Read This Book Damnit

The Best of 2012

2013-01-01T07:51:00.002-08:00

As the year winds down I find that a) I finally have time to get a blog post up and b) it's been a pretty great year for fiction. Put those things together and you end up with this, the reviewers all but inevitable best of the year list.

Best Genre Movie:

The Avengers (dir. Joss Whedon): What can be said about this movie that hasn't already been said? Probably not too much but I'm gonna give it a shot anyhow. I think most everyone was expecting this to be good, but just how good surprised even the most optimistic of comic geeks. While maintaining the voice and nature of characters already established in their own movies, Whedon did more with some of them then their own franchises did. He elevated the supporting cast, Black Widow and Agent Coulson in particular, while still giving the lead heroes their appropriate time in the spotlight. He also succeeded in making a movie that stood on it's own two feet while giving homage to the comic books that inspired it. Maybe the single greatest thing he did with The Avengers was simply to make sure there were no weak points. Go ahead, try and find something to complain about. The very worst things I've ever seen anyone say come off as fainthearted attempts to invent something to bitch about. In short if it's not the perfect superhero movie it comes closer than anything else I've ever seen (yes including Superman). My full review can be found here: http://readthisbookdamnit.blogspot.ca/2012/05/avengers-holy-freaking-god.html

Best Genre TV Series:

Game of Thrones (based on A Song of Ice And Fire by George R.R. Martin): It was hard to see for some people how Game of Thrones could top it's first season. Those were the people that had never read the books. For anyone who'd read the series it was clear that things were only gonna get crazier as we got deeper into things. In season two we got more Tyrion, more gratuitous nudity, and more violence. Ahh, the violence. The fight for King's Landing bodes very well for the even larger epic battles that are yet to come, Arya's story heads her even further into the world of secrets, lies and assassination, and every damn character either has (or shortly will) get their hands very dirty. It's gonna be profane, over the top, and pretty goddamn epic. In short? Gimme season three already damnit!

Best Unlikely Success:

Towers of Midnight (Wheel of Time book 13, Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson): Ok if you're even halfway to being a fan of fantasy fiction you know this series and all the issues around it. This is the second book written by Sanderson after Robert Jordan passed away leaving an unfinished epic and legions of fantasy geeks, some of whom had been reading it for twenty years (like me), desperate for a satisfying conclusion. We will never know how close this comes to what Jordan would have written, but so far (and against the odds) Sanderson is exceeding my expectations. In two books he's moved the plot further forward than Jordan did in the previous five, with the series now set for what I hope will be a hell of a conclusion next month. Now I've long had a love hate relationship with this series. On the one hand I consider the first five books to be some of the finest epic fantasy ever written. On the other hand the next five books are a terrifically lame fuckaround in a great many ways. Book eleven, the last by Jordan, kinda got back on track but Sanderson is the one who will see us to Tarmon Gai'don. Given how happy I am with his first two attempts I think the odds of getting a satisfying conclusion to a series I've been reading for twenty-three years are actually looking good.

Best New Author:

Kevin Hearne (The Iron Druid series): Technically Hearne debuted in 2011, but I include him here for two reasons. First, I only discovered him in 2012. Second, well, he's just that damn good. Probably the last time I enjoyed a new author so much was Seanan McGuire back in 2010 and she's gone on to be a serious and consistent favourite of mine. In less than eighteen months Hearne has produced five books in his Iron Druid series and, while some were stronger than others, there wasn't a clunker in the bunch. In short the series follows Earth's last druid, currently using the alias Atticus O'Sullivan as he tries, and fails, to stay off the radar of other supernatural forces. Gods, witches, vampires and shapeshifters all make appearances, as does Jesus. Yes that Jesus. Despite the Son of God making an appearance the best supporting character of the series clearly is Atticus' Irish wolfhound Oberon. The observations he makes through his bond to the druid are frequently laugh out loud funny and will resonate with anyone who has ever wished their dog could talk to them. Frequently compared to Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files I can say that, while being a distinct and original series, the two do compare in the best ways. If you're a fan of urban fantasy laced with humour then give this author and series a try. My review of the first three books can be found here: http://readthisbookdamnit.blogspot.ca/2012/04/iron-druid-chronicles.html

Best Steampunk/Fantasy/Romance Combination:

The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger: Here's another series and author that, while they've been around for a few years, I didn't discover until 2012. For me steampunk as a subgenre has been significantly more miss than hit but this series, by mixing in urban fantasy and no small amount of romance, just nailed it. Set in Victorian England it posits a world where steam powered gadgets are all the rage and vampires and werewolves live in the open and are devoted servants to the Crown. There are also ghosts, faeries, and the soulless, humans who have no soul at all and can actually negate supernatural powers. The lead character, Alexia Tarabotti, is one such soulless but most of her problems come from being an independent minded woman in Victorian England who is a too smart, too exotic (being half Italian), and too adventuresome to attract a suitable spouse. Thus at the age of twenty-six she is a spinster forever squiring her younger half-sisters to parties. Fortunately for her, and for us the readers, this state of things doesn't last long. Drawn by her nature and soulless status into intrigue and adventure, she finds massive irritation, love, and a purpose. The whole thing is just funny as hell, sending up our image of Victorian mores and behaviour, while delivering great characters, dialogue, and a plot that effortlessly pulls the reader along. Highly recommended.

Best Fantasy:

Cold Days (Dresden Files book 13, Jim Butcher): Shouldn't be much of a surprise to either my friends or long-time readers that this tops my list for 2012. I've been a fan of this series almost since it first appeared and, generally speaking, Butcher has only gotten better as he's gone along. I'll be the first to admit that the last two books were maybe a little less enjoyable than some in the series, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the writing and everything to do with how profoundly Butcher shook up harry Dresden's world. With Cold Days Harry starts to re-establish himself and, while in no way negating or lessening the changes wrought in the last two books, brings back some of the fun that had to be left by the wayside for awhile. In this book Harry gets back to Chicago just in time to discover that it might be the centre of a world-ending apocalypse (again), finds out his absence has had some unintended side-effects, and begins to see his place in a larger and scarier world. One of the best aspects of this book is that while it brings together most of cast that we've come to love, it shows how Harry's absence and changes have affected them and how they've changed as a result. The ending of the books promises still more changes to come, but simultaneously puts Harry back in the driver's seat of his destiny. That's exactly where we as readers want our favourite wizard to be, especially as the series climbs towards it's conclusion. There might be ten books or so to go but the blueprints for the finale are being laid with each installment and it looks like it's gonna be a hell of a ride. My review of The Dresden Files can be found here: http://readthisbookdamnit.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dresden-files.html

Best Sci-Fi (and favourite book of the year):

Redshirts (by John Scalzi): Maybe the biggest surprise in this book is how many surprises it held for me. That I was going to like it was almost a given, I mean I've been a huge fan of all things Scalzi for years. The fact that the title and the subject matter is a nod to the oft-killed Star Trek security team members also hit me right in my geek sweet spot. But, like it said, it's the surprises that get you. Given that the book is about a bunch of 'redshirts' on a barely concealed analogue to the Enterprise and her crew the first surprise is how quickly the book transcends what, in lesser hands, would have been a one note parody at best. It's not that Scalzi doesn't play the parody card, it just that he does it extremely well and then goes places with it you just don't see coming. For a (very) short book based on a limited premise this thing has depth! It's been a long time since I read a book that has inspired so much discussion amongst my fellow geeks about the nature of reality, the power of creativity, parallel universes, and the nature of writing a “meta” work. Another surprise was how great the three codas, or short stories, are that come after the main body of the novel. One is just purely funny as hell, especially to anyone who's every tried their hand at the craft of writing, one is a terribly moving piece on the power of love to transcend spacetime itself, and the last is one of the more thought provoking pieces on the nature of identity that I've ever read. Not enough praise exists for this book people, just go read it. My full review is here: http://readthisbookdamnit.blogspot.ca/2012/06/redshirts.html

That's it, that's all I got for 2012. May your 2013 be filled with great reads!

George Lister

@damngoodbooks

ElfQuest

2012-10-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

On a personal level ElfQuest is one of the most formative works I can remember reading in my youth. Along with Anne McCaffrey's Pern, EQ subtly helped shape my thinking in a variety of positive ways. Tolerance, not just acceptance, but celebration of others differences, an ease about sexuality, the value of curiosity, an appreciation of the real cost of conflict, and a heightened appreciation for the creative process are all parts of my personality I owe in some degree to this series.

ElfQuest, distilled to the bare essentials, is an epic fantasy comic book series. To describe it so, thus lumping it in with dozens if not hundreds of other properties, is to miss just how absolutely unique a creation it is. For example, it is the only comic book to be published independently, by Marvel, and by DC over its history. It is also the most commercially successful self published comic book series in history while breaking new ground in art, story, and the maturity of its content.

Perhaps the most unique thing about EQ is that it has been at least guided, and for the most part wholly created, by the same two people over its entire thirty-four year history. That might just be an unprecedented feat in the comic book world where a tenure of a few years is considered a good run. What's even more impressive about it is how varied, creative, and strong the series has stayed over the duration. It's worth noting that those same creators, Wendy and Richard Pini, are almost as interesting as the series they created.

WaRP Graphics

The thing you need to understand about these two is that, well, basically they should be seen as geek royalty. They met through the letters column of an issue of Silver Surfer, striking up a correspondence and eventually a long distance romance. Wendy (then Fletcher) worked as a sci-fi magazine illustrator and as an animator (on Ralph Bakshi's adaptation of 'Lord of The Rings' no less), while also appearing at conventions in full Red Sonja costume (and doing it serious justice). Richard got a degree in astronomy and worked for a planetareum, did special effects, lectured about science, and threw away a lucrative career at IBM to publish a comic book.

Geek royalty indeed.

The two married in the early seventies and each worked their own careers until 1978. That year the first instalment of what would become ElfQuest hit shelves in the pages of an underground comic magazine called 'Fantasy Quarterly'. Richard, who had edited the story while Wendy did the bulk of the writing and all of the art, was particularly disappointed in the low quality of the result. The cover was little better than newsprint and the poor interior quality made Wendy's clean art look smudged.

Since the magazine folded after that issue however they were given a chance to do it right. Wendy believed in her story, Richard loved the story and believed in Wendy. Together they borrowed money they couldn't really afford to pay back and launched a new company, WaRP Graphics (for Wendy and Richard Pini). It had only one product, an unfinished epic fantasy comic, no agent, and no distribution network. The Pini's had no publishing experience, no printing equipment of their own, and even companies like Marvel and DC were headed for bankruptcy.

Yet ElfQuest survived, then thrived, then became a genuine success that over the years would come to define the independent comic scene. You could say that there was a lot of luck involved, and that was true. 1978 turned out to be a great year to get into fantasy and genre fiction. Conan had turned into a surprise success for Marvel, Star Wars was still lighting up the big screen (movies stayed in theatres a lot longer back then), and sci-fi and fantasy books cracked the NY Times bestseller list for the first time. It's also true that hard work was involved, more than I can even wrap my mind around. The Pini's had to become not just creators but editors, publishers, marketers, salespeople, and negotiators. At the end of the day though there is one reason for the success of ElfQuest that stands out above all others.

It was, and is, just that damn good.

The World of Two Moons

Even the basic setup of ElfQuest is unique. Ten thousand years before the start of the series a race of aliens visited The World of Two Moons (later named Abode). They had vast psychokinetic and telepathic skills, as well as being shapeshifters. Upon discovering that the human inhabitants of this world were roughly at the medieval level of development, and that they had legends of beings resembling our elves, they shapeshifted to match those legends and hopefully start relations with mankind off on a positive note. An accident caused by the small humanoids on their ship they kept as pets caused their plans to fall apart. Thrown not just off course, but hurled through time itself, the world they emerged into was considerably younger with mankind barely past the caveman stage.

Disoriented by the accident the elves were also shocked to learn that their powers on this world were considerably diminished. When the terrified humans attacked out of fear, the elves were almost powerless to defend themselves. While large numbers died there, the rest fled their ship (disguised as a palace to match the medieval era they'd aimed for) and fled into the woods. Those survivors eventually scattered and splintered into smaller groups still, spreading apart until each was but a legend to the others.

Ten thousand years later the story picks up with the focus firmly on one of those groups, by now known as the Wolfriders. Having used what remained of their power to bond with wolves, they learned to hunt, gather, hide, and, if need be, fight. Humans remain the enemy and, while the elves have their bonded wolves, the remnants of their magic (mostly telepathy), better weapons, and more tightly knit social order, the humans have strength of numbers. The humans are, well, human after all. Their lives are brutish and short, but mating is of course an imperative and many children are the result. The elves by contrast live for centuries, if not millenia and,while they make love at the drop of a hat (any hat), children for them are rare and usually only born when they meet their genetic/predestined match (a process called Recognition). Thus, for a tribe numbering less than twenty, to lose any elf is a tragedy. When one of his tribe is captured by humans the Wolfrider chief Cutter leads a rescue mission. While it succeeds, it leads to the humans starting a forest fire that drives the elves from their home.

Initially the elves seek refuge in the tunnels of their reluctant allies and trading partners, the trolls. Descended from the pets of the original elves who caused the crash, the trolls bear no love for elfkind. They betray the Wolfriders and strand them in a desert wasteland, fully expecting them to die. Instead the elves survive a brutal desert trek and even find another tribe of elves, somethign neither group thought possible. After a rocky first meeting the pacifistic Sun Folk quickly offered sanctuary and hospitality to the weary Wolfriders.

Soon the two tribes were united by blood as well, with Cutter Recognizing the Sun Folk Healer Leetah. Despite a slight age difference (he was 22, she was 615), a rival for her affections, and a culture clash, nature held sway. Over the next few years they would have a pair of twins and the Wolfriders settled in to their new home.

Quickly enough though humans from the tribe that had burned the Wolfriders out came, refugees now themselves. Although Cutter lets them live their arrival makes him want to know more about this world and their place in it. Eventually he is compelled to start a journey to find other tribes of elves, finally beginning the titular elf quest and kicking the series into high gear.

Over the course of the rest of the first series, Cutter meets several other tribes. He learns, painfully, that not all elves are good and, surprisingly, that all humans aren't evil. His quest takes him and his whole tribe to the beginning of their history and sets them on a path to a new future. If I'm sounding grandiose and vague it's with a reason. First that the way this series unfolds is grandiose in the best possible sense of that word. Second, being vague is being spoiler free. Seriously the way this story unfolds needs to be experienced, not explained.

The Pini's would go on to write several sequel series, all excellent. They would also later expand the ElfQuest universe in the 1990's, bringing in other writers and artists, and exploring not just the geography but the future of The World of Two Moons. Those later series varied somewhat in quality, but were all entertaining and generally consistent with the world the Pini's had created. Ultimately in the early 2000's the bubble burst and ElfQuest ceased regular publication. There was a mini revival with DC comics taking over as publisher, but few projects ever came out of that alliance and EQ lay dormant.

Which is a shame because ElfQuest is epic in the best sense of that word.

The Characters

This is possibly the strongest individual component that EQ has going for it. Almost every named character gets enough development that you know them as individuals and, for a story with a cast of literally hundreds, thats an amazing feat. The main characters receive enough development that you really and truly come to know them. More to the point, you come to either care for them or truly loathe them, whichever is intended. Cutter and his immediate family receive the most attention, and all become deeply layered and evolving characters that you as a reader cannot help but like. Cutter in particular gets one of the most layered and deep character development arcs I've ever seen in fiction. Not just in comics, I mean in fiction. Period. We see him go from a young leader as strong and goodhearted as he is burdened and fretful, to a mature but restless family man, to a war leader tempered by loss. His story ultimately sees him shattered by unimaginable tragedy, and saved by love and family. To this day I tend to use his hero's journey as my benchmark for such things.

The main villainess of the series, by contrast, is so wonderfully evil that she is actually scary. Even to this day when I read those issues featuring Winnowill, I get a bit of a chill. She's not just evil, she's malevolent like a great Disney villainess allowed to go to an 'R' rating level. I spoil nothing by saying this since, right from her first appearance, if you don't get that Winnowill is the Big Bad then you're nuance deaf and blind to boot. She is probably the most beautiful elf drawn in the comic (which is saying something) and she uses her sexuality the same way she uses her healing magic, which is to say as a weapon. In this she is the polar opposite of Cutter's mate Leetah, also a healer portrayed with a deeply sexual side. But Leetah uses her power to truly heal and bring joy, and her sexuality is similarly joyful and pure. Winnowill is just spooky as all hell.

The other characters get great story arcs and development too, but there's still so much to cover here that I'll leave you to experience them firsthand. Let's go back to that whole sex thing again for a minute.

Beware: Here Be Mature Content

For comic book readers of a certain age you know what I'm about to refer to. Even if you didn't read EQ everybody but everybody had heard of the infamous “orgy” issue back in the day. It caused enough of a stir when it first appeared in WaRP Graphics original black and white, available only through subscription and comic book specialty shops. When Marvel Comics re-printed it without edits? Sweet merciful gods what a shitstorm that was!

In a nutshell the Wolfriders found themselves at war with a northern band of trolls for control over the remains of their ancestors spaceship (still disguised as a palace). They'd found allies in a much larger group of Northern elves called the Go-Backs and, on the eve of battle, they share a last night of revelry. And by revelry I mean screwing each others brains out.

It wasn't subtle, it wasn't implied, and there was no doubt about what was happening. While it wasn't drawn so explicitly as to show penetration, you got the impression that an awful lot of it was going on. Some established couples stayed to each other, others engaged in group sex, others swapped partners, and not all of it was heterosexual. Now this, especially to the thirteen year old I was at the time, was some pretty heavy stuff!

It was also totally appropriate in the context of the story, and was used appropriately. Now when I use the word “appropriately” I'm not making any moral call here. I'm just saying that, in terms of the story being told, it made sense. This wasn't some random group sex encounter as per a low budget porno, this was a group of warriors on the eve of what might be their last day alive. And it was made clear this wasn't simply about having a last night of fun, this was about celebrating life and remembering why it was they fought. It was presented appropriately, was not done out of some desire to titillate, and cemented that this was a story with serious depth and layers.

Not bad for an indie comic book!

In later series the Pini's would go on to expand on the sexuality of elfkind a great deal. The dominant relationship in their world is heterosexual pairs that mate for life. The concept of monogamy though? Not so common. Even lifemated pairs will have relations with others, though it's all done so openly that you quickly understand that elves have very little by way of personal jealousy. It makes sense from the perspective of being a tightly knit, near immortal, telepathic society. You couldn't really have secrets when everyone can at least read the surface thoughts of everyone else, and immortality could certainly lead to boredom with monogamy, so their society evolved around that. Homosexuality is addressed as well, and similarly given proper context within this invented society. Elves, male and female both, will have same sex relations for pleasure and to solidify tribal bonds. Lifematings that are purely homosexual aren't shown to exist, but three way pairings of lifemates aren't uncommon and include all gender combinations. Pretty much the series makes a good argument that telepaths would be polyamorous by definition. It also succeeds in making that seem like no bad thing.

It also isn't the demonizing force some parents (still) think it is. I didn't grow up to be a pansexual orgy seeking sex fiend despite reading these comics at the most formative possible age to be exposed to such things. Instead this, and Anne McCaffrey's Pern, helped instill an easygoing attitude towards sexuality and gender issues in me that was completely at odds with the rather conservative upbringing I'd had. This was completely inevitable really. If you love the worlds these writers created it is, by definition, impossible to hate the concepts presented therein. If you're ok with those concepts in fiction, odds are you're going to be ok with them in fact. And this is no bad thing, at least not to me. Persons of the right wing religious variety will likely disagree, but they don't agree with me about much anyhow. To me ElfQuest stands as a great model of diversity, issues based worldbuilding, and celebration of personal differences.

In Other Media

Let's not talk about the ElfQuest movie, it's just too painful a subject. In brief I've basically been waiting for this movie for over twenty years. It's been announced at least four times, been through multiple incarnations (including cartoon, live action, and CGI), test footage has been shot, and proof of concept videos circulated, but all to no avail. I still hold out hope but it's become a tilting at windmills kinda situation. Let's talk about more successful things.

One of the first non-comic additions to the ElfQuest mythos that I came across was a roleplaying game. It was produced by Mayfair Games, was fiendishly complicated to learn, but ultimately was one of the better role playing systems available at the time. Sadly I never got to play it myself from any perspective other than that of game master, but it was a lot of fun all the same. Fully authorized by the Pini's their input was sought at almost every level. As a result the game also served as something of a complete reference for the comic at that time. It even included information about other tribes, like the sea elves, who wouldn't be seen in the comics for another decade.

Rather unusually for the time ElfQuest was also available as print books of two distinctly different types. The first I came across was a novelization of the first story arc from the comics. This was and is unusual for the mere fact of it's existence. Even today, when media tie-ins abound, one does not usually see storylines from the comics brought to novel form. Even when you do they are generally not written by the original writer of the comics. The Pini's, however, wrote this one and it remains one of my most-read novels. I have written in earlier posts about my love of Anne McCaffrey's White Dragon and John Steakley's Vampire$, both being in my most re-read books list. ElfQuest: Journey to Sorrow's End is likely my third most re-read book. At the time I read it my collection of early issues of EQ was far from complete, so I loved it because it filled in the blanks for me. There was also some extra depth added to some scenes. Really I just loved it because it was, and is, just a bloody fantastic novel in it's own right. It is sadly out of print by many years, but widely available online and in used bookstores. As a sidenote the original publisher was Playboy Press which I find perfectly appropriate. It was originally intended that the Pini's would novelize the rest of the original series of comics, but that never came to pass mostly because the Pini's were too busy and were (rightly) unwilling to hand the job over to other writers. They weren't done with fantasy novels though, and what they did next was as unique as the rest of their journey.

In 1986 the Pini's commissioned a series of short stories by a variety of authors that were set in the world of ElfQuest. Each writer took the era of one of the past chiefs of the Wolfriders to use as their setting. Since Cutter was the eleventh chief, and thus the blood of ten chiefs, that's what they called the series. The Blood of Ten Chiefs proved to be a hell of a hit, introducing a much wider range of people to the world of ElfQuest, and ultimately was popular enough to run into four volumes. This is due to the simple fact that the Pini's recruited some serious talent, and then that talent really brought their 'A' game. Who do I mean by talent? How about Robert Asprin, Diane Carey, and Mercedes Lackey, to name just a few. That not enough? Arguably the most popular fantasy writer of the 1980's was Piers Anthony, and he's in there too. The Piers Anthony connection continues with another ElfQuest connection that is as unique as it is touching.

In the early 1990's there was a young girl named Jenny who was hit by a drunk driver and nearly killed. Her mother wrote to Piers Anthony in a moment of desperation. Jenny had not come out of her coma and, as he was her favourite writer, would he please write her a letter in hopes of triggering a response. Well he did, and it did. Jenny did come out of her coma though she was left with severe injuries, but Anthony wasn't done. He found out she was also a huge fan of ElfQuest and got together with the Pini's to arrange the ultimate fan gift. He turned Jenny into Jenny Elf, made her a character in his new Xanth novel (Isle of View), and further made that character an elf from The World of Two Moons. The Pini's for their part turned Isle of View into a graphic novel. It remains my favourite Xanth novel, which is saying something as I loved the hell out of that series back in the day. So Jenny ended up inspiring the only (to my knowledge) canonical crossover between two fantasy series that didn't involve any money changing hands whatsoever. Pretty cool of all concerned I think.

More recently ElfQuest has established a heck of an internet presence. Their website (www.elfquest.com – go figure) is short on fancy details, and has never been great about regular updates, but it has one thing that makes it one of the best websites I have ever seen.

Every. Single. Issue.

Every freaking issue of every freaking ElfQuest comic is available for free to read on the website. Right there? That makes this a truly epic website.

So, basically, if you've sat through this entire epic review, the largest I have ever written, you should be going to the EQ website right now. If you haven't read the comics before, get started (and set aside a lot of free time). If you're an old school fan like me, well, pretty much the same thing. Once they digitized the entire archive a few years ago I spent weeks reading my way through the whole damn series all over again, and coming to an even deeper love for it. As an extra bonus they are releasing a new story for the first time in years, written and drawn by Wendy and edited by Richard (just like in the good old days). It is coming it at the rate of one page a week, but so far so good and some new EQ is far better than no new EQ, so I'm not gonna complain about the pace.

In Conclusion (at last)

What else can I say? This is one of the finest and most diverse fantasy worlds ever created. It says a great deal about a series that it can cross media, exist for thirty years, and be as appealing to me at age thirty-seven as it was when I was thirteen.

Folks it's all out there for free. Go read these books damnit!

- George Lister

Follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

My Dad (and Neil Armstrong)

2012-08-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

This post has nothing to do with books really, but when a hero dies sometimes you have to bend the rules. Neil Armstrong was one of the few people I voluntarily gave the hero label to with no trace of cynicism or irony. He and his generation of aviators and astronauts were a massive inspiration to my father, to me (particularly as a young man), and frankly to millions around the world.

My father died Nov. 11, 1999. Almost every year since I've written something about my dad on that date and published it to whatever medium I happened to have access to at that time. This piece was originally written just to Facebook for my friends and family back in 2010. It's the story of my Dad, one of his favorite places (the Oshkosh Air Show), and how (thanks to my bullshitting skills) he and I got to meet Neil Armstrong.

My Dad vs. Bullshit (aka Oshkosh 1994)

Originally written Nov. 11, 2010

So, as has become something of a custom for me over the years, I'm taking this Remembrance Day to write something about my Dad. This Nov. 11 marks eleven years since his death, and that's been enough time for some of my thinking to shift. Years ago I found it hard to think of him much, the grief was too new. Later on the memories were something I trotted out from time to time and cherished, but there was still an ache behind them.

Things are a little different now.

These days I still think of my Dad on a daily basis, but it's almost always with a smile. I still miss him like crazy, always will, but we fit a hell of a lot of good times into the twenty-four years we had together. I've written about some of those before but I haven't written much about the one thing that sometimes threw a wrench into what was otherwise a pretty awesome father-son relationship.

Sometimes we just didn't get each other.

Ooh, shocker I know. A father and son who didn't get each other? Stop the fucking presses! Yeah, I know, in general fathers and sons tend not to get each other for a large percentage of their lives. It's a whole generation gap, plus alpha male, plus teen rebellion thing plus about a billion other factors. My Dad and I had all of that, but there was something more in our case.

He had Asperger's Syndrome, part of the spectrum of autism disorders. It mostly manifests as social awkwardness, an inability to understand social cues, a dislike of the spotlight, and a general lack of understanding of casual social interaction. Let's contrast that with me. Social chameleon, proficient public speaker, student of human behaviour, schmoozer, flirt, salesman, and, frankly, all around attention whore.

So, yeah, bit of a gap between us. What really caused a bit of a rift between us wasn't so much even that profound difference in our social skills but what that actually meant. To my dad the world tended to be a very black and white place. Things were either good or bad without much room in between, especially when it came to science and the rules. That I was able to seemingly bend both by charm alone really messed up his sense of how things should be.

For example let's take science fair projects. The first science fair project I did, well, I didn't. Dad did. I pretty much copied what he did, under his direction. The science was awesome but it sure as heck wasn't me that was responsible. Made it to the city finals. The next year I took his idea, tried making it my own and did my own work. Pretty much failed totally. The science was still awesome, I just wasn't awesome at the science. So for the next year I did something different. I took really simple (like stolen out of Owl magazines from when I was a little kid simple) experiments and talked them up to the judges so they seemed massively more impressive than they actually were. Dad was so unimpressed with my project that he couldn't even pretend that he thought I had a chance.

I went on to the city finals and won a prize.

Now it wasn't so much that which blew my Dad's mind. It was the fact that I basically repeated the exact same project (no joke) for the next three years and won with it every time out. He actually almost didn't sponsor a prize for the science fair that last year, so offended was he that my bad science was considered award winning by the judges. It boggled his mind that someone could talk their way into winning a science fair. Basically he never understood that sometimes it's not what you have to say, but how you say it. Me? Seems like I've understood that since I could crawl.

Eventually, even though he didn't understand it, he had to concede that whatever I did worked. I think he considered it some kind of voodoo, but he couldn't ignore the results. However he never considered what I did to be work, to be as valid as success achieved purely through effort and ability. This was because he didn't see what I did as requiring either effort or ability. That didn't change until 1994 and he finally got a closeup look at me doing my thing.

That summer he and I went to the Oshkosh Air Show, as we had many times before. That year was a little different as I was going into it with the idea of writing some freelance journalism pieces about it. At that time I'd had some success writing for newspapers and magazines and had also recently become a devotee of all things Hunter S. Thompson. That meant that I thought I was good enough to get some stories written and sold and not willing to let little things like the truth and/or locals laws get in my way. Dad, while still not understanding the process at all, had seen it work enough that for most of the following adventure he indulged me and just tagged along.

My first step was finding out what was required to get a press pass. Almost inconceivably all that was required (then) was a letter from the editor of the publication I was currently working for and picture ID. I asked if a fax would be acceptable instead of a mailed letter. When they indicated it was my next step was the Kinko's store just across the street from the airfield. At Kinko's I rented a computer, created a professional looking letterhead for a wholly fictional magazine, and wrote a letter of introduction from an equally fictional editor. I had it printed, then paid the baffled store clerk to fax it from one fax machine in the store to the other. Before the ink was dry I smudged the top of the fax ever so slightly to obscure the number of origin.

With this thoroughly fraudulent document in hand we headed back to the air show. Now, by this point, Dad was getting kind of nervous. So much so that, I found out later, he'd called his credit card companies to find out how much of a US cash advance he could get in case I needed bail money. But given that the stakes were low, the scrutiny lower, and my scam fairly well done, I got my press pass (along with my first bag of free journalistic schwag).

With success came thirst and we headed out to get some drinks. Over truly super sized and over iced cokes Dad finally blurted out what he'd probably been wanting to ask me for a decade.

“How did you do that?”

So I told him. I took him through all the steps, all the logic, all the thought processes behind what I'd done. Admittedly these were sort of after the fact realizations, most of what I'd done had been instinctive. However explaining it as I did, especially after seeing me do it first hand, made it make sense to my Dad for probably the first time. He also saw the amount of work I was willing to put into making my goals come true and, while it was still a scam, it wasn't effortless like he had always assumed.

The rest of the trip, and really the rest of our relationship, took on a very different tone. While he was resigned to never truly understanding how I did my thing, he realized that it was a talent, a skill, and something that took effort to achieve. In short, he finally respected the weird social skills I had and how I chose to put them to use.

As a side note he came to further appreciate my skills and the press pass they'd gottem me a few days into the Oshkosh trip. That year they were celebrating the Apollo astronauts, had several of them on hand, and Dad had bought the book 'Moon Shot' by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton, two of the original Mercury astronauts who were there for pretty much the whole of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab programs. I noticed that there were lots of seats in the press gallery during one of the Apollo themed events, a speech by three of the Apollo astronauts including Neil Armstrong. Guess the whole astronaut thing was pretty played out to the regular press, but not so much for me. I grabbed my dad, flashed my pass, and got him seated with me in the press section before he really knew what was happening. When he figured it out of course he tried to leave but I hauled him back into his seat. He stopped objecting when Neil Armstrong rose to speak about ten feet away from us. Now Neil Armstrong is not a public friendly figure. In fact in our press kit we were advised that Armstrong does not take questions after the event and he does not, under any circumstances, sign autographs.

Personally I considered that a challenge.

At the close of the event Armstrong was walking down from the stage, maybe five feet away. I figured I'd get no better chance so I hit him with the most attention grabbing question I could.

“Mr. Armstrong, did the stiff handling of the F-100 at cruise cause you any concerns?” I called out to him. Being the obsessive compulsive space geek that I am I knew he'd done the bulk of the test flights for North American.

Armstrong stopped in his tracks, looked over at my nineteen year old self and said, “Son, how the hell do you know that the Hun flies stiff?”

“My Dad sir,” I said truthfully, “He evaluated them for the R.C.A.F.”. As I made that statement I pointed to my Dad, who was standing just beside me and in as close to a state of shock as I'd ever seen him.

To make a long story short(er) my Dad and Neil fucking Armstrong then started speaking fighter pilot to each other. It was an exchange I could barely follow, but five minutes later I thought my Dad`s smile would split his face in two. We also had Armstrong's signature on my Dad's copy of Moonshot (extra cool since Armstrong had no vested interest in the book, his own having hit shelves a few years before). As near as I can tell, since Armstrong had stopped giving autographs years earlier, we have one of the latest signatures of his on record. Putting that sucker on Ebay is a temptation but its far cooler to keep it in addition to the sentimental value.

From that day on my dad stopped giving me crap about becoming an engineer, or a teacher, and actually started believing that being a writer was what I was meant to do. However I am sure to this day that from then on he also equated the word 'writer' with 'con-artist', but I could and can live with that.

It was a damn good day.

Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Jim Lovell

Dragon Prince

2012-08-25T23:37:00.000-07:00

In the early 1990's, having focused my reading on the sci-fi and fantasy genres, I started voraciously reading every author I could get my hands on. Being a speed reader and living in an area with limited availability of genre novels meant I couldn't always afford to be picky in my choices. Often enough this led to me reading the most dreadful leaden prose to ever be sandwiched into a book cover. Sometimes though I struck gold where I didn't expect to find it.

One such golden discovery came in the form of what looked like, for all intents and purposes, a romance novel. I mean it was in the fantasy section and all, but the cover was straight out of Harlequin: A shirtless and impossibly handsome man stood holding a sword in one hand and a barely clad equally attractive woman in the other while dragons fought in the background.

This didn't seem to be promising stuff.

The back cover didn't help the cause either. It further reinforced the romance novel feel of the whole thing, while also making it clear that there was an element of writerly idiosyncrasy to the work that I knew I was just gonna hate. The author, Melanie Rawn, seemed to have eschewed the use of the word 'king' and instead replaced it with 'prince'. As in the countries were ruled by princes, and the were all ruled by a 'High Prince'. I generally hate it when writers do that, replacing a word with something else seemingly for little reason but always cloaked with some vaguely artistic sounding rationale.

But here's the thing.

I kept coming back to that damn book. Little by little I read it while it sat on the shelf in the bookstore, until one day I realized I'd read almost a quarter of the book. At that point I figured I owed it to the store to finally buy the thing, so I did. By the time my parents came to get me from the mall an hour later my legs were numb from sitting on the horrible 70's issue wood and plastic bench in the mall because the book had sucked me in completely. As further proof of that it's worth noting that I finished it the next day and went back and bought the rest of the trilogy, all comparisons to a romance novel now forgotten.

Over the next twenty years I would read the three books of this trilogy over and over again. While this is not uncommon for me to do with books I like, it's only the very best of authors (McCaffrey, Butcher, May among them) that can recapture that same kind of feeling, that magic really, of the first read through. Rawn is in this company. In my most recent re-read I was actually surprised by how much emotion the books still evoke. I mean it's not like I don't know where the betrayals and moments of tragedy are, but they still hurt to read. Similarly the triumphs of all kinds still bring me joy, and the moments of humour still bring a smile and even the odd outright laugh.

That's all kinds of rare. Here's a look at what makes the series work so well for me.

Worldbuilding

In terms of strictest geography Rawn keeps it nice and simple. One continent, vaguely Australia shaped, divided into Princedoms each mostly having a dominant geographic feature. Hell, often enough the name of the place tells you everything you need to know about that feature (i.e. The Desert, Meadowlord, etc.).

-digression-

It's at this point where I should discuss something I thought I'd find annoying, and that is the use of 'Prince' rather than 'King'. Turns out after a very short period of time you just don't notice. Princes, Princedoms, and the High Prince are all terms she uses rather than the higher form of royalty and they seamlessly translate, something I didn't expect to happen at first.

-end-

If Rawn makes the geography simple she makes the geopolitics anything but. While each princedom is theoretically politically autonomous, in reality they are all ruled by the High Prince, Roelstra, seated in Princemarch. The nations he doesn't outright control he alternatively bullies, manipulates, or makes war against. In lone opposition stands The Desert, the only nation rich enough and militarily strong enough to resist him outright. Ruled by Zehava, a warrior of great renown, at the start of the series, Roelstra soon destabilizes the Desert to try and take by guile what he couldn't by main force.

The main ally the Desert has is not a nation per se, but rather a class of people known colloquially as Sunrunners and properly as faradh'im. The Sunrunners are the magic users of this series and function as spiritual leaders (of sorts), physicians, judges, arbiters, and the primary means of communication over large distances. Ruled by Lady Andrade they are technically sworn to neutrality in all disputes between Princedoms. Andrade, however, sees Roesltra for the evil danger that he is and opposes him as openly as she dares. Connected to the Desert by marriage it is her machinations over the course of decades that bring about the central conflicts and plots of the series.

The Sunrunners, even without their magic, make for a fascinating class of people. They occupy a niche in Rawn's society not unlike McCaffrey's Harpers of Pern and this puts them front and centre for all the important events of the series. Of course they do possess magic and it's one of the more interesting magical systems I've come across

The Magic

The Sunrunners magic derives primarily from control and generation of, and interaction with, light and fire. The first thing most learn how to do is “call” fire, essentially set things on fire with their mind. They can generate fire out of nothing, though if there's no fuel to continue it then it drains their own power to keep it lit.

They get their common usage name from the fact that they can use sunlight to essentially astral project themselves out of body. While 'sunrunning' they can observe the land below, making them invaluable sources of information. They can communicate with other Sunrunners while doing this allowing news and information to be instantly transmitted over long distances. The technique is dangerous however. If the sun sets on their body, or their connection to the sunlight is otherwise severed (clouds, etc.), then they become 'shadowlost', bodies without minds to direct them. If their technique is poor, the sunlight threaded too thin, or a host of other issues occur then something similar will occur. Moonlight can be used for this as well, but it's weaker than sunlight and thus far harder to use safely.

Sunrunners can also use light to cast illusions, the quality of which being largely dependant on the power and imagination of the person casting them. They have limited control over the other elements as well, primarily air though earth and water factor in as well. True Sunrunners however cannot cross water by swimming or even in a boat without becoming violently ill.

In past centuries there were far more elaborate things that Sunrunners could do with their power. Some skills were lost, other deliberately forgotten, but many are rediscovered over the course of the series. It makes Sunrunner magic more in line with more 'traditional' magical systems (i.e. spells and elaborate rituals), but still from the perspective of light, fire, and the elements being the drivers.

What really makes the magic system work is the level of thought Rawn put into it. It is logical, beautiful, and she describes it infinitely better than I am doing here. The level of joy the Sunrunners feel using her gifts is imparted almost seamlessly to us the readers and the beauty that they see in the colors of the world around them is clear and enviable. Frankly the way she manages to make readers imagine what this all must be like added up to “being a Sunrunner” replacing “being Batman” as my favorite teenage fantasy occupation.

But what would awesome good magicians and princes be without someone equally bad to oppose them?

The Bad Guys

Almost right from the get go the High Prince Roelstra is set up as the big bad of the first book. He is a classic villain without crossing the line into parody. Rich, powerful, charming, and thoroughly amoral he is an easy target to hate. The impressive thing is that, as loathesome as she makes Roelstra (very), she also makes you see how his personal charm could seduce women and lesser princes alike. He is not a multi-dimensional villain, and there is no point at which you feel sympathy for him, but he'd be far less effective if either of those occurred.

Later in the series assorted offspring and descendants of his take centre stage as villains. If they aren't individually as beautifully evil and terrifying as he they have the advantage of some significant help. Starting with the second book in the series a long though extinct counterpart to the Sunrunners begins to reappear. Armed with virtually identical talents the Sorcerers have hidden from sight for centuries after having been hunted to near extinction. The Sunrunners of old had hunted them mercilessly as the Sorcerers possessed two advantages over their rivals that could have let them win out. First they didn't get ill crossing water, letting them take to ship and travel more freely. Secondly, whereas Sunrunners carried their powers on a recessive gene, Sorcerers carried them on a dominant gene. Meaning it only required one Sorcerer parent to ensure a Sorcerer child, whereas Sunrunners needed to mate with other Sunrunners to ensure the same.

Rawn takes this setup and wrings twist after twist out of it, deepening and expanding the basic premise at all turns. Initially a very clear black and white, good guys vs. bad kinda deal, she makes it infinitely more real by introducing shades of grey, politics, and true human nature into the Sunrunner/Sorcerer battle. By the end of the series there are good guys and bad on all sides and what we're left with as readers is a hell of a satisfying read.

Of course, all this having been said, here's the real secret to the success of the book: They actually are romance novels.

Yup, It's a Romance Novel (aka The Good Guys)

Now when I say this I do NOT mean that this is published by Harlequinn and is found in the romance section. This series is fantasy, and damned worthy fantasy at that. It's just that, maybe more than any other fiction that I can think of, it revolves around romance and love to a huge extent. Let's look at some of the characters.

Rohan, the new Prince of the Desert at the start of the series, is our lead hero. He is blond, beautiful, dashing, and maybe the smartest man in this world. He is committed to justice, peace, and the rule of law, all things that are almost foreign concepts in this neo-medieval world. His intended romantic interest, as arranged by his aunt Andrade (ruler of the Sunrunners), is a high-born faradh'im named Sioned. As smart as Rohan, possibly more cunning, and a stunning redhead to boot, she is also possibly the most powerful faradh'i alive. What makes these two characters really come alive however are two things. First are their flaws. As perfect as they both seem on description, each makes catastrophic errors, personal and political, that are as understandable as they are devastating. This serves to move the plot forward, takes our paragons from godly down to merely human, and of course keeps us reading.

What really makes us, the readers, love the characters though is how much they love each other. Not gonna lie, the love story between these two gets me every time. Seemingly pre-ordained by magic and prophecy, our two leads nonetheless have to find their way to each other in a fashion as believable as it is memorable. When they emerge as a tried and tested couple they become one of the strongest such duos in modern fantasy.

It's even more impressive that theirs isn't the only memorable love affair in the series. The marriage between Rohan's sister Tobin and his chief vassal Chay is nearly as memorable, yet of a completely different nature. Actually pretty much throughout the series love sort of reigns supreme as a great driving (and dividing force), and is always written extremely well. This is true of even minor characters and seemingly throwaway scenes. Rawn clearly understands a great truth about romance novels; there's a reason why they sell. If we aren't all in a world class romance, we all want to be. It's kind of a universal constant, and if a book is written well enough to evoke a response to that constant, it's gonna do extremely well. When you add in her superior writing, worldbuilding, and plotting, no one who reads this is gonna emerge without their heartstrings being thoroughly plucked and letting that propel them on one hell of a literary ride.

The last I'll say about the characters is that Rawn does a very good job at letting them age and evolve. The three books of the first series take place over the course of about thirty years, a relatively unusually long time frame. We follow our lead characters from early adulthood into late middle age. Some characters we follow from children into adulthood. We also get to see the changes wrought by thirty years of political change in a volatile world. These do not seem rushed, all the characters get appropriate screen time (so to speak), and if any shortcuts are taken to move the story along at this pace they do not seem to detract from it at all.

Yeah, this series is all kinds of great.

Wrapping It Up (Finally)

Look, in case you couldn't tell, I just love the hell out of this series. It's one of the best love stories I've come across, it doesn't short the reader on action, it has one of the best developed worlds, and the magic system is first rate. I'm really trying to come up with a flaw worth mentioning and I'm coming up short big time.

A few things are worth pointing out here. First, 'Dragon Prince' is only the first of two trilogies set in this world. The second trilogy, 'Dragon Star', is worthy of its own entry (which it will get in due course). The other thing to mention is that Rawn has a second (unrelated) high fantasy series on bookshelves ('Exiles'), but I cannot in good conscience recommend picking it up. Although the first two books are as good as anything in her Sunrunner series, the third book is not yet in print. Not unusual maybe, but frankly we fans have been waiting for it since 1997. Yup. Fifteen years, no book. Rawn had some medical issues and personal problems that prevented her from writing it but...c'mon! Fifteen years!

Read 'Dragon Prince', read 'Dragon Star', and don't read 'Exiles' unless you wanna join me in this decades long wait of futility.

Dragon Prince 5/5

The Star Scroll 5/5

Sunrunner's Fire 5/5

Read these books damnit!

- George Lister

You can follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

Star Trek: The Novels

2012-08-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

I seem to be on a bit of a Star Trek related bender this week. Seeing Star Trek: TNG restored and presented on the big screen, followed by a big screen showing of The Wrath of Khan, will to that to a man. To me though, with a handful of exceptions, the best of Trek was found not on screens big or small, but in book form (at least for the original series anyhow).

In the mid eighties I was a tween with a problem. I was about as hardcore a geek for Star Trek as you could possibly be, but I was living in a time and place where the episodes aired occasionally at best, only the movies were available on video, and TNG had yet to air. My addiction demanded that I find a way to feed it and so I turned to the novelizations.

Already by this point there had been several generations of Trek novels by at least three different publishers. The ones that hooked me, and the ones still being published today, were under license to Pocket Books. After devouring a half dozen or so of them in a row one summer I went to visit relatives in a city with decent cable television. In this mecca of civilization I discovered that Star Trek aired all the damn time. Over the objections of assorted parents and authority figures I announced I was dedicating between 3:00 and 5:00 PM every afternoon to watching television, eschewing such things as museums, culture, and exercise in favor of syndicated Trek re-runs. There was much worry and headshaking over this stand I'd taken.

Turned out, to my surprise, there was no need to worry. By comparison to the books, the original Star Trek just sucked! I mean it was just freaking terrible! I was a shattered young lad let me tell you. After a short few days I was back on board with the family activities plan. I was so disappointed that I even stopped reading Trek for awhile. Eventually I sort of pieced together what had happened. Most of the Trek I'd watched had been the movies, principally Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home, which are kinda highlights. Also, of the tv episodes I'd seen, most had been from the odd “best of” marathons run by one of my local tv stations, so they were kinda cherry picked. I further figured out that the episodes I'd seen on my trip had been from the much and rightly maligned season three featuring such gems as “Spock's Brain”. But there was still one more underlying truth.

The books are generally better than either the tv show or the movies.

This is considered hardcore blasphemy in the overt world of Trek fandom, but away from the prying eyes of people who have paid a fortune to have a Captain's uniform custom tailored in size 2XXXXL, most who have read the books would agree. See in the books it's easy to forget how bad the special effects were, how cheesy the sets, how dated some of the technology seems. In the books there's no bad acting and generally the characters are given far better lines and stories. Spock is logical with a wisdom and the barest hints of a human sense of humor. McCoy is mercurial, abrasive, and the most competent and caring doctor around. And Kirk? Kirk is the absolute shit. Kirk is, in most of the books, the way he is in Wrath of Khan (which is to say deservedly cocky, funny, brilliant, and awesome with real depth to his character). In fact, this is Kirk in the books but with no trace of sarcasm or irony:

And the damndest thing is that, in the books at least, he really is that awesome.

Over the thirty years or so that Pocket Books have held the license to all things Trek there have literally been hundreds of books printed about the original series (TOS) alone. I'm not going to claim to have read all of them, and I'm sure not going to try and review them all, but I have read more than my fair share. Here's what I consider to be the very best of lot, presented in roughly the order I first read them.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (Vonda M. McIntyre): This is the first Trek book I can recall reading. It was also my first experience with book Trek being better than film Trek. I actually read it before I got to see the movie. When I did see it I was baffled by how much had been left out and, frankly, how bad it was. Let's all agree that this was one of the bad movies, but having said that I would strongly encourage you to go read the book. What got short shrift in the movie is fully explained in the book. In particular it really fleshes out the effect carrying Spock's katra had on McCoy, the David/Saavik relationship, Scotty dealing with the loss of his nephew, and turns the theft of the Enterprise into something more than just comic relief. Where the book really shows up the movie is in how it treats the dramatic moments, of which there are many. I mean Kirk's son dies, Spock comes back to life, and the freaking Enterprise blows to bits. The problem in the movie is that it almost completely fails to evoke any sort of emotion from these events, but the book? Even in doing a cursory re-read for this review it managed to stir some pretty strong feelings from me.

My Enemy, My Ally (Diane Duane): When I said that the books make Kirk out to be awesome, this is the one that jumps to mind as the primary example. When ships carrying Vulcan's start disappearing near the Romulan Neutral Zone, Kirk and the Enterprise investigate. A ship carrying a Romulan commander and former adversary of his appears, but instead of a fight she offers to help. Kirk has to evaluate her trustworthiness, decide whether to risk plunging the Federation into war, and generally save the day. The book not only shows Kirk in the best possible way, but really uses the Kirk-Spock-McCoy dynamic in a way that only the very best of the tv episodes managed to. Gripping, original, and with a few nice twists that keep the tension high, this is a highly recommended read.

The Vulcan Academy Murders (Jean Lorrah): This book is a bit of an oddball. It's partly an extension of the 'Amok Time' episode in that it deals with Vulcan and explores more of that world and it's people. It's also a bit of a medical thriller, not at all dissimilar to something by Robin Cook, with Spock's mother as one of the victims. It is lastly a murder mystery, and it is from that perspective that the flaws in Vulcan society (and you knew there had to be some), are shown for the first time. There's no space combat, the Enterprise meekly hovers in orbit around Vulcan, but ends up being one of the most tense and dramatic of all the books.

The IDIC Epidemic (Jean Lorrah): A direct sequel to The Vulcan Academy Murders (although they can both be read and enjoyed as standalones), it is just as much of a departure from the norm albeit in a totally different way. There is again a medical mystery that pushes the plot forward, and some of the same supporting characters return, but it's just a different kid of tale. For one thing a large percentage of the plot revolves around a Klingon. The action takes place mostly on the science colony of Nisus which was built on the Vulcan ideal of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination). As such there are Klingons, Romulans, Orions, and assorted other races working alongside Federation citizens. This leads to an environment unique in the Trek universe and Lorrah explores it deftly. As the medical crisis tears at the very ideal that brought the colony together, disasters both natural and manmade add other levels of threat that really keep the book moving. Also by making a Klingon not only a POV character, but a sympathetic one, she broke some new ground before even TNG and Worf. Again, just a fantastic book.

Dreadnought! & Battlestations! (both by Diane Carey): This is another two book set by the same author, but as opposed to the Jean Lorrah books, they really can't be read independent of each other and should be considered as two halves of the same work. These books struck me as odd when I first read them and remain downright baffling to this day, mostly because they shatter the biggest rule in all of Trek writing. And by a rule, I mean an actual rule of Paramount and Pocket Books. If you want to write for Trek, even if it's just to submit a short story to their annual collection, one of the rules you must abide by is this: No 'Mary Sue' stories. A 'Mary Sue' story is one in which a previously unheard of character saves the day while stealing the thunder from the established Trek cast. In the most egregious form 'Mary Sue' tends to be a thinly disguised version of the author making the story the very worst kind of fanfiction.

These two books are 'Mary Sue' stories.

They centre around Lt. Piper, a recent Starfleet Academy grad. By forcing the computer to crash during her 'Kobayashi Maru' test, she doesn't beat the no-win scenario but becomes by default only the second person to not record a loss. This brings her to the attention of Captain Kirk who has her posted to the Enterprise. She is eventually recruited for an assignment with deep political repercussions that no established crew member could be affiliated with (the internal justification for allowing a 'Mary Sue' story). The two book arc ends up becoming part spy thriller, part outer space shoot em up, and part character story. It also ends up shining a lot of light on how Kirk and his crew are seen by the rank and file of Starfleet, something that couldn't have been done without a 'Mary Sue' in the lead role.

And just so we're clear, given that Carey based the character of Lt. Piper on herself, it well and truly is a 'Mary Sue' story. It's also a great two book read that shouldn't be missed.

Final Frontier (Diane Carey): Another work by Carey, this isn't the novelization of the movie of the same name. This book, which came years before, is another oddball of a Trek novel given that while it features the Enterprise, and a Starfleet officer named Kirk, shares little else with the other books. It's the story of the first voyage of the Enterprise under her original Captain Robert April and his (very) reluctant first officer, George Samuel Kirk, the more familiar Kirk's father. When a colony ship loses it's way and gets trapped in an ion storm April is given permission to draft an emergency crew and mount a rescue with the still prototype Constitution class starship. Needless to say things go awry and the crew has to deal with not just an untested ship, but Romulans, a saboteur, and a first officer who not only doesn't want to be there but doesn't think he deserves to be.

Although none of the Trek books are considered to be 'canon' (i.e. official in the eyes of Paramount), I sorta wish this one was. If it were George Kirk would be responsible for making the Romulans into one of the most enduring threats in all of Trek. I can't spoil it any more than that, but of all the Trek books this is the one I have re-read the most often, something indicative of a certain level of quality. For all that none of the characters are immediately familiar to the reader, Carey quickly makes them all come to life. It sheds light, albeit non-canonical, on the early days of Starfleet, explores the roots of the Romulan conflict, and just tells a hell of a story.

So there's a start on some great Trek based reading. One last note I'll make is that while TOS books tend to be far better than the TOS show, the exact reverse holds true for The Next Generation. Almost as a rule those books should be avoided and, frankly, some shouldn't even be touched with your bare hands. But as far as these books go (and TOS in general)? Read these books damnit!

Star Trek Revisited

2012-08-09T20:44:00.001-07:00

Over the last few weeks I've had the chance to see some classic Star Trek in ways I'd never seen before. First I got to see two of the newly restored and HD upconverted episodes of season one of Star Trek: The Next Generation presented on the big screen. I had heard that this process was underway, and apparently had resulted in a really extraordinary looking product, but finding out I could sample it on the big screen was a pleasant surprise and I bought tickets on the spot.

When the night came I found that I was almost unreasonably excited. I mean it's not like I haven't seen every single bloody episode of that show more than once. I also knew full well that season one was far and away the weakest season, trapped as it was by Roddenberry's dictates, fan expectations, and the simple fact of trying to find their footing and identity. It mattered not. It was still Star Trek: TNG and I was getting to see it in HD on a giant size movie screen.

I wasn't alone in my excitement either. I figured getting to the theatre half an hour early was overkill, turns out that was barely early enough to get decent seats. By the time the lights went down the theatre was filled to capacity and there was the kind of buzz in the air reserved for select blockbusters on opening night. Then it began.

In addition to the two restored episodes (“Where No One Has Gone Before” and “Datalore”), we were treated to some behind the scenes featurettes both about the show as a whole and the remastering process in particular. This might seem like dry material but it was facisnating on a bunch of levels to me and presented in a very entertaining way. There was also plenty of behind the scenes type stuff that I'd never ever heard of, which is frankly saying something.

When the first episode started up I was more than ready to see what all this talk added up to. Having heard the advance reviews raving about how good the restoration was I was expecting to be impressed, but in the end I was still surprised as all hell.

Folks this looks fantastic and sounds even better. Every inch of film has been scrubbed clean, digitized, and upgraded. All the effects shots, which were mostly shot on low resolution video, have been redone with the latest CGI. Every single sound effect has either been re-recorded or remastered, and all of it converted to the latest 7.1 standard. Basically, with the exception of some unfortunate costuming choices, this looks as good or better than anything done from scratch with all the latest toys.

Of course the episodes still kinda suck.

Don't get me wrong, I'm one of the biggest fans of TNG you're ever gonna find, but season one was a freaking mess. Roddenberry was too dictatorial, and frankly too old fashioned. The actors felt trapped, the writers (who quit in droves) felt trapped, and about the only people having any fun were the special effects crews.

The two episodes presented, while important as heck to the later continuity, are better examples of what was wrong with season one than what was right. No one seemed to have a handle on their characters yet for one thing, Picard acting like a dictatorial and careless twit, Riker being a master of the eyeroll while performing no useful skill, and everyone else just kinda hanging out hoping the spandex didn't look too unflattering.

No one perhaps gets more screwed by this than poor Wesley Crusher and by extension Wil Wheaton, his actor. For years I've been confused by the level of irritation and occasional hatred that exists towards Wesley in the Trek community, given that he was one of my favorite characters on the show. I thought maybe I had just extra fond memories of Wesley since he was fairly close to my age, but in rewatching the show often as an adult that bias should have gone away and still he remained a favorite. I realized, however, that I had mostly been rewatching the later seasons and hadn't really seen season one in a very long time.

I kinda get it now.

As presented in season one Wesley is annoying as hell. Whats worse is that all the other characters, including his own mother, seem to think so too. It's no wonder people hated the poor kid, the show was damn near telling them to!

I'm just glad that TNG was given a second season, and really glad it got a third (and more). From season three on this is the very best that sci-fi has to offer, and I cannot wait to see the restoration of those later episodes. For now I will buy this set and would encourage any fans to do the same. The potential in the stories is there, it's a great glimpse into the past of our beloved show, and you will be blown away by how good they look and sound.

As a final note on this experience let me share that the whole theatre erupted into applause when the shows finished and the lights came back on. Season one might not be the best but it was the start of something that turned out to not just be great entertainment, but truly meaningful to a lot of people.

Star Trek: The Next Generation HD Remaster

Picture and Sound: 5/5

Everything Else: 3/5

Bonus Quick Review:

The week after I saw the TNG episodes I was back at the same theatre, this time to see Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan on the big screen for the first time in thirty years. I saw it theatres with my dad as a very impressionable seven year old going to one of his first “adult” movies. It left me blown away, transfixed by the idea of space travel and sci-fi, and scared almost to the point of urination (by the ear-brain slug things). Seeing it again in that medium as an adult was maybe less earth-shaking, but it was still awesome. Restored and remastered it is a gorgeous film to watch. The version we saw is the same as I have on blu-ray, but seeing it on a sixty foot screen again made it something special. Again it was a packed house, and again there were cheers throughout.

Despite how much I loved the J.J. Abrams reboot, Wrath of Khan remains my favorite of all Trek films, and this experience just reseated that firmly in my mind. It has not just the best action, but the most meaningful action. The performaces by the actors involved are universally outstanding, not something that can always be said for Trek. The actors and their characters both are perfectly positioned here in that they are seasoned, but not over the hill, serious without being too serious, funny without having devolved into self-parody.

And you gotta love the Shat.

This movie was Shatner's finest hour as an actor, the movie that proves that even within the confines of a character he sometimes hated, he could deliever a riveting performance. He conveyed Kirk's joy so well, the joy of being in command of starship once more, of being able to pit himself against the odds and win, of being able to defy the no-win scenario. He also showed us Kirk's rage, his true and deep grief, and his ability, in the end, to accept and face death.

It was, is, and likely always will be, the very best of Trek.

Discount Armageddon

2012-08-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

There's just something about Seanan McGuire. Her debut novel, Rosemary and Rue, was one of the first books I reviewed for this blog. Her YA horror/adventure book, Feed (written as Mira Grant), was the first book I reviewed after a self imposed hiatus of lazyness. Now here I am again, back once more after a much shorter break, and I find myself writing about another book of hers. First a preamble.

I was really hesitant to read this book. In fact I was almost expecting not to like it.

Based on how much I enjoyed the October Daye books (of which Rosemary and Rue is the first), and the Newsflesh trilogy (starts with Feed), I really should have had more faith that her latest series was gonna be good. I mean it's the same author who, through eight books or so has yet to let me down, and in fact has become a favorite of mine.

It's just that, well, here's a quote from the back cover about the book's protagonist:

“Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance.”

I believe I can be forgiven for having doubts.

The full story goes something like this. Verity Price is a twenty-two year old member of a family who not only know that the world is full of cryptids (read, monsters), but who help protect them, study them, and if needs be, kill them. Having broken away from the Covenant of St. George, a still extant and powerful group dedicated to exterminating cryptids, the family stays deep undercover. This is an issue for Verity whose dream is to be a professional tango dancer. She balances both sides by patrolling New York for her family while competing under a false name in tango tournaments. When an agent of the Covenant appears at the same time as cryptids start to go missing Verity is forced to set aside her dancing shoes and take up the family business.

Ok, that still doesn't sound any better but y'know what? She pulls it off.

This is clearly a book that needed just the right touch. It's so damn goofy a premise that it could far too easily be played for Adam-West-as-Batman camp or, probably worse, be written deadly serious in an attempt at some weird artistic juxtaposition. Instead what McGuire does is veer rather wildly between those two extremes until the strangest goddamn balance is achieved. Along the way she shows more of the humour that helped lighten the (much) darker tone of her other books, really showing just how funny and deft with a quip she can be. By way of example: “A lifetime of self-defense training had taught me how to kick a man in the throat. Ballroom dancing had taught me how to do it in heels.”

The assorted cryptids are, for the most part, one of the book's successes. Some, like the Sasquatch from whom she sublets her apartment, are referenced but not seen (though there is a great throwaway gag about her laughing her way through the wikipedia entry on her kind). Others, including dragon princesses, gorgons, and boogeymen, make up a large part of the book's supporting characters and tangential villains.

And then there are the mice.

Verity has inherited a splinter branch of her family's colony of Aeslin mice. These are near human level intelligence mice who not only speak, but have elaborate and ever evolving religious customs based on their environment and the humans who protect them. Examples include the feast of “I swear Daddy I'm Just Gonna Kiss the Next Man Who Walks Through That Door”, and the ritual of “Grandma's Going To Wash Your Mouth Out With Soap”. These are usually celebrated with cake and cheese.

They don't show up often, and they play no concrete role in the plot, but damn if the mice don't kinda make the book for me. I suspect I'm not the only one who felt that way as the chapters are divided by tiny icons of mice.

The action scenes for the most part work well, as does the story as a whole. The plot moves along swiftly and Verity is a compelling and likable character, in fact damn near perfect for the POV position she occupies. The cryptids are generally interesting, being a mix of easily identifiable mythological beasts (albeit usually with a twist) and creations pulled seemingly entirely from McGuire's creative mind. McGuire also gives enough details, and amusing stories, about the Price family that you get a feel for Verity's relatives, but withholds enough that you are left wanting to know lots more. That bodes well for future novels.

However, if I'm being honest, the book isn't as compelling as either of her other series. Partly it's because of the lighter tone. While she writes humour well, and introduces credible threats to keep tension high, there's nowhere near the same emotional depth she has previously displayed. This isn't really a flaw, it's just not that kind of book, but it makes for a lighter and maybe ultimately less satisfying thing. There are also a few characters that don't really work perhaps as intended, and one action scene involving an ipod and a sound system that just seems tremendously forced.

The worst flaw is the romance that develops through the book. You see it coming a mile away, the starcrossed lovers tale is a damned old one after all, but that's not the problem. The problem is that, until the very end of the book, the romance is almost wholly unbelievable. Verity's love interest is initially so dislikeable on so many fronts it strains credulity to see what she would find attractive about him. By the end of the book his character has changed and evolved but there's just nothing that explains the initial attraction so it comes off weird and forced. It almost seems like McGuire herself didn't get a handle on him until fairly late in the book.

Really though these are minor quibbles. It might not be a staggering work of dramatic fiction, but Discount Armageddon succeeds as a wonderfully weird light urban fantasy tale. There are prequel short stories available for free on McGuire's website, and a sequel novel is scheduled for spring of 2013, all of which I greatly look forward to reading.

In short Seanan McGuire has done it again. From fae in San Francisco, to a post-apocalyptic zombie future, and now a tango dancing cryptozoologist, she has entertained me with every book I've read to date. I hereby formally suspend any future disbelief in her choice of subject matter to write and will, instead, just shut up and read.

In other words, just read this book damnit.

4/5

- George Lister

You can follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

The Belgariad

2012-07-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

This week I'm reviewing a series that should be very familiar to fantasy readers anywhere around my age. In the years before Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin reinvented fantasy there was no bigger name in the field than David Eddings. He seemingly burst from nowhere in the early 1980's with a five book epic saga called 'The Belgariad' that took the publishing world by storm. Along with Piers Anthony, Terry Brooks and the duo of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Eddings made publishers and booksellers realize what a demand there was for fantasy and laid the groundwork for its later mass popularity. Along the way he made a lot of young people into lifelong readers and gave us a ton of entertaining books.

He himself would, and did, classify his books as light entertainment. He found that a great description because it's exactly what he intended them to be. He also may have put more planning into writing light fiction than anyone else I've ever heard of. Eddings wasn't a young man when he wrote 'The Belgariad' and he brought a lifetime of experience in a wide variety of fields. He also brought a Master's degree in medieval literature with a specialization in Chaucer. I've studied enough English lit to know that Chaucer is a pretty good starting point for writing fantasy and Eddings really ran with it.

In later years he essentially wrote a tell all explaining how, from his studies, he basically had the formula for writing engrossing fiction. He went on to brag that if he got you to read a handful of pages he'd have your interest for the duration. He was right on both fronts.

Eddings, who passed away, in 2009, will never be remembered as a particularly inventive writer. In fact he walks dangerously close to cliche a great deal of the time, but somehow, at least in 'The Belgariad', never quite crosses the line. A friend of mine once observed that the difference between writing a cliche and invoking an archetype is wafer thin but the end result is vastly different. Eddings knew his archetypes well, and damn did he ever use them to best effect.

Characters

The lead character of the 'The Belgariad' is Garion. A young boy of about fourteen years or so at the beginning of the series, the story is largely his to carry. As the first book opens he's a lowly scullery (kitchen) boy being raised by his Aunt Pol in the pastoral farmlands of a kingdom called Sendaria. Eddings looked at his options for lead characters according to his formula. It basically came down to two choices, either Lancelot (the stupendous) or Percival (the dumb, or at least naive). He thought that Percival made for a better story thus Garion starts the series illiterate, unconcerned and uneducated about the outside world and not terribly ambitious. He is, however a compelling and likable character because of his good nature, the intelligence he displays once given the chance, and the fact that starting from a blank slate makes him perfect to take the archetypal hero's journey.

As the series progresses it becomes fairly obvious to most older readers where things are headed for Garion. For younger readers, well, not so much and that makes reading it a pure joy for them. Hell, even for older readers Eddings manages to keep a sense of wonder. He does this by keeping Garion himself pretty much completely in the dark about where his life is headed not once, not twice, but three times. That's something you can only do with the Percival archetype so he clearly made the right choice.

Eddings uses another archetype, that of the spoiled princess, to give Garion a foil and a romance all in one package. Ce'Nedra, Imperial princess of all Tolnedra doesn't appear until the second book but very quickly makes her mark. Once she appears thats when the story really gets rolling along. Even as Garion goes from peasant to hero, Ce'Nedra transitions from spoiled princess to a true leader, an atypical twist which is an Eddings signature move to do with archetypes. Ce'Nedra, even in her early and very bratty stage, is shown to be intelligent and strong willed with a lot of charm (even if it's mostly calculated). Eddings further plays with the archetype by having her imply, then explain, what it really means to be a highborn young lady (here's a hint, it kind of sucks for determining your own fate). In a book filled with larger than life warriors, magic wielding sorcerers, and even gods, that a teenaged princess stands out as a favorite is testament to her strength as a character.

Speaking of magic wielding sorcerers there are two that are central to the book, at least on the side of the good guys. The first of these, Belgarath, would seem to be pushing the aforementioned boundary between archetype and cliche. Let's see...cloak, staff, flowing white beard and hair, vast magical powers, it's all there. What saves him, and thus the storyline, is that twist Eddings put on his characters. Rather than being shown as pontificating, calm, and wise, the epitome of a disciple of the gods, Belgarath is more of a roguish badass. He swears, he drinks, he leers at young women, and has both a raging temper and an impish sense of humor. That he is vastly wise and intelligent is clear to the reader, but his personality flies so far away from the Merlin/Gandalf mold that those are hardly the first two characteristics you think of when he's on screen as it were. Eddings leaves the role of overtly wise and regal sorcerer to Polgara, Belgarath's daughter, a role reversal that quite possibly broke new ground. Prior to Eddings most sorceresses and female magic wielders in fantasy tended to be crones, evil, or passive. Polgara was none of those things. Described as a stunning beauty (despite her four thousand years of age), she was also wise, mostly calm, and far from passive. While willing to be subordinate to her father if the situation called for it, she was more than willing and able to take the initiative and lead or fight as needed. Now just from this brief description it should be clear these two magic wielders had very different perspectives on life. That plus the father daughter bond, refined by three thousand years of association, makes their interactions great, frequently funny, and always interesting to read about.

The last character I'll mention with any real detail isn't a sorcerer or even really a warrior. He's a rogue, a thief, and a spy, and possibly my favorite character in the series. By birth he's Prince Kheldar of Drasnia, but everyone calls him Silk. Maybe it's having watched too many James Bond movies as a kid but I gravitate to spy characters, this one in particular. He's not a good looking man, but flirts outrageously with women. He's funny, a natural actor, and counter-authoritarian. It doesn't hurt that he always seems like the wittiest man in any given room and has no particular difficulty killing people with only his bare hands as weapons.

Surrounding this core group are Garion's other protectors and guides, men who will be important to him in various ways along his quest. Each are almost dual archetypes, both standing as their own characters and, often enough, contributing to the worldbuilding by each being representative of his own race.

Worldbuilding

So here's where Eddings cheated a bit. And by 'a bit' I mean a lot. Of course he did so in a truly brilliant fashion that makes me smile with the sheer gall of it. What Eddings disliked about 'Lord of the Rings' was how much time and space Tolkien wasted in setting up Middle Earth. Admittedly it resulted in said realm having a more realistic feel to it than other such creations even to this day, but Eddings figured he could jump start the process. Every single race and region in 'The Belgariad' is lifted at least in part, and often the whole cloth, from well known historical peoples here on Earth. Here's some of the more egregious examples.

Tolnedra: This is the land Ce'Nedra is from. It's the Roman empire right down to the legions and road construction. An exaggeratedly greedy Roman Empire, but the Roman Empire nonetheless.

Chereks: Vikings, through and through. Let's see; seafaring northern kingdom, known for raiding more than trade, chain mail, big swords, bearskins and berserkers. Yup, vikings. Garion's protector Barak is archetypical Cherek/Viking.

Arends: Divided into two warring factions, Mimbrates and Asturians, with the only thing in common between them being a love of melodrama that overwhelms their common sense. Mimbrates are based on the stereotypical romance novel view of knights in shining armor and speak in an exaggerated “high style” (all 'thee's' and 'thou's'), and typified by the character Mandorallan. The Asturians by contrast are middle-Englishmen by way of Robin Hood, right down to the forest poaching and longbows .

There are plenty of other examples but you get the general idea. While, to even a casual reader of literature, this approach seems lazy as hell, it also works. In extremely short order it allows the reader to know rather intimately the world Eddings created (or, really, assembled I suppose). By making main characters stand as examples of their respective archetypical races, same kind of thing. It's a massive shortcut and allowed Eddings to concentrate on telling the story with the barest of essential exposition. For readers unfamiliar with the source races the shortcut still works since, by virtue of having real life examples to draw from, Eddings still paints an extremely vivid picture.

Eddings still wasn't done with the shortcuts though.

The Magic

The decision Eddings seemed to face with the magical system for his books was between the two prevailing schools of thought on the subject. On the one hand was the mysterious magician premise as exemplified by Gandalf in LOTR. According to that way of writing magic the details were never discussed and magic did whatever the writer needed it to for the story. Eddings rightly felt that this contributed to lazy storytelling (in a bad way). At the opposite end of the spectrum was the hyper-detailed, rules laden system that was at the heart of role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and books like Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea. While Eddings appreciated the need for rules he thought that such a system would only encourage the lunatic fringe and take more time to develop than it could possibly be worth.

The solution came from television. At the time Eddings was conceiving of The Belgariad Uri Gellar was making a stir with his claims of having psychic powers. After watching one such performance he decided to base his system for magic on psychic power, or at least the power of the human mind. Ratehr than magic being something that had to be learned through spells and incatations, Eddings made in an innate power of some humans that could be harnessed by their own willpower.

Calling it 'The Will and the Word' it was an extremely simple system but one that allowed for both rules and flexibility. Basically all a sorcerer had to do was imagine the outcome he or she wanted, from shapeshifting to weather control to telepathy, then speak a single word that for them symbolized that outcome. Eddings added a few general rules to keep his characters from suffering Superman syndrome. One of those was taken from physics in that while you can change items and their properties you could neither truly create from nothing, nor could you utterly destroy something. Break something? Sure. Set it on fire? No problem. Blow it up real good? Hell yes. Make it cease to exist? Not just no, but hells no. A sorcerer attempting that finds his power turned inward and dies in fairly horrific fashion.

The other major stipulation Eddings made was that here was a fairly high cost to sorcery. He made it clear that it was almost as hard to do something with your mind as with your body. It was difficult first in terms of the mental discipline needed to hold the exact idea of what you wanted to happen in mind. Second, in terms of endurance, it was an effort of will beyond most humans capability to achieve in addition to being a fantastic drain on the body's energy. Push too hard for too long and you could collapse or even die.

Simple to apply and understand, complex when creativity was applied, and with reasonable limits that provided for good storytelling. In short, from both the perspective of a writer and a reader, the Will and the Word is easily one of the better magical systems in fantasy

The Bad Guys

So, at the end of the day, you can have all the heroes, quests, and magic you want, but unless you have good villains you still don't have a story. Fortunately for The Belgariad there are almost as many villains as heroes, and each brings something to the tale. There are a host of minor villains, ones who pop up for specific purpose and help steer the story. These include Brill, a seemingly minor lackey who turns out to be much more, Queen Salmissra of Nyissa (think Egyptians in a swamp) who brought danger and sexuality all in one package, and Chamdar, another lackey who is far more than he seems.

In fact Chamdar is the character that really get's Garion's journey going. Looking at it from a video game perspective he's one of the first level bosses that Garion needs to defeat. Actually, for a series written in the early eighties, the whole thing has a bit of a video gamey level boss/big boss progression going on. Each villain placed in Garion's path is more dangerous than the ones before, with generally more complex characterizations. Of course it's how it culminates that really matters and this series doesn't skimp when it came to the end boss.

Garion's ultimate opponent is a god.

Now this isn't as uncommon an occurrence as you might think, especially within the fantasy genre, but too often when a god is depicted it's a very watered down version. Torak, God of all Angarak, is not watered down. In another example of Edding's classical education asserting itself he is a very old school god in the Greek/Norse sense. He is not kindly, not even to his own people from whom he demands ritual sacrifice. He is not beautiful, having been maimed in antiquity by his own greed. He cannot be reasoned with, bargained with, or supplicated to. He is scary, powerful, and seemingly too overwhelming for Garion to ever defeat. In short? He's a damn fine final villain in a series full of them.

Final Thoughts

This is really the series to judge David Eddings by. If you read his later works, especially The Malloreon (the sequel series to this one), you aren't seeing him at his best. He had one great series in him and this is it. Everything else he wrote afterwards, and I read them all, are simply retreads of this first work. Hell, in the case of The Malloreon, it's almost exactly a re-write of The Belgariad with a slightly different cast and setting (something Eddings both acknowledges in the series itself, and writes a fairly decent excuse for, but even so it's not great).

I'll be honest, even I an unabashed fan of almost all his books, grew pretty tired of re-reading The Belgariad under different names. However, in going back and re-reading The Belgariad recently I remembered just how damned good and enjoyable that first series was. Eddings broke new ground, turned a formal education, an impressive imagination, and a desire to cut corners into one coherent whole that still holds up thirty years after it was first published.

I recently recommended this as an excellent series for YA readers and I stand by that. I think it's an excellent series for just about anybody to read, but given the age of the protagonist and the style of the writing, I think YA readers might enjoy it a little more than older readers. If you are one of those older readers, well, it's still worth a look if you haven't already done so. Eddings is far from perfect, but he is both very good, and very unique.

To sum it all up? Read these books damnit!

George Lister

You can follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

The Amazing Spider-Man

2012-07-07T00:09:00.001-07:00

(another brief movie review)

This is shaping up to be one great summer for comic book geeks. There are tons of top quality books hitting the shelves, some favorite creators are back in top form, and new talent is exploding. There is also plenty of reason to celebrate on the big screen too. Of course there's The Avengers, which was not only a fantastic movie but has become one of the all time biggest box office hits. Furthermore later this summer we get the final instalment of the Nolan/Bale Batman franchise, and early buzz is extremely good.

Occupying a somewhat lesser rank on the summer hierarchy sat The Amazing Spider-Man. Despite being a huge fan of the comics I was profoundly ambivalent about this one. First it just seemed too soon. I mean it was only five years ago that we had the last Raimi/Maguire version hitting theatres, and now a reboot? Of course that movie was pretty freaking terrible, but still. Really what it came down to was just that it seemed too soon to tell an origin story all over again, which it was clear this film did. I was also maybe feeling a little sour grapes. I would have liked to see Raimi and company be allowed to make one more film, without the studio interference that so doomed Spider-Man 3, but Sony tossed the baby out with the bathwater. So with a distinct lack of enthusiasm and a bit of a chip on my shoulder I set out to the movies tonight.

Man I love having my expectations shattered into little sparkly pieces.

Before I get too far into hyperbole let me just say this. The Amazing Spider-Man isn't Avengers good, nor is it on a par with something like The Dark Knight (which is almost a separate category of movie anyhow). It is, however, the best Spiderman movie that we have yet seen. Yup, I said it. This movie beats any of Raimi's hands down, although Spider-Man 2 is probably a better overall movie. It's more nuanced, has a more complete hero's journey, and a more satisfying villain and ending. That being said, let me repeat, this most recent film is the best Spider-Man movie and it gets that ranking from be based purely on how well they translated the whole character from page to screen.

If I'm being honest there was always something that bugged me about the first films, even before the jazz hands evil Peter Parker from number three. What they were missing almost entirely was the sense of humor that Spiderman is supposed to have. I mean in the comics it might be the one trait he's most known for, the wisecracking and sarcasm in the face of danger. It still baffles me that this key characteristic was missing from Raimi's movies, especially considering that he was the writer/director of the quippiest most quotable movie I know, that being Army of Darkness.

This version of Spiderman brings that to the movies for the first time. Sure, he isn't flinging the one-liners like he does in the comics, but it's early in his journey for that anyhow. He drops enough of them however to tell me that these guys, from writing, to directing, to acting, really get this aspect of the character.

Here's how the rest of it breaks down. The action scenes are all on a par with the Raimi films, with a few being quite a bit better. The special effects are outstanding, and the increased usage of physical stunts instead of all the swinging being done by CGI is noticeable in a good way. On the acting front, well, it just has it all over the earlier movies. Andrew Garfield is a much better Peter Parker and Spiderman than Maguire ever was. For one thing, despite being older than Maguire when he first took on the role, Garfield looks like a high school student. Physically he's a much closer match as well with the lanky and wiry physique Spidey is supposed to have. Lastly he just acts the hell out of the part and shows emotions in a way Maguire never successfully did. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy is almost note perfect, played as smart and brave as you could wish. There's also a chemistry between the two that's so real you have no difficulty realizing why they ended up as a real life couple. Having Martin Sheen and Sally Field play Peter's Uncle Ben and Aunt May seemed like overkill to me, being a fan of both actors and their impressive bodies of work. Of course I keep forgetting that sometimes overkill is a good thing, such as in this case. In the small amount of time you can realistically allot to supporting cast it took actors like these to make the story work. Along the same lines Denis Leary damn near steals the movie as Gwen's father, police captain George Stacy.

Are there bad points? Sure there are. Webb occasionally lets the story drag just a tiny bit, and maybe lingers over certain scenes a little too long. The story itself is a little bare at times, and choosing the Lizard as villain was possibly questionable (but since it totally works in context I guess not). The biggest problem this movie has is perception, or basically what kept me expecting so little. I think it affected others more strongly than myself and thus this film is getting more harshly judged than it deserves to be.

So let me wrap this up and be very clear about something. This is not a great movie. This is, however, a very good movie and a freaking fantastic Spider-Man movie. I can honestly say that I will very much be looking forward to where Webb and Garfield go from here and fervently hope I don't have to wait too long.

More reviews coming soon!

-George Lister

follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

On Dungeons and Dragons

2012-06-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend of mine had her first experience playing Dungeons & Dragons. This caused me to reflect on my own experiences playing D&D, something I spent many happy hours doing back in the day. It was my primary social activity for years and brought me in contact with a ridiculously diverse group of people. For all the fun we had, there was also no small amount of drama. Some of it came from assorted parents, usually not our own, who were worried that we were all into devil worship and that the game was seducing us down the dark path to embrace witchcraft as a way of life.

That argument remains as ludicrous today as it was back then. If you want to see it taken to extremes please check this link:

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.ASP

Let's be very clear. D&D does not lead to worshipping Satan. If anything D&D leads to prolonged virginity, which means evangelical Christians should be buying their kids The Dungeon Masters guide instead of Purity Rings. Of the people that I gamed with, both casually and regularly, not a one turned to Satan worship, serial killing, or even wearing Team Voldemort shirts at Harry Potter book releases.

That same group has produced a bestselling author, one of Hollywood's busiest character actors, an acclaimed classical musician, and at least two university professors. The rest of us might not be quite so successful, but to a person we're all at least mildly productive and fairly well adjusted. What we shared in common, then and now, was a desire to be creative and imaginative in a way that D&D enabled and encouraged.

There was another source of drama in our gaming though, this one entirely internal. It should be expected that in any gathering of highly intelligent individuals there is potential for conflict. Throw in pre-teen/teen angst and it's amazing we ever got any gaming done. Here's the story of one of our less successful campaigns by way of example.

In D&D there are basically two types of games, or adventures, you can play. Our group almost always played free form adventures created and directed by the designated Dungeon Master. Every so often though someone would buy a pre-packaged adventure, a module in geek speak, and we'd play that. Possibly the best selling such module was Ravenloft, a vampire and ghost themed adventure. It was immense and would require hours of play to explore each of the highly detailed maps of the titular castle.

We never made it through the front gate.

Our designated Dungeon Master, or DM, for this game was my friend Mike and we were playing at his house, which was our usual D&D venue. Mike as a DM was neither strict with the rules, nor freewheeling. Rather he chose to interpret the rules in the way that amused him most, usually by screwing with his players. Sometimes I found that funny, but more often I was the target. At this point in my life, age thirteen or so, I had very thin skin and anger issues. I was also socially awkward and what has become known as my 'Charlie Brown karma' was already fully in effect.

Here's how all that came together.

There were four of us playing, in addition to Mike as DM. I cannot recall who two of the others were, it has been twenty-four years after all. The fourth I recall distinctly, mostly because traumatic events leave their mark. The fourth was Ken and, as bright as Ken was, lots of times he chose to play dumb. In this particular adventure he was playing a barbarian with an intelligence of 8 (not high), which was sadly kinda perfect for him. Inevitably I was playing a magic-user, which was fun in theory but in practice made me mostly useless in the game (magic-users of low rank having few spells and almost zero combat ability).

We began the adventure by walking through the woods that led to Ravenloft castle. Before we got too far we were attacked by a pack of wolves. I knew I needed to save my spells so I drew my dagger and relied on the rest of my party. Mike, however, made sure there were more than enough wolves to go around and that forced me to try and attack. Just to hit the wolf I, as a combat incompetent mage, needed to roll something like a fifteen or higher on a 20-sided die. The odds weren't in my favour, but then that Charlie Brown karma kicked in...

I rolled a one.

In D&D that's called a critical miss and is a Very Bad Thing. How bad depends entirely on the whim and will of the DM. The penalty, typically, was to lose your next turn. Mike, however, decided to consult a chart he'd found in a recent edition of Dragon Magazine (ah, Dragon Magazine) and selected my penalty from it.

“You slip on a banana peel and fall on your butt in front of the wolf,” he said.

“What?” I exploded. “We're in a medieval forest, where the hell is a banana peel gonna come from?”

“Hey man, it's on the chart.”

“Fine,” I said and subsided. How bad could this be after all?

So the wolf did a small amount of damage to me, and had me pinned with his paws on my shoulders. When our turn to attack came around I was helpless, but Ken wasn't. His barbarian had dispatched a wolf with a single swipe of his mighty two-handed sword. In case you aren't familiar this is a weapon with a blade about five feet long. Five freaking feet.

“I'm gonna stab the wolf on top of George in the back,” Ken said.

“No!” I blurted.

“George, you can't see him, all you can see is the wolf,” Mike said, a hint of a grin on his face. He knew where this was going. I tried to protest because so did I, but it was no use. All I could do was silently pray that Ken missed.

Instead he rolled a twenty.

That's called a critical hit. Ordinarily this is a Very Good Thing. Not so much when your character is lying directly underneath a wolf that has just been impaled by a five foot long piece of sharpened steel. Mike immediately ruled that the blade had, in fact impaled me as well. Since it was a critical hit, maximum damage applied and, as I was already wounded, this killed me.

We'd been playing for five minutes.

I exploded, I raged, and eventually stormed out of Mike's house never to return. Well, not so much actually as I went back, tail between my legs, the very next day. Mike happened to be my best friend at the time, as antagonistic as we occasionally were, and God knows I wasn't swamped for social options back then.

We never did finish Ravenloft, but went on to play many other much more successful campaigns. I like to think that D&D gave Mike and I both our first chance to be storytellers. Given that he is now an acclaimed fiction writer, as I still aspire to be myself, we will always be thankful for it. I haven't played a game in years but, even now at age 36, I'd be willing to pick up the dice again.

Just not Ravenloft.

- George Lister
Follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

Good Book, Bad Movie

2012-06-16T21:38:00.001-07:00

There's a curious thing that happens to booklovers when we find out one of our favorites is getting the big screen treatment. It starts with a surge of excitement that almost immediately gives way to dread, and we take to the internet en masse. As the months go by we seek out news on the project, commiserating with others of our kind, and sharing the now equal levels of hope and fear. No matter how poor the advance word is we always all hold out that shred of hope that they will do our beloved book justice. Conversely no matter how good the advance buzz is there's always no small amount of fear that they've screwed it up completely.

Let's face it, that kind of happens a lot.

We've had a good run over the last decade or so mind you. None of the Harry Potter films were bad, some were even brilliant. And 'The Lord of The Rings' was actually vastly improved by it's translation to the big screen. Most recently “Hunger Games', while not universally acclaimed, scored huge dollars at the box office and was generally viewed as an artistic success. Those remain the outliers though as that same time period has seen twice as many terrible genre adaptations.

The question remains though, why are some adaptations such a failure? I mean if the source material is good then it should be easy to translate it into a good movie right? It seems that's not quite the case though, and I suspect various elements of human nature are to blame.

The Dean Koontz Effect

aka not respecting the author

Now say what you will about Dean Koontz but the man knows his craft. He's never going to win a Nobel Prize for literature, but he's not trying to either. What he does, and does very well, is write taut, engaging, and fast moving novels of speculative fiction. I use that term rather than the 'horror' label usually assigned to him because he really writes all over and around the sci-fi/horror/thriller genres.

And that's part of the problem right there.

Dean Koontz's success in the field has forever branded him a horror writer, despite his range being much larger than that. I'm not sure that he really minds, and even if he does frankly he's crying all the way to the bank. Directors and writers in Hollywood are a funny bunch of people though. By that I mean that many of them, not unlike a lot of creative folks, are fundamentally insecure people. Thus when presented with a work based on a novel by a mere 'horror writer' they possibly felt comfortable making changes they might not have otherwise.

Which is kind of a shame on so many levels. Koontz writes some of the most cinematic fiction on the shelves today. I mean it's so easy, while reading one of his books, to see it work as a movie. It took genius to make something like 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' or 'Lord of The Rings' into workable movies. All it would take to make Dean Koontz book into a workable movie is to just change as little as possible and let the story tell itself.

Yet this doesn't happen. Time after time, movie after movie, decade after decade Koontz's work gets butchered worse than any of his characters. The only work of his, so far anyhow, that hasn't suffered this fate is 'Demon Seed', but this actually supports my theory. See the work is far more a sci-fi horror than a traditional one, and Koontz was not yet an established (or pigeonholed) writer when it came out. The producers saw a good work, adapted it suitably to the screen, and basically let it be. Now this is not to say that 'Demon Seed' made a great movie, but it was decent for the time and had some really scary accurate guesses about what computer technology would evolve into.

For an example of the worst Koontz adaptations, well, see everything else (though 'Phantoms' gets my vote for last place). There are certainly other artistic diseases that plague adaptations however, with the next one being particularly irksome.

The Eragon Effect

aka making a quick buck

One of the publishing world's 21^st century great success stories is Christopher Paolini and his 'Inheritance' series, better known by the title of the first book 'Eragon'. Just fifteen years old when he wrote the first book his parents self-published it and sold tens of thousands of copies. This attracted the attention of several major publishers and a bidding war ensued. After Knopf won the rights and reissued it the book went on to sell millions of copies almost overnight and brought Paolini J.K. Rowling levels of attention.

Hoping to capitalize on all the buzz Fox Pictures parked a dumptruck full of money on Paolini's doorstep and he took it. I don't blame him for that, nor for what happened next.

To get the movie done quickly Fox used a series of writing teams. Ultimately from that they cobbled together an adaptation that could be done in the least time for the least money. Just FYI Hollywood this is almost never the way to go since, despite the presence of a decent director, some decent stars, and decent source material, the movie was egregiously bad.

I mean, say what you will about the book; that it's derivative, that it's simple, etc. While those complaints are valid, in point of fact the book is really quite entertaining whereas the movie literally put me to sleep.

If the producers had taken just a little time all this could have been avoided. I mean 'Eragon' isn't 'Lord of the Rings' and was never going to be epic. It had, however, the potential to at least be good. With multiple books in the series this could have been a dependable money maker for close to a decade for Fox. Instead by trying to do it fast and turn a quick buck they lost money not just on that one picture, but from all the others that could have followed.

How bad was the movie? Let me put it this way. I fell asleep for the duration and my wife, possibly the biggest movie fan on Earth, forgot within weeks that we'd gone to see it. Boring and forgettable are probably some of the nicer things that can be said about it too.

Sadly there are many other movies in this category. One such movie was 'Steel' starring Shaquille O'Neill. Based on a comic book character that was possibly the only good thing to come out of the 'Death of Superman' brouhaha of the 90's, 'Steel' was rushed into production to take advantage of Shaq's short window of availability. And it sucked. It sucked worse than almost any other movie has ever sucked. It sucked so much that some theatres that played it disappeared into giant sinkholes.

I exaggerate, but not by much. Sadly such is the fate of far too many comic book characters when they hit the big screen.

The Ang Lee Effect

aka 'auteur' directors piss me off

My wife features in a lot of my movie related stories because a) we watch a lot of movies together and b) she's seen more movies than I ever will. A movie came out fairly early on in our relationship that cost me my rights to pick what movie we saw for almost two years. The movie in question was so bad that even I had to admit I deserved the punishment.

Such was my experience with Ang Lee's 'Hulk', and man did that ever bum me out.

After the then recent success of 'X-Men' and the first 'Spiderman' I thought that Marvel finally had their act together moviewise. Even better it seemed like the studios were finally taking comic book adaptations seriously and giving them not just good budgets, but finding good stars and directors. All the signs early on with 'Hulk' were good. It had a generous budget, a great sounding cast and man was I ever excited about the director.

Ang Lee was considered one of the best and brighest directors at work. Multiply nominated for awards of all descriptions he was also the director of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', which had totally blown my mind a few years back. In fact that movie pretty much made Ang Lee and insanely great choice to direct a superhero flick. Much like the best comic book adaptations that movie used special effects and the idea of people with powers or special skills to tell a meaningful story. So I put on my salesman hat and, with a fervor usually reserved for talking a woman into assorted depraved and immoral acts, I convinced my wife (then girlfriend) to go see 'Hulk'.

I may have already mentioned how poorly that went.

In discussing the movie at length over the years I've come to place the blame squarely on Ang Lee's shoulders. The cast was actually pretty great, and the bare bones of the script had the right idea. But Ang Lee is not just a director, he is an auteur. An auteur, by my biased definition, is someone who cannot leave well enough alone. Lee overcomplicated Bruce Banner, overcomplicated the Hulk, and massively overcomplicated Bruce Banner's father just by having him exist let alone by getting the crazy ass Nick Nolte performance he did. He also gave us a gamma irradiated Hulk poodle.

Sigh.

The Hulk works best as a character when you keep the character simple and get your complexity from the plot. I'm gonna assume everyone reading this has seen 'Avengers', seeing as how the box office results indicate everyone on Earth has seen it at least once. I think we can all agree that the Hulk stole the show, and he didn't do it by having an angsty series of daddy issues. Banner was full of rage, and when he raged he became the Hulk. Hulk was told to smash and Hulk smashed. There was a great and layered story all around that, but they kept Hulk simple and it freaking worked so well I'm smiling as I remember his scenes now a month later.

Still, while it does nothing to mitigate his sins, some of Ang Lee's mistakes are understandable at least. I mean he is a very accomplished director with masses of critical acclaim. I can understand why he would think he knew best while all the while going off the rails, and why the studios would let it happen. What is far less explicable is when proven directors choose to adapt a work and change it so dramatically as to make you wonder why they even bothered.

The John Carpenter Effect

aka why not just write your own work from scratch?

I love almost all of John Carpenter's movies. I mean his remake of 'The Thing' is a classic in it's own right, 'Escape From New York' is one of my all time cheesy action favorites, 'They Live' is a fantastic send-up of 80's excess (with one of the best lines ever), and 'Halloween' is one of the few truly scary slasher films. So I was kinda beyond excited when I heard he was going to write and direct the adaptation of John Steakley's book 'Vampire$'.

Now I might like that book a lot. I might have re-read it more than any other. I might have written a fairly large feature blog post about how much I just love the hell out of that book: http://readthisbookdamnit.blogspot.ca/2012/03/vampire-by-john-steakley.html

So when the movie disastrously, massively, and painfully sucked I was just a little disappointed. Actually I was more than disappointed I was mad as hell. When I left that movie I was ready to do only two things: Kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I was all outta bubblegum.

Of the entire goddamn book, Carpenter kept only part of the opening act and ONE character name. Thats it. He jettisoned the plot, the awesome supporting characters, and the scariest freaking vampires since 'Nosferatu'. If he'd replaced it with something awesome I could at least take solace from that, but sadly that wasn't the case. More objective persons than myself assure me I'm not wrong to call it Carpenter's worst movie which, much as I love his other stuff, is kinda saying something.

Really the warning signs were there early on. Carpenter hadn't made a really good movie in well over a decade at that point for one thing. For another the movie title changed from 'Vampire$' to John Carpenter's Vampires. That kind of naming scheme is almost always a bad sign. So was the inclusion of a Baldwin brother as a new character. Ah hell, I knew it was gonna be a disaster.

At the end of the day I still don't know how or why this happened. I mean if Carpenter wanted to write his own vampire movie he should have just done so. Why pay to adapt a book and then essentially write your own movie overtop of it? The only thing I can come up with is that Carpenter either just couldn't leave well enough alone, and kept changing things for change's sake, or that he had a vampire movie in mind already and just shoehorned it into this adaptation. Either way, massive bummer for fans of the book.

And that about wraps up the bonus review. I will have a regular review up in the next day or two. Apologies folks, but had to get some of that pesky paying work out of the way.

- George Lister

You can follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

Redshirts

2012-06-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

Well this was just a hell of a read. Written by John Scalzi, of Old Man's War and bloggery fame, this could have been an extended parody at best, or a one note joke at worst. Instead it somehow transcends it's origins and becomes something smart, actually touching, and one of the funniest things I may have ever read.

For those not aware of he Star Trek inspired origins of the title allow me to explain. On the original Star Trek tv show the guys wearing red uniforms, or red shirts, were inevitably the ones to die on away missions. This was done to illustrate the danger the main crew were in without actually having to kill any of the main cast. The only problem was that it happened so frequently as to become a running joke and, thus, in sci-fi circles the word 'redshirt' became synonymous with 'cannon fodder'.

Scalzi takes that basic concept and just runs away with it.

Redshirts takes place in the far future aboard the Universal Union flagship Intrepid. The Intrepid has a dashing young-ish captain prone to dramatic monologuing, a half alien first officer that spouts techno-babble, and a vaguely Slavic navigator that, for some reason, goes on a large number of away missions. Furthermore the Intrepid boldly goes into all kinds of situations, but a lot of her low ranking crew never seem to make it back.

Into this familiar (to us) scenario comes Ensign Dahl, a young linguist and biologist. Right from day one he notices that things are more than a little odd aboard ship. The presence of senior staff causes lower ranking crew to scatter, most having established comfortable hiding places and a litany of excuses to be in them. This is especially true if there's any hint of an away mission, the avoidance of which seems to be the prime directive of the crew. When Dahl and his fellow Ensigns start comparing notes they realize things are even more screwed up than they thought. Still they do their best to rationalize events, until that just won't work anymore.

It's at this point in the novel that things get both weird and awesome. The term 'meta' is thrown around way too casually these days, but this novel gets all kinds of meta in the very best way. The turning point comes when Dahl and his friends meet a man who literally has taken to living in the walls of the ship. Part guru, part hermit he introduces them to an idea so crazy that no one can believe it until there's just no other explanation left.

I can't really go into detail here since that would spoil a lot of the fun. Let's just say that once Dahl and company start figuring out the rules, they start figuring out how to put them to use. The novel then becomes a short but beautiful quest by a group of people determined to control their own destinies. Along the way the book examines the nature of loss and identity, introduces the kind of ideas that I might or might not have spent hours arguing about while stoned off my ass, and ultimately strikes a sweetly hopeful note. That it did so while dropping f-bombs with surgical precision and making me laugh my ass off is extra impressive.

Be forewarned that this is a damned short book, only 55000 words or so. That technically makes this a novella I think, but there are three short stories that follow the main text that act as codas to the larger work. One is just crazy funny from start to finish, but drops some interesting concepts in along the way (especially if you've ever tried your hand at writing fiction). Another is possibly one of the best sci-fi examinations of identity that I've read in a very long time that has just a hint of Total Recall about it (in a good way). And the last is just purely romantic, another sweet examination of identity but with love as the core concept.

To wrap things up let me tell you how I came to review this book. I had every intention of reading it, Scalzi being one of my favorite bloggers and the only current sci-fi writer I regularly read. The trick was that I had and have so much other stuff to read that has been sent my way for review. After putting down another completely mediocre work that I couldn't be bothered reviewing I decided to download Redshirts hoping to cleanse my palate.

This was at 2:00 AM by the way.

At 3:30 AM I finally had to bend to the need to sleep, but got up early and raced through my work, just so I could get back and finish the damn book which I did over lunch. It was so bloody good there was no question in my mind it had to be reviewed. I'm an old school Trekkie, having been introduced to the original series by my Dad. I've even played Scotty on stage and performed skits as him for a series of Trek conventions. This was thankfully in the years before YouTube.

My point is that I love the hell out of Trek, but I know it has lots of big flaws. What Scalzi has done here is take those flaws and turn them into a whole new narrative. What you really notice as you read though is that even when he's directly taking a shot at Star Trek, you know he's doing it from the perspective of someone who watched and loved the original series. As my old director from those Star Trek skits was perhaps overfond of saying to me “we kid because we care”, and you can tell Scalzi cares. By allowing his characters to have real story arcs, and by writing them well enough to make us care about them, this is no simple parody. The inclusion of a layered, philosophical, and very meta angle gives this short work depth of though to match the depth of emotion.

Also I nearly laughed my balls off. Seriously. Reading that late at night and struggling not to laugh too loud so my wife, dogs, and cats wouldn't wake up? That almost did me some kind of injury.

This is the book I most want my friends to read just so we can sit around over drinks and talk about it. Which we could. For hours. For a really short book there's a lot worth talking about here. So without further ado, and with the strongest possible emphasis, read this book damnit!

5/5

- George Lister

Follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

Also you owe it to yourself to check out Scalzi's blog. I was actually a reader of his blog for years before I picked up any of his novels. It's easily one of the best written such things in existence and might be the longest continually updated blog in the world. It can be found here: http://whatever.scalzi.com/

Invincible

2012-06-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

Just about everybody has heard of the AMC tv show The Walking Dead. Most people probably even know that it was based on a comic book of the same name. I'm not sure how many people know that The Walking Dead is possibly only the second best comic book that creator Robert Kirkman writes.

Time to meet Invincible.

Mark Grayson is your basic all around typical teenager. No idea what he wants to do in college, spends free time obsessing over girls and playing video games, and works a crappy part time job at a crappy fast food restaurant. Then one night he's taking out that trash at work and instead of throwing the bag into the bin he accidentally throws it into low Earth orbit.

Most people, if that happened to them, would immediately freak right the hell out. Mark, on the other hand, just looks at the bag sailing away and says, “It's about time,”. I guess when your Dad is Earth's greatest superhero and you've been waiting for your powers to kick in since you were seven it's an understandable reaction.

See Mark's Dad Nolan is actually the superhero Omni-Man, a human appearing alien (from the Viltrumite race) with vast strength, super speed, flight, and invulnerability for a list of powers. If he sounds a wee bit familiar it's because he's meant to be. What could be a simple homage or a parody though, Kirkman very quickly turns into something much much more, partly by keeping the focus on Mark instead of his dad. Pretty soon Mark has become the teenage superhero known as Invincible and the story really kicks off. Exploring what it means to be Superman..err, Omni-Man's son occupies the first arc in the comic books and it broke new ground in doing so. In fact that might be the hallmark of this series, that it constantly breaks new ground.

And that just shouldn't be possible.

I mean when you come right down to it this is a thinly veiled version of Superman, published by, truthfully, a second or third tier company (Image), which was written and created by a near newcomer to the comic book business at the time of launch. It should be derivative at best, and based on the bare facts, I'd expect it to be a lot worse than that. Bluntly this should suck in so many ways I'd need a spreadsheet to do the math but instead it's the comic I wait most anxiously for every month.

To put that in perspective I've been reading comics for thirty-three years, since I was four. My parents taught me to read using them and I'm convinced they help turn me into the genuine speedreader I am today. I have not hundreds, not thousands, but tens of thousands of comic books in both physical and digital formats and every month I add dozens more. And after all this time and all those issues this isn't just my current favorite either, it's one of my all time favorites period.

Here's why.

The Plot

Comic books have advanced by leaps and bounds over the early days in terms of plot. Where any old explanation and bit of bad writing would do back in the day, over the decades they've become far more sophisticated and the readers along with them. Basically you can't get away with simple hackery anymore and, thankfully, good writing has become the norm. Even with this general increase in quality Invincible really stands out in terms of plot alone. The two facets of Kirkman's plotting that I can most easily point to are surprise and depth.

Now when I say surprise I'm not talking any deus ex machina surprises out of nowhere kind of crap. The kind of surprises that Kirkman delivers here are often shocking, some gut wrenching, and a few with the power of a good knee to the groin. What they all have in common is that they make sense within the context of the story and hold up when you look at the issues in retrospect. What I mean by that is that for the most part after a big surprise “twist” you can re-read older issues and notice little things in the story that in no way gave away the upcoming surprise, but you see the extra layers of meaning afterwards. I really wish I could give you concrete examples but honestly they are simply too good to spoil. On a related note stay the hell away from the Wikipedia entry for this comic book.

The surprises tie into my earlier comment about depth. In this comic book freaking everything means something, and nothing gets forgotten. Things that happened in issue #4 still have repercussions in issue #68. The cast is sprawling and, while Invincible himself is clearly the star, the supporting cast are almost without exception given time to shine. There have even been large arcs where Marc is either absent or a bit player and they not only work, but feel completely consistent with the tone of the series. Part of this depth and consistency has no doubt been achieved by there having only been one writer (Kirkman) and only two artists over the nine year history of the title. Nevertheless, looking at similar length of runs from other creators, Kirkman's is still outstanding for the level of quality he has maintained in each and every issue. Even Chris Claremont's fabled run on Uncanny X-Men had a few clunker storylines, but not so much here.

It's not to say that this is a perfect series, but it's got so much going for it that flaws are far more easily overlooked than they would be otherwise. For example even in some of the weaker story arcs (and there have been some), the aforementioned strong characters carry the day nicely. Let's look at them some more.

Characters

Obviously Mark Grayson has to be discussed. It's his comic book after all and if he failed as a character then so would go the series. Clearly he doesn't fail. What Kirkman has done with him is kind of remarkable. He has written a character that works as an example of a fairly typical teenager/young man, something hard to do all on it's own. Mark also works as an example of a young superhero with a very mixed and humungous amount of baggage to haul around with him. He works on yet a third level as just somebody trying to come to grips with his own half human, half Viltrumite nature and discovering that the two aren't always compatible with each other.

That list makes it seem like Invincible is the most emo superhero ever, but really thats not the case. You come to genuinely like Mark as a character, in fact it's almost impossible not to. He has many admirable qualities on top of his impressive powers, but he remains approachable to the reader. He has parent issues, girl issues, sibling issues, and no small amount of confusion over what exactly he's supposed to be doing to his life. By letting the reader see Mark from that normal and relatable perspective it really helps you get inside his head for the more fantastic stuff. In this respect he greatly resembles Spiderman, though Mark's luck is arguably at least a little better.

From tentative junior hero in training to champion in his own right, Invincible has gradually carved out his own place in the world (and even off it). His current arc is carrying him into darker territory than in the past, but in true Kirkman style it's happening in a most unique way. Again, can't spoil it but man the comic is in a great place these days.

For the supporting cast the first that has to be mentioned is Mark's father, Omni-Man. He has his own complicated arc that runs throughout the series. Without wrecking anything (I hope) it goes something like this. He starts the series as one thing, is revealed as something else entirely, but ends up becoming something a lot closer to that first thing he let people think he was. I realize that was clear as mud but just know that he has a nice, deep, and fulfilling story arc that runs throughout the series. He may have started as a Superman analogue but, honestly, I enjoy reading Omni-Man more than I enjoy reading Superman. The best part about his story is how, despite being centuries old and from a highly advanced planet, Earth and humans come to change his personality and outlook in a way that is funny, poignant, and logical.

Along the way Mark gets exposed to the larger world of Image comics superhero community, including many created just for this comic. One of those is Atom Eve, a teenage girl with vast power over matter. It's telegraphed pretty well that she's a love interest for Mark, so it spoils little to say thats what eventually happens. What isn't telegraphed is how long and how interesting that process. Eve definitely becomes a primary supporting character on her own strengths as opposed to just being the token girlfriend. She's actually one of the stronger and more realistic and interesting female heroes in the comic world right now. Smart, funny, deeply sarcastic, and tremendously strong of character, she's the perfect foil for Mark and, even before they finally couple up, helps keep him stable.

The greater universe of superheros and aliens and even normal humans yields a huge store of memorable characters for the book. The superteam Guardians of The Globe, the youth Teen Team, Allen the Alien (best supporting character ever), are all great backup. Most have either played major roles and some have even carried entire storylines. Even what would be, in a lesser book, truly bit parts are well written and, surprisingly often, end up either recurring or carrying more meaning in their appearance than first glance indicates.

There are several more characters who play fairly major roles in the series that I'm not mentioning. Again this is due to the trying not to spoil the series issue. Saying anything about one character in particular would blow a lot of really great reveals, and I just can't do it. Suffice it to say, man there's a lot of really well written characters here. They're also really well drawn, even (maybe especially) when things get downright disturbing.

Art, Maturity Level, and Content

Being nearly as consistent as the writing, the art on this series is a definite plus. As a writer and voracious reader myself that tends to be secondary to the writing for me in most comics, but here it is important as hell. First the quality and style of the art matches the quality and style of the writing. The art is clean, clear, with a very classic look to it. That it's been the same artist on board since issue eight helps a great deal. Ryan Ottley took over for co-creator Cory Walker just in time for his skills to be put to the test.

See, for all that it has the trappings of a typical superhero comic, Invincible really pushes the limits of the genre. In particular there is a very heavy reliance on depicting the effects of violence in a very gory way. The thing is that it isn't at all gratuitous and is based firmly in the more realistic sensibility that Kirkman brings to all his work. I mean let's face it, superheroes aren't realistic, but if someone as strong as Superman just let loose and punched someone, anyone almost, in the head? That head would explode into a thousand pieces with liquified brains and eyeballs flying everywhere. That kinda scene actually happens a lot in the comic. And lots of intestines. They all seem very fond of disembowelments over at Invincible, so much so that it's almost a running joke in the series at this point. Credit where credit is due though, they are damned creative about it.

The general idea here is that if superbeings fight, they're gonna do super amounts of damage. And not just to other titans either, but to the surroundings and the normal humans they contain. This is one of the few comics to show just how badly someplace like New York and her citizens would suffer in the event of the kind of large scale superheroic crossover that seems to take place every other year or so at DC and Marvel. It's just another one of those touches that really sets this book apart from the typical tights and spandex crowd.

No Zombies? No Problem

Some people I know are surprised that it's the same guy who writes this books as writes The Walking Dead. Those are the people that have never really read Invincible. There's no zombies around...ok strictly speaking that's not true, but really not the focus. What Kirkman does best as a writer is create great characters, place them in a fmailiar setting to the reader, then do a take on it that no one's ever seen before. If you're a fan of the show, or a fan of the comic, and you haven't read this series? You owe it to yourself to give it a try. If you're a former comic book fan and drifted away for some reason, this book will bring you back. Hell, if you're a thinking human being that enjoys deep characters, wit, and appreciate a certain level of violence in your storytelling, then you'll love this series. I started out by saying this and I will repeat it again: This is my favorite current comic book series bar none.

One of the more surprising things about it, especially considering how tight and well thought out the continuity is, is how approachable it is for a new reader. There have even been two issues inters[paced in the run that exist primarily to serve as jumping on points for newbies, but if you can start from the beginning. You'll pick it up quick no matter where you start, but it's just so good that you're gonna want to read the whole thing.

In short? For the love of God, buy this book damnit!

5/5

- George Lister

follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

Codex Alera

2012-06-04T23:03:00.001-07:00

Written by 'Dresden Files' author Jim Butcher, this is a fantastic series. I had to get that out of the way first because the next things I have to say aren't actually going to sound very complimentary at first glance. Codex Alera was written on a dare, with a cliched core concept, and then layers of cliches on top of that. I'm really not exaggerating here, I mean to find more cliches compacted into a single narrative you normally have to be reading a romance novel.

Using as the starting point the lost Roman Legion? Done to death sci-fi trope. Lost heir to the throne? Ditto. Seemingly powerless person actually being the most powerful magic user of his kind? Done so often it makes my teeth ache. And sprinkled in amongst those big cliches are hosts of smaller ones, mostly in the form of characters whose outline you'd recognize from dozens if not hundreds of other works.

Let me just repeat: This is a fantastic series!

So, if this in fact a fantastic series, yet it seems formed from characters and concepts so overused as to have become freestanding cliches, then how the hell does that work? Quick answer? Jim Butcher just wrote the hell out of it, that's how.

Look, to use another cliche on you, there's nothing new under the sun. It's damn rare to find, even amongst the finest genre fiction, a truly original premise. What matters significantly more is finding a writer with an original voice that knows how to use it, and Butcher fully delivers on that.

Codex Alera: An Overview

I am going to be vaguer than usual here. To describe the series in too much detail is to spoil an awful lot of fun plot points along the way. Truthfully, thanks to the aforementioned cliche reliance, you'll see them coming miles away anyhow but it's still more fun to find it all out in context.

In brief, 'Codex Alera' is a six book high fantasy series written by Jim Butcher. At the time the series started to hit print Butcher was just starting to become known as a top-notch urban fantasy writer with his 'Dresden Files' books. It was seen by some as a mistake to branch out into third person high fantasy when he was just starting to gain popularity as a first person writer of urban fantasy. Those people (including his Dresden publishers at Roc, who passed on Alera) turned out to be all kinds of wrong.

The basic concept of the series is that, at some point many hundreds of years in the past, humans found their way to the world of Alera. It becomes abundantly clear very quickly that those humans were from our Earth, and were the fabled (and cliched) Lost Roman Legion. Using Legion skills and tactics they began carving out a place for themselves in this strange new world. In some way they were eventually able to bond with elemental spirits that also inhabited the land that they called Furies. This ended up being their big advantage as it allowed them to utterly subjugate the native peoples and reconfigure the land itself through the magic and power they gained which they called furycrafting.

The most powerful Furycrafters among them could call on the largest and strongest such elementals, and these became the citizens and nobles of a new Imperial Alera. The most powerful of them all became known as the First Lord, and the heir as the Princeps. For ten generations power passed seamlessly from First Lord to Princeps, staying without the dominant family of Alera.

When Furies of Calderon, the first book in the codex, opens up however there is an elderly First Lord, but no Princeps. The heir had died without an heir of his own many years before. For the first time Alera is vulnerable to a coup and sides are being drawn, plans laid, and betrayals plotted.

Into this mix is thrown Tavi, a simple shepherd farmboy from a far flung Steadholt owned by his uncle Bernard. Raised there by his aunt Isana, Bernhard's sister, Tavi is unusually small for his age, but extremely intelligent and driven. He is also the only living Aleran without any trace of furycrafting power whatsoever. This marks him as a freak and a weakling, but has also contributed to his drive to make something of himself. Events conspire to place Tavi at the centre of all the machinations for control of Alera and, more than once, the fate of his people ends up on his shoulders. While he grows from teenager, to young man, to a confident leader that fate settles on him all the more squarely. As an external threat soon grows to overshadow even the plots and powers of the elite furycrafters of Alera, Tavi is put in a position of being responsible for the doom or survival of his race.

Now with all my talk of cliches, and the kinds of them found in this series, you must realize some of the arc that Tavi undergoes as a character. It is still more fun to read the details of them as they unfold, so no more will be said. Again, harkening back to my point that Butcher just wrote the hell out of the series, that he can take Tavi on this incredibly familiar journey and make it entertaining as hell? Kinda impressive, even more so when you consider that Tavi isn't the only character to have a familiar ring to him that turns out to be very fun to read.

Characters and Races

The characters, and how Butcher writes their personalities, are one of the things that elevates this series beyond the cliche. Take Tavi for example. Some people have complained that Tavi bears too much similarity to Butcher's better known lead character Harry Dresden. I would suggest that those people don't have clue one what they are talking about. Both characters are sarcastic, tend to pick fights above their weight class, and succeed through wit and guile, that's true. The same can be said for Bugs Bunny and Spiderman yet I don't think that Stan Lee had Warner Bros. Cartoons in mind while he was writing Peter Parker's early adventures.

In point of fact Tavi and Harry are more different than similar. Harry has never known family, while Tavi's family is what drives him. They both fight people far stronger than themselves, but at the end of the day Harry Dresden is still a ridiculously powerful wizard whereas Tavi has no power to speak of. He is forced to rely far more on his wits and his ability to turn enemies into allies. In fact what makes Tavi engaging to the reader is what allows him to make these allies. He is such a well written character that you have no difficulty at all imagining that other people would like him the way you come to as a reader.

The other characters are almost as well done and detailed, which is a good thing as they occupy a lot of the series. While Tavi is the focus almost all of the principle supporting characters are given time and space to shine. Bernard and Isana as Tavi's immediate family get a fair amount of that attention. From them we're given the perspective of the common folk of Alera. While at the base level of nobility, and reasonably strong furycrafters, they are far closer to the everyday people and through their eyes we see what the prevailing view of the nobility is.

On the other end we see the pressures and machinations of that nobility directly from them. By making the current First Lord Gaius Sextus a real presence in the books as opposed to a seldom seen figure we can appreciate the weight of his crown, even as some of his actions are appalling as hell. Other high lords and ladies of Alera are made prominent characters as well. You really get to see the good, the bad, and the frequent ugly that comes from having great political and personal power. In retrospect the chapters with the various high lords and Gaius almost seem to be used as a palate cleanser before heading back into the more virtuous territory occupied by Tavi and his family and friends.

Among Tavi's friends there are a few standouts. Max, or properly Antillar Maximus, is the bastard son of a high lord, and a powerful crafter. He protects Tavi and some of the other weaker students at the Academy when they're students. That forms a bond that keeps him at Tavi's side for the rest of the series. As impulsive as he is powerful Max is another archetypal/cliched character that is allowed to transcend that and become a truly interesting character. In his case how he copes with his bastard origins and an abusive stepmother who makes the evil queen from Snow White look like a model fantasyland parent help show his depth of true character. Another Academy friend, Sir Ehren, is used as counterpoint to Tavi as well. Almost as powerless and almost as smart, but lacking the personality to lead, Ehren uses his skills to go become a Cursor, or spy. Another Cursor we meet right in book one is Amara. Betrayed by her mentor she remains loyal to Gaius and ends up romantically involved with Tavi's uncle. Another cliche transcended Amara becomes our POV character for a loyal Gaius supporter disillusioned.

Arguably the principal supporting character is the Marat girl called Kitai. The Marat are a native tribe to Alera, but are human in appearance save for pale skin and silver hair. They have no furycraft but instead bind themselves to one of the great animals of Alera and gain abilities and strength from them. By accident Kitai instead finds herself bound to Tavi, which she greatly resents at first since she wanted a horse. As the series progresses they become closer and closer, with Tavi turning the Marat into the first of his unlikely allies.

Even the bad guys get their fair representation. In what is almost unheard of in the typically black or white high fantasy genre, there are few true villains in the series, at least within the ranks of the Alerans themselves. Rather the bickering high lords are shown to have complex motivations, are occasionally honorable, and continue to be fleshed out throughout the series. Even the Canim, a dog like humanoid race at war with Alera, are treated as actual thinking creatures as opposed to the mindless ravening hordes that monster races are usually treated as by the fantasy genre.

The primary external threat to Alera, the insectoid Vord, start out a little different. At first they are very much the ravening monster horde of trite sci-fi dom. Alien, unknowable, unbeatable, and if they had stayed that way, uninteresting. The way that Butcher evolves the Vord, and literally the way they evolve physically and sociologically in the series, makes them a worthy and truly terrifying enemy for Tavi and Alera to face. Butcher gives them a face and a real personality and in so doing enhances the perceived level of threat that they pose.

The Magical System

Virtually all fantasy, or at least virtually all good fantasy, has a well defined system of magic. By well defined I mean that it has internal consistency, is transparent enough to the reader so they understand it, and imposes constraints as a balance. The system found in 'Codex Alera' is a rather outstanding example of how to do it right and is easily the most obviously original part of the series.

Yes, there are some original concepts here. Well kinda.

What I mean by that is that all the magic used by humans is elemental magic. It's based on earth, fire, water, air, and, somewhat unorthodoxly, wood and metal. There have been plenty of magical systems based around the elements before, going well back into mythology even, but I can safely say that no one's done it quite like Jim Butcher.

For one thing the elementals take on form. That isn't original at all, but having them bind to humans is. Those furies that find themselves so bound serve willingly, happily even. Butcher in fact uses the furies to illustrate a class distinction. In the lower and rural classes people tend to name their furies and ascribe to them intelligence and personality. The higher classes tend to view their furies as faceless servants and simple extensions of their own will (though, if pressed, more than one has been shown to have a favourite fury that carries meaning to them).

Now that's original.

So is this. In addition to the furies being freestanding agents capable of affecting the world at the direction of their masters, there are also wild furies that serve no one. Some of these are incredibly powerful and all represent one of the many delightful (to the reader) dangers of life on Alera.

Lastly an Aleran with a talent for one or more of the elements doesn't necessarily need a discreet fury to use their power. For example an earthcrafter can, if they're touching the ground, call on the strength of that earth and add it to his own making him enormously strong. A windcrafter can call on the air for speed, a metalcrafter can block pain and enhance their own durability, etc. So while some powers require the presence of an actual fury, many are internal. That two layered elemental magic is unique as far as I can tell and lends itself to really great storytelling.

For me the highlight of any big fight scene in this series is when two or more powerful furycrafters start battling. The ways that Butcher comes up with for them use their power are as numerous as they are creative. These scenes also tend to be elegantly written and put together in a way that clearly and cleanly describes what's going on with great visual intensity. Lots and lots of fun there.

Conclusions

A series written on a dare, cobbled together from a series of cliches, and done against the advice of the author's own publisher and agent. This should have been terrible and cancelled after a single book. Instead it turned out to be just a fantastic read and gave Jim Butcher his second New York times bestselling series (book six even cracked the top ten). If you're not a fan of urban fantasy and haven't read 'The Dresden Files', use this series as your intro to Jim Butcher. If your preference is for urban fantasy, pick this series up anyhow. It's written in a very contemporary style without seeming anachronistic in any way and is about as close as a third person high fantasy novel can get to the looser informality found in the largely first person urban fantasy genre.

Basically just pick this series up.

'The Dresden Files' is still my favorite of the two series, but this runs a damn close second. There are currently no plans for a sequel series, but Butcher has hinted that he'd likely return to this world at some point. I hope he does as there's a lot more that can be done with it. While the six book series has a definite ending that ties up just about everything that needs tying up, Butcher (intentionally I'm sure) left plenty of points that could easily lead into a sequel. Until that happens I'll be waiting impatiently for the next Harry Dresden book and giving 'Codex Alera' a yearly re-reading.

Read these books damnit!

Furies of Calderon 4/5

Academ's Fury 4.5/5

Cursor's Fury 5/5

Captain's Fury 4.5/5

Princep's Fury 4.5/5

First Lord's Fury 5/5

- George Lister

follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

My review of 'The Dresden Files', also by Jim Butcher, can be found here: http://readthisbookdamnit.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dresden-files.html

Dear Facebook

2012-05-31T19:14:00.002-07:00

“Of course you know this means war” - Bugs Bunny

And with that quote from my favorite battlefield tactician and all around badass, so do I declare open hostilities with Facebook. I did not start this fight but I will, by God, finish it.

Dear Facebook,

A little background.

I wasn't one of the very early adopters of Facebook. I spent about a year getting invitations from people to join this thing but I stayed away. After all I had successfully avoided Emoville (aka LiveJournal), and Money Pit (which is what I'm sure NewsCorp calls MySpace). Then something significant happened: I moved.

In 2007 I left the town where I'd lived for almost thirty years and moved about five hundred miles west. Almost instantly I found myself missing people, and there were all those damn Facebook invitations, so I caved in and fired up a profile. Even having started the process I can't say as I was enthusiastic. It just seemed like something 'the kids' were into these days, and I was in my 30's after all. Basically had no big hopes for it, or expectations I'd even use it much.

Turns out Facebook was pretty much like crack designed specifically for me.

See I was never into the games that have eaten up so much of the world's productivity. I never played Farmville or Mafia Wars, or any of that other crap that people insisted on sending me requests for help on until I learned how to block them en masse. Facebook hooked me entirely by being perfect for my social butterfly, nostalgia loving, chat addicted self.

Let me explain a little more. If you were my friend twenty years ago, despite not having seen you in that time, I tend to assume that you're still my friend. Facebook catered to that assumption. Furthermore I've always been a social butterfly with relatively few truly close friends, lots of reasonably close friends, and a freaking ton of people that fall somewhere between 'acquaintance' and 'friend'. Facebook clicked with that too. Being able to send messages and, later, chat with those people? Hell I was all over that. Back in the day I got AOL and used the earliest consumer iterations of the internet pretty much for no reason other than chatting. I'm a reasonably quick witted person but with the slight delay typing a conversation gives over voice? Those few seconds allow me to be just a brilliant goddamn conversationalist and sound far smarter than I actually am.

So I quickly started accumulating friends. I wasn't a big old Facebook whore about it, I had rules, biggest one being that I had to actually know the person in real life. Given that I've known a lot of freaking people it quickly got me a few hundred Facebook friends and a whole new way to waste time on the internet.

Later on, as Facebook added features, I just kept getting sucked further and further in. My humour is possibly best appreciated in small dosages, so I came to love dropping short little status updates to get a laugh or at least provoke a reaction. I eventually started writing up longer pieces as notes when I felt I had something to say about a particular topic, and loved the gratification of having near instant feedback.

The photo side of Facebook started evolving right about the same time as I really got into digital photography. It too became part of my Facebook routine, shooting pictures and getting instant feedback on them. Pretty soon I was taking pictures with goddamn Facebook actually in mind while I was framing the shot. Seems sad but I'm a goal oriented kinda guy so it actually helped my photography.

Eventually Facebook started helping my writing too. In addition to my little updates and notes, I started posting some of my fiction and longer non-fiction pieces online. The feedback I got there wasn't always positive but it was great to have a massive group of editors to poke me along and tighten up my work. When I decided to start focusing on reviews and journalism again, once more Facebook had a role to play.

This is where things start to get ugly.

I started up this blog you're reading right here. Since I'm Canadian the blog ended up having a .ca address rather than a .com one. This was no problem for the longest time. Admittedly for almost two years I posted here infrequently at best. Then, having been poked, cajoled, and complimented into doing so, I started taking it more seriously. I started posting my book reviews and pop culture musings at least twice weekly, cross promoting on other literary and genre websites, getting on twitter, and making it a far more professional affair. I even got registered as an honest to goodness book reviewer and started getting free books (best perk ever for a speedreader).

For about two months all was well. Actually all was goddamn magnificent. Apart from the free books I was getting a growing readership. In a few months my blog had gone from a few dozen hits a month to several thousand, my writing was being mentioned on other websites, and I was getting the odd paid writing gig out of the deal.

And then I tried linking to my blog from Facebook last week, something I'd done with every previous post.

At first it seemed like a glitch since Facebook just kind of hung up. I stopped, refreshed, and tried again. This time I was told that the link in question was potentially unsafe and had been marked as spam. This annoyed me but I figured temporary glitch, I'd repost later. Much later on, even the next day it was still the same. When I clicked on older links I had to my blog I got a slightly different message. This one told me that another user had marked my blog as “spammy” and was an abuse of Facebook policy.

This was, of course, complete horseshit.

My blog is not now, nor was it, nor shall it ever be a source of spam. It was also not abusive, except to a few authors and publishing companies that have made boneheaded moves. At that point I started digging around and found that virtually everyone that had a blogspot.ca address (otherwise known as 'Canadians') was being blocked from linking to their blogs on Facebook.

Now this is where it gets frustrating.

Ever tried to get in touch with Facebook? You can't. You can fill out an online form, at which point you will get an instant reply that says basically one of two things. It either says that “We can't look at every issue, but thanks for the feedback!”, or that “We have no solutions at this time, try looking on our forums. Thanks for the feedback!”.

All I bloody wanted to know was if this was a glitch, a boneheaded decision to block canadian blogspot content, or if someone had actually complained about my blog. I knew from my past readings that Facebook takes spam reports at face value and often blocked accounts that weren't actually spam with no real process for appeal. I could see why people had problems getting Facebook to reverse such decisions since, like I said, you can't actually contact anybody, but I was betting it was more on the glitch/bad decision front.

Then things got worse.

Instead of just blocking the links from my past posts, Facebook took it upon itself to completely delete them from my wall/timeline. Gone. Including some attached pics and comments I really wanted to keep. I mean if they'd even given me 24 hours warning so I could have copied and saved that information I might have been a little happier. Nope, they just made it go away. Which, if I'm reading their own terms of service correctly, they're not supposed to be able to do without a valid reason (which they didn't have).

Ok, now I was pissed.

Still getting nowhere on the contacting Facebook front I instead sent out a plea, nay, a piteous wail to damn near every business or investigative journalist I knew. Not to brag on it or anything, but I do know a few writers of influence. Here's the scary thing: Not even they, bastions of journalism, could get in touch with anyone. Maybe it was just that this was the week of the sinking Facebook IPO but no one from that company would even acknowledge to a journalist that there was a problem.

Frick.

So here's my plan. I'm going to wait this out for thirty days. If in that time facebook restores my lost posts and gives me the ability to link to my blog again, all is right with the world. If they don't? I plan on presenting a filing to the local small claims court and suing them for $5000. Seems disproportionate really, but I hate being ignored when I have a legitimate issue and it strikes me that this might get somebody's attention. They have made libellous statements about me (that I was operating a “spammy” and unsafe blog), they have destroyed intellectual property that I only gave them license to display, and they've caused me pain and hardship (really just lots of aggravation but, hey, sounds legal).

Here's the kicker: I don't hate Facebook.

I've never been on that bandwagon and I'm still not now. I'm concerned, yes, about privacy issues. Yes I do loathe timeline. I'm not crazy about some of the intrusive ads and games. I fucking hate Farmville.

But I love using Facebook.

I love the services it provides, I love showing off my writing and my photography, and I really love how it lets me stay in touch with a worldwide network of friends and acquaintances. Even this issue with my blog isn't all that huge a deal in the grand scheme of things as relatively few hits to it come from Facebook, and those are from friends that know where my blog is anyhow.

At this point this is a fight on the principle of the thing. It's also a fight not to be ignored. Facebook is arguably the most important communication company on Earth and it's eventually gonna have to learn to play by some rules. Imagine if your telephone provider decided you couldn't talk to people that used a different company? Or you could only send texts to people on your own cell phone network? That wouldn't stand up for a heartbeat, so neither should Facebook be allowed to block legal and legitimate content without justification.

What I really want is for Facebook to be more transparent. Have a real process where if people have concerns they can get them addressed. If you're blocking our content, tell us why and what we need to do to fix the situation. Be as open with us as you want us to be with the world so you can continue to profit by data mining us.

So here's hoping. Facebook, please just unblock my blog and give me my content back. It's not much but it would restore a lot of my faith in you. If you don't? Well, I'm a very little fish in a very big pond. I am, however, a very annoyed and noisy fish. I won't be quiet about this and I will take extensive measures to make sure that you hear my voice.

I just really wish I didn't have to.

Sincerely,

George Lister

follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

P.S. Here's the link to the Facebook thread on this subject: http://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=2205941

*Update* Yes I know there is a workaround where you can post under a .com instead of a .ca address. It doesn't work for everyone though, and I seem to be one of those. It still wouldn't bring back my lost content though.

*Update 2* It seems some Canadians have had their access to blogspot linking restored along with their deleted posts. I'm still blocked and missing material however so I'm not celebrating yet

Zombie Romance

2012-05-26T21:43:00.001-07:00

A Little Bit Zombie

(another rare movie review)

In the interest of full disclosure I should point out that I've known the director of this movie since we were kids. He was, in fact, for a time my neighbour and we were friends in high school. That might make me favourably biased towards this movie, but I like to think I kept my critical eye on things. Besides which, it might be almost twenty years since I last spent any serious time with Casey Walker, but if he'd made a bad movie I know he'd expect me to tell him so (and I would).

He didn't make a bad movie.

In fact it might even be kinda genius. A little bit anyhow.

Now let me temper that by saying that my definition of genius and yours might be different. If you consider the Evil Dead movies to be fucking brilliant, if you've ever spent hours laughing your way through Police Academy, Ski School, and/or Revenge of the Nerds, if you've spent time seriously considering what to do in the event of a zombie outbreak, if you really got Cabin in the Woods? Yeah, we're on the same page.

Onto the review.

So, clearly, A Little Bit Zombie isn't gonna be leading the Oscar race but damn was it ever a lot of fun. Written by Trevor Martin and Christopher Bond, the setup runs something like this. Steve (Kristopher Turner) is bringing his bridezilla fiancee Tina (Crystal Lowe), his sister Sarah (Being Human's Kristen Hager) and her husband/Steve's best man Craig (Shawn Roberts) to the family cabin the week before his wedding. As an HR specialist in conflict resolution he's determined to make sure everybody gets along and has a good time. Not so much with the success there.

In fact it goes so poorly that by the time Steve gets bitten by a zombie mosquito and starts becoming one of the undead, it's almost the least of his problems. And right there is kind of the core of the funny, the juxtaposition of a maniacal bride against the backdrop of a guy becoming a brain eating monster. It's not wrong to say that the movie is at it's best when all that is front and centre.

As a rule this is a damn funny movie. There's tons of big laughs scattered throughout and they come from a variety of sources. There's physical humor (watch for the lawn dart scene), gross out humor (though less than you might expect), and tons of great one liners (mostly given to Shawn Roberts who kinda steals the show). Kristopher Turner's Steve is almost the perfect straight man in this movie, a Clark Kent style nebbish who makes the movie by being just the last person on Earth you'd find to be a threatening monster.

I also have to point out that this movie looks freaking great. Extra impressive considering it had a micro-budget funded largely through crowdsourcing online and on Facebook. You might have heard of the “My Million Dollar Movie” project. That was Casey's baby and this movie is ultimately what it yielded. They didn't quite get a million dollars, but it sure looks like they did. I mean if this is what can be done on a tiny budget then every director of every movie ever shot for the Syfy network should go see it and feel deeply, deeply ashamed. There are only two shots that have a bad special effects feel to them and both are forgivable. You'll know them when you see them though.

There are some other problems with the movie. The first third of the movie is far weaker than the rest of it and some of the humour pushes the limits of taste. In particular there's an exposed testicle that I found a bit gratuitous, which is really funny for me to say given that I almost got expelled from university for printing a picture of the same in the student newspaper. Still, didn't need to see it and it didn't really bring the funny. Those are minor points though. The worst sin the movie commits is with a subplot featuring a pair of mismatched zombie hunters (Stephen McHattie and Emilie Ullerup). It's necessary to the plot, and has it's moments, but just doesn't seem on the same level as the rest of the movie. While all the performances are intentionally over the top, and they generally work well, McHattie and Ullerup bring maybe just a little too much cheese to their parts and it feels off.

Like I said though, these are fairly minor points. The movie looks great, it brings the funny, and there's a series of snapshots at the very end as the credits roll that caps it all off nicely. It's not the best zombie movie, and it's not the best romantic comedy, but it blends those two genres together frankly better than I ever would have thought possible. I saw it with my wife, who's not really a fan of zombies, and has never met the director, and she loved it as much as I did.

It's playing in limited release across Canada currently, and has been showing up (and winning awards) at film festivals all over the U.S. And worldwide. For showtimes and upcoming festival appearances, check out the main A Little Bit Zombie page found here: http://www.alittlebitzombie.com/

Go see this movie. Not only is it funny, you're supporting an independent filmmaker with creativity both on screen and off. I have to say I'm looking forward to seeing what Casey Walker chooses to direct next. Not only do I get the thrill of seeing someone I knew back in the day making movies, turns out he's pretty damn good at it.

4/5

- George Lister

You can follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

Five Questions: James Swain

2012-05-21T21:51:00.003-07:00

James Swain, a bestselling writer of crime fiction, recently penned his first entry in the urban fantasy genre. 'Dark Magic', which hits shelves today (May 22, 2012), is a great entry in the field. When the chance came to ask Jim five questions, well I tried to run with that as best I could.

RTBD: What made you decide to start writing an urban fantasy/paranormal themed book after success with mainstream fiction?

JS: I have two passions in my life, magic and writing. Both have consumed me since childhood, well over forty years. I suppose it was only a matter of time before the two came together in fiction form.

RTBD: Who do you think is the best magician currently performing?

JS: I have a number of favorites. The two Davids, Blaine & Copperfield, Derren Brown, and Dan Sperry. As performers, they continually push the envelope, and keep audiences on the edge of their seats. That’s no easy task in today’s world.

RTBD: Peter Warlock is as much a mentalist as a magician, do you use any mentalist tricks in your own magic act?

JS: I spent the better part of a year learning mentalism while writing this book. During my book tour this year, I’ll be doing a half-hour mind-reading act. The dates are available on my website: www.jimswain.com

RTBD: Most magicians I've met seem to be avowed skeptics regarding the possibility of psychic phenomena, are you more skeptic than believer as well?

JS: I’ve become much more of a believer. I was having lunch with the former head of ATF, Andy Vita, who now finds missing kids, and he told me about a case in Florida where a slightly retarded man found a lost little girl in the swamp because God told him where she was. The police and FBI interrogated this guy and came to the conclusion he was telling the truth because there was absolutely no other way he could have found this kid. As it turns out, he’s done it many times before. That story opened my eyes, and made me realize there was more out there than I was seeing.

RTBD: Most important question as I quite enjoyed the book: When is the next one going to come out?

JS: I just put the finishing touches on the sequel, Shadow People. It picks up where Dark Magic left off, and further explores Peter’s unusual past. It’s due out in the summer of 2012.

I got some fairly unexpected answers out of this, which is always fun to have happen in an interview. Gotta say I will probably go out of my way to catch him at an author signing just to catch the mind-reader act. By all means pick up 'Dark Magic' or any of his crime thrillers, you won't be disappointed.

Special thanks to Aisha Cloud, Tor publicist extraordinaire, for setting all this up.

My review of 'Dark Magic' can be found here: http://readthisbookdamnit.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dark-magic.html

James Swain's website is: www.jimswain.com

You can follow him on twitter @JswainAuthor

- George Lister
You can follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

Dark Magic

2012-05-19T22:29:00.000-07:00

James Swain is hardly a new writer, but he's definitely in new territory with 'Dark Magic'. A bestselling author of con, card, and ex-cop influenced mysteries and thrillers this book marks his first foray into urban fantasy. One of the hallmarks of his previous books has been the depth of knowledge and authoritative tone he brought to his writing. He is an expert on con artists and card games and it showed. The one question I had before going into this book was whether or not he'd be able to get the same authority of tone in an urban fantasy book.

In short? Boy did he ever.

In addition to being a writer James Swain is a very accomplished stage magician. By choosing to make the lead character of 'Dark Magic', Peter Warren, a professional magician byt name of Peter Warlock, it allows him to tap into that side of his experience. This caters to his strength as a writer and accomplishes something else as well. For me the very best urban fantasy takes place in what could very well be our world, just with fantastic elements added in that, by skill of the writer, we accept without thinking about it. Swain's experience and authoritative tone accomplish this almost effortlessly. In short? You buy Peter Warlock and you buy the world Swain has created around him.

As the book opens Peter is leading a seance of sorts, a regular Friday night gathering of actual psychics. Peter is a true psychic, able to glimpse the future and read minds. His friends are similarly inclined though their range of talents vary. When Peter sees a devastated New York City in the near future he does what they've always done; send an anonymous tip to the police and the FBI along with enough detail to stop the presumed attack. They've learned that coming forward in person leads to ridicule at best, and imprisonment and forced government service at worst.

Events conspire to force Peter to take a more active hand in the investigation however, at significant personal cost. He has long maintained two completely separate lives, one where his magic is an illusion and a job, the other where it is real and an obligation. So absolute is this division that even his girlfriend and assistant doesn't know his of real talents. As he tries to save the city the barrier he has kept between the two sides of his life begins to break down and secrets are revealed to many people, Peter among them. His history, the true nature of his powers, even his parentage are all challenged even as the clock ticks down and people he loves start dying. As it becomes clear that outside dark forces are manipulating events, even more pressure is put on Peter to stop the horrible visions he's had from coming to pass.

So let's get this out of the way now; I really liked this book. Within a few pages I knew I was going to read right through to the finish, and I did so in very short order. Peter Warlock is a great character, both confident and conflicted in just the right balance to be a hero readers can relate to. The rest of the cast is memorable too with Max, the elderly psychic and retired magician who trained Peter a particular standout. Each person in the book is there for a reason and no lines or characters feel like padding. The pacing of the book is spot on too, especially as the crisis ramps up. Even the reveals and backstory are done in a way that keeps the tension at just the right level instead of feeling like either exposition or writerly meandering (Stephen King I'm looking at you).

Of course it's not a perfect book, those are just a little bit on the rare side. I said earlier that no characters felt like they were just there for padding, but that doesn't mean they all work. Peter's girlfriend and assistant Liza is one of those. We never really understand why Peter is with her. She's not written particularly warmly or as having characteristics that someone like him would find as irresistible as he seems to. In fact we understand far better why he'd keep his powers hidden from her than we do why he loves her and lives with her. Maybe this was a deliberate choice but the whole relationship seems off, particularly when a triangle of sorts threatens to develop with Molly, the youngest of his psychic group. To go all teen 'shipper' on this I'm on team Molly all the way. The only other issue that really comes to mind with the book is that the ending has just a little hint of deus ex machina about it. It's more or less accounted for in the preceding chapters, but the end just seems a little bit too convenient.

These are all minor points though since, at the end of the day, I really enjoyed this book. Not only will I be picking up the sequel when it comes out, I think I'm going to go back and grab the rest of Swain's books that I don't already own. To summarize, just a great urban fantasy debut. Solid world building, great characters, and a tight well paced plot make this a great start to the summer reading season.

Read this book damnit!

4/5

- George Lister

Follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

Buy this book at Amazon

In the US:

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Magic-James-Swain/dp/0765329948/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337491699&sr=8-1

Or in Canada:

http://www.amazon.ca/Dark-Magic-James-Swain/dp/0765329948/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337491619&sr=8-1

An Announcement

2012-05-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

This has been kind of a scattered week at the blog. Instead of a review of a newer book I wrote another review of an existing series, and delivered that late. There was also no bonus review or even a rant. Really it's been a week of preparing for some big changes around here and the content has suffered a bit, but it's all good from here on out. On to the big announcement.

Starting this week I will be reviewing upcoming books that have yet to see print. The powers that be, and a very good friend, have helped me get access to advance review copies of these works. Along with that will come a few other changes, such as starting to do author interviews. In other words this humble little blog is going pro. I'm going to do my best to still throw out the odd bonus review, possibly a few rants, and will for sure keep writing about older books and series that deserve attention, but the focus is going to shift.

This Sunday at midnight, give or take, my review of James Swain's first trip into urban fantasy territory 'Dark Magic' will christen this new direction. I was also able to do a quick interview with him and got some very surprising answers. That will go up on Tuesday, again midnight, which is the official release date for the book.

I hope you guys stick with me though this change. I'm amazed at how many people have started to read this site and I promise this new direction isn't going to steer anyone wrong.

Now go read a book damnit!

- George Lister

Follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

The Dresden Files

2012-05-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

There was a time, back in the year 2000 or so, when I was pretty burned out by sci-fi and fantasy. It had been my genre of choice since learning to read twenty years before, but too many bad books, too much mass production of media series, and a few authors that went off the rails had me off my feed so to speak. At that time I was reading mostly mysteries, thrillers, and biographies, almost anything other than a genre book. Then along came three series that brought me back into the fold. Two of those have gotten enough press and sales all on their own, namely 'Harry Potter' and 'A Song of Ice and Fire' (aka HBO's Game of Thrones). The third, while popular, has not quite hit those heights so it's worth throwing it out there for your attention.

It's time to look at Jim Butcher's 'The Dresden Files'.

The Setup

Harry Dresden is a professional wizard. He might not be the only wizard in the world, but he's surely the only one listed in the Yellow Pages. Despite nine calls out of ten to his office being cranks, and despite working in a world that is ignorant of the reality of magic, he manages to eke out a living. No small part of his income comes from his operating as a licensed private investigator, using his magic to help his investigations.

Dresden also works as a consultant for the Chicago Police Department, called in when things get a little too weird. Though the Special Investigations squad are the ones who get those weird calls, initially they are more than a little skeptical of Dresden. Actually they think he's a complete con artist but, while no one really believes he's a wizard, he does help them solve cases. Of course he is a wizard and when things that go bump in the night start hurting people in his town, well, he's the one that bumps back.

In addition to his work for the police, Dresden is also a member of the White Council of Wizards, a sort of governing body for magic users. Between the police, the Council, and his own ability to find trouble Dresden encounters all kinds of supernatural bag guys over the course of the series. These include rogue wizards, shapeshifters, several flavors of vampire, the fae, a few demi-gods, and the mafia.

That last helps bring up that point that, for all the supernatural trappings, the real inspiration for this series and it's closest equivalent in tone has to be detective novels. If I had to make a guess, I'd say very specifically Robert B. Parker's 'Spenser' series with which it shares a hardboiled sensibility and a quick witted and light tone sometimes at odds with the darker situations the leads find themselves in. This is in keeping with how Butcher keeps the real world a live and present force. While other authors in this genre have made changes to the world we know, both large and small, Butcher gave himself the handicap of leaving it as is. What I mean by that is that the authorities are more or less blind to the supernatural, as is the general population. There's no general acceptance of the existence of elves, no alchemists on the street corners, no equal rights for vampires. It really is our world as we seem to know it. That forces Harry to interact with the real world and helps keep a series that deals with some pretty freaky supernatural stuff remarkably grounded.

That might be one of the great secrets to the success of this series, but there are surely others starting with Harry Dresden himself.

The Hero

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, named for two famous stage magicians, is a damned interesting character. Tall and skinny, though muscular, he doesn't exactly have a heroic physique or appearance but he very much fits the traditional hero mold. He is willing to sacrifice himself for his friends or to protect innocents. He always stands up against bullies, even when they are far stronger and more powerful than himself (sometimes especially then). Along the same lines he never shies away from a fight if he believes in the cause.

So far the character I'm describing is so heroic as to be boring, but Harry Dresden is anything but. For one thing there is something very satisfying about rooting for the underdog and, no matter how powerful he becomes, he is always somehow the underdog. While considered to be one of the most powerful young wizards, he is just that – a young wizard. He has lots of power but very little finesse, and is often referred to as a 'magical thug'. Several times in the series he encounters wizards as strong as he, but with centuries of practice, and is left rather in awe. As the series progresses his skills do as well, but Butcher always manages to ramp up the threat and makes Harry work for every victory. Oftentimes those victories come at a cost of him getting beat up. Kind of a lot. Broken ribs, broken nose, broken limbs, gunshot wounds, knife wounds, napalm burns, dislocated shoulders, and more bruises than I have words for have all been part of his injury list.

Fortunately Harry has a sense of humour that helps him get through these things. Unfortunately for him that sense of humour is flavored very heavily with snark and smart-assery, is usually directed at people much more powerful than he, and is a key reason why he gets beat up so very much. It is, however, funny as hell to read. In fact almost all of Harry's trails and tribulations are laced with humor. From being philosophical about being perpetually broke, to cracking wise mid battle, the jokes lighten up what would be, for both Dresden and ourselves, some very dark passages. And, let's face it, 'The Dresden Files' goes to some pretty dark places for Harry. I mean the guy is an orphan with all kinds of issues, isn't trusted by either humans or wizards, takes many a beating for trying to do the right thing and his love life makes mine look like I was Hugh Hefner.

If you want the best possible comparison to Harry Dresden from another medium? Think of the comic book version of Spiderman. Always broke, always hurting, never gets the respect he deserves, but is as quick to snap out a one liner as a web. Substitute a spell for a web and...ok, yeah you get the idea. To know just how well this analogy works check out the Spiderman novel Jim Butcher wrote a few years back ('The Darkest Hours'). He nails the Spiderman/Peter Parker character like he'd been writing him for years.

But Harry Dresden isn't Spiderman for all that they share a certain sensibility. Harry is a darker character and is willing to do things that Spiderman simply wouldn't. For example, while far from bloodthirsty, Harry will kill if necessary. He will, in fact, do a lot of killing if necessary and isn't afraid to make the hard calls when he has to.

To sum him up I will say this: Harry Dresden is a hero with a big mouth, a sense of humor, a definite dark side, and is one of the more compelling lead characters in recent fiction.

Of course every hero needs to have a worthy adversary. In Harry's case he's got plenty.

The Bad Guys

In 'The Dresden Files' bad guys come in two basic varieties: Hardcore Evil and Kinda Ambiguous. Let's look at the Ambiguous ones first.

The classic example in this category is 'Gentleman' Johnny Marcone, the head of the Chicago mob. At first, when you read the scenes with Marcone, your initial impression is that Jim Butcher has watched too many mafia movies. That very quickly gives way to the impression that, not only is Marcone a very complex character, but that all Harry's magic might not help him if Marcone decides to take him out. Marcone is definitely a bad guy, there is no doubt in the series about that. Directly or indirectly he opposes Dresden on any number of occasions and is responsible for a host of problems and plots. What makes him ambiguous is that he and Harry have a fairly deep level of mutual respect and, for the greater good, have even worked together on more than one occasion. As befits that complex relationship between the two men we, as readers, cannot help but like Marcone on some level even though he's not exactly on the side of the angels.

The fae are another ambiguous foe for Harry. Actually it's fair to say that some are an outright threat, some are on his side, and most are both. In the world of 'The Dresden Files' the fae, or faeries, are mostly divided into the two opposing courts of Summer and Winter. The Queens of each have by turns opposed, helped, and tried to recruit Harry so both are massively ambiguous (and also massively powerful). Winter has more often been on Harry's bad side (including his literal faerie godmother Leanansidhe), while Summer has more true friends to him in it's ranks. Frankly he trusts neither, nor should he. Of the independent fae one is a true ally, one is a true enemy. The ally is a small pixy named Toot-Toot who Harry first bribed with pizza but now commands his true loyalty. A six inch high pixy as your friend might not sound like much but this counts for more than it seems. Of course his true enemy from the faerie folk is the King of The Wild Hunt, so yes it's a hell of a mismatch (but par for the course for Dresden).

On the far less ambiguous side of things we have the Vampire Courts. Black Court vampires are the traditional reanimated dead, except that they very slowly continue to decay zombie-like over the decades. Their traits and vulnerabilities are basically those ascribed to vampires in Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', a book (in the Dresden-verse) that wizards had published to give humans a guide to self-defense. Red Court vampires have many of the same strengths and weaknesses of the Black Court, but rather than animated corpses they are actually slimy batlike creatures disguised beneath an invariably attractive looking human skin. The Reds become Harry's primary antagonists and the driving force behind a vampire/wizard war. There are also the White Court vampires, who appear totally human to the extent that they can even fool wizards for a time. They don't feed off of blood like the others, but rather they feed off human life force through specific emotions depending on their clans (examples shown so far have been pleasure/lust and fear). While generally weaker and more vulnerable to damage than other Courts, Whites aren't vulnerable to holy water, sunlight, or other vampire specific items. They can also call on their inner demon, the entity that both allows and compels the to feed, to make themselves faster, stronger, and more resistant to damage. Doing so drains their reserves however, and thereafter they must feed possibly to the extent of killing the person they are drawing from. The Whites are also the only vampires that can be considered anything other than an enemy to Harry, as he's worked with them when the need has arisen. To say more is to go into a bad and spoiler filled place, but the White Court is as key to the series as the Red Court is.

Probably the ultimate bad guys of the series are the Black Council, so named by Harry because they seem to be wizards operating in direct opposition to the White Council. So little is known about them that it's hard to even write about them. What is known is that, directly or indirectly, they have been behind many if not most of the events in the series. It is also clear that one or more members of the White Council are secretly on the Black Council, and the the Black Council has wizards of terrifying power on their side. It seems more and more likely that, as the series heads towards it's conclusion in another 7-10 books or so, the fight against the Black Council will be front and center.

So that's the major bad guys taken care of. There are plenty more minor ones, and all are well written and credible threats. Fortunately Harry has a few allies to give him a hand.

The Good Guys

So theoretically at the top of Harry's list of allies would be the White Council of wizards. This is the organization to which he belongs after all and are charged with keeping the magical peace. The problem is that Harry has found himself in opposition to them in so many ways and so many times that I almost put them on the list of ambiguous bad guys. Let's call them ambiguous (at best) good guys. The catch is that while the organization may, in theory, be devoted to doing good, it is governed by very old men and women who are far too fond of rules over effectiveness. Even to the point of letting the bad guys win rather than break a point of protocol. The expression 'cut off the nose to spite the face' comes to mind here. Given that Harry is all about effectiveness over rules, is informal as all hell, and has very little respect for authority a bunch of hidebound old wizards that conduct their meetings in ancient Latin with thousand year old points of order might clash with his style. Of course there's also that the Wardens, the council police force, have twice condemned him to death but thats far more fun to read about on your own. Certain individual members of the council are definitely friends of Harry however. These include Ebenezer McCoy, who finished Harry's training, Anastasia Luccia, body-displaced commander of the Wardens, and Carlos Ramirez, youngest ever Warden lieutenant to whom Harry is something of a hero figure.

The Chicago police force, specifically the Special Investigations branch, are another group that has Harry's back. Initially they were distrustful of him to say the least, but over time that changed to the point where they eventually come to see him as one of their own. In no small part this is due to Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, the SI commander, who comes to be counted as possibly Harry's closest friend. Both officially and unofficially the police help Harry with his investigations and deal with threats, but they're limited to the physical side of things.

For help with the more supernatural foes Harry often turns to Michael Carpenter, a contractor, a churchgoing man, and also a Knight of the Cross. As one of God's knights he wields a sword with some of the nails from the cross embedded in the hilt. This makes it one of the most potent magical weapons on Earth and it, plus his own faith, make him more than a match for seemingly far more powerful beings. His biggest weakness is that he is scrupulously honorable, something his foes are far too aware of and will sometimes trap him with it. Still his kind and honorable nature makes him a much gentler character than he could have been otherwise. Often enough in literature when a character is strong in their Christian faith, they are also annoying as hell, often judgemental and preachy. If more Christians in the real world were like Michael Carpenter...ok, I'd still probably be an atheist but I'd be nicer about it. Other Knights of the Cross, and other members of Micheal's own family, all prove to be stalwart friends and allies to Harry over the years.

One of the more interesting quirks in the series is that wizards are almost totally incapable of using modern technology. Their magic inevitably ends up hexing anything with modern electronics. It's why harry drives a forty year old Volkswagon Beetle for example. It also means no computers, but Harry has something better. He has Bob the skull! Bob is a spirit of intellect trapped in the form of a human skull. Owned by generations of wizards he was used to record their experiments and remember their spells, as well as having access to a vast store of general information that he imparts to Harry. As written Bob seems innocuous and funny, addicted to smut and romance novels, and with a sense of humor that echoes Harry's own. But Bob is always a reflection of his owners, and some of his previous owners were all kinds of evil. When something wakes those memories up Bob becomes goddamn terrifying. Butcher uses Bob very well for both comic relief and exposition. He was written as a deliberate, if gentle, 'screw you' to one of Butcher's creative writing teachers who cautioned against using 'talking head' characters created only for exposition.

Dresden also has a knack for turning enemies into allies, if sometimes grudging and ambiguous ones. Boy I seem to like the word ambiguous. Apart from Marcone, and some of the fae, he has converted werewolves, White Court vampires, and more than a few demi-humans into allies of varying degree. The werewolves in particular almost come to operate as Harry's own enforcers, while the vampires (with one exception) are reluctant and untrustworthy allies at best.

People that have read the series know I'm leaving more than a few people and beings off this list, and being less than forthcoming about others. There's just no way to go into more detail without spoilers and I just can't do it. There's too many good reveals that are best encountered out in the wild so to speak. I will just say this: Family is complicated and dogs are awesome!

That TV Show

Ok, so a few years ago there was a tv show on Syfy in the U.S., and Space in Canada that was called The Dresden Files. It was based on the books and, well, it wasn't bad. It also wasn't all that good either. It got a lot more people reading the books, which is a good thing, but it could have been so much more than it was. There were weird changes made for the sake of tv that diminished the character, and it almost totally missed the wit that Butcher wrote into Harry. Still it's worth watching on a rainy day, but do read the books first.

In Conclusion (finally)

What can I really say here? This is just a purely outstanding series that I look forward to more than any other right now. My one word of caution is that the first two books in the series are nowhere near as good as the others. They are still a good read, far better than most other options on the shelves, but it's a bit of a slow burn to greatness. The third book kicks things up a few notches, in no small part because it introduces Michael Carpenter and the Red Court of vampires. By the time you get to the fourth book? From that point on this series is about as good as it gets. The following cartoon illustrates the general reaction to the series.

So, nothing much more to add other than this: For the love of heaven, with the strongest possible recommendation, read these books damnit!

The Series (in order)

Storm Front

Fool Moon

Grave Peril

Summer Knight

Death Masks

Blood Rites

Dead Beat

Proven Guilty

White Night

Small Favor

Turn Coat

Changes

Side Jobs (a collection of all the Dresden Files short stories)

Ghost Story

- George Lister

Follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

Top Five Webcomics

2012-05-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest things the internet has done for society has been allowing mass communication for minimal cost. One of the first examples of this was not so much a good thing, speaking of course about email spam. Thankfully humanity evolved, or at least our spam filters did. Now when I think about the topic things like the Arab Spring come to mind, where a small number of people were able to direct huge masses and effect real societal change.

On a far more frivolous note the same principle is why Justin Bieber has a career. Say what you will about Bieber-fever, that this bit of fluff kid could rocket in two short years to being the hottest entertainer in the world all thanks to You Tube really demonstrates the power of the Internet.

Any way you look at it though, you don't need to be toppling evil regimes or becoming a floppy-haired teen demi-god to take advantage of this. Trying to sell your obscure still in the package action figure? Ebay. Need lots of signatures on a petition in a hurry? Change.org. Want to see what a few thousand other people thought of a particular move? Rotten Tomatoes, or IMDB, or Flixter, etc.

Or take this humble blog as an example. Every month I get a few thousand people reading this thing and that's all kinds of cool (especially since that number keeps growing). When I used to write for a small weekly newspaper we had a circulation of maybe fifteen thousand, and I could never be sure how many of those people were actually reading what I'd contributed. Now every single hit I get is somebody directly reading what I'm writing so there's every chance that my audience is already as large as it was back in my newspapering days.

Writers have always had options to get their work seen though, even if those options are far better today. There were letters to the editor, fanzines that could be cheaply produced, and the pamphlets so beloved by the lunatic fringe pre-internet. Now if you were an aspiring cartoonist? There your options were a lot more slim. Maybe you could get picked up by a small paper, but most of them used syndicates. If you pulled a fluke start like Gary Trudeau did with Doonesbury then those same syndicates were your best friend, but those odds make the lottery look like a rock solid investment. If you were really dedicated, and it suited your work, and you had enough money you could try self publishing comic sized books, but that was another longshot and one that took a ton of effort.

And then along came the internet. In remarkably short order webcomics took off like crazy. This was helped in the early days by the nature of dialup internet access. A webcomic, especially one done in black and white, could be uploaded and viewed easily even when your data was chugging through at 56Kbps (if you were lucky). For those of us early adventurers on the “information superhighway”, a term that makes me giggle now, webcomics were a good source of content to keep us in our seats and at the computer. Relatively few of those veteran comics still survive, but a couple have been around for fifteen years or more. That's longer than 'Calvin and Hobbes' or 'Bloom County' lasted in print. And, while content on the internet has grown to include everything up to streaming HD video, new webcomics continue to show up. Most don't last long but some stick around and eventually grow the kind of audience that rivals all but the top print comic strips.

The webcomics I choose to read have changed over time, but I still read a dozen or so every day. In fact I read far more of those than of traditional print comics with only 'Doonesbury' and 'Dilbert' regularly making the cut. From the ones I read daily I've culled a few that really stand out. Some of these are too tech oriented for a general population to really enjoy, like User Friendly (www.userfriendly.org). Others are kind of like 'The Simpsons', once pure genius now down to the odd chuckle (I'm looking at you 'Sluggy Freelance'). What's left might not always be pure gold, but are definitely worth the read.

#5 - Real Life Comics

by Greg Dean

This strip, started back in the prehistoric year of 1999, is one of literally thousands of reality based strips that originated around that time. Of course Dean's grip on reality might be less firm than most. While the inspiration for the comic is his real life, hence the title, let's call it a very loose adaptation at best. For every strip that you just know happened for real, there are three that involve time travel, a giant mecha, or an evil genius successfully taking over the world before coming to live in the spare room of the lead character (named, of course, Greg Dean).

While the storylines tend to veer wildly between the two extremes, the real life factor is always there. When Greg's girlfriend left him in real life, she was written out of the strip as well (despite being a huge part of the first few years). When he met a new girl named Liz, she was quickly added in. Even their subsequent wedding, several moves, a return to school, and most recently the birth of their first child happened in both real life and 'Real Life'.

The style of the humor is fairly broad but there is definitely a geek edge to it not uncommon to webcomics. In 'Real Life' it's a fairly approachable thing and deals mostly with geek topics that are accessible to a general audience. For example almost everybody has heard of the Tardis, or seen enough 'Star Trek' to get the odd Trek joke. The supporting cast is also used very well, each bringing something to the particular type of story. The more realistic strips almost always involve Greg's wife Liz, or his place of work. The crazy sci-fi influenced geek fests tend to revolve around Tony, the aforementioned evil genius, and Dave his videogame addicted henchman. What this webcomic excels at is an incredibly consistent style of art, almost equally consistent degree and style of humor, and an all ages suitability. There is never any profanity that isn't censored in-panel and, while there might be the odd vaguely suggestive bit, it always leans closer to clever than dirty.

Where 'Real Life' has issues is with delivery of the strips. Long time readers like myself know there is going to be a certain inconsistency about how many strips there will be every week and when exactly we get to read them. While Dean tries for a Mon-Fri five comics a week goal it's pretty rarely met if outside forces conspire against him. Given that this isn't his full time job and that he has an infant daughter, outside forces are pretty much always conspiring against him.

That being said this is still a comic I at least look for every day. It might not be my favorite one on this list, but I think that Greg Dean might be the creator I'd most like to meet. After thirteen years of following his life in semi-autobiographic fashion it'd be all kinds of fun to see the real guy behind 'Real Life'.

New Comics Mon-Fri (in theory)

www.reallifecomics.com

This is very real life...

This is very 'Real Life'

#4 - Girls With Slingshots

by Danielle Corsetto

A later comic on this list was what turned me onto 'Girls With Slingshots', or just GWS. Turns out a lot of webcomic creators are friends with one another. Read their blogs and tweets and not only do you get a glimpse into a sometimes very strange world, sometimes you find other good comics to read.

GWS follows Hazel, a booze and boy crazy twenty-something writer. While GWS isn't autobiographical to, say, the extent that 'Real Life' is, all you have to do is look at Corsetto's profile pics and compare them to Hazel and you know who she based that character on. Not that this is uncommon in the comic world. After all 'For Better or For Worse' was based on Lynn Johnston's own family, Jim Davis of 'Garfield' fame is the model for Jon, and Gary Trudeau famously admitted that “Yes damnit, I'm the model for Michael (Doonesbury)”.

The strip mostly stays to reality based humour, with a few exceptions. One of those is that Hazel has a talking cactus named McPedro that has a Scottish accent, although for a long time it was deliberately unclear if he was just an alcohol fueled hallucination of hers (he isn't). The typical strip leans fairly heavily on sex, but not necesarily in the way you might think. I mean it uses gender identity, sexual identity, sexual and romantic relationships, and gender differences to fuel the funny (also occasionally some drama and pathos). These are subjects and situations that most people have some familiarity with and the way she writes them makes them both plausible and oh so funny. Corsetto uses adult langunge to accompany the adult situations that she writes, so be warned this is occasionally NSFW, but always appropriate to the story.

Corsetto also isn't afraid to tackle mundane and somewhat depressing material. When the economy took a dive, particularly the newspaper business, Hazel lost her job. That's something far too many of us have had experience with in the last few years. From taking on menial jobs to having to move back in with her mom Hazel became the webcomic face of the recession, but somehow still brought the funny.

The supporting cast in this comic is excellent. The real standout is Hazel's best friend Jamie. She's a prodigiously busty and outgoing florist that gets confused by why Hazel has to pay for her own drinks at the bar. Jamie herself has had one of the more interesting storylines that has traced out a fascinating and evolving sexual identity. Originally identified as straight, she fell in love with another girl (Erin) in a romantic sense, but didn't connect sexually partly because Erin herself was loving but completely asexual. That situation has continued to change and add nuance with Jamie pursuing sex with men again, while remaining in a loving relationship with Erin who supports her need for sexual contact despite being herself uninterested.

So clearly this ain't Garfield, but it is damn good.

Available Mon – Fri

www.girlswithslingshots.com

@dcorsetto

Oh Jamie, you know not what power they hold

Hazel makes incipient alcoholism funny

#3 - Something Positive

by Randy Milholland

So this is the strip that got me hooked on GWS. In a nice bit of inter-comic diplomacy the two strips very loosely share continuity with each other and there have been several crossovers. This was kind of genius on their parts since I suspect each about doubled the size of their audience overnight. The strips have a compatible sense of humor and share a mostly reality based focus. As in GWS however, 'Something Positive' has a few reality defying moments and characters. Like trapdoor alligators, used to conveniently dispose of unwanted characters. Or a boneless and gelatinous cat named Choo Choo Bear that can travel through drainage pipes (and steals every scene he's in).

The focus character of the strip is Davan, who (surprise surprise) seems to greatly resemble Randy Milholland. Davan is possibly the most bitter lead comic character in comic strip history, at least at times. As the strip evolves he retains his bitterly ascerbic sense of humor but is a little healthier as an individual. Despite frequent comments about how ugly he is, Davan nonetheless has a series of girlfriends. That the relationships usually end incredibly badly is played for the kind of laugh out loud funny while still being melancholy situation that is kind of a hallmark of the strip. While certainly the lead Davan very graciously shares the stage with a fantastic supporting cast, all of whome have had multiple storylines focus around them. Hell, from time to time, Milholland will even devote a whole storyline to some of the oddest and most obscure characters. That such stories, without fail, work is a testament to his skill as a writer.

An example of this, that also shows the aforementioned melancholy humor, was a story that ran a few years back about Davan's father being diagnosed with Alzheimers disease. There was so much funny, mostly coming from him remembering his past with the same kind ascerbic humor possessed by his son. The end of that arc came as a surprise of the best and worst kind. There were laughs all around it, but there's also one moment of absolute and total poignancy of a quality rarely seen in fiction. If you've ever seen the episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer titled “The Body” you will have all the clue I'm willing to give about it.

As a rule this is one of my day to day favorite comics. This is partly due to the unpredictability of it. I never know if Milholland is gonna hit my tear ducts or my funny bone, or if he'll manage to get both at once. The quality, both writing and art, is consistent as hell. Sadly it's one downside is that it is almost as erratic as 'Real Life' as far as strip delivery, and given the dramatic nature of some of the storylines this can be a little frustrating.

Even so it remains extremely highly recommended.

New comics Mon-Fri, some weekends, some inconsistency.

www.somethingpositive.net

@choochoobear

The number I've people I know who've been here is staggering

Davan again being luckier than he deserves

#2 - Least I Could Do

by Ryan Sohmer and Lar Desouza

In more or less continuous production since 2003 'Least I Could Do', or just LICD, is pretty much the shining example of how to do a modern comic strip. Sohmer, the writer and creative engine, presides over one heck of a creation. For the first few years there were a couple of different artists for the strip, so that led to wild inconsistency in the art. The writing however stayed solid and Sohmer kept producing until he found just the right artistic partner in Desouza back in 2006.

Since then they've been a production machine and together have made LICD one of the few webcomics to not just be profitable, but rather successfully so. Part of it has been that, from day one, it's been approached as a real job and not a hobby. That led to maybe a smarter decision making process, or at least a more consistent one. For example, while being very smart about using the internet to make the comic more than it would be on the printed page, they made sure every strip stayed the traditional print dimensions. That has let them far more easily make (and sell) print compilations as a series of well received books. While most webcomics offer some variant of this, LICD is unique in having all but the most recent storylines so available. The business first approach has also led to something rather remarkable; they've never missed a day, and they run six strips a week with a Sunday feature.

Of course none of this consistency and professionalism would matter one little bit if the strip wasn't good. And, yeah, it's good. It's even crossed the line into greatness often enough that one day it might just stay there. It is unapologetically politically incorrect, while at the same time showing the kind of respect for people and their differences that you wish our politicians had. It is most certainly not for kids but adults will enjoy it on so many levels. There's bawdy humor, political humor, topical humor, and even the odd sight gag or two.

More so than almost any other webcomic, LICD revolves around one character, in this case Rayne Summers. Less so than almost any webcomic, Rayne is only passingly autobiographical to his creator. In the webcomic Rayne is pure id. He says whats on his mind, thought and action are almost one single movement, and he doesn't suffer fools even a little bit. He is unfailingly generous to his friends and family, smart as hell, and not above getting his hands dirty. He is also simultaneously self-absorbed (yes, a contradiction to his generosity but it happens in real life too), obsessed with sex, vehemently against any sort of long term relationship, and a man child deeply in the grasp of Peter Pan syndrome. To say that he is a freaking facsinating character is underselling it a great deal. The rest of the supporting cast is great too, but make no mistake they are supporting as all hell. This is the Rayne show baby, just the way he likes it.

Sohmer isn't above using humor to offend those who need offending (usually through Rayne), or against blowing his own horn. Hell, sometimes he does both at once as with a strip where Rayne goes to a comic convention and offers to buy a webcomic artists entire stock of merchandise if he can prove he hasn't missed a strip in an entire year. Of course he can't (but his mom thinks he's really talented). Other strips have involved setting up a real life 'Angry Birds' game (turns out painting a bird red does NOT let it smash through wood), helping a friend through a personal trauma so bizarre I feel it must have been inspired by real events, or masterminding a corporate takeover of a newspaper and re-inventing that business model in way that real media companies should seriously consider.

This comes damn close to being my current favorite webcomic. It is excellent on every conceivable level and I just couldn't recommend it more highly.

www.licd.com

@sohmer

@lartist

Not gonna lie, I'd probably try this

Best use of twitter in the history of ever

#1 - Questionable Content

by Jeph Jacques

Now this is the strip that got me back into reading webcomics after I sort of drifted away from them in the early 2000's. Actually it was my boss at the time who introduced me to it and between the two of us using company resources to view the strip inadvertently succeeded in getting it on the list of banned sites for that particular company.

QC follows Martin, a twenty-something music hipster who is sort of slacking through life. In short order we meet Faye, a slightly bitter but fun female counterpart to him. It is through their meeting and becoming friends that the rest of the cast comes together. More than any other comic on this list, QC is a true ensemble piece that is ever evolving. Dora, Faye's boss, is brought in fairly early but stayed in the background while Martin and Faye did the will they/won't they relationship dance. Later she came into her own as did Hannelore, an OCD girl with an initial Martin obsession. Martin's best friend Steve sort of drifts in and out of the strip as a utility player, as does Martin's boss Tae who is a self described pint size butch lesbian. There's a lot more characters than these, and damn near all are great, but I've only got just so much time. Seriously huge cast here people.

The award for best supporting character goes to Pintsize however. Pintsize is one of the few clues you get that QC is not exactly set in the real world. He is an Anthro-PC, or a self aware AI in a vaguely 1/6 scale humanoid body. These are apprently common items in the QC world with there being Linux variants (the all have scraggly hippy beards) and ones made by Apple (that look like giant iPods). Pintsize is sex obsessed, self-absorbed, and at one point had a military grade combat laser installed leading to the loss of Martin's security deposit. As written a little Pintsize goes a long way, both for the reader and the character in the strip, but Jacques uses him kinda masterfully and he gives the strip a little sci-fi kick every once in awhile (as do a few other moments, see one of the examples).

The funny in the comic though comes from very real places. I am pretty far removed from my 20's, but I remember those angsty years where I was educated and supposed to be all grown up, but didn't have a damn clue what I was really supposed to be doing with my life. The characters in QC started in that palce and, to varying degrees have either moved through it or gotten mired there. In both cases there's great storylines to be had and the funny comes through on a wide number of levels. Not unlike LICD, QC mixes a number of different styles of humor but is considerably more toned down in terms of language and topics. Sex comes up pretty damn often, but the visuals are usually SFW as are the words. There is less melancholy than 'Something Positive', but when Jacques does use it the writing is just extraordinary.

The two things that make this webcomic my day in, day out favorite are almost wholly unrelated to one another but both further speak to the quality of the writing. First this comic has given me so many one liners and quotable remarks over the years. In that respect it's like the Daily Show of webcomics. One of my favorite examples of this is included with this article. The other thing that absolutely keeps me coming back is that Jacques has crafted a cast full of such rich personalities and well developed characters that I've become emotionally invested in their fictional lives. That's a rare thing to pull off with a novel, let alone in the fragmented short form that is the comic strip. It is, also, ultimately the one thing that makes me rank 'Questionable Content' as my current favorite webcomic.

New comics Mon-fri
www.questionablecontent.net
@jephjacques

You know you'd buy one

I have used the phrase 'mantenna array' disturbingly often since reading this

Read this strip damnit! Hell read all of them, but set aside some time. Each has an archive stretching back years and trust me it's worth going through them in historical order. If you've got a favorite webcomic that I've missed (and there are thousands of them out there), leave a comment with the address and a brief line saying why people should check them out.

Happy reading!

- George Lister

Follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

Best Fantasy for Pre-Teens

2012-05-07T00:46:00.000-07:00

In all my years as a bookseller, and known book enthusiast, probably the most common question I get asked is what would I recommend for a young reader (for our purposes let's say 9-12, younger if an avid reader/mature, older if not so much). Given that I'm primarily a fantasy geek, go figure that's where I draw most of my suggestions. Fortunately that's one genre with plenty to offer a young reader. It also happens to be the most popular genre with kids right now, something that has been true for many years but got a lot of extra emphasis from Harry Potter. That being said Harry Potter won't be on the list. It's not because it's not great for pre-teens, it's about the best thing out there. Everyone knows that though, so I won't belabor the obvious as most parents are looking for something their kids will want to read either pre or post-Potter.

Some of the books on this list will be familiar, some I'm hoping less so. In all cases they've been selected with pre-teens in mind so the violence won't be unnecessarily excessive and the sex non-existent.

The Chronicles of Narnia

by C.S. Lewis

I know what you're thinking, I can feel it from here. Something to the effect of “Well duh!”, or similar sentiments. The thing is there are two things that have sort of pushed Narnia off the radar of some of today's parents.

The first is a sort of backlash against the perceived Christian bias of the books. To anyone who has a hint of an idea what to look for, yeah the whole series is one long Christian allegory with Aslan as Christ etc. To kids though? Well they just don't get that out of it. Take me for example. I was, with no false modesty, a very advanced reader and thinker for my age. But when I first read Narnia it didn't send me off to the bookshelves looking for more Bible stories, it sent me looking for more fantasy novels! I strongly suspect that, without parental intervention, most kids would react the same way. Similarly I didn't originially pick up on one other point I clearly see as an adult. There is, to my possibly over educated eyes, a definite sub-textual anti-woman sentiment in the books. Lewis is just fine with girls, boys and men, but when a girl becomes a woman she ceases to exist in his writing (i.e. Susan who is written out of the last books and denied the reward given her siblings). The solution to both is being an active parent with your reading age children. If you want to use Narnia to reinforce Christian concepts, then discuss it with them and do so. If you don't, then by all means discuss the books but let them come to their own conclusions (and I guarantee it leads them to the Fantasy aisle not Religion). The anti-woman issue, well it's just not gonna come up until they've had a few (possibly a few too many) literature classes.

The other thing that keeps people away from Narnia these days is that, despite Hollywood's best efforts in the movie versions, it's seen as just being very old-fashioned and it really really is. The thing is that quality, combined with the overall excellence of the writing, makes it damn near perfect for pre-teens. When people say that Narnia is old-fashioned, it seems mostly that what they're saying is that the story is event driven and not people driven, and this is true. Furthermore the relationships are all platonic and/or familial. To an older reader this might seem to make the story a little more dull and certainly less realistic, but to a pre-teen whose knowledge of relationships is largely platonic and/or familial this is not a drawback and even an advantage in terms of them enjoying the story on it's own merits. Basically girls and boys are still just friends, possibly icky, and just barely starting to be confusing so they don't need a deep human connection or love story in what they're reading.

On the whole the Narnia books are filled with adventure and vivid imagery. The story moves along at a quick clip and there are certainly enough deeper themes relating to bullying, bad behaviour, consequences, and loss to give emotional resonance. If you want to impart deeper meanings found in the books to your kids by all means do so, but don't worry about them picking it up on their own.

The Magician's Nephew

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Prince Caspian

The Voyage of The Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Horse and his Boy

The Last Battle

The Prydain Chronicles

by Lloyd Alexander

Once more popular than Narnia, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain series has fallen on some hard times. First published in the 1960's it took it's inspiration from Welsh geography and legend and brought a slightly harder edge to books for children than had previously been the case. Really what the series did was inform people that kids could handle a darker story and inspired multiple generations of writers since.

The Prydain Chronicles tells the story of Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper at Caer Dallben and follows him from age 14 to 19 (roughly). A youth of unknown parentage and very humble circumstances he nonetheless becomes involved in battles and plots far above his station in life. Taran makes almost the perfect main character for a series like this as he is easy to relate to and, even though he matures and comes into his own, never becomes a superhero or has the weight of being the 'chosen one' put on his shoulders (well, kind of). The supporting cast is one of the best in childrens literature as well, the standouts being the truth challenged bard-king Fflewdur Fflam, a demi-human named Gurgi, and the Princess Eilonwy (who gets some of the best lines and is a great female role model).

Just as the series started to fade it should have risen back to hit the bigtime in the early eighties. Disney had bought the rights to the series some time before and came out with a movie based on it.

Problem was that Disney royally screwed the pooch.

See, powerhouse though they once were (and, obviously, would be again), Disney in the early eighties was a money bleeding creatively drained shell of a company. They took parts of the first two or three books in the series, drained all the wit and joy (but kept the darkness) and called it The Black Cauldron (which is the title of the second book in the series). Personally I enjoyed the movie a lot, but once I read the books a year later it just paled horribly by comparison. Sadly that movie is all most people know about the series, if even that much and there's been no big push to change that.

So Prydain has continued it's slow decline. The books are still available in multiple editions but you'd likely have to order them. That pains me because it really is such an excellent series. The plots are great, tight, and age appropriate (if occasionally dark and scary). The characters, as mentioned, are fantastic and while there is a romantic sub-plot between Taran and Eilonwy it is a very muted thing until the very last book. Extremely highly recommended.

The Book of Three

The Black Cauldron

The Castle of Llyr

Taran Wanderer

The High King

The Belgariad

by David Eddings

Now this one is straight out of left field. While not an obscure series by any stretch, as just about every fantasy fan has at least heard of it if not read it, it's not considered a childrens series. Thing is, well, it really should be and here's why.

First there's nothing in the books that is unsuitable for younger readers. Yes there is violence and battles and, yes, some of the consequence of war and fighting are shown but they are not graphically described, nor excessive, and fully appropriate to the story. Similarly there's nothing romantically or sexually inappropriate. There is a love story, but it's handled so well, and there's so much else going on that kids will either appreciate it or ignore it according to their own development.

And that's the second reason this is such a good series for pre-teens: Damn it tells a good story. In a nutshell the five books of the series follow Garion, a young scullery boy being raised on a busy farmstead by his Aunt Pol. He is illiterate and is content to dream of nothing more than one day owning a farm of his own until everything changes overnight when he is fifteen or so. In short order he learns that the garrulous old storyteller that had often visited was the mythical Belgarath the Sorcerer and Aunt Pol was really his daughter Polgara the Sorceress. That this means that he himself is more than he appears escapes Garion, a true innocent, for quite some time.

Rather quickly the boy finds himself travelling with companions each almost larger than life. These include Silk (thief, spy, and source of comic relief), Barak the very viking-esque sailor and warrior, and Hettar the horsemaster and sabre-fighter. To this company is eventually added Ce'Nedra, the haughty teenaged half-dryad and princess.

The plot is basically this: Quest for magical thingmagummy, save the world from darkest evil, let the chosen one come into his own, blah blah blah. That sounds very dismissive and trite, but it's also true and pretty much how David Eddings himself described it. The man had a Master's in literature and wasn't trying to re-invent the wheel here. He knew the elements that went into making a good story and he assembled them in workmanlike fashion. What he did that set the series apart was fill in the blanks in that story with wit, strong characters, and some incredibly well done worldbuilding.

This series seriously preoccupied my brain from age twelve on. I still go and re-read it every few years, even though it seems just a little too innocent and naive for me now. Still, that's the quality that makes it a good pre-teen read. Two words of caution here. This is a BIG series, each book running into the hundreds of pages so advanced readers only. The second thing to be aware of is that there is a sequel series, The Malloreon, that is neither quite as good nor quite as suitable for kids. Still, if they love The Belgariad they'll get to The Malloreon in due course.

Pawn Of Prophecy

Queen of Sorcery

Magicians Gambit

Castle of Wizardry

Enchanter's End Game

The Girl With The Silver Eyes

by Willo Davis Roberts

And now my oddest and most obscure choice. First this isn't a series, it''s a single book (though as a child I devoutly hoped there were more). Moreover this is not a fantasy book, more properly it's sci-fi as it's set in the real world with the fantastical element being psychic powers. Lastly it skews a little younger than the other books I've suggested with the lead character Katie being only nine or ten. So you might be asking what this book is doing on my list. Fair enough.

It's because it's really, really good. Like just off the charts enjoyable.

Katie, the lead character is for the most part a very ordinary girl except for her bright silver eyes. Well, that and the fact that she can move things just by thinking about it. She has a nice variety of psychic talents, some of which are left kind of undefined, but include the aforementioned telekinesis, some telepathy and some clairvoyance. As the book opens Katie and her mother are just getting used to living together, Katie having been raised by her grandmother until she passed away.

What makes the story so compelling is Katie as a character. She's portrayed as smart and strong, but definitely bruised and vulnerable. When her life is complicated by a neighbor suspecting her powers, and a mysterious man lurking around her, she takes action by trying to find other kids like her. When she does the story really kicks into gear nicely and ends in a way that is both awesome and supremely frustrating.

It's awesome because, well, it's just a really well done ending. I, personally, like to see nice things happen to characters I've come to care about and the ending gets that just right. What it also does, fairly unintentionally I'm sure, is set the stage for what could be a fantastic series and that's the frustrating part as no such series exists. Still, there is this one truly excellent book and I'm good with that.

So that wraps up this list. There's lots more great fantasy out there suitable for kids, but I only have so much time and space to play with. If there's a series you particularly think should be recommended to others leave a comment below.

- George Lister

Follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

The Avengers: Holy Freaking God

2012-05-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

I don't normally do movie reviews, and this isn't gonna be a long one, but...

The Avengers might be the best comic book movie of all time. Seriously. I'm not a paid plant and I'm not exaggerating. It is simply that freaking good. Even now, two hours later, I'm too wired to do much else but still contemplate with a fierce kind of joy how much I loved that film.

Earlier in the week I wrote a bit about the parts that went into making this movie, but now I've seen how it all came together. In that article I said that I doubted any comic book movie would ever supplant Superman as my all time favorite due to both how awesome it is and for all the happy nostalgia attached to it. I just thought that would be too much for even The Avengers to overcome. I was way wrong.

See, while there is no moment of supreme awesome to compare to Superman catching the helicopter (and nothing like the almost overpowering greatness of that John Williams score), neither are there any scenes of Otis bumbling about in the subway. I guess what I'm trying to say is that The Avengers is a far more balanced movie and it really doesn't make a single misstep. Which is crazy because there's so many ways this could have gone off the rails.

I mean this could have easily become Iron Man (and to a much lesser extent The Avengers), but it didn't. Don't get me wrong, Iron Man/Tony Stark plays a major role and steals a lot of scenes, but he doesn't run away with the movie. It could also have become Joss Whedon Presents Buffy and The Avengers because this is one writer/director with a well known style and turn of phrase, but it didn't. In fact this is probably the least Whedon-y thing he has ever done, but at the same time it feels like his work in all the best ways. There's several laugh out loud moments when you least expect them (and from the person you least expect as well), a moment of tragedy handled for maximum impact, and strong characters all around. No surprise he does a particularly fine job turning Black Widow, used poorly at best in Iron Man 2, into a strong and nuanced character.

I'm gonna keep doing my damndest not to spoil anything here, but let me break the movie down a bit. The first hour and a half is setup, but really good setup. We learn a little more about the characters, get some great action sequences, and see a team full of potential fail to live up to it. When they get their act together in the last forty-five minutes? Those might be my favorite 45 minutes I've ever spent in a movie theatre. Well actually that's a total lie, but for sure my favorite 45 mintues spent actually watching a movie in a movie theatre. When this team comes together, when they start really kicking ass as a collective unit, it is a magnificent thing.

Look I'm a lifelong comic book geek. On some level I've been wanting to see this movie since I was five years old. This sets up both expectations and could make me prone to ignoring flaws. My expectations were exceeded on every front and, honestly, there were no flaws even worth calling anyone out on. Best thing I can say to support my argument here is that my mother in law, a fifty-something year old woman who is most assuredly not a comic book geek, would agree with everything I've written so far. She even volunteered that is was one of the best movies she'd ever seen, period.

So, to wrap things up, don't avoid this film. Don't wait for the crowds to die down because the clapping, cheering, and laughing echoing through the theatre is a great thing. For the same reason don't wait for it to come out on video. I don't care how great your home theatre is, this one needs to be seen on the biggest screen you can find with a few hundred other people.
In short? Go see this movie damnit!

5/5

-George Lister
Follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

Avengers: Some Assembly Required

2012-05-03T00:16:00.002-07:00

It's a very safe bet that if you're reading this that you're aware that there's a little movie coming out this weekend called The Avengers (or Avengers Assemble outside of North America). It's gonna be a little cult hit I'm sure, appealing mostly to comic book geeks...

Ok, I just started giggling and couldn't finish that thought. Comic books themselves might still be a cult geek thing, but comic book movies? They might just be one of the highest performing genres in film history, and The Avengers has a legitimate shot at becoming the biggest hit yet. Yes it's got a long way to go to match the massive box office of The Dark Knight (over a billion dollars worldwide), but if any comic book movie has a shot at the title it;s probably this one. Pun fully intended, here's how you assemble a great Avengers movie.

The Big Three

What we're getting onscreen is not exactly the classic lineup seen in the comics, but that's probably a good thing. The characters have, mostly, been properly introduced in previous films so it cuts down on the amount of meet and greet needed before getting the main story underway. This particular lineup also has what I'd personally consider the big three Avengers.

Iron Man has historically been money, mind, and muscle for the team. He's funded them, used his scientific background to figure out problems and, lets face it, he can kick more than his fair share of ass with that suit. He's also been a great source of drama partly due to his personality, partly to his ongoing battle with alcoholism. I expect the former to come into play in the movie, the latter not so much (although it is telling that he has a drink in hand for one key scene featured in several trailers).

Thor has been one of the most on-again, off-again Avengers, but he's been there for all the big moments and is, arguably, the biggest gun the team has. I mean if you need someone to deliver a truly humungous beat down, who better than a thunder god? He has also represented a literally otherworldly force for good, someone who elevates the rest of the team to near godhood themselves. In the trailers he seems to be more used for humor, but as long as he brings the thunder I've got faith it'll have the right effect.

Captain America is the character that the team, and possibly the movie, will succeed or fail by. Although not one of the founding members he so quickly became not just part of the team, but it's leader, that I can't think of a really successful Avengers lineup that didn't have him involved (West Coast Avengers excepted, lifelong Whacko fan here). He's the heart, the moral centre, and the face of the team. He's the guy that makes regular humanity feel ok with having a team of demi-gods watching over them, but also the guy that keeps those same demi-gods in line. He's the tactical genius that knows how to hold the team together and use them to be more powerful than they ever could be as individuals. That heart, that tactical skill, that leadership have all been hinted at in the trailers and I'd be surprised not to see the movie make the best of this character. While one of the least powerful Avengers I'd make the case that he's the greatest of them all.

The Supporting Cast

Of course the big three aren't the only Avengers in the movie. Hawkeye is a key character in the comics, even having led a team on several occasions. How he ends up being used in the movie I don't know, but the trailer hints that it's gonna be pretty close to his early comic appearances. For many years Hawkeye had something of an inferiority complex, and not without reason. I mean he's a guy who's really good at shooting stuff on a team with people that can bench press houses. That can lead to some issues, but also made Hawkeye a character with whom the reader could relate. He and Agent Coulson seem to share that role in the movie, Hawkeye trying to keep up and Coulson trying to keep his inner geek in check.

Black Widow is the character who I know the least about in terms of her role in the movie. She has been a part of several Avengers teams in the comics, but not in any truly iconic fashion. In the comics she's been a Soviet spy, a female super soldier, a full on superhero, and an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., but none of the trailers really gives much of a clue to her real role in the movie. I'd be tempted to write off her role as window dressing, much as she was in Iron Man 2, but I'm hearing some very interesting buzz. That the movie is written and directed by a man known for his strong female characters (more on this later) lends credence to that. Not gonna lie, curious to see how she was handled.

So that pretty much just leaves Nick Fury and the Hulk. Fury's role we have seen in the lead up movies and in the trailers. He leads S.H.I.E.L.D. and puts the team together, along the way delivering lines of epic badassery as only he/Samuel L. Jackson can. That's pretty much all we need to know, the Hulk is where the real mystery comes in. I have to say I hated the first Hulk movie so very much. It was so bad it lost me my right to choose what movie my then girlfriend and I would go see for over a year. The second movie was miles better, but compared to the other recent Marvel films it just didn't do it for me. I'll be honest and admit that I've had a love/hate relationship with the Hulk in comics too, with only a very few writers managing to make him an interesting character to me so the movie versions have had some baggage to overcome with me.

I hear from people I trust that The Avengers version of Hulk is gonna smash my baggage to little pieces and, y'know, I can see that happening. Of all the main characters expectations for the Hulk are so very low that if they deliver a knockout with him it might end up being the standout moment of the movie. We shall see, but I'm cautiously optimistic and his scenes already have people talking.

All in all, between classic characters done right, and surprise takes on a few others, the lineup chosen for this movie alone could make it the biggest comic book movie ever. There's still more going for it however.

The Build Up

Each of the four lead characters has had at least one full movie to introduce them. This will surely let The Avengers get off to a fast start with the introductions already done, but also creates a few other bonuses. It doesn't hurt that each of those movies was at least a modest hit (The Incredible Hulk) with most having been both blockbusters and critical favorites. That means that there's a pretty big fanbase that's ready and waiting for the movie. That kind of pre-release anticipation creates it's own kind of advertising, with at least one poll suggesting that there were as many people who hadn't seen any of the previous films wanting to see the Avengers as there were who had. Those are serious 'Holy Crap' kind of numbers right there. The anticipation level has, of course, also been helped along by the now infamous post-credits scenes in the recent films.

Starting right from the first Iron Man movie we've been treated to hints and teases about The Avengers. Back in 2008, at the end of Iron Man, we got the first hint that this was in the cards when Nick Fury popped up. Still it seemed like such a geek pipe dream that no one dared really take it seriously until The Incredible Hulk did something very similar. With Iron Man 2 it became pretty explicit; not only were more Marvel heroes coming to the big screen, but we were really gonna get an honest to God balls out Avengers movie. When Thor and Captain America hit last year, and both gave us not just teases but pretty concrete hints about the direction The Avengers would take? The geek joy was so intense it spilled over onto the mainstream. The buzz on this is so intense it has almost completely overshadowed the Dark Knight Rises, the final instalment of Christopher Nolan's box office record holding and critically acclaimed Batman trilogy and I don't know many people that would have bet on that happening.

So there's been lead in, teasing, and a masterful PR campaign. All this has led to an almost unprecedented level of anticipation. The topper on all this is that almost all of the advance and overseas reviews have been not just overwhelmingly positive, but enthusiastically, even joyously, so. This last is due to Marvel having selected possibly the best possible choice to direct and the last part of our assembly process.

The Whedon

Let's get this out of the way first. I drank the Joss Whedon kool-aid years ago. I consider Buffy, Angel, and Firefly to be some of the greatest television ever created. I even consider Dollhouse to be genius, albeit flawed. Joss Whedon also wrote one of my favorite arcs in recent comic history on Astonishing X-Men, as well as having contributed to and/or written some of my favourite movies such as the first X-Men film and Toy Story.

So clearly the man can write. He also has a ton of experience with writing superheros for page, television, and the big screen. While his directing experience is more limited, he did successfully bring Firefly to movies as Serenity, a movie more than a little beloved in my circles. So his cred as a geek friendly writer and director bought him a lot of goodwill right from day one. Actually good will is far too tame a term. Let's be honest here, if geeks had a king Whedon would be it. More seriously he is someone that clearly knows the characters and the genre and that knows how to walk that fine line between treating those characters with respect, and being tied down by their history and baggage. He might actually have been the only person out there who could have taken this ensemble cast, this mass of popular characters and their history, and stitch it all together into something not just coherent but awesome.

So when you add all this up, we're looking at something special here. I doubt that The Avengers will replace my all time favorite superhero movie. Superman will likely always hold that title, there's just too much happy nostalgia and awesome there. Nor do I think The Avengers will dethrone Nolan's The Dark Knight as the best movie based on a superhero. That one had so much going for it and was critically beloved to the tune of eight Oscar nominations and the posthumous win for Heath Ledger's fantastic portrayal of the Joker. Could the Avengers become the most fun superhero movie ever? That sure seems possible, and so does it taking the title of box office champ. It's got everything going for it at this point and, frankly, I can't remember when I was more anxious to see a movie. For me Friday cannot get here fast enough, but for now I'm off to read some comics!

- George Lister

Follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks

The Iron Druid Chronicles

2012-04-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

by Kevin Hearne

The urban fantasy landscape is a pretty cluttered place these days. It wasn't all that long ago that this sub-genre didn't even have a name, now it seems to dominate the shelves. With so much product out there fantasy readers can be forgiven if an awful lot of it seems pretty similar. Witch/wizard in our modern day society, yet somehow hidden, that works as a police officer/private eye that has an ill advised romance with a vampire/shapeshifter. If you think about it that describes a scary amount of urban fantasy. Then there's this tagline: 2300 year old druid, owns a bookstore in Arizona, avoids relationships but gets to sleep with the occasional literal goddess.

Ok, that's different enough.

And just as my pithy description of other urban fantasy series doesn't do them justice (as, frankly, my two favorites can be so described), neither does that tagline really capture Kevin Hearne's 'Iron Druid Chronicles'. It starts out with a different hook than most true, but what's more important is that it doesn't squander it. It is one of those rare debut series that comes damn close to living up to the originality of it's premise.

At the heart of the series is the titular druid himself, Atticus O'Sullivan. That, of course isn't his real name. When you've lived over two thousand years you probably go through more than a few aliases. That's especially important when you don't appear to age. For all that he is literally older than Christ (a fact that comes up in truly hilarious fashion) he appears to be about twenty-one years old. As the story opens he is living a low key life in Arizona, running a small bookstore and apothecary. As much as he is trying to stay off the supernatural radar, however, it's pretty much futile. When you're the last of the true druids, have an arrangement with the Celtic goddess of death, and possess the most dangerous magical sword on Earth you have to figure that your life is gonna be interesting.

The first book, Hounded, introduces Atticus and most of the supporting cast in fairly straightforward fashion. I will say that, despite having a vampire and a werewolf as his lawyers, and more than one goddess for an occasional lover, the character that most steals the show is Atticus' Irish wolfhound Oberon. Atticus can shapeshift into dog form and, even as a human, can speak with Oberon who gets some of the series best lines. Hearne cleverly uses the dog as comic relief, an aide to the minimal exposition needed, and to take the wind out of the sails of pretentious humankind (in a way that dog owners in particular will really get). Hounded is a very good book all in all, especially considering that it's a first novel. It is focused, funny, and original with really well thought out magic and action. The book also stays mostly focused on the Celtic mythology one would expect from a druidic character while hinting at a larger magical world.

Hexed, the second book in the series, is where we start to see more of that world. It also deepens the Atticus character, giving him a little more backstory, and continues to have both great action and really honest to God laugh out loud funny moments. The best of those involves a Star Trek reference I won't spoil because it's too fantastic when you do come across it. The second best, at least from my perspective, is an extended sequence that has Atticus hanging out with Jesus. Yes, that Jesus. Yes some people will be offended by it. No, I was not one of those. That appearance by Jesus, by the way, is part of the larger world I mentioned. In a way not dissimilar to Neil Gaiman's American Gods pretty much every deity that has ever existed still does in one way or another, along with all sort of magical and mythological entities. If I have any major criticism of the second book is that it's a little bit disjointed. In fact it reads like a novella that has two or three short stories appended to it. The quality of the writing is still extremely high, and I enjoyed it a lot, but the book doesn't really tell one large story so much as several that don't totally connect.

By the time we get to Hammered, the third book, Hearne has gone back to a more traditional novel structure. There is a section just after the halfway point where the book once again becomes a series of short stories, but this time they're connected and integral to the larger novel surrounding them. The third book too is where we really get some serious payoff for various hints and subplots that have run through the series. In previous books it was mentioned several times that Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is not only a complete asshole but has managed to offend just about every other mythological being. In Hammered some of those so affected decide to pick a fight with Thor and rope Atticus into making it possible. Ultimately it reads like a magical version of The Dirty Dozen, or maybe Inglorious Basterds if you want a more modern reference. Again funny, again great action, but this book marks a major turning point for the series. Atticus' actions, from this book and books past, have had consequences and those have started catching up with him. The book ends with a cliffhanger of sorts. I say of sorts because Atticus is not mid-peril when it ends, but you know very bad things are coming and coming fast.

Of course that's pretty much a perfect way to end a book when you know there's another one coming after. I'm happy to say that Tricked, the fourth book and the start of a new arc for Atticus, just hit shelves this past Tuesday and I look forward greatly to reading it.

To wrap it up, this is very impressive debut series. There is some unevenness, particularly in the second book, but overall the pacing is very good, the humor top notch, and the action (magical and otherwise) is very well done. The original premise is matched by an equally original magical system, great characters, and thorough worldbuilding (something sometimes lacking in urban fantasy, particularly from new authors).

Read these books damnit!

Hounded 4.5/5

Hexed 3.5/5

Hammered 4.5/5

- George Lister

Follow me on twitter @damngoodbooks