Booklog February 2006
Konrad Gaertner
5 - buy in hardcover
4 - buy in paperback
3 - buy used
2 - get from library
1 - okay, but not worth seeking out
0 - boing (well written, but I couldn't get into it)
-1 - disappointing
-2 - flawed
-3 - couldn't finish
-4 - couldn't even begin
-5 - I can't believe I read the whole thing
2-1-06
Steph Swainston, <i>The Year of Our War</i>
Eos (2004) ISBN: 0-06-075387-0
Score: 0
I gave up on this after one chapter. It was recommended to me as gritty
fantasy (and it certainly seems to be that), but I have several problems
suspending disbelief in the worldbuilding. We have what seems to be a
purely feudal system with hereditary nobles and the best military
technology are bows and lances, but we also have newspapers (even at the
edge of civilization), professional sports teams, and medical syringes.
But what convinced me to stop is the narrator's drug addiction; I just
don't like reading about that, and especially if it's the narrator (and
the cover blurbs indicate this drug gives him Special Powers besides,
ugh).
2-5-06
Keri Arthur, <i>Full Moon Rising</i>
Bantam (2006) ISBN: 0-553-80458-8
Score: 2
First in the Guardian series, a near-future dark urban fantasy starring
a vampire werewolf heroine who works for a government agency responsible
for keeping non-humans from causing trouble. It's short (less than 300
pages) and fast-paced with lots of sex, violence, sex, manipulation,
sex, secret research, and sex.
2-8-06
Jonathan Stroud, <i>Ptolemy's Gate</i>
Hyperion (2006) ISBN: 0-7868-1861-1
Score: 4
Conclusion to the Bartimaeus trilogy. Conspiracies are exposed, secrets
revealed, conflicts resolved, worldbuilding explained, and some
characters survive. The ending had a nice balance between realism and
romanticism, and the surprise plot twists were carefully hinted at in
the previous books.
Yeah, not a whole lot this month. I also reread Erikson's
_Deadhouse Gates_ and _House of Chains_ and LWE's _Spriggan Mirror_
(and I should have booklogged the short story "Sirinita's Dragon"),
and I read all the archives of the webcomic A Miracle of Science:
http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/archive.html
Hopefully March will be more interesting.
--
Konrad Gaertner - - - - - - - - - - - - - - email: gae...@aol.com
http://kgbooklog.livejournal.com/
"I don't mind hidden depths but I insist that there be a surface."
-- James Nicoll
David Cowie
[_The Year of Our War_]
> But what convinced me to stop is the narrator's drug addiction; I just
> don't like reading about that, and especially if it's the narrator (and
> the cover blurbs indicate this drug gives him Special Powers besides,
> ugh).
While he's high, he really can visit another plane of reality. This
becomes important to the plot. But apart from that, he's a junky.
--
David Cowie
Containment Failure + 20160:58
htn963
David Cowie, et al. wrote:
> On Thu, 02 Mar 2006 23:46:52 +0000, Konrad Gaertner wrote:
>
> [_The Year of Our War_]
> > But what convinced me to stop is the narrator's drug addiction; I just
> > don't like reading about that, and especially if it's the narrator (and
> > the cover blurbs indicate this drug gives him Special Powers besides,
> > ugh).
[KG:] I guess you were offended reading _Dune_ too, since nearly
anyone who has to do important work gets high on spice.
> While he's high, he really can visit another plane of reality.
[HT:] Isn't *that* already possible now for some of us with
current substances like peyote? And don't forget all the "mundane"
stuff like alcohol, coffee, tobacco and various pharmaceutical sleep
aids which props up civilization, and ergo, reality as we know it.
> This becomes important to the plot. But apart from that, he's a junky.
Unless the book itself glorifies hard drug use, I don't see what
the problem is. There's even a playstation game for teenagers
(Galerian:Ash) that has a hero who uses drugs in place of magic to
utilize his psychokinetic attack powers. Not something I'd encourage
kids to play, but kudos to the game designers for trying to implement a
system more plausible and creative than ye olde mana.
--
Ht
Rich Horton
wrote:
The problem with the novel isn't the narrator's drug addiction. The
problem is the less than smooth prose, and the shabby construction of
the whole thing.
It's a book by a writer with a great imagination, much of which comes
through, but with little idea of how to structure an interesting
novel. It's certainly promising, but it's not very good on its won.
And the sequel, alas, is more of the same.
Konrad Gaertner
>
> David Cowie, et al. wrote:
>
> > On Thu, 02 Mar 2006 23:46:52 +0000, Konrad Gaertner wrote:
> >
> > [_The Year of Our War_]
> > > But what convinced me to stop is the narrator's drug addiction; I just
> > > don't like reading about that, and especially if it's the narrator (and
> > > the cover blurbs indicate this drug gives him Special Powers besides,
> > > ugh).
>
> [KG:] I guess you were offended reading _Dune_ too, since nearly
> anyone who has to do important work gets high on spice.
No, "ugh" is the sound effect for disgust, not offense. Specifically:
"this isn't something I want to read about [right now]".
As for Dune, I don't remember the POV chars spending a significant
amount of time acting like junkies, and even so I stopped reading
that series after two books because I couldn't sympathise with any
of the main characters.