tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153956142024-02-28T12:48:32.261-05:00Books under the CoversA shared reading journalLarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.comBlogger460125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-26939684814346835482014-01-19T10:00:00.000-05:002014-01-20T22:02:17.759-05:00Shadows, by Robin McKinley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCXUQ1fcx2gpEjCt4lseIvi4154fAuuNdO7Jrfj00dRvTJpBX76MDZl84U-ayzGHXjYLe3p2bMpsOQ_NYkV9hHsmUwAVk3R77kmVcQa8Djb6Q0cK6LQbGRnLw6NLUI7QoqHc90TA/s1600/mckinley-shadows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCXUQ1fcx2gpEjCt4lseIvi4154fAuuNdO7Jrfj00dRvTJpBX76MDZl84U-ayzGHXjYLe3p2bMpsOQ_NYkV9hHsmUwAVk3R77kmVcQa8Djb6Q0cK6LQbGRnLw6NLUI7QoqHc90TA/s200/mckinley-shadows.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Maggie is a high-school teenager who loves animals (especially her dog Mongo), and doesn't like her new step-father Val. But Maggie is far from normal. For one thing, the reason she dislikes Val is not just because he's from Oldworld or dresses terribly, but because he has too many shadows that seem to move on their own, and have too many legs or hands or other appendages, and that almost no one else can apparently see. For another thing, Maggie lives in Newworld, where magic is illegal and magic-using genes were removed two generations ago, and where there is a danger of "cohesion breaks," gaps in reality that are common enough they have their own slang term, "cobeys" - which the government handles with military teams and scientific equipment; but which just might be more of a problem than the government is letting on.</p>
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<p>In Newworld, people have been taught to "run and report" whenever they see a cobey or a silver bug (not an actual bug, but a smaller manifestation of the same problem), and let trained teams handle it. Over the course of the story, Maggie learns that there is a lot she doesn't know - not just about the cobeys, but including that magic hasn't really been removed as thoroughly as everyone thinks.</p>
<p>Maggie, of course, is herself a magic user. Rather like in <i>Sunshine</i> and <i>Chalice</i>, we have another untrained magic user coming into her powers who has to figure out her own ways of doing things, and ends up doing things that other magic users would have thought impossible. She has a powerful affinity for creatures - not just her collie-mongrel Mongo, but the other animals at the shelter where she works. She eventually comes around on Val's shadows when she learns that they are creatures of a sort, <i>gruuaa</i> - when she first meets Hix, whom Val tells her has always been interested in and friendly towards humans. I also love that her magic manifests in her origami, a hobby she's been doing for years (as a way of connecting with the shy Japanese boy who came to their school and is now her good friend Takahiro); at times, when she's falling asleep she enters a state of flow where she becomes, in her words, "Hands Folding Paper" and can make wonderful origami creatures she couldn't make if she was paying attention more consciously. At some point, Maggie and the exotic, gorgeous foreign exchange Casimir (who overheard her best friend Jill calling her Magdag and thinks she's the prophesied <i>mgdaga</i> who can bind up the tears in the universe) are together in a park when what must be a cobey breaks out, and somehow with the help of Hix and paper from her square algebra book, she creates origami and manages to fold the cobey back in on itself and close it.</p>
<p><i>Shadows</i> isn't going to upset <i>Sunshine</i> as my favorite McKinley book, but it was definitely a strange and enjoyable adventure. It took me a little while to get into the story, although that might be because of distractions in real life and not any fault of the book. It also seemed like the story ended too soon - although I guess that's common for a Mckinley tale; there is a whole world out there to save and our heroine is just learning that she and her friends can and should do something about it... It's too bad McKinley doesn't write sequels, because I'd be curious to see what Maggie and her friends, family, and the sizable menagerie of animals accompanying them by then end, get up to next.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Shadows</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Robin McKinley</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th>2013<td></td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Fantasy</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>368</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>ebook; gift from Mom</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-1829573382663359492013-12-08T21:00:00.000-05:002014-01-20T21:40:05.796-05:00Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ON-HsSEmXcRhO3VTY39uYTEqaJc4iC8K713PCow3aeO7lxJzlhYcx3ayRn8OJsV84Km0h4p0HW8DxwY8hWv4YhX55RfCA1qYYz6sWuqdUS4zoMdcvHVGSM2m4ikJ6mDK69urRw/s1600/doctorow-downoutmagickingdom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ON-HsSEmXcRhO3VTY39uYTEqaJc4iC8K713PCow3aeO7lxJzlhYcx3ayRn8OJsV84Km0h4p0HW8DxwY8hWv4YhX55RfCA1qYYz6sWuqdUS4zoMdcvHVGSM2m4ikJ6mDK69urRw/s200/doctorow-downoutmagickingdom.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Doctorow has created a fascinating society, where death has been "cured" (just make sure you have regular backups so you can be restored to a clone if anything happens!), the economy is based on the esteem of others (their money-equivalent is called "whuffie"), and things are run be adhocracies. Unfortunately, the characters and plot don't quite hold up to the promise of that amazing setup. Julius is a guy with multiple degrees, who's written symphonies, and died a few times - and usually goes back to Disney World to reboot himself; now he's living at Disney and working on a crowd-control thesis with potential application to the wider world, which is getting a bit crowded due to people not dying. While he's there, a conflict develops with how to renovate or redo the park, and Julius takes things a little bit personally and obsessively.
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<p>One of the most interesting characters is Dan, a friend of Julius who had acted as a "missionary" - leaving the amazing world of the "Bitchun society" to go and live with the holdouts who haven't yet been won over, slowly seducing them with the medicine and technology. But eventually he runs out of places to go (after he converts the last holdouts), and someone who chooses a challenge like that may not quite fit in with the mainstream society. He shows up broke and needing Julius' help - and at first I thought maybe he was the one who's "down and out" from the title. But eventually I figured it out it's Julius, and he will fall much farther before the story ends.</p>
<p>The story includes what should be a fascinating and compelling idea, the notion of trying to solve your own murder. Julius is shot and the woman disappears quickly, in a way that indicates it was intentional and premeditated. He's convinced that a particular a group is behind it - the ones who are redoing the Hall of Presidents with latest technology, building in an amazing gestalt, but that Julius feels takes away from the magic of Disney or any need to physically come to the park. This conflict inspires Julius and his group to update the Haunted Mansion in a different way. But in his paranoia and a fool-hardy attempt to sabotage the other group, he ends up messing his own internal system - he doesn't reliably have net access and he can't make backups. But he doesn't want to lose the time on the rebuild or lose his memories of that period, so he keeps forging ahead.</p>
<p>Towards the end, you come to understand that the conceit of the story as written novel - which would surely be an archaic form in the Bitchun society, as something written down instead of a backup or gestalt - is precisely because he is a man living without backups, and so he has to write out his memories longhand, which is really kind of a great framing device in a way.</p>
<p>I started reading when I was making a weekend trip to Disney. It might be more fun for people who are big fans of Disney and the Haunted Mansion, for a sort of weird, alternate-future glimpse behind the scenes.</p>
<p>Side note: I read the ebook, and I kind of really love the fact that Doctorow released it under a Creative Commons license and makes the <a href="http://craphound.com/down/?page_id=1625">ebook versions</a> freely available.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Cory Doctorow</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2003</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Science Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>208</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-84040332324759897992014-01-03T21:00:00.000-05:002014-01-20T21:39:39.600-05:00The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCC_57wPqB0r3MhD9JaAQ61hyphenhyphenTsiVGgTzyvL-dYE0Bj1diA1MSfsKYCLQzLBi796nAJ9RRpKsjUFQa4oBVeiD3-CzTGhybN42Ax3NJDvjdzS_iyNlGqejvmrAevOluOEioDKpYWg/s1600/pullman-goldencompass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCC_57wPqB0r3MhD9JaAQ61hyphenhyphenTsiVGgTzyvL-dYE0Bj1diA1MSfsKYCLQzLBi796nAJ9RRpKsjUFQa4oBVeiD3-CzTGhybN42Ax3NJDvjdzS_iyNlGqejvmrAevOluOEioDKpYWg/s200/pullman-goldencompass.jpg" alt="cover of 'The Golden Compass' by Philip Pullman"/></a></div>
<p>Pullmann throws you into a fascinating new world and just lets you learn the details as the story goes along-- like the animal daemons that accompany each human, as life-long companions. Or the <i>panserbjorne</i>, the intelligent, armored polar bears who are mentioned a few times before we learn who and what they are. The story is a great adventure ride, and there are many fascinating characters - although the main character, Lyra, is pretty selfish and doesn't have qualms about lying. Lyra's uncle comes to visit the Oxford College where she has grown up (half-educated and mostly wild) and she gets to overhear (because she snuck in where she shouldn't be) about some of his research from the Arctic, involving "Dust." Soon, some of the children from the town go missing, and eventually Lyra decides she wants to help track them down, and go find her Uncle. Before she leaves Oxford, the Dean of the college gives her an "alethiometer" - a strange device with numerous symbols, which he says will tell the truth if she can learn to read it, and which is clearly the "golden compass" of the title (at least in the American version).</p>
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<p>l had heard mixed things about this series a while back - about the great world-building and also the strongly anti-Christian worldview. That latter aspect wasn't obvious until very near the end. There are some bad undercurrents of the church throughout - in particular, their support (however vague or partial) of the "Oblation Board" which is kidnapping children for research on "intercision" - cutting apart the child from the daemon; at some point an adult makes an analogy to another cutting, that of castrating boys in the service of the church. Near the very end, we learn that the adults all think Dust is somehow connected to Original Sin. The adults want to stop it, get rid of it at the source; Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon decide that if these people (who have done horrible things over the course of the story) think it is bad, then maybe it is actually a good thing. In their story of Adam and Eve, the daemons were fixed in a single animal shape at the fall, and now children's daemons can take any form but become fixed at puberty. Therefore, they think that fixing the daemons in a single form is a bad thing (in contrast to the gypsy sailor who tells Lyra that when your daemon settles, then you know something about yourself). Obviously, for a Christian, both of these approaches are wrong, because the problem of original sin is not something that we solve on our own.</p>
<p>I think I watched the movie version of this book a while back - but I feel like I must not have been paying attention, because I did not remember this story at all, and only remember vague aspects of it. And it's strange to think they would attempt to adapt something with such strong ideas about religion. I enjoyed dipping into this world well enough, but I don't feel any great compulsion to read the rest of the series.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>The Golden Compass</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Philip Pullman</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>1995</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Fantasy</td></tr>
<tr><th>Series:</th><td>His Dark Materials</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>432</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>library ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-5368423046480525022013-07-26T23:55:00.000-04:002013-08-11T21:10:43.092-04:00Princess of the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbT-xm2qTSBpENLingx-itksqWhKzVH0PqU0ucX9zXHiJHewCRObWa0B0_T3Pss60UxU7XJUpSogh8ZLVGFe_XQ1DxEMYbPh2tCzXbKeaaGGblkS3A5c-oeV_afD2P8PX3PItvvw/s1600/george-princessmidnightball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbT-xm2qTSBpENLingx-itksqWhKzVH0PqU0ucX9zXHiJHewCRObWa0B0_T3Pss60UxU7XJUpSogh8ZLVGFe_XQ1DxEMYbPh2tCzXbKeaaGGblkS3A5c-oeV_afD2P8PX3PItvvw/s200/george-princessmidnightball.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>A delightful fairy tale retelling that takes the familiar story of the twelve dancing princesses and fleshes it out-- adding completely plausible reasons for just about every aspect of the story: why the princesses dance every night, whey they can't tell anyone, and even why there are twelve of them. It even adds to the mundane aspects of what life must be like if you had to go dance every night-- what if you get sick (as the oldest, Rose, does) but still had to go dance every night? And with twelve sisters, the youngest are quite young - one dancing since she could walk, and hates balls because she has had to dance every night.</p>
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<p>In this version, Galen Werner is a young man coming home from the 12-year war between Westfalia and Analousia. His parents were both involved with the war, so he basically grew up there. He comes home to Bruch, the capital of Westfalia, where he works as a gardener with his uncle for the king. --While he's there, he learns of the princesses' plight and watches as various princes come to solve the mystery and claim the kingdom as their prize. Eventually, when they all fail and the kingdom is under religious interdict and accusations of witchcraft, Galen acts-- not for the kingdom, or even to claim a bride (he's fallen in love with Rose, but doesn't presume to deserve a princess), but simple to save the girls from a curse.</p>
<p>In this version of the story, the girls are cursed because of their dead mother, who made a deal with the devil-- or rather, the King Under Stone, a sort of bogey man from stories, once a magician so powerful and evil that he was imprisoned by twelve good magicians, and is no longer quite human. Queen Maude made a deal with him for children (not expecting twelve or wanting all girls), and then a second deal for Westfalia to win the war (not expecting it would take twelve years). She danced for the King Under Stone in payment, but every time she missed a night he made it more frequent. When Galen follows the girls in his invisible cloak, he sees that the king feeds off the vitality and energy in the dancing. What is more, this is all part of a very long-term plan for his escape: twelve brides for his own twelve half-human sons, and then a next generation of children who will be able to enter the day light world.</p>
<p>Some sections of the story are told focussing on Galen's or Rose's perspective in the third person-- and those familiar moments when she hears a step or branch break in the under world are still here-- but there is a different tone of hope and fearfulness, because Rose is afraid Galen will be killed like all the other princes, but hopeful he might actually be able to help them.</p>
<p>There is still a lesson of humility and unselfishness in the story-- Galen helps an old woman he meets on his trek to Bruch, sharing what little food he has and giving her a scarf, and in return she gives him the invisibility cloak and some yarn. Later, he listens to the old gardener Walter about how to stay immune to the spells (Walter tried to help some of the princes, but they were too proud to listen to a mere gardener). In addition, Galen is a knitter-- he learned to knit his own socks and scarves during the war, and still finds comfort in knitting-- a swan shawl for Rose from the magical, protective white yarn the old woman gave him, and later an iron chain from the magical black yarn that was meant to bind. It's a delightful touch of flavor that becomes important to the plot. At the end of the book, the author includes patterns for the two significant items Galen knits during the story, which I found rather lovely.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Princess of the Midnight Ball</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Jessica Day George</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2009</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>young adult fantasy</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>272</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read a library ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-59308592180883607032012-08-22T23:20:00.000-04:002013-08-11T20:42:49.737-04:00Mister Monday, by Garth Nix<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3o9JhnpaFXKyXNsPIp-7dSF-Q2_TXg70M0B2cVcldTIyGf4xNmSMJ_hG0_o6_eWUGiGIHY9WOPkKIfNnAvywc62Td_hKi1BMxHwgqu_H2WcguNtleoIxLzAszYVbCB-FuK4RcQ/s1600/nix-mistermonday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3o9JhnpaFXKyXNsPIp-7dSF-Q2_TXg70M0B2cVcldTIyGf4xNmSMJ_hG0_o6_eWUGiGIHY9WOPkKIfNnAvywc62Td_hKi1BMxHwgqu_H2WcguNtleoIxLzAszYVbCB-FuK4RcQ/s320/nix-mistermonday.jpg" alt="cover of Garth Nix's 'Mister Monday'"/></a></div>
<p>Arthur Penhaligon is the asthmatic new kid at school. He didn't know about the Monday run and doesn't have a doctor's note explaining how very bad his asthma is - so the teacher makes him run. When he's lying in in a field, collapsed and barely breathing, something strange happens that might be a hallucination, but isn't. A fragment of the Will left by the Architect has escaped the dead sun where it has been imprisoned for millennia, and manages to trick Mister Monday into giving the lesser key to Arthur, fulfilling the bare letter of the law of the Will (since Arthur is an heir and very near death).</p>
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<p>This sets into motion a chain of events. Dog-faced men and some of Monday's minions including Monday's Noon, come after the key. Soon, there is some kind of plague and the town is under quarantine - which Arthur is particularly sensitive to because his birth parents were killed in a flu epidemic when he was little, and his adoptive mother is an epidemiologist. Arthur knows the sleeping plague is connected to the creatures coming after him, so he enters the odd, large, convoluted house that has shown up in his neighborhood (which his parents can't see). This is the Architect's house, built on Nothing, which borders on the secondary realms such as our world.</p>
<p>Arthur has a series of adventures and mishaps as he travels through the House and meeting an odd cast of characters, including: Suzy Turquoise Blue, an ink-filler who followed the piper into the House from a different century; the Old One in the coal cellar (a sort of Prometheus); Monday's Dusk; and even snakes that viciously attack any words ow writing. As the Will, in the form of a jade frog, works to help him claim the rest of his inheritance - the greater key - all Arthur really wants is to go back home and find a way to stop the plague and save his family.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Mister Monday</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Garth Nix</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2003</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Children's Fantasy</td></tr>
<tr><th>Series:</th><td>Keys to the Kingdom</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>384</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>loan/gift from Catey</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-68235630073388171992013-08-11T20:40:00.000-04:002013-08-11T20:40:07.653-04:00Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSB28QVWYQT_jFDwh9_JX9-_C74UX5M5-QSyy6pgl2kwoKHl7APYvJpjG08RxTTds5e7qbV77WNoxgb4SmH5dZ7Dosd9KL4RLes7GEb-Igi2cntFk16PYhHLHdErTXdIaI_nQ5IA/s1600-h/vinge-rainbowsend.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSB28QVWYQT_jFDwh9_JX9-_C74UX5M5-QSyy6pgl2kwoKHl7APYvJpjG08RxTTds5e7qbV77WNoxgb4SmH5dZ7Dosd9KL4RLes7GEb-Igi2cntFk16PYhHLHdErTXdIaI_nQ5IA/s200/vinge-rainbowsend.jpg" border="0" alt="cover of Rainbows End" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5074068968561832850" /></a>
<p>In a near future with wearable technology and pervasive technology, someone is developing mind-control tech and successfully field-tested without causing a stir, and almost by accident, Indo-European intelligence stumbles upon it, and figures out what it is. Because the labs are on U.S. soil, and might by backed by U.S. allies, they decide to investigate in a round-about fashion - a deniable third party, known only as "Rabbit" (aka "Mysterious Stranger" or "Mr Smart-Aleck"). This character may be a very smart hacker kid, may be a group or a coalition, or possibly even a playful Artificial Intelligence. Rabbit works to develop a network of affiliation to enter the biolabs and get the information. One person in that network is Robert Gu, a former Nobel poet laureate who is just coming out of the haze of Alzheimers - the latest technology is being put to use to cure his other deficiencies and illnesses - and Gu has to learn to adapt to a new technological world. </p>
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<p>Vinge's vision of the future is so fascinating, and strangely seems believable and not that far off in so many ways. The kids at the local public school understand things backwards, in relation to current technology (e.g., poetry as evoking a kind of virtual reality). A very entertaining read, but also thought-provoking, and worth the re-read.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Rainbows End</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Vernor Vinge</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2006</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Science Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>364</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>repeat reading, read an ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-17648509386126462152013-05-05T14:00:00.000-04:002013-05-05T23:00:30.864-04:00By Darkness Hid, by Jill Williamson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFG8Bxs-o0CjrWseI4l5lJSuB2D5lu1oElr4JuxmJFEHigUlAFWfchdATiLif_r6UXsCJjjF66uviBchXtUmWRObK0zEnZZoSm05fAfsaxT9wWvv4JrSAzAUY6tNGej_mhsK1xWg/s1600/williamson-bydarknesshid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="cover of "By Darkness Hid" by Jill Williamson" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFG8Bxs-o0CjrWseI4l5lJSuB2D5lu1oElr4JuxmJFEHigUlAFWfchdATiLif_r6UXsCJjjF66uviBchXtUmWRObK0zEnZZoSm05fAfsaxT9wWvv4JrSAzAUY6tNGej_mhsK1xWg/s200/williamson-bydarknesshid.jpg" title="" width="128" /></a></div>
<p>In the kingdom of Er'Rets, being a stray, with unknown parentage, means that you are lower than a peasant or a slave. Strays are forced to wear orange, branded, and given a last name from an animal. Such is the fate of Achan Cham-- he serves Poril, the cook in the house of Lord Nathak until Sir Gavin the Great Whitewolf takes an interest in him and begins to train him as a squire. At the same time, another is in hiding as a stray under the name of Vrell Sparrow-- a young girl of nobility, hiding as a boy in the lowest of places (a plan devised by her mother) in order to avoid being forced to marry Prince Gidon. Both of them are also discovering they have the gift of "blood-voicing," a kind of mind-to-mind communication that can take place even over long distances. Vrell knows at least a little bit about it from her mother, but not how to control it; Achan thinks it's a myth, but he doesn't know he's been given a tonic every day to suppress the ability. The story really starts to pick up when their paths cross. Achan has now been forced to serve as squire to the selfish and vindictive Prince Gidon, and they travel to Mahanaim where the Council will ratify Gidon as king. Vrell has been summoned by Macoun Hadar, an old, conniving master of blood-voicing who sensed her presence and ability in the coastal town where she was hiding with a friend of her mother's and summoned her to be his apprentice. Eventually the Achan and Vrell meet and become acquainted when Achan is held in prison for (supposedly) endangering the Prince's life while fighting off an attack from the Darkness, and Vrell tends to his wounds with the medicines and salves she has learned to make while apprenticing to an apothecary. It seems everyone has an agenda: Gidon wants to kill Achan and claim the throne; Macoun Hadar wants Achan for an apprentice because his blood-voicing gift is so strong; and Vrell must continue to hide her true identity for fear of discovery or being forced to marry.</p>
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<p>Eventually, it becomes clear that the kingdom of Er'Rets is unwell and full of political intrigue; half the land is covered by some kind of magical Darkness, edged by the so-called "Evenwall" which most avoid if they can. The Council has been ruling while Prince Gidon grew up enough to rule because the previous King and Queen were killed by a stray, leaving a three-year-old child behind. And, as you can probably guess if you've read any amount of Fantasy or if you pay attention to any of the comments made about or to Achan or how various people treat him, the stray Achan Cham is of course more than he seems. In fact, he is the true heir to the throne. But when Sir Gavin reveals this before the Council and makes it clear what the treacherous Lord Nathak did to put his own son in the place of the true heir, keeping the boy hidden as a stray, the Council still votes to make the impostor king. Sir Gavin and his compatriots speculate that this is because the Council has grown accustomed to ruling and think they can manage the weak-willed, selfish impostor better than the true king.</p>
<p>This is also a country of many deities; Achan initially prays to the local goddess Cetheria and occasionally steals pies from the kitchens to leave as offerings outside her temple, but as his life continues to get worse he begins to doubt in her ability to help him. And as he discovers his blood-voice gift, he occasionally hears a larger, warmer voice that guides him and speaks truth. By contrast, Vrell believes that the many deities of the different cities are false, but there is one God, Arman the father, who is true. One particular detail I found interesting: the Prince Oren, who we eventually learn is Achan's uncle by blood, knows that he is not meant to be king because he never hears the voice of Arman blood-voicing to him and guiding him. Achan doesn't yet realize it, but of course this must be that stronger, truer voice he occasionally hears.</p>
<p>It took me a while to get into the book; the first section is dedicated to Achan's story, and then the next whole section jumps to Vrell and a bunch of other people we don't initially know, who aren't connected to Achan. But as the story went along I found it more and more engrossing and engaging, so that I am very much looking forward to picking up the next book in the series.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>By Darkness Hid</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Jill Williamson</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2009</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Fantasy</td></tr>
<tr><th>Series:</th><td>Blood of Kings</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>506</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read an ebook; gift from Mom & Dad</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-35596641165523795432013-05-04T22:00:00.000-04:002013-05-05T21:46:34.143-04:00Forgive My Fins, by Tera Lynn Childs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYqRScUX8uJF_QyigPL7q2HCO8ym_QoxwaUNz2Yge0e-EhyphenhyphenySqtKHvzpbFPkNPNel6FU3TL2ZVjwBDYgqLntNVWpLMcBDVzj40F3kIUT5YhbpquJdevNuC4F19lj2Oz9FLKlO2Q/s1600/childs-forgivefins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="cover of Tera Lynn Childs' "Forgive My Fins"" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYqRScUX8uJF_QyigPL7q2HCO8ym_QoxwaUNz2Yge0e-EhyphenhyphenySqtKHvzpbFPkNPNel6FU3TL2ZVjwBDYgqLntNVWpLMcBDVzj40F3kIUT5YhbpquJdevNuC4F19lj2Oz9FLKlO2Q/s200/childs-forgivefins.jpg" title="" width="132" /></a></div>
<p>Lily Sanderson is a high school pining for the school jock, Brody-- but unlike most normal high school girls, Lily is half-mermaid. Her father only told her a few years ago that her mother was huma, and gave her the option to live with her aunt Rachel and attend high school to get some experience with the human world and the other half of her heritage. Lily has been plotting with her best friend Shannen how to ask Brody out to the spring dance, but she can't quite get up the nerve. Then, for some reason, her neighbor Quince Fletcher-- whom she hates because he is always teasing her and giving her a hard time-- decides to help her out. Naturally, things don't go quite as planned; when Quince goes to check on Lily he ends up kissing her (because, of course, he likes her). But what he doesn't know is that she's a mermaid, and merfolk have a magical mate-bond which is triggered by a kiss. Lily has to take Quince to her home, Thalassinia (where of course she is a princess) and present him to her father the king in order to ask for a ritual separation that will dissolve the bond between them. But that doesn't go quite the way she planned it, either.</p>
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<p>A light, fluffy quick read-- or perhaps I should call it a bubbly, frothy read given Lily's penchant for fishy and oceanic turns of phrase. She is always using expressions like "carp" or "son of a swordfishm," or calling Quince a jellyfish, which was actually entertaining. I also liked the fact that Lily was aware of things a modern teenager ought to be-- for example, a brief comment on and correction to mermaids as presented by Disney's "The Little Mermaid." In some cases I felt like the characterization was a little uneven. For example, Quince is apparently in love with Lily and has been tormenting her and teasing her in various ways-- following her on his motorcycle, slamming her locker door shut, calling when she's in the bath and teasing that she forgot to close the curtains when she really didn't-- and then suddenly he is sweet and thoughtful, and even romantic. I even felt like Lily herself wasn't that likable or admirable-- I appreciate that she isn't gorgeous and doesn't know how to put on make-up (she thinks human girls must start training for that early on), but she admits that she isn't very good in nearly any of her classes and seems to have only one good human friend (Shannen) and one good mermaid friend (Peri). What's more, she's has had a crush on Brody for three years; she thinks he will be a natural mate because he is a wonderful swimmer and belongs in the water, but even though she helps out with the swim team and works with him on the school news team she doesn't see what a shallow, selfish jerk he is. However, in spite of these inconsistencies, the story itself moves quickly and is pretty entertaining, if perhaps a little predictable. I do like the world that Childs has given us a glimpse of, and her portrayal of merfolk as secretive, sometimes cowardly, people (because they've had to hide to survive), who live in a dangerous ocean full of predators.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Forgive My Fins</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Tera Lynn Childs</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2011</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Young Adult Fantasy</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>336</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read an ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-49529239429099611142012-04-13T22:30:00.000-04:002013-04-10T22:18:39.884-04:00Trading in Danger, by Elizabeth Moon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSci1CS9Sfdb7VPrIpsnCbrOC1y1WsAa9bFRCufzE3uI_bt1kFxZj4qmWsoNHR0UO6TRY3VA9Q_pIOJpcWgWqTPYcaif-kWwNwUBLL8iTzFTT1ipQ31XORu9jo-yer6AUCe5243A/s1600/moon-tradingdanger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSci1CS9Sfdb7VPrIpsnCbrOC1y1WsAa9bFRCufzE3uI_bt1kFxZj4qmWsoNHR0UO6TRY3VA9Q_pIOJpcWgWqTPYcaif-kWwNwUBLL8iTzFTT1ipQ31XORu9jo-yer6AUCe5243A/s200/moon-tradingdanger.jpg" alt="cover of 'Trading in Danger'"/></a></div>
<p>Kylara Vatta is about to graduate from Spaceforce Academy on Slotter Key at the top of her class when a scandal erupts that she unwittingly, innocently played a role in - and, to save face, they kick her out. Her family has a vast shipping empire, and to get her away from media attention and give her something to do, they make her a captain and send her on a "milk run" with an experienced crew to babysit her-- she's taking the <i>Glennys Jones</i> to Lastway. At the first stop she comes across a possible money-making venture and decides to risk it, hoping to make enough money to buy the old ship she's captaining for herself and repair it, rather than scrap it for salvage as she is supposed to do. Naturally, something goes wrong-- and Ky's military training ends up being very important.</p>
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<p>While Ky and her ship are in the Sabine System picking up some cargo, a civil war breaks out and some unknown party is foolish enough to take out the inter-system ansibles, cutting off communication from all the other worlds and from Kylara's family. The FTL system on the <i>Glennys Jones</i> is broken and they didn't get a chance to repair, so they can't get away from the war. The military force that's keeping control of the area asks Ky to take on some temporary passengers, including some of the captains of other ships who may have participated in the rebellion. Things get tense quickly, and Ky's military training becomes all important to getting her ship and her crew through the crisis.</p>
<p>I enjoyed reading this book. Kylara is a great character, and her adventures so were pretty entertaining. There were hints and suggestions that the civil war and ansible destruction in the Sabine system might be part of something bigger, and that somebody has it out for the Vatta family. I'm looking forward to reading more about her adventures with her family's company, Vatta Transport.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Trading in Danger</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Elizabeth Moon</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2003</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Science Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Series:</th><td>Vatta's War</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>384</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-81210880093743002152013-04-10T11:45:00.000-04:002013-04-10T22:18:08.378-04:00Marque and Reprisal, by Elizabeth Moon
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRTAlor69JvcXDPcAqK3erlMduugNAaTR3jW2UMp3p_SCplb-jKAROi26ys8IBjSoLihAZTbaFjn9pteRskWPTVN1PmqWyj-suJvhXGyUpsDAY-slsV_Y64eZcgbjsZNCdpP9Gw/s1600/moon-marquereprisal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRTAlor69JvcXDPcAqK3erlMduugNAaTR3jW2UMp3p_SCplb-jKAROi26ys8IBjSoLihAZTbaFjn9pteRskWPTVN1PmqWyj-suJvhXGyUpsDAY-slsV_Y64eZcgbjsZNCdpP9Gw/s320/moon-marquereprisal.jpg" alt="cover of 'Marque and Reprisal' by Elizabeth Moon"/></a>
<p>This book picks up shortly after <i>Trading in Danger</i> (which I <a href="http://booksunderthecovers.blogspot.com/2012/04/trading-in-danger-by-elizabeth-moon.html">read and enjoyed last year</a>). Newly minted space captain Kylara Vatta survived a civil war and even a mutiny by dangerous people temporarily housed on her ship, and acquitted herself well enough that the mercenary company in the area offered her a job, but she decided to stay with the family business of trading, for now. Shortly after the book opens, there are multiple, coordinated, devastating attacks on Vatta ships and on their main offices and palatial home on the planet Slotter Key. Ky and her ship manage to escape unscathed, but because the ansible communications are down she doesn't know exactly what's happened, she decides to proceed with taking her cargo to Lastway as planned. Soon, she's embroiled in a much bigger war to try to save what's left of her family, find out who was responsible and why, and see if she can somehow start rebuilding the family empire.</p>
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<p>I think this book was even more enjoyable and faster paced than the first one; perhaps that's because the first book in a series requires a bit more setup in the way of world- (or galaxy-) building and introducing characters. But there might be other reasons I found it more engaging, too. The stakes are higher this time: nearly all of Ky's extended family has been wiped out, and certainly all of her immediate kin; and what's more, there are hints and indications that there is some connection between the attack on Vatta and the attacks that have been destroying or disabling the ansible, the inter-stellar communication system monopolized by ISC. Another thing that benefits the book is the introduction of interesting new characters: a young Vatta kid named Toby, out on his first apprenticeship, who happens to be offship and survives when his ship is blown up; Ky's cousin Stella who everyone thought of as very pretty but flighty and unreliable, who has been working in a different capacity helping out the company for several years; the country-boy stowaway Jim who keeps getting into scrapes (including rescuing a Jack Russell terrier on Lastway station); and perhaps most interesting of all, the unreliable and possibly dangerous Rafe, and old friend (of sorts) of Stella's who proves to be useful, but also may have an agenda of his own. There's also quite a bit of danger and action-- close calls and escapes from assassination attempts, some space battles, and some crazy, innovative ideas on Ky's part.</p>
<p>The "marque" in the title refers to a "letter of marque" authorizing a ship's captain to operate as a privateer. Kylara receives one of these at Lastway, sent by a former instructor at the Slotter Key Spaceforce Academy, which authorizes her to defend Slotter Key's interests-- and is shocked to learn that her home system makes use of privateers (apparently a cheaper but morally ambiguous way to keep a system safe, since privateers are not much better than pirates in many people's eyes). She doesn't immediately intend to make use of it, but it does open up new doors in her mission to find any surviving Vatta family members, avenge the family, and start the recovery process.</p>
<p>This book didn't come to as much of an ending; Ky does have a decisive victory, taking out an enemy who may have been one of the sources that made it possible for the Vatta home and main offices to be destroyed so utterly, and she claims an old Vatta ship in the process. But rather than giving much closer, it seemed to be setting up more story lines with the larger plot and the characters, just starting to reveal something of what is going on with ISC, Vatta and their attackers. It seemed a little unsatisfying, but perhaps effective in a way since I will probably be looking for the next book in the series sometime soon.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Marque and Reprisal</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Elizabeth Moon</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2005</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Science Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Series:</th><td>Vatta's War</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>317</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read an ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-71220816409026911152012-08-09T22:30:00.000-04:002013-04-06T20:43:01.523-04:00Dreamless, by Josephine Angelini<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29pvcLZw1MtA8BRWtxt82mKwuGkYJ8k7Md0LditCP5B6FhWEsv1J0x8_XUOa65QF1MStOIj7_SiAxEw68rDcWzJZ4bT1KFre1NJFpvPX1xqv4Id_pQKSGDHM5kTZ9wns-VyGarg/s1600/angelini-dreamless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29pvcLZw1MtA8BRWtxt82mKwuGkYJ8k7Md0LditCP5B6FhWEsv1J0x8_XUOa65QF1MStOIj7_SiAxEw68rDcWzJZ4bT1KFre1NJFpvPX1xqv4Id_pQKSGDHM5kTZ9wns-VyGarg/s320/angelini-dreamless.jpg" height="200" alt="cover of 'Dreamless' by Josephine Angelini"/></a>
<p>By the end of <i>Starcrossed</i> (which I <a href="http://booksunderthecovers.blogspot.com/2011/10/starcrossed-by-josephine-angelini.html">read last October</a>), Helen has learned that not only is she a Scion, a member of a superhuman race descended from the demigods of Greek mythology, but also that she is the Descender-- a special Scion who can physically enter the Underwold and may be able to end the curse on the Houses, the blood lust incited by the Furies which forces them to kill members of other houses or any family members who are kin-killers. This book picks up shortly after that, and Helen is exhausted because she spends every night in the Underworld, stuck and and in pain; she's emotionally upset because she is still incredibly drawn to Lucas (the Paris to her Helen), even though they are apparently cousins and now they really can't be together-- since inbred Scions tend to be the dangerous kind of crazy, in addition to that whole problem of uniting two of the Houses resulting in a war. Eventually, Helen finds a new ally to help her with her quest in the Underworld: a young man named Orion.</p>
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<p>Orion is another Scion, a son of Apollo, and Helen's mother figured out a way to send him into the Underworld to help her. With his help, she learns to navigate her way in the Underworld, and eventually they figure out that they should consult Persphone about how to deal with the Furies. But all this time, while Helen is descending every night, she hasn't been dreaming. She doesn't know for a while quite what a toll it is taking on her, but it is significant, and something even her Scion body can't heal.</p>
<p>In the meantime, there is also a Myrmidon following her-- he may be serving one of their known enemies, but it's also possible he's serving some other master. And there's also a prophecy about three Scions who may be some kind of heirs-- Helen, and Orion, and Lucas, who seems to be developing some scary powers over darkness while he's trying to deal with not being around Helen and not really even being allowed to help her through this trial. So even if Helen and Orion figure out how to break the curse, there may be something new and possibly worse awaiting humanity and the Scions after that.</p>
<p>This book didn't grab me quite as quickly as <i>Starcrossed</i> did-- I think because the beginning was literally torturous, as Helen spent night after night stuck in various painful, awful places in the Underworld, before she learned some measure of control. Even so, I still managed to read it too quickly. Maybe I'll have to re-read it again sometime soon, and savor it more this time instead of rushing through to find out what happens.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Dreamless</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Josephine Angelini</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2012</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Young Adult Fantasy</td></tr>
<tr><th>Series:</th><td>Starcrossed Trilogy</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>496</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read an ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-32210057711407969052013-03-01T21:45:00.000-05:002013-04-06T20:20:27.746-04:00Year Zero, by Rob Reid<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AA1F9uZpMBRRd92gb_bjF7vz3eQyfi-Xfm0PBX55JhY6KyUQ_0CEvg3tlXVBhfv2SE1-LAnqR9knboT0OS0DaUlVnp7xyGU0rGqbUJBzI8jCuSFfikmB5EzS-arLgQMcwyviUQ/s1600/reid-yearzero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AA1F9uZpMBRRd92gb_bjF7vz3eQyfi-Xfm0PBX55JhY6KyUQ_0CEvg3tlXVBhfv2SE1-LAnqR9knboT0OS0DaUlVnp7xyGU0rGqbUJBzI8jCuSFfikmB5EzS-arLgQMcwyviUQ/s320/reid-yearzero.jpg" alt="cover of 'Year Zero' by Rob Reid" height="200" /></a>
<p>A humorous, entertaining, satirical look at the music industry by way of a science fiction adventur romp, complete with aliens and thef ate of the Earth at stake. Here's the setup: there is a Refined League of aliens who have mastered the siences and now focus all their highest energies on the Refined Arts-- but they aren't very good at music, and when they discover Earth's music (by way of the theme song "Welcome Back Kotter"), they are blown away - some of them literally die in ecstasy. They spend the next several decates listening to human music, and when they finally recover enough to start studying other aspects of Earth culture, they discover that -- due to our anti-piracy laws -- they owe all the wealth of the galaxy to Earth.</p>
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<p>The story is set in motion when two aliens show up at the law offices of Carter, Geller & Marks (a firm that specializes in copyright and patents) to meet with an associate named Nick Carter - whom the two aliens picked because he shared a last name with one of the partners (although he's not actually related), and also because he has the same name as one of the Backstreet Boys. They are concerned that someone is trying to help humanity along to destroying itself before beocming Refined and collecting on all its debts. At first, Nick gets the impression that his two visitors, Carly and Frampton, are agents of some kind; but as the story goes along he discovers they aren't anything so impressive, but rather musicians from an alien race that look enough like humans that they have made very lucrative careers in lip syncing to Earth music.</p>
<p>The book is fun and silly, and quite cheeky in tone, including some entertaining footnotes. There are fascinating aliens of all sorts, and I think the best description of a "wrinkle" (a la Madeleine L'Engle's <i>Wrinkile in Time</i>) that I have ever read-- everything receding at once without getting smaller, moving away from everything in a directioun you didn't know existed. Along the way, Reid gets in digs at music industry executives, lawyers, politicians, reality TV, technology, and many other aspects of our often-ridiculous society. I often found myself laughing out loud as I read.</p>
<p>There are some particularly entertaining notions about our technology and the role that aliens might be playing on Earth. It's mentioned multiple times that a handful of visitors came to Earth before the "Townshend Line" was set up (to protect Earth from trillions of fans of The Who trying to attend concerts), and suggested that there may be a Guardian or two on Earth as well. Before the story ends we get a pretty clear idea that there are aliens who love Earth and its music so much that they came to Earth to protect humanity from destroying ourselves; in one case, that loving protection takes the form of a frustrating, seemingly-broken technology, which is intended to slow down our progress so we don't advance too quickly and blow ourselves up in one way or another. The story does have a proper ending (and actually quite a clever solution to the legal problem that works and doesn't seem like a cop-out), but there seemed to be a hint of possible sequels in the way of tracking down the other aliens on Earth-- and I don't think I would mind visiting Nick Carter's wacky, entertaining life again sometime.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Year Zero</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Rob Reid</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2012</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Science Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>384</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read an ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-38802554512043209662012-09-27T16:30:00.000-04:002013-04-06T19:31:47.292-04:00Emma, by Jane Austen<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiHms433ApnKPImfbeqxowA-HOnlGt3eRbjhKPnyN1RF5WhGQ7p_t0830SiLBkDRHKQd0e7Dj83nnx6WnRWbJBYHkMRPtEFqKWEyt90b0VzCmkxK2F4ixrOgiYOblogFrHmR2gAw/s1600/austen-emma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiHms433ApnKPImfbeqxowA-HOnlGt3eRbjhKPnyN1RF5WhGQ7p_t0830SiLBkDRHKQd0e7Dj83nnx6WnRWbJBYHkMRPtEFqKWEyt90b0VzCmkxK2F4ixrOgiYOblogFrHmR2gAw/s320/austen-emma.jpg" alt="cover of Jane Austen's 'Emma'" height="200"/></a>
<p>I wanted to re-read <i>Emma</i> after watching one of the many movie adaptations, especially when it occurred to me I hadn't read it in quite some time. After watching and then reading in a short time period, I feel that the movie versions invariably make Emma seem to be a bit of an idiot -- whether due to the fact that the story is compressed for time, or the need to visually telegraph what is going to the viewers. In the book, it's rather more subtle. Emma is a lively, intelligent, imaginative creature who makes some errors in judgement - which are actually fairly reasonable, especially when you consider the fact that your perspective is usually rather skewed when your involved or close to what is going on, and particularly when someone is actively trying to deceive you.</p>
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<p>One thing I noticed is the sort of shifting perspective of ideal manhood, and what a true gentleman is. Emma initially rejects Robert Martin on sight as a farmer with no manners, and then holds up first Mr. Elton and then Frank Churchill as gentlement to Harriet Smith - although she would never consider Elton for herself, and only briefly and unseriously considers Frank. Of course, sh later finds out what a selfish, mercenary, unkind person Elton is; and there are similar revelations, although to a lesser degree, about Frank Churchill-- selfish, actively deceiving to protect a secret, and flighty. Throughout the book the Knightley brothers are shown as a contrast-- reliable, quiet men, without the flattery of an Elton or the desire to please of a Frank Churchill, but at the same time very observant and insightful about the people around them, and thoughtful and considerate as well.</p>
<p>Another thing that occurred tom e as I finished the book is that Emma's father is pretty nearly as ridiculous a character as the chatterer Miss Bates. He is such a hypochondriac, and wants to feed his guests gruel or keep them from eating cake. Yet Emma never notices this ridiculousness in her father which she finds much easier to laugh at in Miss Bates - because she loves her father; loves him so much that she would be willing to not marry, or to wait until after he has died to marry. Lucky for her, she finds she also loves the one man wise enough and kind enough to handle both her and her father's quirks.</p>
<p>Read a <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/158">free ebook</a> available from <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/">Project Gutenberg</a>.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Emma</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Jane Austen</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>1815</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>384</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>repeat reading; read an ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-62356508131235578272013-02-08T23:55:00.000-05:002013-02-10T22:59:30.090-05:00Brewster's Millions, by George Barr McCutcheon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKILf_BIbxPtTOvT7-KENwJjprsdS5qq4dljm32WHeqbdD9X3dx2SudzlPtW-86UnPnXeHWd_HZmCL534uF3EkocWTvGONBTEoUkuNV1cgniBqUOKAknGuT5n4DRk_WTaVUAUBsg/s1600/mccutcheon-brewstersmillions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKILf_BIbxPtTOvT7-KENwJjprsdS5qq4dljm32WHeqbdD9X3dx2SudzlPtW-86UnPnXeHWd_HZmCL534uF3EkocWTvGONBTEoUkuNV1cgniBqUOKAknGuT5n4DRk_WTaVUAUBsg/s200/mccutcheon-brewstersmillions.jpg" alt="cover of 'Brewster's Millions'"/></a></div>
<p>The humorous, entertaining, and occasionally insightful story of Montgomery Brewster, who has to spend a million dollars in a year. Monty Brewster, the son of parents who made a "romantic runaway match" and then died when he was a child, was just one of the rich young bucks in New York, until he inherits a million dollars from his grandfather. Shortly after that, he discovers that he has another inheritance from an uncle on his mother's side-- but, due to the poor relationship between the two sides of the family, there is a condition attached. Monty's uncle James Sedgwick didn't want any of his fortune mixed with that of Monty's grandfather, Edwin Peter Brewster. In order to inherit Sedgwick's five million, Brewster will have to spend his inheritance within a year. But, he can't tell anyone (besides his lawyers) what he is doing, and his uncle's friend Swearengen Jones will monitor to make sure Brewster doesn't gamble too much, give too much to charity, or otherwise break the conditions of Sedgwick's bequest.</p>
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<p>There are some pretty entertaining momements as Brewster works to lose his money without letting anyone know what he's doing. When he gets mugged, he is quite polite with the thieves as they cut off the pearl buttons from his dinner shirt (he simply asks that they don't cut the shirt since he has somewhere to be), and makes sure they take the $300 in his coat pocket. At other times he bets on a horse race or invests in a fund where he is certain to lose-- and when he unexpectedly gains money instead of losing it, he is distraught and yet people think he has an inside tip or is some kind of financial wizard. He becomes a careful accountant, has a notebook with his "gains" (read: how much he's spent) and has a budget of how much money he must spend each week to keep on track. Later on in the year, he rents a yacht and its crew for several months and takes a group of friends on a long trip to the mediterranean, looking for more ways to spend money (which, by this point, he's getting quite good at). He gets better and better at getting his way, since the price tag for things is no problem; when he hears of an idyllic Italian villa from one of his friends, he decides to rent it even though the owner never rents it out, and eventually figures out what she really wants, which will allow him to get his way: not just more money, but a fancy automobile.</p>
<p>As Brewster spends more and more money, he also learns who his true friends are. At first, society and the newspapers laugh at him or make jokes at his expense, describing his extravagant parties and the way he is blowing through his inheritance. Some of his close friends (who he immediately hired to work for him after he found out about this million dollar gamble) are very concerned, and one friend even leaves to go out West because he's so distraught over investing Brewster's money and losing a great deal of it. As the year goes on, some people stop associating with Brewster entirely; and as the long, expensive yacht trip goes on and Brewster keeps looking for more ways to spend money, his friends get so concerned about him that they figure out a way to keep him in his cabin and commandeer the ship to go back home. In addition to discovering his friends, he learns about love-- he becomes estranged from the beautiful society girl that he thinks he loves (he doesn't have time to make love to her and compete with her other suitors because if he does he won't keep pace with his "budget"), and by the end he finally figures out that he loves and is beloved by his childhood friend, Peggy, who stands by him and supports him and is even willing to marry him when she thinks he is penniless.</p>
<p>A fairly light and quick read, but one I enjoyed quite a bit; there were moments when I laughed out loud. I read the <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4709">free, public domain ebook copy of <i>Brewster's Millions</i></a> from <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/">Project Gutenberg</a>.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Brewster's Millions</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>George Barr McCutcheon (originally published under the pen name Richard Greaves)</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>1902</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>142</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read an ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-77823774404221745222012-11-18T17:45:00.000-05:002012-11-18T22:05:07.671-05:00The Moon and the Face, by Patricia McKillip<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEissHYx0mtrbgOHywVNc7qeWf4eoCBNWcF6LNSSID8t0Cp-ZWm783liOqtqeERkV2rdqCQtGX69I5yM8SwX_IvOxnLQ03rckhRlBKwUifstVXNlOlGOcUAhrClT91cCDWhlnfBaOg/s1600/McKillip-MoonFace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEissHYx0mtrbgOHywVNc7qeWf4eoCBNWcF6LNSSID8t0Cp-ZWm783liOqtqeERkV2rdqCQtGX69I5yM8SwX_IvOxnLQ03rckhRlBKwUifstVXNlOlGOcUAhrClT91cCDWhlnfBaOg/s200/McKillip-MoonFace.jpg" alt="cover of 'The Moon and the Face'"/></a></div>
<p>Kyreol and Terje grew up as children together in the Riverworld, but left it many years ago and now live in the Dome City, where Kyreol has trained as a pilot and to travel to other planets and study other peoples. Terje still visits the Riverworld to observe the hunters and their rituals while staying unobserved himself. Terje is beginning another visit to the Riverworld just as Kyreol is about to leave for her first off-world trip, to the planet Xtal. Kyreol's mother, Nara, has some presentiment or dream of danger but doesn't know what exactly will happen or what to do about it; and both trips end up being quite different than anyone expected.</p>
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<p>Terje was supposed to be taking his first solo trip to the Riverworld, but due to Nara's concerns he is accompanied by Regny. They are puzzled to see a torch on the river their first night (unusual behavior for the Riverworld hunters and not part of any ritual that Terje or Regny know), and when they draw closer they learn that the Healer is dying, and has yet to name a successor.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Kyreol is on board a ship en route to Xtal but something goes wrong and the ship crash lands on one of the moons of the water planet Niade. Kyreol miraculously survives the crash; everyone else is dead, except the leader of the expedition who is missing. She sets off to find him, and discovers an empty, colorless city in the sand-swept desert. In her exploring, she meets another solitary alien who appears to be as afraid of her as she is of it; yet somehow they manage some rudimentary communication and explore together until they find an old shuttle dock, which the alien is able to figure out enough to set off a beacon.</p>
<p>Terje is surprised to find himself summoned by the Healer, and gradually discovers that the Healer Icrane, Kyreol's father and Nara's husband, has dreamed of the Dome city and "boats among the stars." He is even aware of those like Regny, who come unobtrusively to watch and study the culture of the Riverwold being careful not to disrupt it or ruin it by introducing technology into it. But then the Healer has a dream of Terje with the great River in one hand and the Moon-Flash in the other, and knows that Terje is to be his successor as Healer (and there is some sense that Terje may be able to unite the world of the River and the Dome). Terje doesn't know how he can possibly do this when he hasn't been trained in the rituals, and he doesn't want to leave the Dome city if it means leaving Kyreol, and yet when the Healer dies he feels compelled to honor Icrane and bury him properly, and slowly discovers that, as Icrane said before he died, "everything is simple"-- and he seems to know what to do.</p>
<p>This brief story has the same lyrical beauty and thoughtfulness that I love in McKillip's writing. Nara and the others have been studying the Riverworld and doing their best to protect it from the technological world they live in, because they think the culture and its rituals are beautiful and precious, but also because they have some sense that the technology and the life of the Dome would destroy or weaken the Healer's dreams. Kyreol is afraid of leaving her home planet because she is afraid of losing herself, or maybe of losing the connection to the Riverworld she left so many years ago, but when she is lost and by herself she dreams of her father Icrane and of Terje and has some sense of what is happening. The Healer has a sense that the river and its rituals are larger and can encompass the wider world, the Dome and the moon and the planets, and there is a moment when it seems that the darkness between planets is another aspect of the river. There are wonderful details in the differences between cultures, too; the alien that Kyreol meets seems to be birdlike in some ways, round and fluffy and a beak, but speaks in a huge range of sounds and clicks, and seems to express emotion by the colors of its three eyes. Kyreol wonders at the lack of color anywhere in the city, but when they find the shuttle she finds a complicated written language or notation that is made up of lines in different colors. Even the cave-dwelling, prescient Xtal that Kyreol was supposed to meet (but never gets to) sound fascinating.</p>
<p>This is apparently a sequel to <i>Moon-Flash</i>, but I haven't read that book yet because it's another older McKillip work that is hard to find. I read this as an <a href="http://openlibrary.org/works/OL16036299W/The_moon_and_the_face">ebook</a> borrowed from <a href="http://openlibrary.org">OpenLibrary.org</a> (some OCR errors throughout, but very few places where I couldn't figure out what the word should be).</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>The Moon and the Face</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Patricia McKillip</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>1986</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Science Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>83</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read an ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-5677352648196905862012-03-10T10:00:00.000-05:002012-09-28T15:47:12.239-04:00Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhvIWV_Bc15NjX35MYe9iK6PGzWNqwQ8HzxKsZYdhB238MKeBf3m1LAakb0lDkHf_VwNsXjOxI0Ol42aeLJvdB3Z0ccsIE4zAXTZo0kl6-JID-xD_mBRQTmjrxSK_PuxvGHAeOg/s1600/sanderson-mistborn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhvIWV_Bc15NjX35MYe9iK6PGzWNqwQ8HzxKsZYdhB238MKeBf3m1LAakb0lDkHf_VwNsXjOxI0Ol42aeLJvdB3Z0ccsIE4zAXTZo0kl6-JID-xD_mBRQTmjrxSK_PuxvGHAeOg/s200/sanderson-mistborn.jpg" alt="cover of 'Mistborn'"/></a></div>
<p>What could be just another run-of-the-mill fantasy novel-- with an oppressed people, and a rebellion brewing to overthrow the evil tyrant, and the obligatory orphan-waif discovering her powers -- somehow isn't. I think the biggest reason for this is the unique metal-based magic or "allomancy," which is fascinating and different from any other magic I have ever read about. There are "mistings" and "mistborns" who can burn metals for different effects, and there are also the secretive, nearly wiped out Terrismen who can use metal to store things - knowledge, power - in what they call "metalminds." The rebellion is a bit different, too-- instead of the normal, honorable rebels, the ringleader Kelsier recruits a crew of cons and thieves, which is why he thinks they might actually be able to succeed.</p>
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<p>It was fun to discover and learn about the various metals and their powers along with former street-rat (the orphan/waif) Vin; she learns some from Kelsier, who is also a full mistborn (one who can burn all the metals), and some things can only be done by using two powers in tandem, such as pushing and pulling against metals as a crazy, exciting way of traveling that might put spider-man to shame. But because Kelsier is busy planning a rebellion, and also because he is wise, he makes sure that Vin also learns from the various mistings (who can burn a single metal) on the crew (and, of course, each type has a name relating to their ability: smokers, soothers, tineyes, coinshots, etc.).</p>
<p>In addition to learning to use and control her allomancy, Vin also has to learn how to dress and act like a lady. This is so that she can attend the balls and spy on the Great Houses and noblemen, since setting the Houses against each other is part of Kelsier's plan to throw the city into unrest. This subplot leads to some entertaining parts of the story, since Vin was raised as a thief on the streets, and has to learn to negotiate a different world and try to understand the politics and rivalries, all without using her abilities, since many of the nobles are at least mistings if not mistborn. This also allows the author to flesh out the world in more detail, as we see first-hand the attitudes that most of the nobles have towards the commoners.</p>
<p>In addition to the detailed, well-thought out varieties of metal-based magics, the world of the book seems more alive because of the sense of history and myth. The story of the great hero is unfolded slowly to the reader at the beginning of each chapter and as Kelsier and the other characters research the story for information about how to overthrow the Lord Ruler; clearly something went dreadfully wrong in the conflict that the hero was foretold to win, which lead to the current situation, where they are ruled by a seemingly-immortal tyrant. In the end, Vin and Kelsier are only able to figure things out because of their friendship with Sazed and knowledge of the different kinds of metal-based magics work.</p>
<p>This was a surprisingly fun, quick read. I'm looking forward to reading the sequels when I get the chance.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Mistborn: The Final Empire</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Brandon Sanderson</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2006</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Fantasy</td></tr>
<tr><th>Series:</th><td>The Mistborn Trilogy</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>657</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>recommended by Sari</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-22512331675457088022012-09-05T02:00:00.000-04:002012-09-28T15:24:01.214-04:00Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTmp6zR7LDxjPyMwLWZs72gRy1CG-ggGSnk8Ip1Z6kdoGVEXsLnvqfxAO_832WHuUXSXRZw6H5yCew40vPSLDjYEKPg5NGwJg9woER36FsYgOIpvru6OE4HXZAZPuwhSWxuAgWw/s1600/cline-readyplayerone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTmp6zR7LDxjPyMwLWZs72gRy1CG-ggGSnk8Ip1Z6kdoGVEXsLnvqfxAO_832WHuUXSXRZw6H5yCew40vPSLDjYEKPg5NGwJg9woER36FsYgOIpvru6OE4HXZAZPuwhSWxuAgWw/s200/cline-readyplayerone.jpg" alt="cover of 'Ready Player One'" /></a></div>
<p>In a dismal future, with an economy and environment in shambles, people live in "stacks" - vertical scaffolding of trailer parks - or are homeless, and they spend all their time in the virtual world of OASIS. When the inventor of OASIS, James Halliday, dies with no heirs, he releases a video explaining he has hidden an "easter egg" challenge somewhere within OASIS, and the first player to find the three keys and complete the three gates will inherit his wealth and majority stake in the company. This world reminded me somewhat of the movie "The Matrix," but in this case everyone chooses to take the blue pill because reality is so terrible and the many worlds and galaxies of OASIS are so enticing. The story is told from the perspective of Wade Watts, aka Parzival (the name of his OASIS avatar, referencing the grail quest) or "Z" to his friends, the person who found the first key.</p>
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<p>The egg hunt is an elaborate traesure hunt based on Halliday's love of old video games and pop-culture movies and TV from the '80s. So series egg hunters (or "gunters" as they are called, which sounds silly and far-fetched except for the fact that we have words like "blog") study every game, movie and TV show that Halliday loved, wrote about, or owned.</p>
<p>In addition to individual gunters like Wade and his friends, there are the sinister bad guys - the company IOI is putting vast resources into the competition so that they can urn the OASIS and charge money for its use (currently there is no charge for using the OASIS, but there are teleportation fees for moving quickly between worlds or sectors). They are portrayed as being very clearly evil, and they will go to terrible lengths (even illegal ones) to make progress on the hunt or take out their competition.</p>
<p>It's a bit strange to think that in a world with limited power and resources, everyone is effectively online all the time. The way money and resources work in OASIS seems a bit like how money and resources work now with World of Warcraft, except on a massively larger scale. When Wade becomes the first player to find the first gate, his avatar Parzival becomes famous-- and he's offered endorsement deals that allow him to pay for a better living situation and OASIS gear in the real world. As the story goes on, we also see the downsides of this kind of lifestyle more clearly-- the addiction; the solitary and lonely existence staying inside a single-room efficiency apartment, completely unknown to any neighbors, all the while being a rock-star famous level 99 character in OASIS.</p>
<p>Shortly after clearing the first gate, Wade finds himself befriending and making allies with the rest of the "High Five" - the first five on the scoreboard for Halliday's great game. These are people who only ever know each other virtually (and, of course, everybody is hiding something), and while they are allied against other groups (especially IOI), they are also competitors because each of them wants to win the game on their own.</p>
<p>This is a fun book, with lots of interesting ideas and references; I feel like I am not quite in the target-audience for this book, since I am not such an old-school gamer to be familiar with things like Joust or Galaga. It took me a little while to get drawn into the book, I think maybe because Wade doesn't seem to be such an honorable or likable character at first. But the latter half of the book went very quickly-- the stakes are higher, there is more of a race, and you can't wait to see what Parzival's crazy plan is, or if it will work.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Ready Player One</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Ernest Cline</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2011</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Science Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>384 pages</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>recommended by Melanie; read a library ebook</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-39210560356951122572012-04-08T16:30:00.000-04:002012-08-06T22:49:48.508-04:00On Basilisk Station, by David Weber<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqF0rxnG24b-sa2YS3kDnfFYp-hHlwZDHrkv7Q2sJAbFLA1i2bCy77T8fWJJ-qyQnIlEMTcq24wYgmYcF6suf_u8UNq6pX18odoX90llXMyXU68oTd4sLhMLkeRd-PD9EQaB-Xew/s1600/weber-basiliskstation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="cover of 'On Basilisk Station'" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqF0rxnG24b-sa2YS3kDnfFYp-hHlwZDHrkv7Q2sJAbFLA1i2bCy77T8fWJJ-qyQnIlEMTcq24wYgmYcF6suf_u8UNq6pX18odoX90llXMyXU68oTd4sLhMLkeRd-PD9EQaB-Xew/s200/weber-basiliskstation.jpg" width="124" /></a></div>
<p>Honor Harrington is thrilled to take command of her first space cruiser in the Royal Manticoran Navy, the light cruiser <i>Fearless</i>. She is a bit dismayed, however, when she learns that they are gutting her normal armaments and defenses to put in a grav lance - a powerful new weapon that can only be used at very close range, the whim of an admiral currently in favor. They test out the new ship in some war games, and with some cleverness and subtlety, Harrington is able to get close enough to take out a superdreadnought. But as soon as the other side knows about the grav lance, it's useless, and they lose exercise after exercise, which is demoralizing for Harrington's crew. Finally, when the grav lance experiment is seen to be a failure, Harrington and the <i>Fearless</i> are punished by being sent to Basilisk Station, which is actually strategically important (a wormhole junction), but politically contentious and has somehow turned into a dumping ground for incompetent officers. Naturally, it turns out to be very fortunate indeed that Honor is actually incredibly competent.</p>
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<p>When Honor arrives at Basilisk Station, the current Senior Officer leaves-- which makes her the senior officer, and because he has a grudge against her has intentionally set her up for failure, leaving her short-handed. But Honor takes a look at all the duties the Navy is supposed to be doing, and figures out a way to stretch her resources and crew, and coordinate with the local officials to take care of all of those duties-- customs for ships going through the Junction as well as to the planet Medusa, monitoring the area, and supporting the agency (NDA) working with the aboriginals on the planet. They're actually quite successful, and start making waves when they enforce the laws (which no one posted there had been dong for quite some time), including identifying and confiscating contraband goods being smuggled through the junction.</p>
<p>Because of her diligence, Honor and her crew, along with the NDA, uncover some odd things that don't quite add up (or might just add up to a plot to take over the junction): a drug lab, primitive rifles designed for the aboriginals... and a Havenite freighter in orbit for quite a while, suspiciously waiting for repairs.</p>
<p>This is a well-written book with a fully realized world with interesting details. I loved Honor's treecat Nimitz, a highly intelligent and empathic creature from her home world, Sphinx. The military and scientific details also seemed pretty carefully and thoroughly worked out - and the high-speed chase and desparately out-matched battle at the end is really quite great, where Honor uses all of her wits and cunning and everything else at her disposal - ship and crew members both - to stop a superior opponent before he summons reinforcements. All of this makes me look forward to reading more of the Honor Harrington books.</p>
<p>I read the <a href="http://www.baenebooks.com/p-304-on-basilisk-station.aspx">Baen ebook</a>, available for free as part of the <a href="http://www.baen.com/library/">Baen Free Library</a>.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tbody>
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>On Basilisk Station</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>David Weber</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>1999</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Science Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Series:</th><td>Honor Harrington</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>464</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>recommended by Levi; read an ebook</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-49174476231993658812012-04-10T15:30:00.000-04:002012-08-06T22:49:28.988-04:00The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIOZTMv34fia3TiEYNMtWpgg0K0iKnG3HdJ3hE4sD3Vdg5r9fl22VyeRMelBqbf-OF7v2owlP_n66J5tSff5UNoxXbgSFpIulgv2EQqlygnj74j-8izeeOcLmCSAyT7gOlmTniMg/s1600/pratchett-colorofmagic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="cover of 'The Color of Magic'" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIOZTMv34fia3TiEYNMtWpgg0K0iKnG3HdJ3hE4sD3Vdg5r9fl22VyeRMelBqbf-OF7v2owlP_n66J5tSff5UNoxXbgSFpIulgv2EQqlygnj74j-8izeeOcLmCSAyT7gOlmTniMg/s200/pratchett-colorofmagic.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<p>An introduction to the bizarre and entertaining Discworld (a world that is actually shaped like a flat disc, carried by four elephants who stand on the back of the great turtle A'Tuin). We follow the hapless (but lucky) tourist Twoflower, his semi-unwilling guide, the wizard (of sorts) Rincewind, and Twoflower's luggage made of sapient pear-tree wood, as they traipse about and see various parts of this strange world - from the seedy, greedy inhabitants of Ankh-Mopork, to a forest with dryads and a temple for an ancient, unspeakable evil, through the dry seas to the Rim of the great disk, where the waters spill off the edge of the world into space, and finally they become the unwilling guests of the Krull, who have constructed a metal fish to fly off the edge of the world and take a closer look at the great turtle.</p>
<a name='more'></a><div class="fullpost">
<p>Einstein said that God doesn't play dice with the universe, but the gods of Discworld have no such qualms (and they also incidentally make life quite miserable for atheists). During the course of the story, as Rincewind and Twoflower are travelling about and just barely surviving one mishap after the other, the gods play some kind of game - ending with a match between Fate (who can't be cheated) and the Lady with emerald green eyes, a fickle goddess whose name should not be spoken.</p>
<p>I bought and read the Barnes & Noble ebook when it was a 99ยข offered as a <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/spotlight-featured-author-nook-books/379003534/">spotlight" deal</a>. I wasn't sure if it was worth it, so I asked Levi, who replied immediately and said "absolutely." It's an entertaining, light-hearted romp, although there are ideas to think about too (fate vs. luck, good and evil, etc).</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tbody>
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>The Colour of Magic</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Terry Pratchett</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>1983</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Fantasy</td></tr>
<tr><th>Series:</th><td>Discworld</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>240</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>recommended by Levi; read an ebook</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-36736959803688449522012-03-28T10:00:00.000-04:002012-08-05T13:43:10.363-04:00Virals, by Kathy Reichs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XdI7WCWDdl3wYrW7y6tW4Ny7OiUkR4cnpCpqRUK-XV6SGX6cn29IMLCUlsi1N1eLwAcq8n7JzhJEJGRizsABxLBlN91YURUZ-IvCdWVr5CNfP1LhHVqmEzRyAuVcO01TmSr2_Q/s1600/reichs-virals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="cover of Kathy Reichs' 'Virals'" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XdI7WCWDdl3wYrW7y6tW4Ny7OiUkR4cnpCpqRUK-XV6SGX6cn29IMLCUlsi1N1eLwAcq8n7JzhJEJGRizsABxLBlN91YURUZ-IvCdWVr5CNfP1LhHVqmEzRyAuVcO01TmSr2_Q/s200/reichs-virals.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><p>Tory (Victoria) Brennan is grand-niece to the famous Temperance Brennan. She lives on Morris Island with her father, who is a professor at Charlotte University and a researcher at nearby Loggerhead Island. Tory hangs out with the other kids who live on Morris - Ben, Hiram, and Shelton - and together they stumble into an adventure and discover a decades old unsolved murder. While wandering on Loggerhead Island, they run into a group of chimps, one of whom has found some soldier's dog tags, now heavily encrusted; they sneak into an unused lab to clean the tags, and while they are there they discover a secret experiment being done on the island wolf-dog pup Cooper. They Rescue him and nurse him back to health, but somehow they all get sick, even though parvovirus shouldn't be contagious to humans; they also start to experience weird side-effects somehow related to this cross-bred parvovirus variant with wolf DNA. </p><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="fullpost"><p>While they are getting through their illness, the group continues to investigate into the cold-case they have stumbled onto, which someone is actively working to cover up and prevent them from finding out anything. Eventually their search leads them to a rich, popular kid at school and his father, and an exciting, dramatic showdown.</p><p>This is a teen/young adult novel with adventure, mystery, and a bit of romance; there's a touch of science and also a little bit of the fantastic. There was a little too much tech slang-- it sounded off to my ears, although kids these days may well speak like this for all I know. I've been curious to read some of Kathy Reichs' books for a while, so when I saw this available as a library ebook, I grabbed it. I would still like to read a Temperance Brennan book at some point; I'm curious how those differ in tone and writing style from this.</p><table class="bookdetails"><tbody>
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Virals</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Kathy Reichs </td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2010</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Young Adult / Science Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>480</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read a library ebook</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-77082787235888856182012-04-02T16:30:00.000-04:002012-08-05T13:42:07.428-04:00Blue, by Lou Aronica<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EJLlGqiRPihO9lPHMTowjeZYpwM3PzpUFo-PeFMiwsEL_a75HtSXv7GpsfK7xlI6spkiv7NbY4rYmoUTcJ0YWknSmDnnoOHbiJDMsRGi1wG6q8XTSSNejreswwLCLvAUXZsmVw/s1600/aronica-blue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="cover of 'Blue' by Lou Aronica" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EJLlGqiRPihO9lPHMTowjeZYpwM3PzpUFo-PeFMiwsEL_a75HtSXv7GpsfK7xlI6spkiv7NbY4rYmoUTcJ0YWknSmDnnoOHbiJDMsRGi1wG6q8XTSSNejreswwLCLvAUXZsmVw/s200/aronica-blue.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><p>Chris and his daughter Becky created the imaginary world of Tamarisk wen Becky was a little girl going through scary leukemia treatment. They invented a world with fabulous colors and fascinating colors, and told stories about Princess Miea night after night in Becky's bed, before bedtime. Now, Chris has a strained relationship with his teenage daughter, and the haven't told any Tamarisk stories in the 4 years since Chris and Polly, Becky's mother, were divorced. Suddenly, Becky discovers that Tamarisk is real, and that she can visit - and even take her father - but only from her childhood bed, where they invented Tamarisk, now in her father's apartment.</p><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="fullpost"><p>Becky is having nosebleeds and dizzy spells that she tries to ignore; Tamarisk and Miea (now the queen, because her parents died in a tragic bridge collapse) are struggling with a blight that is devastating the landscape and threatens to destroy entire sections of Tamarisk if not all of it. Chris is a plant scientist, and he tries to help; but soon Miea figures out that Becky has symbiotic relationship with Tamarisk. Even as Becky's cancer has returned in the "real" world, Becky is healthy and energetic in Tamarisk, and her presence helps the plants.</p><p>Miea proposes that Becky come live there forever, but Becky won't go without her mother's blessing, and Polly never believed in Tamarisk or participated in the stories. Becky is weak and dying in her bed at Chris' house, and Polly finally gives her blessing as a way of providing hope to her dying daughter, who Chris fears may already be too weak to make the transit. As Becky passes, the white bedspread on her bed turns a deep Tamariskian blue, the color of Tamarisk plants when they are healthy; and her parents take this as a sign that Becky made it, that all is well.</p><p>Threaded through the book are references to a mysterious storyteller named Gage, who makes this connection to Tamarisk possible. There are also suggestions that Tamarisk somehow is a refuge to other children who are unwell. However, there are also some moments that add to the ambiguity of the ending; for instance, when Chris is out at restaurants and bars, he keeps thinking he sees a familiar face (young women who look like Princess Miea).</p><p>I felt like this book is "fantasy" in much the same way that <i>Bridge to Terebithia</i> is, which is to say not much - it's more about the real-world problems and relationships (although I think there's more fantasy here, maybe almost half of the book).</p><p>I read this as an <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blue-lou-aronica/1100408091?ean=9781936558018">ebook</a> because it was a <a href="http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/The-NOOK-Blog/bg-p/Unbound/label-name/Free%20Fridays">Barnes & Noble "Free Fridays"</a> selection. I was a little annoyed at the formatting (no text resizing, end-of-line hyphens that were preserved mid-paragraph, etc.), but it's hard to complain too much about something I got for free.</p><table class="bookdetails"><tbody>
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Blue</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Lou Aronica</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2010</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Young Adult</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>400</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read an ebook</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-87263023441992006602012-05-01T09:45:00.000-04:002012-08-05T13:38:19.441-04:00Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3chn7IK6Bc0oovKMGovaC6RtFpnnPeyIyN2k0WBN_EuyYgvNzUPXSVmpJ3j0L-CUbGvK0WPhlIb97kimQCuNUMpwBsETwz5mEPNnu-RLoUaJaQ2WYCgyWzJ-Hmke4StSc18oZQ/s1600/verne-aroundworld80days.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="cover of 'Around the World in 80 Days' by Jules Verne" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3chn7IK6Bc0oovKMGovaC6RtFpnnPeyIyN2k0WBN_EuyYgvNzUPXSVmpJ3j0L-CUbGvK0WPhlIb97kimQCuNUMpwBsETwz5mEPNnu-RLoUaJaQ2WYCgyWzJ-Hmke4StSc18oZQ/s200/verne-aroundworld80days.jpg" width="138" /></a></div><p>The story of the cool, collected, imperturbable Englishman Phileas Fogg and his passionate, good-hearted, sometimes hapless manservant, the Frenchman Jean Passepartout, and their famous trip around the world. Fogg lives his life completely by regimen, every day the same down to the minute he arrives at the Reform Club (he fired his previous servant because he couldn't keep up that schedule). Then, suddenly, on a bet-- to prove it can be done, and that "the unforeseen does not exist"-- he sets off around the world. He doesn't do it for the money that is wagered; in fact, he spends nearly all of the remaining half of his fortune that he didn't wager, so by winning he just breaks even. He doesn't do it for the adventure or to see the sights; Passepartout does quite a bit more looking at sights than Fogg, who is simply planning his next train or steamer. Certainly, Fogg doesn't shy away from adventure-- he saves Auoda from suttee because he has time, and he calmly and repeatedly bails out Passepartout, even to the point of chasing after American Indians to rescue him.</p><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="fullpost"><p>There are so many movie versions of this story; I've seen some of them, although certainly not all. In my experience, they always exaggerate the adventures and problems that Fogg runs into; as written in the book, he's not a very good romantic hero for a movie, because he seems too cold and impassive. For instance, the book glosses almost entirely over the beginning of their trip as though go through Europe (although perhaps this is because they are still in the "civilized" world, where everything is connected and trains run on time). The book is shorter than you might think, but there is still plenty of entertaining adventure.</p><br />
<p>There's even a bit of mystery about Fogg, since we never learn his background or motivation. When Fogg commandeers the ship on the last leg of the trip, from the U.S. to Europe (which he only does in order to arrive in England on time), it is clear to everyone by his knowledge of the craft that he was once a sailor-- but this seems a bit at odds with his gentleman-like appearance and demeanor the rest of the time.</p><br />
<p>Read a <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/103">free, public domain ebook from Project Gutenberg</a>.</p><br />
<table class="bookdetails"><tbody>
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Around the World in 80 Days</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Jules Verne</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>1873</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Adventure</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>142</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>repeat reading</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-35363001262806286402012-04-05T08:00:00.000-04:002012-08-05T13:21:09.396-04:00Legacy, by Danielle Steele<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hFjEmtSbL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="cover of 'Legacy' by Danielle Steele" border="0" height="200" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hFjEmtSbL.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><p>Brigitte is complacent and comfortable in her life - until she loses her job (where she has loyally served) and her boyfriend of 6 years (whom she'd always assumed she'd marry) dumps her to leave for his dream job, running an archaeological dig in Egypt. Brigitte tries to continue working on her own book, a definitive anthropological look at women's suffrage that she has been working on for years. She can't make any progress, so she goes to visit her mother and decides to help with some research on their family genealogy - first going to Salt Lake City. Then, when she discovers an Indian woman's name, Wachiwi, amongst their French aristocratic ancestors, Brigitte gets interested and follows the story, first to Indian archives and then eventually to France. Eventually she uncovers the story of a Dakota Sioux chief's daughter who was captured by the Crow, then seen with a Frenchman, and eventually made her way to France, where she was presented at court, married a Marquis, had children, and helped defend their Brittany chateau during the French revolution. Of course, along the way Brigitte comes into her own and is befriended by a kind Frenchman, an author who helps with her research.</p><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="fullpost"><p>Brigitte is such a complacent, risk-averse person that she's not really a very likable character; in fact, the notion that she would go to France by herself seems out of character for her, as she has been represented. After Brigitte uncovers some of Wachiwi's history, the book starts to alternate between the two women's stories-- and Wachiwi's story is quite a bit more interesting (although maybe a little over the top; Wachiwi seemed a little too much to me -- beautiful, courageous, beloved by her father and brothers, a great horsewoman, clever and intelligent, etc., etc., with no apparent flaws).</p><p>I don't think I've read any Danielle Steele books before, and I was surprised at how poorly written this one was - very pedestrian language, repetitive, and overly descriptive in a bad way (although perhaps "Danielle Steele" at this point is more of a brand name than an actual author). I don't feel like reading this book was a total waste of my time, but I also won't be seeking out any Danielle Steele books anytime soon.</p><table class="bookdetails"><tbody>
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Legacy</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Danielle Steele</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>2010</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Romance</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>338</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read a library ebook</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-14028804477194550062012-01-27T23:00:00.000-05:002012-02-13T21:01:48.714-05:00Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7y8QQcxqKQcHnA3CbiuWsziVDqTJaRiTLRfpdCQ8dry_UhXiE3_S7YWq-9ZTa7i6jhHoDgwseZj48S2D9RiA972IsFRHY8EnfNcQFbtaUZLrdkPnAu3lyeKui0KYPk50xPggLxg/s1600/dickens-littledorrit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7y8QQcxqKQcHnA3CbiuWsziVDqTJaRiTLRfpdCQ8dry_UhXiE3_S7YWq-9ZTa7i6jhHoDgwseZj48S2D9RiA972IsFRHY8EnfNcQFbtaUZLrdkPnAu3lyeKui0KYPk50xPggLxg/s200/dickens-littledorrit.jpg" alt="cover of Dicken's 'Little Dorrit'"/></a></div><br />
<p>I know that Dickens' tended to write the "big, baggy monster" type of novel, but this one seemed much bigger and baggier than other Dickens' I have read. You are introduced to characters briefly who leave the novel for chapters at a time, but then much later come back into the story, sometimes in significant ways for the plot. When we first meet Mr. Merdle, he seems like a tangential character (the husband of a woman Fanny and Amy Dorrit meet), but he gets a whole chapter to himself about his very high, significant position in society (due to his wealth), and his complete unease among the people of "society"-- although later, of course, he plays a pretty significant role in the story. The book follows mostly the story of "Little" Dorrit, or Amy- a young woman who was born in the debtor's prison at Marshalsea, where her father has lived her entire life; and also Arthur Clenham, who takes an interest in Little Dorrit.</p><br />
<a name='more'></a> <div class="fullpost"><p>Because the cast of characters is so large, it took me quite a while - over 150 pages - before I really got into the book and felt engaged in it; although, perhaps, in a book of this size, maybe that isn't quite so much as it might be in a shorter book. Towards the end, it seemed like the pace really picked up and I was much more engaged in the story, although at the very end of the book it seemed things were resolved a bit too quickly and abruptly (hard not to wonder how much of the length and oddity of the pacing is due to the serial nature of the original publication).</p><br />
<p><i>Little Dorrit</i> is a story of imprisonment and freedom, and also a story about the great hold that money, and the lack of it, has on people's lives. Little Dorrit's father was recognized to be somewhat of a gentleman when he first came to the Marshalsea, so he takes on a sort of position of prominence among the folk there; and yet he is utterly dependent on the little tokens of regard others give him, and the work that Little Dorrit takes on to care for him (without admitting to himself that she is out working, since that would not be respectable). Amy is quite diligent and practical, and takes care of everyone, including her two older siblings, who are rather ne'er-do-wells. When the family later comes into money, the older two siblings adapt to it pretty well, but Amy is very ill at ease. It is at this point, when the family is wealthy and traveling Europe, that we really see the cost of the years of prison on Mr. Dorritt-- he suspects everyone of knowing something of his past, of thinking less of him, and in a sense he still is imprisoned by the Marshalsea. As Little Dorrit observes when her father is preparing to pay off his debts and leaves prison, it seems "hard that he should pay in life and money both."</p><br />
<p>Like any Dickens novel, the world of <i>Little Dorrit</i> is populated by a fantastic cast of characters. There is Pancks, a tugboat of a man with so much energy and direction that he pulls other men in his wake; his boss, Mr. Casby, who looks so benevolent with his white hair and knobby head that he is considered a Patriarch, and every phrase from his mouth a beneficence (even though all the while he enjoins Pancks to squeeze his renters for more money). There is Casby's daughter, Flora Finching, a childhood love of Arthur Clenham, who is now widowed and nearly always accompanied by her Aunt, Mrs. F (a bit crazy, but quite articulate about her dislike of Arthur); Flora is kind but rather silly and excitable, and when she talks she rambles almost in a stream of consciousness, so that often the reader along with the characters in the room must try to piece together what she is trying to convey. And of course, we mustn't leave out the Circumlocution Office, with all the Barnacle cousins, where they have mastered the art of "how not to do it"-- meaning, of course, how to keep anything from getting done at all. When Arthur tries to look into Mr. Dorrit's affairs, he is sent from one office to another, asked to fill out a form, go talk to someone else, return later-- and one young man is quite offended that Mr. Clenham "wants to know, you know." I think the first time I laughed out loud reading this book was when the Young Barnacle who continually gets flustered and is always dropping and replacing his eye-glass meets Clenham and others for dinner at Mr. Meagles' house, and is so nervous that he keeps on dropping his eye-glass-- into his soup, into his wine, and even onto Mrs. Meagles plate, and in trying to put it back, "applied spoons to his eye, forks, and other foreign matters connected with the furniture of the dinner-table." In fact, the Circumlocution Office reminded me rather strongly of the bureaucratic shenanigans that make up most of <a href="http://booksunderthecovers.blogspot.com/2006/03/memoirs-found-in-bathbub-by-stanislaw.html">Stanislaw Lem's <i>Memoirs Found in a Bathtub</i>, which I read a few years back</a>.</p><br />
<p>I read the <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/963">Project Gutenberg ebook of <i>Little Dorrit</i></a>.</p><br />
<table class="bookdetails"><tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>Little Dorrit</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Charles Dickens</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>1857</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>847</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>read an ebook</td></tr>
</table></div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15395614.post-24438891366875192432011-09-15T19:15:00.023-04:002011-12-04T22:53:43.558-05:00The Mark of the Horse Lord, by Rosemary Sutcliff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqj8KQsd4Ng56ua4fCWaCc4YO3jqKZsLU-IRk6K9J4-4c96WbWB1hSmzUfdQIQUr7kM3uPK9wpvPMiXBQiDAsdyDQt2zSGSTbw1AQCZpFhs9JqqGwqeutORktBlg_CUnBUJKfyw/s1600/sutcliffe-markhorselord.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqj8KQsd4Ng56ua4fCWaCc4YO3jqKZsLU-IRk6K9J4-4c96WbWB1hSmzUfdQIQUr7kM3uPK9wpvPMiXBQiDAsdyDQt2zSGSTbw1AQCZpFhs9JqqGwqeutORktBlg_CUnBUJKfyw/s200/sutcliffe-markhorselord.jpg" alt="cover of 'Mark of the Horse Lord'" /></a></div>
<p>Red Phaedrus the gladiator was born a slave and unacknowledged bastard son of a Roman merchant in the household, son of a northern slave woman; when his owner died he was sold, and then sold again to be a gladiator. Phaedrus survives four years as a gladiator (no small feat), and when Governor Sylvanus Varus celebrates his appointment in Corstopitum with an elaborate four days of games, Phaedrus draws the lot of dueling to the death with his one friend among the group. He nearly loses, but when he survives he wins his freedom-- which, it turns out, he doesn't really know what to do with. Fortunately (or, perhaps unfortunately), his red hair and northern face catches the eye of a merchant who has a particular use for him.</p>
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<p>Phaedrus decides to go along with their plan-- which is that he should impersonate the exiled Prince Midir (who he looks very like) and return with them to reclaim the throne from the usurper, Queen Liadhan, a cruel ruler who "made sure" of the young Prince Midir when she took control-- not by killing him, but by blinding him, because a blind man cannot be a Horse Lord. Phaedrus accepts because he feels he has nothing better to do, and he misses the purpose and solidarity of being among the gladiators, so he feels he can be useful-- even though it may be difficult. Phaedrus receives the forehead tattoos and other marks that Midir has (the titular mark), and he spends weeks learning everything he can from Midir about his past and the people he will meet, whom he must recognize and remember if he is to convince them.</p>
<p>At first, Phaedrus makes a few mistakes and it seems like he will almost be caught out-- and there is a tense moment when he first meets Conory, Midir's closest childhood friend. But after facing off against Liadhan, and starting the battle skirmishes in earnest, Phaedrus grows more and more into the role he has been thrust into-- until, at the very end, he becomes the Horse Lord that his people need him to be.</p>
<p>The book seemed a little slow going for a quite a while to me; in fact, I think it wasn't until an interesting female character showed up-- Murna, Liadhan's daughter, whom he must marry to solidify his claim to the throne. They have a rather interesting courtship, and he doesn't know for quite a while that she and Midir had a bit of history, when she was much younger than Midir and he callously killed a pet otter that she loved.</p>
<p>At one point, Conory takes Phaedrus aside and basically tells him that he knows he is not Midir, but that it's okay-- and his expression of how he knew is wonderful; he tells Phaedrus that "the balance of the sword was off," but that only someone very close to the real Midir could recognize it. Also, the moment between Murna and Phaedrus when he finally finds out ("remembers") what he (Midir) had done to her, and takes the blame, and apologizes for it-- she seems to understand that this is a different man that the cold-hearted youth who killed an innocent pet for spite, and hints at this without outright saying it by calling him "my gladiator" instead of by his false name.</p>
<p>This was a very interesting read, and I found myself transported to another place and time-- and one that was fascinating. I will probably keep an eye out for more Rosemary Sutcliff books in the future.</p>
<table class="bookdetails">
<tr><th>Title:</th><td><i>The Mark of the Horse Lord</i></td></tr>
<tr><th>Author:</th><td>Rosemary Sutcliff</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date published:</th><td>1965</td></tr>
<tr><th>Genre:</th><td>Historical Fiction</td></tr>
<tr><th>Number of pages:</th><td>245</td></tr>
<tr><th>Notes:</th><td>loan from Catey</td></tr>
</table>
</div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00010783501138732142noreply@blogger.com0