genera, it might be a bit of a disappointment. And the mystery isn’t really all
that mysterious, you can figure it out right away what has to be going on
(having read Ender’s Game years ago, it already put me on the right track in
knowing what was going on and a likely explanation of why). BUT it was still a
pretty good book, definitely worth picking up while you wait on the next
installment of whatever your other favorite series is.
Hellblazer: The Devil You Know – Jamie Delano et. al. (Compilation 2)
1 July 2015
The last story in this collection, and consequently the one freshest in my memory, I did not like. It was a little too convoluted for my taste. That aside, this collection was better than the first because it goes into the actual happenings at Newcastle, which is heavily referenced in both the previous collection and the television show (the impetus for me to finally get around to reading these). It starts off with a dated, but fantastically fun, romp into the 80’s idea of what the ether would be like (think gay Tron) to escape a devil come to claim Constantine’s soul.
I like the way these pit the flamboyantly bright colors popular in the 80’s against the incredibly dark verbal material. It is a delightful contrast that doesn’t allow it to stray too far in either direction. The exception this was that last story in this collection mentioned before. However, one of the following quotes is still from that section.
Great quotes from this:
#1) "Life's only duty is survival. We are all gods or demons-exerting the energy of will to squeeze the anarchic creativity of nature into our own image.
Stiff monuments, memorial only to the poverty of our imaginations. So swim. Embrace thought. Think.
Think what you are - what you would wish to be. Construct your future. Mold reality into a pleasing shape. Push on through - but know that all the world is subject to the arbitrary rule of sex and death."
#2) "Closed in the ruins of my room, it seems gravity increases its grip on me, focusing all my energy inward - -
Engulfing the nebulous fire of anger in my black, pulsating heart - -
Squeezing it remorselessly into glittering diamonds of pure, mathematical fury.
It is as if, turning over a stone, I have revealed the meaning of my life - and that meaning scuttles and spits and is called hatred.
And that hatred is ugly.
And that hatred is beautiful.
If he could read my mind - demon or no - he would be afraid.
I owe him a monstrous debt, and I swear - between the despair of heaven and the hope of hell - that debt will be paid in full."
The last story in this collection, and consequently the one freshest in my memory, I did not like. It was a little too convoluted for my taste. That aside, this collection was better than the first because it goes into the actual happenings at Newcastle, which is heavily referenced in both the previous collection and the television show (the impetus for me to finally get around to reading these). It starts off with a dated, but fantastically fun, romp into the 80’s idea of what the ether would be like (think gay Tron) to escape a devil come to claim Constantine’s soul.
I like the way these pit the flamboyantly bright colors popular in the 80’s against the incredibly dark verbal material. It is a delightful contrast that doesn’t allow it to stray too far in either direction. The exception this was that last story in this collection mentioned before. However, one of the following quotes is still from that section.
Great quotes from this:
#1) "Life's only duty is survival. We are all gods or demons-exerting the energy of will to squeeze the anarchic creativity of nature into our own image.
Stiff monuments, memorial only to the poverty of our imaginations. So swim. Embrace thought. Think.
Think what you are - what you would wish to be. Construct your future. Mold reality into a pleasing shape. Push on through - but know that all the world is subject to the arbitrary rule of sex and death."
#2) "Closed in the ruins of my room, it seems gravity increases its grip on me, focusing all my energy inward - -
Engulfing the nebulous fire of anger in my black, pulsating heart - -
Squeezing it remorselessly into glittering diamonds of pure, mathematical fury.
It is as if, turning over a stone, I have revealed the meaning of my life - and that meaning scuttles and spits and is called hatred.
And that hatred is ugly.
And that hatred is beautiful.
If he could read my mind - demon or no - he would be afraid.
I owe him a monstrous debt, and I swear - between the despair of heaven and the hope of hell - that debt will be paid in full."
#3) Your soul dies if you stop dreaming.
#4) Kid: See… I told ya he wouldn’t be here. You shoulda listened. You’re so stupid, Mom!
Mom: Don’t say that - you . . . you lyin’ little weasel! He will too come.
#4) Kid: See… I told ya he wouldn’t be here. You shoulda listened. You’re so stupid, Mom!
Mom: Don’t say that - you . . . you lyin’ little weasel! He will too come.
Constantine: Sure lady – and shit don’t stink. Vicious little brat, though, probably turn out to be a writer or some other kind of psychopath.
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