Archive for October, 2003

2003.10.21

Artemis Fowl. Eoin Colfer.

i picked this up after seeing jonny reading it. similar to the harry potter books only in that they are for teens and that magic exists in the present world, i found the book very different. the character of artemis fowl is almost better defined as an anti-hero. he is the heir to a criminal empire and in the course of the story is a kidnapper, extortionist, and accessory to some “mild” violence. i loved it.

2003.10.21

Band of Brothers. Stephen E. Ambrose.

after seeing the series on HBO i was impressed. the ability to show the glory and horror and human element of war through the actions of easy company was powerful storytelling. i picked up the book originally for my dad, but he already had it so i kept it. the book is every bit as good as the series, with more technical details and insight into the character and psychology of the individuals involved. anyone interested in the history of WWII, not from the point of view of distant leaders but from soldiers on the ground, would appreciate this book.

2003.10.21

Colin Wilson. the Books in My Life.

i’ve always liked colin wilson. at a time when i was becoming more and more depressed that life seemed pointless and negative philosophies (such as those expounded by the “classic” existentialists) seemed to be more spot on all the time, i picked up the outsider, mr. wilson’s first book. he didn’t exactly have any answers, but he did recognize that these negative philosphies were flawed and could explain why. this helped me more than i can express. it is interesting to me to read this, a book about the books that influenced him and more importantly *why* they influenced him. sometimes dry reading (i don’t always think he’s the best writer in the world) the ideas are none-the-less refreshing and mentally exciting. if you like philosophy, and colin wilson’s ideas in particular, this is a good book to read.

2003.10.21

The Broken Sword. Poul Anderson.

an old fantasy novel, from the days before fantasy was a huge marketable commodity. the prose is done with the high language of myth and legend. indeed, many of the characters are from various pantheons, from the norse gods to the sidhe to the new white god. the way they are mixed together so skillfully makes me wonder if neil gaiman ever read this. much of the story revolves around a war between the elves and the trolls, but the meat is in the struggle between skafloc, a human taken and fostered by the elves, and valgard, the changeling used to replace him in the human family, and between skafloc and the love that grows between him and freda… which ultimately leads to a sad triumphant tragedy.

2003.10.21

the Chung Kuo novels. David Wingrove.

this will be my second time reading the series. it’s one of the best i’ve read, too. it always shocks me that it’s rarely on scifi fan’s lists of their favorite books! it is certainly on mine. the story arcs are huge and span lifetimes. the basic premise is that in a not so distant future, a chinese tyrant conquers the world. his seven advisers eventually cast him down and set up a society of level in an world encompassing city of levels. good people are promoted or earn their way up, and bad or criminal behaviour is demoted down level. this way each can find their level. after two centuries of this, the seven cities are sitting on a powder keg of intrigue, darkness and light. central to the stories is li yuan, son of li shai tung, t’ang of city europe. with him, often in seperate but intricately linked stories, are ben shepherd, genius artist, and kim ward, genius scientist. i see something of myself in this triad all the time, their struggles, loves, inner darkness and yearning for the light. however these three are far far from the only characters. the beginning of book seven has 12 pages of characters with brief descriptions. by this time, easily half of them are dead in the wars and chaos that engulfs chung kuo. a highly rewarding series on many levels, and should be on any serious science fiction and epic story reader’s lists.

2003.10.21

Cryptonomicon. Neal Stephenson.

i liked everything about this book except for the ending. getting tons of gold smelted out of a mountain for poorly fleshed out (but really good) reasons was somehow unsatisfying. also, while the “conspiracy” of the eruditorum wasn’t very cabalistic its actual goals were never clearly defined, it wasn’t very mysterious, and it didn’t have any real power. still, despite these two criticisms, i loved the book. a few great parts include charlene’s essay on beards, the mathematics behind waterhouse’s horniness, the descriptions of the war, manila, the idea and politics behind the crypt, and many of the characters (randy, enoch root, bobby shaftoe and his clan, and particularly avi) had much depth and/or resounding calls to archtypes i liked.

2003.10.21

The Dark Border Novels. Paul Edwin Zimmer.

a long time ago when i was first beginning to read seriously i had picked up these books and loved them. i probably read them a dozen times, along with the lord of the rings. i loved the fantasy stories, and in this one i loved the quotes. i loaned the books out and never got them back. for the last couple years i’ve been wanting to read them again, but i couldn’t remember the names of any of the books, nor the author. so every time i went to a used book store i looked and looked to see if anything rang a bell. nothing did. then i was in san luis obispo in 2001 and there they were. i saw them and knew. so… now that i’m reading them again i’m suprised at how not so good the writing actually is, and the names of people and places are highly confusing. not unified in language or style to my mind. however, the quotes are still brilliant, and the story itself is much like how i remember it. if you like fantasy, these are good books to read, though i would recommend others before them. still, the nostalgia… (later) have not been able to find the third book, so i’ll add that another day.

2003.10.21

Doctor Zhivago. Boris Pasternak.

a summarization could do no justice to this novel. a history of russia in the tempest of revolution, a love story, a war story, a search for meaning in life.

2003.10.21

Eureka Street. Robert McLiam Wilson.

two irish blokes, friends, try to sort out their love lives amidst the backdrop of bomb ridden, hate filled belfast. chuckie, a protestant, fears that he doesn’t deserve his gorgeous girlfriend (after all, he’s not attractive, he’s fat) or his copious amounts of money (despite the fact that people keep giving it to him). jake, a catholic, quits his repo man job because it makes him sick, takes a job slogging bricks with a load of people he doesn’t like but feels at least it’s honest work. introspective and bitter about relationships, i think i’ve met mr. wilson and he was writing about me. though much of the terminology i didn’t get (what the hell is the etymology of “taig”?) but it’s a great book. read it.

2003.10.21

A Game of Thrones. George R. R. Martin

i rarely find a new series i really like. here is the new one. the books have grand story archs yet lack the feeling of an “epic” which (like dune) makes it ponderous and frankly unreadable. it is easy to identify with the characters and mr. martin does a good job of making even the bad guys (at least some) not so bad. each chapter changes character focus allowing us to follow events around the seven kingdoms. winter is coming, indeed. just get the third book out already!