Nov 06 2014

The Last Wish by Andrezej Sapkowski

One of my commonest complaints about fantasy novels is that the setting is warmed-over England. There is so much fantasy that uses vaguely-English feudalism as its model, that it’s possible for someone to grow up reading almost nothing but, and then to embark on a career of writing in the same genre without necessarily realizing that things can be different.

Enter the witcher, or at least Andrzej Sapkowski. As the copy on the back of the book tells us, “Geralt of Rivia is a witcher. A cunning sorcerer. A merciless assassin. … His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil, and not everything fair is good … and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.”

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Nov 05 2014

Of Dice and Men by David M. Ewalt

Ewalt gives his slender volume the subtitle “The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It,” at which point my inner copyeditor immediately reaches for the red pencil to change it to “A Story…” and “Some of the People…” There are a lot of stories of Dungeons & Dragons, and Ewalt surely isn’t telling the only one possible. Further, as the second noun in his title indicates, the story he tells is very much dominated by boys and men. The milieu in which D&D arose was almost exclusively male, but by the time it got big plenty of girls and women were playing. Ewalt’s experience of D&D may have been all-male, but mine certainly wasn’t, and it was a bit off-putting to see his blitheness on display.
Of Dice and Men cover
But as Ewalt says in his introduction, “Read this like you’d play in a friendly campaign. Don’t be a rules lawyer, and don’t argue with the DM.”

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/11/05/of-dice-and-men-by-david-m-ewalt/

Nov 02 2014

The Days of the French Revolution by Christopher Hibbert

Of the half dozen or so books on the French Revolution I have read so far, this is probably the best one. Yet the Revolution continues to confuse and bewilder me. How could something that began so well turn out so badly? It began as a genuinely democratic movement, but soon degenerated into something far more sinister, and it ended in the reign of Napoleon, a far more absolute monarch than any of the French kings had ever been. And all of this mayhem took place in what was then perhaps the most civilized nation in continental Europe. It should serve as a warning that democracy is not necessarily the salvation of a nation and that the rule of the people can only be as good and as just as the people are themselves. It was entirely appropriate to read this book on the eve of an election (November 4, 2014).

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/11/02/the-days-of-the-french-revolution-by-christopher-hibbert/

Nov 01 2014

Endgame: The Calling by James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton

For a puzzle book, this is actually well-written. I sure as heck wasn’t expecting the death toll at the end (or even near the beginning: if I were a member of that particular bloodline, I’d be pissed,) but the authors certainly seem to be of the “kill your darlings” school of writing, which leads to some really entertaining stuff. I’m excited to see what they’ll do in the next two books, if the plot twists in this one are any indicator.

That said, I doubt I’ll attempt the puzzles in here very seriously, or at least not unless they have a greater bearing on the Ancient Societies website which was the main reason I bought this book in the first place. AncSoc is a ton of fun, with collaborative puzzle-solving. Come join me as a Nabataean there!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/11/01/endgame-the-calling-by-james-frey-and-nils-johnson-shelton/

Nov 01 2014

The Stories Of Vladimir Nabokov by Vladimir Nabokov

Dear short story collection,

It’s not you, it’s me. I only knew Vladimir Nabokov from his exquisite Lolita, a tale which, if not quintessentially American, conjures a sort of louche Riviera frame of mind, and I think that’s what I expected from you, too. I hadn’t expected quite so much Russianness, though that wasn’t so bad, even in such a large dose. It was the Baltic chill that really slowed my progress, a freezing of the blood and brain that caused me to struggle through the last hundred-odd pages, admiring the craft displayed in the words even as I couldn’t muster any enthusiasm for their meaning. And there were some really good, really lovely stories in here, that I commented on as I passed them. It was just too much for me, in the end, and when I finally finished you it was more with a sense of relief than anything else.

Let us part friends, agreeing never to meet again, but with a mutual respect for our strengths, even if they are not quite compatible.

Yours humbly,
Doreen.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/11/01/the-stories-of-vladimir-nabokov-by-vladimir-nabokov/

Oct 25 2014

Elric: The Stealer of Souls (Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melnibone, Voume I) by Michael Moorcock

It is impossible for me to write an objective review of any book that concerns the character Elric. This book is a collection of short stories or novellas that Moorcock wrote about Elric and had published in various SciFi/Fantasy magazines in the 1960s. I grew up reading these books, and I still have the original short (SF/F wasn’t nearly so bloated in those days) books published by Moorcock. They are tattered and spattered and torn and bent and I love them with a deep and abiding love that will never stop.

Yes, Moorcock and Elric and Moorcock’s world of the Eternal Champion is just that good.

The book also includes artwork of Elric, that seems fairly well done, and then letters concerning what Moorcock was writing and how he wrote and what his influences were while creating the Elric books. It’s a fascinating look at 1960s SF/F, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Elric is the last king of Melnibone, and a member of the race that came before man. It’s a fading crumbling culture, one which Elric helps to destroy even as he weeps for its loss. There is a great battle between Law and Chaos occurring throughout all planes and all worlds, and Elric, whose forefathers were children of Chaos and whose patron god is Arioch, Duke of Hell, finds himself on the side of Law, bringing about a defeat to Chaos in order to keep the balance from tipping too far to one side or the other. That’s the brief version of Elric. I suggest you go find the stories and read them for yourself, to discover all the juicy details that I’ve left out.

Wendy Pini of ElfQuest fame did a book of drawings of Elric, called Law and Chaos. It’s worth looking at, too.

I intend to read more of the Eternal Champion books once I can find them.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/10/25/elric-the-stealer-of-souls-chronicles-of-the-last-emperor-of-melnibone-voume-i-by-michael-moorcock/

Oct 25 2014

Ancillary Sword (Imperial Radch Book 2) by Ann Leckie

This book is the long-awaited sequel to Ancillary Justice, and it did not disappoint. I read the first book and then the newly released sequel, so that I could keep everything in my head straight. It was wonderful. So wonderful that I didn’t want the story to stop and when it did, and I realized that I would have to wait a year or so for the third book of the trilogy, a small part of me died.

I’m hopeful that Doug will do a better review of both books at some point, because I simply can’t do them justice. BUY THEM, READ THEM, LOVE THEM. That’s an order.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/10/25/ancillary-sword-imperial-radch-book-2-by-ann-leckie/

Oct 25 2014

The Milkweed Trilogy by Ian Tregillis

This trilogy consists of the following three books (shocking, I know): Bitter Seeds, The Coldest War, and Necessary Evil. I enjoyed the books well enough, although it was yet another alternate history of World War II, with warlocks on the British side and German supermen with powers, and a dollop of time travel just to make things that much more interesting. I liked them, but they reminded slightly of another book I had read with a vaguely similar premise, mainly the alternate history WWII and Britain with warlocks bit. I got a bit tired of all the running around and time travel – it was frenetic, and the sorcery didn’t appeal to me for some reason. Don’t get me wrong, I love sorcery, just not has this was done.

So, that’s a lukewarm review for you, but really, it’s worth giving a shot because overall it is very interesting.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/10/25/the-milkweed-trilogy-by-ian-tregillis/

Oct 25 2014

The MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood

Yes, another dystopian novel (trilogy) by the intelligent and tricksy Margaret Atwood. The three books, in order, are Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, and MaddAddam. I read good reviews about it, and bad reviews about it, and lukewarm reviews about it, but in the end all that matters is that I enjoyed it tremendously. The author managed to weave in an impressive number of elements that are familiar to this day and age, so that you’d stumble across something and go “I’ve seen that!” or “That’s not too different from this; I wonder if they’ll actually be able to do that in the future!” Of course, given that this is Atwood, the book did not go without the obligatory political-ish commentary about corporations, and the never-ending propensity of Man to choose the evil route. None of this is especially different from other apocalypse stories, at least in message, but the way she did the message I found to be interesting and very worth the time to read. I truly did enjoy all three books enormously. Atwood excels at world-building and making things believable even as you wince and wish it weren’t quite so believable.

I need to take a class in writing book reviews.

Aloha!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/10/25/the-maddaddam-trilogy-by-margaret-atwood/

Oct 25 2014

Early Socratic Dialogues by Plato

It seems to me there is something flawed in the Socratic question and answer approach to discerning truth. A person may know what something is and even be an expert on it even if he does not know how to precisely define it. An ophthalmologist, for instance, knows what sight is and is competent to treat matters relating to sight even though he may not have the semantic skill to define it in words. Similarly, most people know what blue is, but I challenge anyone to define blue. I am partly persuaded that Socrates employs this method simply to make himself look clever and make others look foolish, rather than from any disinterested desire to discover the truth. Moreover, the editors point out several logical fallacies in his arguments; he was not himself immune to the kinds of errors he exposed in others. Socrates is considered the father of Western philosophy, but these dialogues leave me with the impression that he is vastly overrated.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/10/25/early-socratic-dialogues-by-plato/