The Hugo Endurance Project

Way Station

2012-05-27T15:19:00.001-04:00

Stats

Way Station by Clifford D. Simak

1963 Hugo Award Winner

Got it from: Our Library

225 Pages

As Way Station begins, we learn that the CIA has been monitoring Enoch Wallace for many years. He has committed no crime; he is no threat to national security. Instead they concerned because he is nearly 125 years old. He fought in the Civil War at the Battle of Gettysburg and no one can explain his elongated years, nor do his neighbors care to figure it out. What they find when they start to investigate his property more closely is alarming to say the least.

Turning a phrase

Way station is a welcome respite from the pace and paleness of many of the other early Hugo winners. The way that Simak could create a sense of place and fill it in with the kind of details that stick with you, was something completely different than the other winners up to this point. Imagine you visited the same valley every summer, then one year you don’t make it until autumn and you see all the colors of the leaves and smell the crisp air and it is an entirely new place. That was exactly my experience with Way Station. Well…not literally, but so much SF lures you in with incredible science and fantastic spaceships or intergalactic warfare and just generally assaults the senses into shock and awe. Simak invites you in, pours you tea and introduces you to a character-led story that is both relaxing and as gripping as any high-flying SF.

I may have complained before that some, especially Zelazny, like to throw their readers into the middle of a story and let them catch up in their own time, likely many pages in. Simak eases you into a world which is every bit as strange, but helps you to feel so much a part of it you can’t help being interested from the very first page. Of course both styles are absolutely respectable methods for beginning a tale, but in this case, Simak introduces his characters with a grace and thoughtfulness that rivals any of the best literature (mainstream or genre). Just have a taste or two:

The noise was ended now. The smoke drifted like thin, gray wisps of fog above the tortured earth and the shattered fences and peach trees that had been whittled into toothpicks by the cannon fire. For a moment silence, if not peace, fell upon those few square miles of ground where just a while before men had screamed and torn at one another in the frenzy of old hate and had contended in an ancient striving and then had fallen apart, exhausted.

…

There were proud names that were the prouder now, but now no more than names to echo down the ages—the Iron Brigade, the 5^th New Hampshire, the 1^st Minnesota, the 2^nd Massachusets, the 16^th Maine.

And there was Enoch Wallace.

He still held the shattered musket and there were blisters on his hands. His face was smudged with powder. His shoes were caked with dust and blood.

He was still alive.

Chapter 1

“His name,” said Lewis, “is Enoch Wallace. Chronologically, his is one hundred and twenty-four years old. He was born on a farm a few miles from the town of Millville in Wisconsin, April 22, 1840, and he is the only child of Jedediah and Amanda Wallace. He enlisted among the first of them when Abe Lincoln called for volunteers. He was with the Iron Brigade, which was virtually wiped out at Gettysburg in 1863.”

Chapter 2

You could see the smoke right? Smell the gunpowder and just picture yourself among the peach trees? I know I could. And if that wasn’t enough to make you want to dive head first into Way Station, then he begins Chapter 2 with that second gem. Come on—that’s just too much fun!

Building a universe

Amidst those beautiful descriptors exists some pretty loosey-goosey scientific descriptions and alien creatures. Simak was nowhere afraid to dismiss laws of physics or explanations of some of the underpinnings of the universe. In contrast to such precision in his storytelling elsewhere, is that a bad thing?

My first thought is that this would normally detract somewhat from any story. Certainly people always notice, and many are bothered, when some anachronistic bit science or defunct company name pulls you out of the story. When alien technology is so foreign and unexplainable, or when something is so glaringly ridiculous, it can interrupt a story just as much as the worst anachronism.

This is exactly the kind of thing that happens in Way Station. What’s that—an amorphous blob in a tank, clicking at Enoch to leave him alone? How does that work? Not sure, but let’s not think about it too much and just move on. How about the suggestion to make everyone in the world too stupid to understand technology? Well, practically everything we use is some kind of technology and that so much of the meaning of our existence comes from our interaction with technology (so says Heidegger anyway) so I’m not sure exactly how that might work.

But you know what? Those “problems” are also what make this book wicked cool! Super-freakazoid aliens and wacky theoretical science are pretty rad in themselves and Simak, finds a way to make it rad-er! In Enoch’s universe, it is precisely the unintelligibility that contributes to his feeling of loneliness, hopelessness and on-again off-again pessimistic view of humanity. I mean, what could have had me questioning the story so much that it could have been difficult to read, actually ended up propelling the story and contributed to the feeling of dis-ease about the world. Yeah, that’s bad…Michael Jackson bad.

Recommendation

If the Clifford D. Simak Estate were looking to pay someone to just read and re-read this book over and over forever…I’d do it. No lie. I can’t say enough good things about this novel. It reads like literature, poetry sometimes, and sounds like SF. There are crazy aliens, sweet space travel, an awesome house, beautiful landscapes, complex personalities and despair at the human condition. Is there really anything more you could ask for?

HEP SCORE

Universe 5/5

Social/Political Climate 5/5

Dialogue 4/5 (It was good, but this was more a contemplative novel)

Scientific Wonders 5/5

Characters 5/5

Overall 24/25

The die being cast

This week’s book is Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner. Huge. Too many words. My week is going to suck.

Next week’s book is Gateway by Frederik Pohl. I have heard and been interested in so much of his work, but this will be my first bite, so I’m pretty psyched.

Red Seas Under Red Skies Read Along Week 5

2012-05-26T13:25:00.000-04:00

Well, it’s finally over. Ten weeks of the most exciting and profane read along ever. If you haven’t been following along, you really missed out. If you didn’t listen to the audio, you didn’t miss out quite as much but you still missed out! Thank you so much to everyone who organized and came up with the great and sometimes purposefully leading questions J Seriously, this has been so great.

1. Oh my god, such a lot going on I thought the showdown between the Poison Orchid and the Sovereign was brilliantly written and they were holding their own until Utgar and his nasty device turned up. Well a lot of you had kind of predicted it, and I suppose we’d been let off too easy so far in terms of deaths of well-liked characters – but come on, did you expect something like that? And how on earth will Jean ever recover?

I thought this was particularly cruel. I mean, Jean has already had his parents die. Then his best friends were killed and after his second (actually probably third after Father Chains) major loss, he was expected to be the strong one and pull Locke out of his funk. GIVE THE GUY A BREAK WILL YA!

I was actually really surprised how quickly Jean regained his composure and real talk, it felt a little forced. I mean, after Locke’s brief and feeble attempt at consoling him, he all of a sudden becomes this rational, reasonable man. I suppose he later took it out physically and maybe that’s just how strong and in control Jean is, but I don’t know… I guess I expected him to maybe break half the world off or something. Is that really all that much to ask?

2. The deceit, the betrayal, first Rodanov and then Colvard. Even now I’m not entirely sure I understand Colvard – Rodanov was never keen on the oath but Colvard seemed okay with it all and yet in this final deceit she was more devious than Rodanov – what do you think was her motive?

IMHO, the whole council was a pretty big mystery. Throughout both of these books Lynch has not been afraid to take a huge chunk of time giving us some juicy history and the complete absence of information here, seems either a gigantic oversight or major clue re: THE NEXT BOOK. I’m not inclined to believe this was an oversight, but I’m also not sure I really believe this will be touched on in the next one, though I’d like that.

3. Merrain – such a puzzle, no real answer, the mysterious tattoo, the determination to kill everyone to keep her identity and that of her master a secret. Does anybody have any ideas where she’s from and what she’s up to exactly and who the hell is she working for??

I am not willing to talk about Merrain yet. She is the reason for Locke’s life being in question still! Funny thing is… I’m not pissed that Locke has an incurable poison coursing through his veins, I’m upset that I have to wait till the next book to figure out how the hell he’s gonna fix it! Whoever she is, whoever she is exactly, man I hope she pays and isn’t just forgotten.

4. Finally we get to the point of the GB’s latest scheme, all that elaborate planning for two years, fancy chairs, gambling, dust covered cards, abseiling lessons – all for one gigantic bluff. I loved the diversionary tactic here but having finally reached the end of the story and, more to the point, the end result – do you think the GB’s are as clever as they think they are?

I do think they are as clever as they think they are! It seems to me their failing is that they don’t think there are other people out there who are just as clever and devious. That and Lynch’s world is so complex that there are really just some things that could never be predicted. The fact that they have survived two books worth of psychological and physical assault proves they are pretty genius.

5. I must admit that I liked Requin and Selendri – particularly at the end – I don’t think Requin will go after Locke and Jean, he was even sort of cool and composed about it all, in fact he came across as a bit pleased with himself because he had the last laugh. Plenty of good characters this time which did you enjoy reading most about this time?

I actually liked Caldris. He was one of the few people who could put the GB’s in their place since Father Chains. They were so out of their element that this old, crusty sailor could absolutely control every part of their day. They were so frustrated – it was pretty hilarious. And his silent fury over Locke forgetting the cats! Who else could make Locke feel that sheepish?!

6. Finally, a triple barrel question, I know I shouldn’t ask this BUT, on reflection do you have a favourite between LoLL or RSURS?? And why? Are you going to pick up Republic of Thieves? And, where do you think Lynch will take us to next??

Hands down, LoLL. The excitement of meeting and getting familiar with Locke and Camorr and the gang just can’t be beat. The language and insults were punchier, more vulgar, and off the charts crude. I was constantly laughing during LoLL and the characters seemed a little more fully developed. There was an energy in LoLL that I just didn’t get from RSURS that I’m not sure I can explain fully. Which isn’t to say that RSURS wasn’t good. In fact, I think RSURS was the easier of the two to read and though there were some surprises, I was happy that there wasn’t any surprise unknown bad guy reveal.

The Rules tried to kill the metal... and they failed, as they were thrown to the ground!

2012-05-25T14:47:00.000-04:00

THANK YOU WWE!

Also, don't try to kill The Metal

The Little Prince

2012-05-24T23:57:00.000-04:00

A while ago, I mentioned that I put my name in the hat for the French authors Challenge over at Beware of the Froggies. My goal was to finish just one review, though now that I’ve finished, I’ve got another in the works, so it looks like I’ll be surpassing my original goal. Anyway, my first book is The Little Prince by Antoine de St. Exupéry, which is apparently one of the most translated books from French into English ever. I had never heard of it before this challenge, which probably means I’m just a disconnected lump. Anyway, without further ado.

Stats

The Little Prince written and illustrated by Antoine de St. Exupéry

Published in 1943

Got it from: The Library’s Juvenile Section

83 pages

As a boy, he grew up feeling unable to connect with adults. As a man he becomes a pilot and forgets how silly adults can be. After a crash landing in the deserts of Africa, he meets a mysterious and insightful little boy from the stars.

The boy, the man

Ostensibly, this story is about a boy who helps a man remember childhood and teaches him to take himself both more and less seriously. He reminds him of himself and reminds him that there is more to life than philosophy and numbers and politics and that his younger self was right about some things. This part of the story is fun. I don’t know that I necessarily saw the world this way when I was young, but I do remember thinking that adults just didn’t understand about important things. I’m sure we all felt that way. This part of the story reminded me of that time and it felt good.

But the other part of the story is that the boy learns something too. I think his discussions with the man and the telling of his travels gave him perspective. When he lived on his asteroid, he was unaware of all the other beauty in the world and when he finally discovered it, he realized an even deeper beauty back home; “The stars are beautiful because of a flower you don’t see…”

The words, the pictures

The innocent wisdom of the boy that is portrayed so magnificently in words is channeled directly in the illustrations. Watercolors and simple designs portray the essence of the boy perfectly. The incorporation of the pictures throughout the actual text, made it read almost like a graphic novel, both the words and pictures simultaneously.

One of my (many) favorite pages

In the beginning, I didn’t really love them, but they very quickly grew on me. Their effect was twofold making the boy, his home, his flower and then sheep look as innocent and honest as they sounded and they made some of the more silly adults look even sillier. At first, I thought they might be either cutesy and boring or pretentious and flat. In the end they felt natural and augmented the story, further cementing my curiosity about the boy and later my attachment to him. All in all, I think it was a better book for them.

Recommendation

This is one of those children’s books that are intended just as much for adults as children. I imagine that children might get as much out of it as adults too, though I wonder if it might be too sad in the end (I guess it was sad for me too though). The story is simple and the illustrations too, and that is precisely TLP’s charm. It isn’t perfect but it’s fun and sweet and asks you to question your outlook on life and you can get it from the kids section in the library. I don’t know about you, but I love it when I find something fun there. For one thing, it’s close to the puzzles where my daughter plays and also I just like to make my way all around the library.

You Say You Have This Man

2012-05-21T23:42:00.000-04:00

“All right, then,” said Hardwicke, “let’s start over once again and take it piece by piece. You say you have this man…”

His name,” said Lewis, “is Enoch Wallace. Chronologically, he is one hundred and twenty-four years old. He was born on a farm a few miles from the town of Millville in Wisconsin, April 22, 1840, and he is the only child of Jedediah and Amanda Wallace. He enlisted among the first of them when Abe Lincoln called for volunteers.”

Way Station by Clifford D. Simak

This is how you begin a story if you want me to fall in love with it at first sight. A beautiful setting, interesting characters and intergalactic suspense. It’s gonna be a good week of reading...

Lord of Light

2012-05-20T14:04:00.001-04:00

Stats

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

1968 Hugo Award Winner

Got it from: Our Library

296 Pages

Imagine you are one of the first settlers of an interstellar colony. You could have free reign over how you’d structure society. You could do anything. Who wouldn’t at least entertain the thought of taking over all technology and couching your entire existence is Eastern religious beliefs?

When we enter Lord of Light, it has been many lifetimes since just such a thing happened and now, one of those firsts is uncomfortable with the treatment the gods have been giving the rest of the colony. His name(s): Buddha, Siddartha, Mahasamatman, Sam, the Lord of Light, the Binder of demons. His mission: Sack Heaven.

Who the… What the…

When I began LoL, I didn’t totally understand what was going on and though everything made sense internally, I needed to place it within some context and forced myself to read a little about the book earlier than I would have. But it was still mysterious how they gained these powers and exactly how they exercised their attributes. Even if we never got anything more than the back cover copy, I would have loved to learn more about the technology the gods controlled. Instead, it was just a fact of existence and because it wasn’t ever talked about, it made the mystery even more excruciating.

Their technology was undeniably cool and they could control elements and the minutest physical properties of the world. I just kept thinking, “when is he going to explain all this?!” As we learned more and the gods’ abilities continued to just be treated as a normal fact of life, the mystery of exactly who the Firsts were and the history of the creation of this planet was too much for me. I was practically laughing with excitement when it was told one of the gods was named Madeline; I just wish there was more. With so much happening and gods constantly switching bodies and names, it sure would have made it a little easier to make sense of all the busyness too.

Especially in the case of Sam, I think a little more information would have been very helpful. He’s been called the trickster character, but I’m not sure that I agree. I think Sam has a very specific goal of undoing social injustice. Sure he is breaking normal rules and kind of acting a fool generally, but I don’t think he is simply mischievous; he has made his own decision to change things and isn’t limited to just inducing others to action. He is consciously making this choice to tear down the social structures he originally worked to put in place. But then there are also a lot of things about him that fit the model of Trickster perfectly. I don’t know, I guess I could be convinced either way. Anyone wanna chime in?

I also wonder how anyone with little or no understanding of Hindu thought and culture would be able to make sense of the vague backgrounds Zelazny leaves us with and then the references to other minor characters and gods and rituals that are peppered throughout. This has to be without a doubt, the most dizzying of the Hugo’s thus far. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

With that being said, I think this is exactly what people enjoy about Zelazny. It happened in This Immortal as well. Zelazny just throws his reader in the middle of not just some kind of action, but an entirely different world with different natural laws and complex, foreign social arrangements. It is a bit disorienting at first, but once you find your place, his worlds are so completely satisfying and detailed that you can’t help but get sucked in. It also makes me wonder if the re-read value of these books would be extra high? I suspect so.

Agni, The Beast

I only took one course in college on Hinduism and it was one that I didn’t really get much out of. I do seem to remember that that I may have written a paper about fire rituals and Agni was surely the most interesting to me. This Agni did not let me down. His outfit could have been something out of David Bowie concert, or maybe also Kanye? Regardless, he looks and fights pretty BA and if after reading this, you aren’t jumping all over this book, I don’t know how to help you.

“He stands very tall,” said the demon, “and he wears black breeches and boots. Above the waist he has on him a strange garment. It is like a seamless white glove, upon his right hand only, which extends all the way up his arm and across his shoulders, wrapping his neck and rising tight and smooth about his entire head. Only the lower part of his face is visible, for he wears over his eyes large black lenses which extend half a span outward from his face. At his belt he wears a short sheath of the same white material as the garment—not containing a dagger, however, but a wand. Beneath the material of his garment, where it crosses his shoulders and comes up upon his neck, there is a hump, as if he wears there a small pack.”

“Lord Agni!” said Siddhartha. “You have described the god of Fire!”

“Aye, this must be,” said the Rakasha. “For as I looked beyond his flesh, to see the colors of his true being, I saw there a blaze like unto the heart of the sun. If there be a god of Fire, then this indeed is he.”

“Now we must flee,” said Siddhartha, “for there is about to be a great burning. We cannot fight with this one, so let us go quickly.”

Chapter 4

So in the movie it sounds like Agni would be played by Elton John, no? Well whatever… the point is that Zelazny’s characters in both This Immortal, and (but especially) LoL have been thoroughly entertaining. My only complaint this time around is that they were too interesting not to give us more!

Recommendation

This one is a real test of its readers. It is definitely well worth the energy but you need to be prepared to give it just that. Don’t do something stupid and try to finish this as fast as you can in a week ;-) Be prepared for quite a lot of mystery about characters that you just want to know everything about. For me, I really loved the people and the places but I was kinda hoping for something more from the actual telling of the story. I know! It was like a wine with a great mid-palate and no finish! There is a whole lot there to love but in the end it falls a little short of expectations. I’m not sure I was able to give it a fair shakedown though. I would normally love all this mystery and vagueness; I’m not sure why it was a problem for me this week. I was so busy this week that I had to read the final 100 pages yesterday, so I think I need to put this right back on to my TBR pile now. Maybe I’ll go for the audiobook if it exists.

HEP SCORE

Universe 4/5 (Loved the secret hideouts and gods running amuck around heaven)

Social/Political Climate 3/5 (a little confusing, a lot mysterious)

Dialogue 2/5

Scientific Wonders 5/5

Characters 4/5

Overall 18/25

This week’s book is The Way Station by Clifford D. Simak. The fact that this is set in the past has got me drooling with delight. Oh wait, that’s just because I need a nap.

Next week’s book is Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner. Yet another new author for me. I’ve been racking up the new authors this decade. Also, this is the last book of the 1960’s so very soon there will be the flood of awards – gravity well, another M of the P, all the wrap up’s, what else is there again?

Red Seas Under Red Skies Read Along Week 4

2012-05-19T20:57:00.002-04:00

Hey everybody! Remember the Gentleman Bastards? Well, they’re back in Scott Lynch’s 2^nd in the GB series, Red Seas Under Red Skies. The read along has actually been going on for some time now and I’ve been struggling to keep up for 3 weeks but I finally got back on schedule. Woohoo! I was so happy when I finally got back into this one. Listening to Locke and Jean’s shenanigans is by far, one of my favorite times of any given day and really the best way to spend the morning, afternoon commutes and actually every other driving opportunity. I find the sequel to be much less profane with certainly a good many fewer ridiculous insults. Nevertheless, it has been amazing and there are so many times that I just can’t contain a stupid grin or total outburst of laughter. So good.

Week 4’s questions were supplied by nrlymrtl at Dark Cargo. Go check.

1) I was much relieved when Jean and Locke made up, which started with Locke's gesture of a cup full of honesty with Cpt. Drakasha. Do you think that was hard for Locke? Or was he using this bit of honesty like any other weapon in his arsenal to get what he wants in the end?

Any other time I would say Locke was just manipulating him, but when it comes to Jean it seems to me that Locke has no problem being sincere and telling the truth. I took it as a straight up apology. This is why he was willing to tell Drakasha. I’m not sure that it sounded hard for him, but maybe awkward. He really does seem to trust Jean and I think he actually believed that Jean was right. They are such best buddies!

2) The Parlor Passage: We still don’t know Locke’s true name, but whatever was in that mist does. What do you think it is?

Thirteen gods, that was the most disappointing thing ever! I was literally bouncing in my seat waiting for the reveal and then we didn’t get his real name… So frustrating! I do like hearing Jean’s full name though so that was nice. As to what it was – my first inclination was some kind of Bonds Magi thingy, but historically my guesses about the Gentleman Bastards haven’t been very accurate.

3) There was an interesting section of the book that started about where Locke assisted Drakasha in selling the Red Messenger; he put on the persona of Leocanto Kosta and used the alias Tavras Callas and then Drakasha was still thinking of him as Ravelle..... Did using all those various aliases in such a short amount of time have your mind spinning a little? Do you think Lynch did this on purpose to give the reader a sense of Locke’s mind?

I actually liked when there was that moment of confusion in the book on the part of Drakasha after finding out about Locke’s aliases (some of them). It worries me. Locke has been brought way down off his pedestal in this book and it seems like he or someone is just bound to flub this up at the most inopportune time possible.

4) That was a sweet little kiss between Cpt. Zamira and Cpt. Jaffrim at the end of the Captains' Council. Do you think they have some history, or is it just innocent flirting that's been going on for some time?

Listening to the audiobook, this was actually something that I missed. The history of the Captain’s Council seemed really interesting though and I hope we get to hear more about it because that was one volatile group!

5) Jean and Ezri. Cue dove-cooing and little winged hearts with sparkles. Do you think Jean will stay with the Poison Orchid or that Ezri will leave her ship to pal around with Jean and Locke?

Who doesn’t like a little fan service ;-) That is a seriously hard question to answer! I am really hoping for some larger alliance to be created with Locke running shit. LIKE. A. BOSS.

6) What is Utgar up to? What are his motivations?

I hate this man. I hope he dies.

7) So last week we hashed over that Merrain killed some of Stragos’s guards on Windward Rock. But when Jean and Locke visit him, he doesn’t mention it. What is up with that?

I kinda thought that this was some kind of insurance policy for in case Locke and Jean get out of hand or if in the end Stragos just wants to find a reason to renig.

8) This week's section left us where the book began - Jean pointing a crossbow at Locke's throat. Do you think Jean knows who sent these crossbowers? Is he on their side? Is it a clever ploy to get him and Locke out of this predicament? Did you find it excruciatingly hard to stop here?

I think there was one stopping point in the LoLL read along too when the mastermind of these read alongs may have deliberately chosen a stopping point for the most torturous effect possible. This might be another instance of that kind of thing happening.

6) What is Utgar up to? What are his motivations?

But really, I just hope he dies. I mean this book is like a Dane Cook Joke where there are 7 or 8 sub-jokes before you finally get through to the initial joke. These schemers have made this book so convoluted I don’t know if I’m reading backward or forward. These two have so many other challenges to get over, do we really need this too?! This is getting to be too much for me (not really).

Who's A Stupid, Fat Hobbit Now?

2012-05-15T23:03:00.000-04:00

I've been a little remiss lately. I haven't had time to get on the blog as often as I'd like and I've been a little disappointed with my reviews lately. As I sat thinking about which books are in the running for The Gravity Well and whether I've missed anything, I realized I forgot to announce the 1960's Master of the Precious award for R. A. Heinlein's three Hugo Winners. If you missed any of these reviews, here they are:

1960 - Starship Troopers

1962 - Stranger in a Strange Land

1967 - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

The best HEP Score came from TMHM, which was also one of the highest scores in general. Really though, if you read my reviews, the choice is simple here. Starship Troopers was good. Not great, not terrible, and as I said in my recommendation -- his philosophy was rather limp and mostly fell flat. SiaSL was amazing at first. Mike's transition to Earth was captivating and hilarious. I actually barked out laughing like an idiot quite a few times. But then, the second half of the book becomes so preachy and most of the dialogue is just an excuse for Heinlein to lecture for pages at a time that it was very near unbearable.

TMHM stood out in a league of it's own. Even after reading this book just under a year ago, I still enjoyed just about every minute and it was easy to place in the as yet nearly uninhabited paragon list. TMHM was so much better, I'm not even going to bother dragging this out. You know it. I know it.

So there it is. When it comes to Heinlein’s 1960’s Hugo Winners -- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is the true Master of the Precious.

Which also means Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land are the Frodo and Samwise of stupid, fat Hobitdom. What's Tater's Precious?

A Canticle for Leibowitz

2012-05-13T15:41:00.000-04:00

Stats

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

1961 Hugo Award Winner

Got it from: Hardcover from my library

320 Pages

Their freshly painted signs read:

ABANDON EVERY HOPE

WHO ENTER HERE

Chapter28

Centuries after nuclear holocaust devastates the entire globe, humanity is still trying to recuperate. When A Canticle for Leibowitz begins, we are struggling through a second Dark Age. Much like the original Dark Ages, it is the monks and priests who are preserving what intellectual and scientific remnants are left. While secular knowledge and social structures have diminished, the Church remains.

Brother Francis is an unassuming novice in an order occupying the desert southwest, lobbying for the canonization of the beatified Leibowitz of the ancient times and after uncovering a relic of Leibowitz’s own hands, finds himself in a pivotal role that he’s not sure he can fulfill. The rest of the book takes leaps and bounds through millennia of this post-apocalyptic world from the second dark ages to another enlightenment and then space age.

Enter the Dungeon

My copy began with an introduction by Norman Spinrad which told of Miller’s conversion to Catholicism after taking part in a mission to bomb a monastery in WWII. I found this history and his conception of the book as a kind of replay of the historical dialogue of science and reason with faith to be mostly in the ball park and in that way helpful in placing a fairly dense novel within a familiar context. Spinrad’s explanation I think does a pretty good job of picking out those major themes which made this book so great in the 1960's and why it is still relevant today. Also it’s a gigantically huge spoiler and was yet another example of the type of introduction which might be better placed at the end of the book. Let me have my take and then I’ll listen to yours!

Personally, most poignant to me was the abbots and other monastic leaders. Their attitudes were not quite expected for religious leaders and teachers and their responses to some of the tough questions were so human and so desperate that it hurt! These men had absolute faith in God and their vocation and had spent their entire lives in study of religious doctrines. The absurdity (in the existential sense) of humanity knows no bounds though and their exasperation and frustration oozed from the pages of the book. I actually have a jar of it on my desk. I canned it.

Actually, there is so much about this book that I wanted to talk about this week, but to try to hit everything that was as great as the personal demons of a post-apocalyptic monastery would be impossible and probably less fun than just reading the book. The analogy of the onion and it’s layers is a trite one, and in this case not quite accurate enough. ACL is like a spiraling staircase through some dark, wet and musty torture chamber of theological and spiritual quandaries. I guess you could say that it was a lot like an onion in that it is really good for you (exploring your spirituality can be healthy :-) ) and also has the potential to make your eyes water. But really though, what makes this book great is the depth and many levels of meaning and significance.

Fool me twice – shame on me

If you look at the line-up of the Hugo winners between 1958 and 1966 only 2 or 3 of those titles don’t include or center on war or a post-apocalyptic dystopia. That includes ACL. Certainly, these are all very distinct novels but reading though this time period I find myself hoping for something that will stand out from the crowd. While I wouldn’t say this was the best of the Hugo Winners from that period, I will say that the dystopia of ACL is the most philosophically intriquing/depressing and in that way makes a name for itself.

…“Brothers, let us not assume that there is going to be war. Let’s remind ourselves that Lucifer has been with us—this time—for nearly two centuries. And was dropped only twice, in sizes smaller than megaton. We all know what could happen, if there’s war. The genetic festering is still with us from the last time Man tried to eradicate himself. Back then, in the Saint Leibowitz’ time, maybe they didn’t know what would happen. Or perhaps they did know, but could not quite believe it until they tried it—like a child who knows what a loaded pistol is supposed to do but who never pulled a trigger before. They had not yet seen a billion corpses. They had not seen the still-born, the monstrous, the dehumanized, the blind. They had not yet seen the madness and the murder and the blotting out of reason. Then they did it, and then they saw it.

“Now—now the princes, the presidents, the praesidiums, not they know—with dead certainty. They can know it by the children they beget and send to asylums for the deformed. They know it, and they’ve kept the peace. Not Christ’s peace, certainly, but peace, until lately—with only two warlike incidents in as many centuries. Now they have the bitter certainty. My sons, they cannot do it again. Only a race of madmen could do it again—”

Chapter 25

So hard to watch :-(

Even outside of SF, The Bomb has featured prominently in literature, especially during this time and Nuclear Holocaust is always frightening. To this day, the movies that haunt me most thoroughly are Grave of the Fireflies and Barefoot Gen (these movies literally make me want to just die). ACL is right up there with the best of them for creating a sense of despair about pending apocalypse, human frailty and disappointment about the bleakness of the human condition in general.

Where ACL goes above and beyond though is in the notion that after recovering from a world-wide nuclear holocaust that brought the entire planet back to the Dark Ages, the very same threat, looms again. Is there no hope for humanity? I can’t explain well enough to you the potency of the anxiety that this book gave me at times. Definitely on par with people melting in Barefoot Gen.

Recommendation

If this is your sub-genre, you need to be reading this. The book is split into three parts and while I’m not sure they’re as cohesive as I’d like them to be, they also can’t really exist on their own. Kinda strange. The first and third parts are really great and the middle was a little tough, but for those that like the post-nuclear holocaust literature. This is for you. Deep, dense and dark. The Three D’s – the essentials! Oh, I’m gonna use that again… I should also mention that the theological quandaries throughout the entire book are great and if that floats your boat than this one is for you too. It's one of those stories that grows and grows and grows on you.

Oh, and since I mentioned a couple of movies (Grave of the Fireflies and Barefoot Gen), make sure to see these two if you haven’t already. I think they are two of the best anti-war films in the history of cinema. Hands down. Fair warning though, they will ruin you. Check this terribly graphic clip from Barefoot Gen if you can handle it. It will be the most unsettling thing you will ever see in your life.

HEP SCORE

Universe 3/5

Social/Political Climate 5/5

Dialogue 3/5

Scientific Wonders 4/5 (A lady with two heads anyone?)

Characters 4/5 (Brother Francis was GREAT!)

Overall 19/25

The roll of the die

This week’s book is Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. Though I’ve only read one Zelazny title, I am a pretty huge fan. Excitement is building folks.

Next week’s book is Way Station by Clifford Simak. Simak is one of the grandmasters of Science Fiction. This will review will also get posted to the GMRC review challenge so that’s wuts up.

PONYTAILS!

2012-05-11T21:59:00.000-04:00

Reverent Destruction

2012-05-07T20:46:00.000-04:00

The lock seemed to be broken, but the lid had rusted shut. The box rattled when he shook it. It was not an obvious place to look for books or papers, but—obviously too—it was designed to be opened and closed, and might contain a scrap or two of information for the memorabilia. Nevertheless, remembering the fate of Brother Boedullus and others, he sprinkled it with holy water before attempting to pry it open, and he handled the ancient relic as reverently as was possible while battering at its rusty hinges with a stone.

Chapter 2 – A Canticle For Leibowitz

This is not so much an actual epic quote as it was an apt description of what I’ve been doing the last 15 weeks. I set out to finish this challenge in order to get to know the genre better and to force myself to do something difficult. So I’ve tried to give my reviews the attention they deserve, but instead I fear I’ve been “battering their rusty hinges with a stone”. There are so many things worth pages and pages of discussion in these books that I’m forced to skip entirely or force a brief mention to substitute for thoughtful meditation on a theme. Every week I aim for capturing the deeper meaning and importance of these works and every week I succeed only at stripping them down to the level of perfumed rubbish at best. Bear with me…I’m trying.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

2012-05-06T21:52:00.000-04:00

Love those robot arms!

Stats

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

1967 Hugo Award Winner

Published by If

302 Pages

In the near future, Earth has outlawed capital punishment. The Moon, Luna, has become a penal colony, to which those would-be-executed criminals are sent. Their warden couldn’t care less what one Loonie does to another so there are no laws, but they also have no rights either. For the most part they are a colony of ice miners and grain farmers, most of which they must send to Earth to meet quotas. It is because of this last fact that unrest has been building.

Double Star Redux

When it comes to calculated, organized political showdowns, Heinlein has done it before. In his personal life too, he ran for public office, though he wasn’t as successful as his fictional counterparts. I guess that is why both of his most political novels (Double Star and TMHM) begin and end with political newbies (sorry, I hate that word) making an end-run on an ambitious campaign.

While I certainly enjoyed Double Star, in the lunar revolution and the coming-to-personhood of a supercomputer of TMHM, Heinlein’s seemed willing to add a lot of complexity and the story was a hell of a lot more exciting, which is saying a lot. TMHM combines the best of his philosophical/theological themes with his insanely good action sequences to place it way up there in my list of favorite novels, and certainly one, if not the, best Heinlein novel.

You may also recall that my favorite aspect of Double Star was not so much the excitement of the political campaign, but the theme of self-discovery through being placed in an altogether unfamiliar role. Well I’ll be damned if Mike and Manuel aren’t both a rehash of The Great Lorenzo. Mycroft Holmes (Mike) is a super computer who essentially controls and organizes all the disparate computers and processes across Luna. One day, his network becomes so large that he “wakes up”. Being a computer, he has no need for revolution. Manuel, having no real ties to the government, other than that his family has been stealing from them for years, but no real desire to see the Authority leave, also has no real need for revolution.

Yet both Mike and Manuel find themselves a part of a revolution/political campaign to run the Authority straight of the face of the Moon. Not a small undertaking. In my opinion, Mike’s path to personhood was beautiful and poetic and if I could go out and buy a new computer right now, I’d be looking for one like Mike. Well, maybe an updated version. I’m not sure if Mike could stream Netflix? Manuel too, went through a very subtle transformation which to be totally honest, I’m still thinking about and trying to understand better.

Future History

I first picked up this book about six months ago because I had read a different book about a year ago. In The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, there is a pretty elaborate mission through time to save Adam Selene, Mike’s public persona. Based on that reference, I hoped TMHM would be worthwhile. Time travel and augmented life spans play an important role in a number of Heinlein’s other books and a great many characters exist in numerous books, even when there is no other connection between the two. Heinlein’s cumulative timeline(s) are called his future history and I would hazard a guess that it is probably one of his most significant and enduring contributions to the genre.

Sadly, I can’t really speak to how much of an impact his future history has had on the genre as a whole. I also don’t know it myself well enough to say whether it is very consistent or if on the whole it is very well done. I don’t know exactly how thoroughly his universe has been created and detailed. I do know that whenever an author takes a chance to add to a pretty fun character by stringing them through multiple books, I’m probably gonna love it. I also know that, whatever the future history’s larger effect on SF in general, as someone who has been reading SF for probably less than 10 years, the events and people that have made up parts of that timeline have been influential in the extreme on me personally.

Of course, his future history doesn’t actually make its way into TMHM, but the events and people are placed firmly within the timeline(s).

Recommendation

Reading TMHM is a lot like watching Mad Men; you have to go at it expecting some horrendously offensive garbage in there (i.e. “Lenore is a sensible fem and knows when to keep quiet”). And if you can do that, everything else is great! Yes, his politics are probably a little disjointed and Manuel’s voice wasn’t always consistent, but I found it all palatable enough to enjoy the rest.

HEP SCORE

Universe 4/5 (big props for a newspaper called The Daily Lunatic…NICE!)

Social/Political Climate 5/5

Dialogue 4/5

Scientific Wonders 5/5 (CREEPY cyborgs)

Characters 5/5 (I want so badly for Mycroft Holmes to be real)

Overall 23/25

The die being cast

This week’s book is A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. Another post nuclear war novel. I hope it actually adds something to the theme.

Next week’s book is Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. Author of This Immortal, which I loved. Told it’s even better. Can’t wait!

The Decision

2012-05-05T21:52:00.000-04:00

The Supreme Arbiter - Large and In-Charge
(Photo Courtesy Emmeline Frantz)

People, this is important so listen to me. Interwebs, you listen up too (I’m looking at you Wikipedia). I’m about to change history for all time.

I am about to dispel the myth that in 1966 two authors were awarded Hugo Awards for Best Novel. Well, I’m not going to do that so much as have the final say as to which was really deserving of the prize.

It really kills me to have so much responsibility and I loved both, so believe me, I don’t relish having this power right now (yes I do), but here were my decisions.

#################

Round 1 – Draw

Both books were insanely fun to read and the quotes I demonstrated were great for very different reasons. Apples to Oranges. I call it a draw.

Round 2 – Dune

This Immortal basically rolled over but the fan art and a band with a Dune namesake would have make it difficult to win anyway.

Round 3 – This Immortal

All I have to say is “my hellhound had arrived.”

Round 4 – Dune

I do like me some nebulous fear and danger, but honestly how can you top the Baron?

Round 5 – Dune

This Immortal put on a damn good show but as creepy as Earth was, Arrakis was more complete, compelling and WORMS!

For the original discussions:
Rounds 1 & 2; Round 3; Rounds 4 & 5

#################

Okay, I’ll admit it. Knowing how great Dune is, I was really pulling for This Immortal. I wanted to find a way for Zelazny to take this one. Alas, I could not make it happen. The facts were just too overwhelming.

World! You are changed forever. Though This Immortal was fantastic, it must hereafter always be considered a close 2^nd to DUNE, The OFFICIAL WINNER of this, our first Deathmatch and OFFICIAL HEP WINNER of the 1966 Hugo Award. Try to deny it.

1966 DEATHMATCH Final Rounds

2012-05-03T23:56:00.000-04:00

Round 4 Anathema…Explosion

Okay, evil dudes – you’re up.

Dune

You saw the picture of Baron Harkonnen from round 1. He is great. Harkonnen is the definition of dangerous. He will kill members of his own family. He will kill members of your family if he needs to. Do not let him near little boys. Absolutely do not do that. He’s also enormously gigantically fat so really he’s even a danger to himself right? He is such a despicable character, you are just begging for him to struggle with something or fail in any way, but he is too resilient and insanely smart for his own good. A feint within a feint within a feint.

When it comes to evil, Baron Harkonnen and the entire Harkonnen family rate about as high as they come on the vile-o-meter. And if you don’t have a vile-o-meter, rating high means you’re about as gigantic a dick as they come, which in HEP DEATHMATCH terms, means you’re hard to beat.

This Immortal

This is an interesting one. Conrad is committed to keeping Vegans from Earth. So much so that he is literally dismantling the major historic monuments to convince them there is nothing worth their while here. Committed. But they weren’t so much the immediate threat that the Harkonnen’s were for Paul. They were dangerous, not in terms of possibly doing violence to Conrad but that they might move to Earth and make humans into second-class citizens.

The other threat facing Conrad was even more mysterious. Conrad, though he suffered the Vegan’s presence that he was escorting, he was committed to keeping him safe on their tour of Earth. Someone in their group though was out to kill the Vegan, or maybe even Conrad. He couldn't know but it caused their entire trip to be the most unsettling journey ever. When he wasn’t battling mutants or robots he was playing detective and trying to figure out who was trying to kill him.

I guess what This Immortal lacked in single-source antagonism, it made up for in blanket mystery and planet wide threats. I guess if you can’t get more evil than Baron Harkonnen, your best bet is to expand your coverage, cast a wider net?

Round 5 Desert Thunder

This is kind of a strange category, but you have to admit that both of these books take place in deserts. I mean, you have to admit it. And given that fact, we must now force those two deserts to battle each other until someone’s brains are splattered on the wall.

Dune

Arrakis is such a crazy planet. It is both terrifying and deadly, but also extremely intriguing and inspires fierce loyalty. The worms, the giant worms are pretty awesome too. I think though that what is coolest about Arrakis is actually the adaptations that both the Fremen and the spice traders have developed. I’ve mentioned Stillsuits.

Hmm. I guess I thought Dune would put up more of a fight here but well, I don’t know what else to say. Reading about the desert planet is captivating and of all the desert planets it is probably the most popular. Maybe the only thing it has going for it is that it has holds this incredible transformative power. Not only does it physically, mentally and emotionally change a person when they go out there (if they survive), but it also holds deep within an opportunity to become a green, wet planet and that is something people will die for.

Okay, so I thought Dune was down and out but had something of a comeback. Was it enough though?

This Immortal

If you’ve ever seen The Hills Have Eyes you know exactly what to picture when you picture earth after The Three Days. Cobalt bombs have destroyed most everything that isn’t an island and maimed, disfigured and mutated anything that survived. The result was a landscape so treacherous and unpredictable that it was hard not to be on the edge of your seat.

Literally turning the corner from a perfectly safe area, you might find a Satyr or a group of mutants in a religious cult or maybe a sea-monster. You really don’t know what to expect other than some kind of grotesque monstrosity. Actually they weren’t always grotesque. Conrad’s immortality is reportedly the result of his mutation and his dog, Bortan, is a kick-ass mutant. But when you get out into the wild desert areas, the rules just don’t apply.

I really didn’t think it was possible that This Immortal would come close to Dune in this respect, but this is actually looking like a tight race for ruler of the universe’s desert power.

So that about wraps it up. I’m gonna take a day or two to deliberate and if you have any thoughts, now’s your time to contribute. I’m about the crown the winner for all time.

The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break

2012-05-02T22:45:00.001-04:00

Well, I’m finally getting around to a book for Stainless Steel Droppings’ Once Upon a Time IV Challenge! I actually finished this a few weeks ago but with my computer temporarily dead and no way to make regular posts in absentia compotator, I was a little delayed in finally getting this out. For those not aware, the rules for the Once Upon a Time IV challenge are as non-existent as the previous Sci Fi Experience. The difference being that this challenge calls on readers to explore Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Folklore and Mythology. The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break is kind of a weird one so I’m going to assume it counts somewhere between mythology and fantasy. Double credit? Eh? Well, maybe not, but let’s get to it.

Stats

The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break by Steven Sherrill

Audio book read by Holter Graham

9h 4m

Got it from: ‘Neil Gaiman Presents’ series on Audible

The Minotaur, “M,” lives in a trailer park in the South working at a BBQ shack called Grub’s Rib as a line cook. Oh? What’s that? You thought this would be about the same Minotaur trapped in the labyrinth devouring virgins? Well it is, but now it’s the 1990’s and he’s moved on. And he has a crush on one of the waitresses…

I know you probably already want to read it so I won’t give out as many details as I normally do.

Beautiful, quiet desperation

Though my brief description may not seem a likely candidate for beautiful description and prose but I can safely say that TMTCB contains some of the most astoundingly beautiful, poetic narrative I have read for years. Years.

To be sure, and as you might expect when The Minotaur is involved, some pretty terrible things happen and pretty frequently. Sherrill’s descriptions of people and places, even the most downtrodden and derelict create such a beautiful melancholy setting that there isn’t a moment that isn’t absolutely riveting. I know that is a word for boring critics and commercials, but this was honestly one of those books that just totally consumed me, every moment of the day.

The Minotaur's “human” condition

While The Minotaur may have once been a fearsome sight, he is now quite a dejected and solitary figure. He desperately pines for the most basic of human connections with others but if it isn’t his appearance that scares people away, it is his inability to respond appropriately in social situations that drives a wall between The Minotaur and his co-workers and neighbors. After years of struggling to feel a part of something, to feel human, The Minotaur is not only nervous to the point of paralysis, but when he does manage to insert himself into a social situation, he is invariably disappointed with his awkwardness.

His detachment is so complete that even the narration refers to him most of the time as “The Minotaur.” He is removed from society, he is removed from responsibility for his actions, and he shrinks away from human contact though there is nothing else he desires more. He is simply The Minotaur, more object than actor. And though he is so far from human, it is precisely that disconnect that makes him so human. We all know what it’s like to be the outsider and The Minotaur’s incongruous human/bull figure makes him so grotesque it’s somehow impossible not to identify with his pain.

Recommendation

Read it. You have to. I can’t think of a book with better more thorough and as I’ve said, beautiful descriptions of some pretty depressing shit. There is no one you will root for and be disappointed than M. There is also no one you will identify with more. Well maybe you were popular and in that case come for the amazing story. It will not disappoint. I mean how often do I have nothing to gripe about? Shouldn’t that be a pretty strong indication?

Also, if you get a chance, check out the audiobook on this one. Holter Graham is probably an actual minotaur in real life. How else could he pull this off so well?!

The Man in the High Castle

2012-04-30T23:37:00.001-04:00

The boring kindle-book cover

Stats

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

1963 Hugo Award Winner

Got if from: Kindle Store

288 Pages

Imagine an alternate history in which the axis won WWII. The U.S. and the rest of the world has been divided between Japan and Germany and totalitarianism reigns supreme. Germany has carried out their Final Solution world-wide and the Western United States has become dominated by Japanese culture. To be American is to be downtrodden, abused and disrespected but slowly one book begins to introduce the possibility that things could be different.

“When I hear the word culture, I reach for my Browning”

When I began TMHC, I approached it thinking I’d be reading about how laws are different or what conflicts take place or other such macro-level issues in the alternate past. Instead, TMHC paints a surprisingly subtle picture of what life is like under Nazi or Japanese rule. As PKD does so well, we get a sense of the personal turmoil which actually tells more about what the world was like than had it been told the way I expected. And the suffering seems so much more real and worse for it.

Even more than I expected macro descriptions, I absolutely expected some kind of political conflict. Of course political conflict was present but the real conflict was the search of a downtrodden American people for an authentic American experience when the dominant culture tells them that the very best of contemporary American culture is a joke to the high class, Japanese elite.

In that way, I thought PKD had more to say about the debate over high/low, hierarchical approaches to art and culture than the politics of a victorious Axis Powers. While I normally enjoy that discussion, I wasn’t terribly impressed by anything PKD had to say here. The other converstation taking place dealt with authenticity and in this case, I think PKD just didn’t have anything to contribute to the conversation. I’ll grant that I don’t really know the direction of academic thought on authenticity in the 60’s compared to today, but I’d be willing to bet that this may have been cutting edge the time even though it fell flat for me now.

The world in TMHC - Find it on Wikipedia

If On a Winter’s Night An Art’s Dealer

There were very few (probably none) characters that I cared about in TMHC. The one I was most interested in though was Robert Childan, the American artifacts dealer. He has completely internalized the view of the low-class American and his struggle to come to terms with and overcome his doubts was stirring, though a little strange at times.

I guess, his motivation was probably my second favorite “character”. Which is to say I loved it when the book took a reflexive, introspective turn and become self-aware – Italo Calvino style. I don’t want to say much about it because I was a bit disappointed by it and don’t want to give away much about the end. But the fact that a book about an alternate WWII outcome which contains a book about an alternate WWII outcome was a bit like being trapped in a house of mirrors for a while…and fun.

Recommendation

In retrospect, there were a lot of things I liked about TMHC and I imagine it was even more poignant in it’s time. Throughout my last week though, this book was excruciating at times. Yes PKD succeeds at developing a frighteningly dark world, which was good, but most of the time I was so disinterested and just plain bored by what was happening that it may have been one of my lease enjoyable reads thus far. Erg…

HEP SCORE

Universe 3/5

Social/Political Climate 4/5

Dialogue 3/5

Scientific Wonders 1/5 (basically non-existent, sorry)

Characters 3/5 (They were a little stiff, but some of them developed alright)

Overall 14/25

The Die Being Cast

This week’s book is The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by RAH. I think this is one of the best Heinleins, though I’ve not come close to reading them all. I am really looking forward to it. Also, we’ve got a sure to be major 3-way M of the P contest coming up for the 60’s.

Next week’s book is A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. which I know nothing about, but it sounds like it might be more theological SF, which have been a mixed bag to this point.

1966 Deathmatch Round 3

2012-04-27T00:02:00.001-04:00

Round 3 Friend Slam

This round might turn out to be my favorite for these two books. On the one hand, in Dune, Paul Atreides literally depends on his supporting characters and they are vital to his development throughout the book. On the other hand, Paul continuously becomes more and more detached from basically everyone, as he ventures deeper and deeper into the desert. The same pattern of deep attachment to those close to him but near total withdrawal from the rest of society is present in This Immortal's Conrad Nomikos.

Dune

Paul's friends are interesting cases. He has a cadre of military minded advisors who are certainly as close as family, but always focused on his training. His parents too are very aware of his future. I thought they seemed more like career mentors than parents or friends. Still, he knows these people nearly as well as he nows himself and is willing to share nearly anything with them.

His connection with the Fremen is a little deeper maybe. At lease with Chani anyway. I enjoyed Paul's instant connection with Chani and was disappointed that Chani wasn't present very often. Thinking about it again, it almost seemed like she was more of a symbolic figure demonstrating that Paul couldn't or wouldn't be controlled. Whatever...I liked when Paul met Chani in the dark desert and I liked when they were together.

This Immortal

Conrad was such an inscrutable character. He might have been the most aloof person I've ever read about. Still, in the beginning of the book we get a pretty touching look at his new relationship with Cassandra (also he may be a huge pedo). Then, when he learns that she's likely dead after a major earthquake it made the beginning so much more bittersweet. And his reaction, one of the most shockingly violent scenes in the book, makes it clear how deep his attachment was.

But then...

But then...The Redhead comes to his tent. I didn't have a problem with it actually, until he reiterated that it was she that came to his tent. I'm sorry, but if that's how you're going to react to the death of a loved one, you take responsibility for your actions.

The friendship that I really loved though, was with Bortan.

“Bortan? That name is familiar.”

“Your dog. I used to ride on his back when I was a child and beat with my legs upon his great armored sides. Then he would growl and seize my foot, but gently.”

“My Bortan has been dead for so long that he would not even chew upon his own bones, were he to dig them up in a modern incarnation.”

“I had thought so, too. But two days after you departed from your last visit, he came crashing into the hut. He apparently had followed your trail across half of Greece.”

Pg 102

Bortan is basically the coolest dog ever. Like so many others in Conrad's world, he has significant mutations, including armored sides and apparently super-wolf tracking abilities. He is also fiercely loyal, as evidenced by the quote from this book review and also the following:

“It is good for a man to have a dog,” said Hasan. “I have always been fond of dogs.”

Bortan was sniffing him as he said it.

“You've come back, you dirty old hound,” I told him. “Don't you know that dogs are extinct?”

He wagged his tail, came up to me again, licked my hand.

“I'm sorry that I can't scratch your ears. You know that I'd like to, though, don't you?”

He wagged his tail.

I opened and closed my right hand within its bonds. I turned my head that way as I did it. Bortan watched, his nostrils moist and quivering.

“Hands, Bortan. I need hands to free me. Hands to loosen my bonds. You must fetch them, Bortan, and bring them here.”

He picked up an arm that was lying on the ground and he deposited it at my feet. He looked up then and wagged his tail.

“No, Bortan. Live hands. Friendly hands. Hands to untie me. You understand, don't you?”

He licked my hand.

“Go and find hands to free me. Still attached and living. The hands of friends. Now, quickly! Go!”

He turned and walked away, paused, looked back once, then mounted the trail.

“Does he understand?” asked Hasan.

“I think so,” I told him. “His is not an ordinary dog brain, and he has had many many more years than even the lifetime of a man in which to learn understanding.”

“Then let us hope he finds someone quickly, before we sleep.”

“Yes.”

Pg 150-1

It struck me that having been away from each other for so long, Bortan still immediately left to find help. What a good boy.

Yeah, Bortan is awesome. He made me smile every time he made an appearance.

The Wanderer

2012-04-22T16:14:00.000-04:00

Stats

The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber

Published by Ballantine Books

1965 Hugo Award Winner

318 Pages

Sometime in the 1950’s, both the United State and

Russia

have Bases on the Moon and a small group of hopeful UFO enthusiasts hold a meeting. In the middle of that meeting, a planet suddenly appears near the moon. It just appears. Someone decides to call it “The Wanderer” and that’s about all that anyone knows about it. Which is to say, they know next to nothing.

That Old Suburban Horror

What I liked about this book was the transition from fear of The Wanderer to fear of their neighbors. At first, no one is quite sure what The Wanderer will do or what it is capable of and their fears are overwhelming for just about everyone.

Wanda called back angrily: “Look, when I have a heart attack, it’s bad—and there’s no thinking about it! But when my heart attack’s over, it’s over.”

Chapter Fifteen

Some people respond with very specific fears about The Wanderer, others reactions ran the gamut. People get so absurdly paranoid that their actions make no sense and their fear bleeds into violence, exhaustion, scientific detachment and even lust.

I liked this aspect. Stars and planets are so abstracted for most people that when one shows up on our door-step, they literally don’t know what to be afraid of. That’s a cool idea…right?

Very quickly, everyone realizes that the most immediate danger comes not from The Wanderer, but from other PEOPLE. As the new, enormous, tides roll in and supplies and safe places become more and more scarce, The Wanderer almost becomes commonplace and really just an avenue to introduce world-wide conflict between neighbors.

I always think of this fear of our neighbors as a suburban horror; we’ve shut ourselves off from even those closest to us and when we are forced to interact with them, it is basically the scariest thing that can happen. Just before I began this book, I had this experience with a drunken neighbor so maybe I was primed to focus on this, but in a book where not much else was done very well, I thought this anxiety about other humans when we’ve just learned that aliens exist, was done pretty well.

Whether this is specifically a suburban horror or not, it was cool to see this topic taken up in something other than a zombie story where I think the fear of the other has generally been done best, and after reading the wanderer probably still does.

Be Careful What You Wish For

What I didn’t like about this book was it’s structure. Another comparison with zombies here—It read a lot like World War Z. There was something like 4 different groups around the world and the story skips from group to group throughout each chapter. I guess it wasn’t so much the structure, but the execution. Whereas the same style was done in longer segments in WWZ, it was easier to identify with each person or group and Brooks actually gave us enough time to build up some investment in his characters. In The Wanderer though, Leiber’s pace comes off frantic and his characters are so devoid of personality that it’s hard to care what’s happening from one segment to the next, let alone remember who they were and what was going on.

Of any of the stories, I was most interested in Tigerishka and the other aliens. While I was silently begging for more detail, when I finally got it, I wished it would go away. Heinleinesque gigantic bodies of text meant to be dialogue. I guess it was one of those things that are only good because they leave so much to the imagination... oh well.

Recommendation

Honestly, for someone looking to read a Leiber SF title, I’d probably direct them to The Big Time. If however, they love cats and might appreciate that the idea that they are higher, more intelligent beings than we are, they might be interested in this one—what with the cat-like aliens and all… While I enjoyed the subject matter, reading this one was a lot like trudging through waist deep mud after an alien planet induced super-high-tide.

HEP SCORE

Universe 3/5

Social/Political Climate 4/5

Dialogue 2/5

Scientific Wonders 3/5

Characters 2/5

Overall 14/25

The Roll of the Die

This week’s book is The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick. PKD is so well known and has written so many great books, but somehow, I’ve only read one novel and one novella. On top of that, PKD from what I know of his other books, it seems like he knows how to speak to me.

Next week’s book is The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein. This should be the last RAH title and to be honest, I’ve read something like 6 or 7 of Heinlein’s books in the past year, so I really could use a break.

Computrid

2012-04-16T21:52:00.000-04:00

The worst thing ever, happened yesterday. My compy died. Totally kaput. BIOS update interrupted and now its just dead dead. Sending it in and hoping they will fix it for me. Until then, I don't have any efficient way of updating the blog (currently using my wife's semi-functional hp tablet). I guess that unless I figure something out, everything is gonna have to be on hold for a while... Oh gods... I'm gonna go cry...

Stranger in a Strange Land

2012-04-15T15:30:00.001-04:00

I think this is one of my favorite SiaSL covers

Stats

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

1962 Hugo Award Winner

Published by Putnam Publishing Group

408 Pages

Earth’s first expedition to Mars was thought to have resulted in every crew member dying. Earth’s second expedition to Mars, some years later, revealed that not only was Mars inhabited, but there was even a survivor from the first crew…and he’s coming home.

As it turns out that survivor is Valentine Michael Smith, actual the son of two of the crew members, born in space and raised by Martians. When he finally arrives it becomes clear that he is more alien than human and the rest of SiaSL is spent with Mike, the Man from Mars, trying to figure us out, to grok us. What he finds is funny and sad and horrific and finally, he learns, hilarious.

Coming to Earth

I’ve read this book a few times and Mike’s arrival on Earth was still funny. I still laughed out loud at his failure to understand and everyone’s frustration with his innocence. For whatever reason, I’m really attracted to the idea that extraterrestrial life would be so different from our own that even if we were able to make contact, we would utterly fail to interact. The beginning half of SiaSL appealed to me for exactly that reason. Martians exist, but the only Martian we could ever hope to talk to, and still struggle mightily with, is the one who is half-human (bodily he’s 100% human, but culturally Martian). It’s funny and a little sad and I like it.

“The Heinlein Voice”

Bulky paragraphs of text which read like an undergrad philosophy paper do not constitute Hugo-Award-winning dialogue. Unless of course you are Robert Heinlein. There were actually 2 or 3 instances when the characters acknowledge that they are preaching, long-winded or just ranting and so it seemed to me that maybe by 1961, Heinlein was aware of his criticism and was basically telling people, I know and I don’t care and I can lecture all I want and you’ll still love it. Which people did.

When I have read this book in the past (the last time being a number of years ago), I missed or overlooked or whatever, all of this. I guess I only heard what I wanted to at the time. I think I read this for the first time in college, so maybe the lectures seemed normal to me at the time. I’m not sure how I missed the homophobic and misogynist attitudes by a group of people claiming to eschew prejudice and promote free love for all, but it bothered me quite a lot this week.

These things were so barefaced that Jill, Mike’s water brother who almost never speaks wrongly, tells him “Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it’s partly her fault.” In some of his other books, I’ve thought maybe the way he treated women was kind of tongue-in-cheek, but once you start considering the role and treatment of women throughout his work, it starts to look like a history of violence toward women. SiaSL must be one of the most blatant examples, and the most troubling to me. A man comes from Mars and starts a cultural revolution full of stereotypical gender roles claiming it’s something new and different when really it’s just reheated leftovers.

If it is the most blatant, it is also the most offensive. The above quote speaks for itself, but there is also a decidedly anti-intellectual tone which was a little off-putting. Sure I think universities have tended to become more like fast-food restaurants than I’m comfortable with, but Heinlein dismisses the value of intellectual and scientific discourse offhandedly while at the same time resting the crux of Mike’s beliefs and Martian culture on philosophy’s that he would excoriate elsewhere. It’s disingenuous and deceitful in my opinion.

It seems to me that the peripatetic style of Jubal and Jill and Mike would appeal to those who are interested in philosophical topics but haven’t much experience with them (maybe this applied to me), but Jubal and Mike are so muddleheaded sometimes that I can’t believe I ever fell for it. This is one of those instances in which a thing looks like a duck and quacks like a duck but is decidedly NOT a duck.

I was warned that Heinlein’s tendency to lecture hit a high point here and I doubted it and I was wrong.

Recommendation

Although SiaSL was fairly popular at the time of its release, it is probably best described as a cult classic now. I’m aware it influenced a generation, but to read it now is at times, more than a little difficult. When Mike first comes to Earth and during his time spent in “the place”, Jubal’s own Fortress of Solitude, some of the dialogue is funny and Mike’s inability to grok is even funnier, but that’s about it. I can’t say whether that will be enough to propel you through the rest of the book but I will tell you that the last 100 or so pages were excruciating. While the beginning was great, I hated the end of this book so much that I’m embarrassed that I have ever liked it and recommended it to other people. Erg…

HEP SCORE

Universe 3/5

Social/Political Climate 5/5

Dialogue 1/5

Scientific Wonders 5/5 (Here, I’m counting Mike’s Martian abilities)

Characters 4/5 (After everything I’ve said I still liked the people, especially Jubal if he would just SHUT UP!)

Overall 18/25

The roll of the die

This week’s book is The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber. I had to enlist the help of my favorite librarian (my mom) to get ahold of this one, so it better be worth it. My copy is one of those university copies with tiny print and zillion words on each page.

Next week’s book is The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick. I’ve read one other PKD novel, Androids, and it was amazing, so I have high hopes for this one.

1966 DEATHMATCH Rounds 1 & 2

2012-04-13T00:25:00.000-04:00

Without further ado...

ROUND 1 QUOTE SMASH

Here we have two books told in very different formats. This Immortal uses extensive dialogue to advance the plot and as such, the “quotes” are not so much fortune cookie sound bites as they are funny or terrible exchanges. You’ll notice they all include Conrad. I posted an Epic Quote while I was reading this which dealt with Conrad’s attitude – which was mostly pretty hilarious. Sure they probably won’t make you stop and think the way Dune’s quotes might, but for me these moments stuck in my mind. Dune on the other hand was excessively quotable and it was difficult to choose only four to use in battle.

This round is not so much about which book was more quotable though so as Supreme Arbiter, I’ll only be comparing whatever my fickle desires direct me to at the completion of the Deathmatch.

Dune

There is probably no more terrible instance of enlightenment than the one in which you discover your father is a man – with human flesh.

From Collected Sayings of Muad’Dib by the Princess Irulan

This Immortal

“I am a body guard, Karagee.”

“No, Hasan. You are the son of a dyspeptic Camel.”

“What is ‘dyspeptic,’ Karagee?”

“I do not know the Arabic word, and you would not know the Greek one. Wait, I’ll find another insult. –You are a coward and a carrion-eater and a skulker up alleyways, because you are half jackal and half ape.”

Conrad Nomikos and Hasan

Dune

There is no escape – we pay for the violence of our ancestors.

Paul Muad’Dib

This Immortal

“I do not want to kill you, Karagee,” he said.

“I share this feeling. I do not wish to be killed.”

“But we must fighttomorrow.”

“Yes.”

“You could withdraw your challenge.”

“You could leave by Skimmer.”

“I will not.”

“Nor will I withdraw my challenge.”

I stood then and moved off toward the place where I had cast my pack.

“I am sorry that I must kill you in the morning,” he called after me.

Conrad Nomikos and Hasan before their duel

Dune

No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero.

Pardot Kynes

This Immortal

Then: “Look at me! I am going to put the blade in very slowly. I am going to dine on you one day. What do you think of that?”

I laughed. It was suddenly worth laughing at.

His face twisted, then it straightened into a momentary look of puzzlement.

“Has the fear driven you mad, Commissioner?”

“Feathers or lead?” I asked him.

He knew what it meant. He started to say something, and then he heard a pebble click about twelve feet away. His head snapped in that direction.

He spent the last second of his life screaming, as the force of Bortan’s leap pulped him against the ground, before his head was snatched from his shoulders.

My hellhound had arrived.

Moreby and Conrad Nomikos

Dune

Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.

From The Sayings of Muad’Dib by the Princess Irulan

ROUND 2 FAN BLAST

One of my favorite takes on Baron Harkonnen as imagined by Edward Pun at Art of Edward

I always enjoy what fans do and create to add to their favorite fictions so I had to include it in the Deathmatch. This one is fun… but totally lop-sided. Dune is one of the most popular SF titles ever and has spawned feature length movies and TV series. Clearly it is much easier to find Dune-inspired fan-things. At this point I think This Immortal practically bows out of this round unless anyone can point me in the right direction, in which case they will surely win a large degree of my favor.

This Immortal

I’m not sure this counts but it is my favorite cover:

Dune

Dune has inspired so many people that it’s hard to compete with. Of course there are the film/television adaptations, but I’m not sure that counts as fan creations. The following blog includes the artwork from a number of artists and is completely Dune related. Oh and there’s a TON of great work there, so check it out. Here's one my favorites at Project Sand but there is a lot of other extraordinary work there so please go check it out.

Original artwork from WO"DZGN on Project Sand

And let’s not forget the "progressive metal" band SHAI HULUD

I’m not a fan of the music and I wanted to link it up, but I just couldn't bring myself to assault you with that so you'll have to poopgle it yourself. You have to admit it's a damn good name for a metal band.

So what do you think so far? I'll reserve my final judgement until all 5 rounds are complete but whaduya say, wanna double down on those bets?

Them's The Rules

2012-04-11T23:24:00.001-04:00

Okay nerds, here it is: The 1966 Hugo Award DEATHMATCH.

Finally the world can have some closure knowing which of these books was actually better than the other. Each round I’ll tackle a different element that I didn’t write about in the reviews but were significant issues for me when I read them. Some of these rounds will probably be longer discussions than others, so each day I’ll take a round or two or three with a day or in between until I finally get to THE DECISION which will be the final word on these two.

There will be no points, but ranting and bluster and… okay maybe there will be points. But they will matter less here than in normal reviews and they will probably be completely arbitrary and mostly capricious.

Please chime in, throw tomatoes and give me your two cents over the next couple of days (or paypal me your 10,000 cents). I will absolutely (well...maybe) consider any comments in my decision, especially if I’ve missed something so get in on this!

I’ve determined the categories I’ll cover each round. Some will be recycled in the next Deathmatch but some are clearly just for this one. Here’s a preview:

Round 1: Quote Smash

My favorite quotes from each, pitted against one another with weapons strapped to their feet in a dusty, dirt-floored, open air building with a crowd waving dollars around and screaming. It’s like a cockfight for SF Quotes. Makes sense right?

Round 2: Fan Blast

Fan artwork, fan fiction, fan suicide cults etc…

Round 3: Friend Slam

Everyone has read at least one book with a peripheral character that they loved. I’ll tackle that here if necessary. This could also deal with the hero’s relationship with another character, plutonic or otherwise. Awww…. Heroes and their best friends – cute!

Round 4: Anathema…Explosion!

How enigmatic are your evil dudes? How nefarious your villians? Are your bad guys sweet? Do they have skillz? Bonus points if they do.

Round 5: Desert Thunder

Both of these novels are set in desert/wasteland environments. Which was most oppressive/dangerous? Where were the coolest creatures?

THE DECISION

I guess I should sum it all up and add any miscellaneous comments I can and then I’ll make the announcement.

K. That’s about it. So officially, them’s the rules. I’ll try not to abide by too many of them and I hope you’re as excited as I am.

Verb: To Grok

2012-04-10T00:44:00.003-04:00

Harshaw thought the interview was over and felt relieved. He had not been so embarrassed since a day long gone when his father had explained the birds and the bees and the flowers-much too late.

But the Man from Mars was not yet done. “Jubal my brother, you were ask me, ‘Who made the World?’ and I did not have words why I did not grok it rightly to be a question. I have been thinking words.”

“So?”

“You told me ‘God made the World.’”

“No, no!” Harshaw said. “I told you that, while religions said many things, most of them said, ‘God made the World.’ I told you that I did not grok the fullness, but that ‘God’ was the word that was used.”

“Yes, Jubal,” Mike agreed. “Word is ‘God.’” He added, “You grok.”

“I must admit I don’t grok.”

“You grok,” Smith repeated firmly. “I am explain. I did not have the word. You grok. Anne groks. I grok. The grasses under my feet grok in happy beauty. But I needed the word. The word is God.”

“Go ahead.”

Mike pointed triumphantly at Jubal. “Thou art God!”

Jubal slapped a hand to his face. “Oh, Jesus H.- what have I done?...”

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

I’m happy to report that thus far, I am thoroughly enjoying Mike trying to learn to be a man and talk to earthlings. Sometimes it is just too funny for words. I had a hard time deciding which quote to use but chose this one for obvious reasons. I can't wait for this week's review.

Also, To Grok is an actual word in actual dictionaries. Coined by R.A.H. and probably my very favorite of his inventions.

Dune

2012-04-08T14:34:00.000-04:00

Stats

Dune by Frank Herbert

1966 Hugo Award Winner

Published by Chilton Company

510 Pages

Audiobook narrated by Scott Brick et al.

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

The Bene Geserit Litany against Fear

The Atreides and Harkonnen families have a long-standing feud and when we begin this book, the Atreides are just beginning the process of taking over the desert planet Arrakis per imperial orders. When they get there, they are beset on all sides by Harkonnen deception and the scarcity of water. Add to the scheming and warring houses the mysterious and ancient plans of the Bene Geserit and the equally mysterious and possibly equally dangerous Fremen. Dune follows the Duke Leto Atreides’ son, Paul as he struggles to live up to the Atreides name, understand his place in the Bene Geserit order and how to live on the desert planet. Terrible description I know, but believe me this is good stuff.

The Mona Lisa of SF?

You know how sometimes you’ll see a painting and you can appreciate what you see well enough but what makes it great is everything that isn’t there? Kind of like how so many people love the Mona Lisa for the story that her smile tells?

Dune is an amazing story with a mind-numbingly complex set of characters and is awesome as a text, but the cherry on top is definitely the world-building. Sure there is actually a lot of detail in the book itself, but each one of those details is like the fluttering of a curtain in which we get a glimpse of something great, with the perception that there is still a whole room full of something wonderful to discover behind it. In this case, when a character reveals a motive or a talent, it instantly calls to mind an entire lifetime of story behind it. This was actually one of the worst parts of having to finish this book in a week. I think I could have taken a month to read this and still would’ve felt rushed.

And despite the encyclopedic level of detail, it somehow feels as understated as Mona Lisa’s smile. They are both enigmas. Entrancing, engaging and beautiful. Anyone who has seen a painting has seen the Mona Lisa. Likewise, if you’ve read SF, you should have read Dune.

Paul Muad’Dib

The first time I read Dune, I was awestruck by Paul. He knew the Wierding Way and could fight, disarm and defeat even the most hardened desert warriors. He could command loyalty from men twice his age and lead them in battle. He could use the Voice. He was under 20 and he was a god in my new-to-SF mind. As I was anticipating this re-read, my memory told me Paul was always in control as they left Arakeen and met the Fremen and became Muad’Dib.

Upon this week’s re-read, I was struck by how slow and difficult Paul’s transformation was and how frequently he was unsure of himself. He struggled with his prescient visions and despite his Bene Geserit training, I think he was fearful every step of the way. Even during this week’s read, I didn’t really think much about this, but now that I’ve had some time and I’m thinking more about it, I appreciate even more his struggle with fear – The Mind Killer.

I still enjoyed how embroiled in mystery and mysticism Paul found himself and he’s such a great hero. My only gripe with Paul was his return to statecraft at the end. I wanted him to go so totally native that he completely abandoned the Imperial System. Of course I grudgingly accept that as long as that system exists, Arrakis will be oppressed and this forces Paul’s hand. Oh well…

The deep desert and planetary ecology

Think of the Sahara in Africa. If you’re like me, when you first learned about this part of the earth, it was both mysterious and terrifying. I’ve always had an academic interest in the desert, how it works and what it looks like; to actually be there has always seemed like madness though and in elementary school learning about it for the first time, I can still remember that nervous feeling.

After reading The Monkey Wrench Gang many years later, I began to understand that people could have as fierce a devotion to the desert as any, much more easily inhabitable, clime. Maybe that experience laid the foundation for this re-read…or maybe Dune is just that good. Whatever the case, and I imagine no matter your take on desert life, the deep desert of Arrakis is a place you can’t help wanting to visit. Which is funny since the Fremen, the people who have lived there for who-knows-how-long, only want to change it.

In fact, it is hard to deny that Arrakis is practically a character in itself, which is curious when you consider the history of the environmental movement. The possibility of humans transforming the face of an entire planet was certainly not new to SF, there had been plenty of books dealing with terraforming by that point. But the story of Arrakis was one of the awakening of its people to the possibility that their actions could forever change their world. The sixties being the hotbed of environmental awakening that they were, it is hard not to make comparisons and connections to the burgeoning environmental movement in America. I’m not sure how much Herbert was influence by the movement, but I imagine that it was pretty timely in the sixties. In fact, maybe it’s time for a renewed interest in Dune given the relatively recent awakening of the effects of climate change.

Recommendation

I can’t say enough about Dune. It reads a lot like Lord of the Rings. It certainly deserves the Mark of Excellence. It certainly deserves a high HEP SCORE. The only downfall for me was the dialogue. The characters are so straight-forward and blunt and serious. So serious (well actually they’re tricksy and false but they’re always to-the-point). In slow moments, it almost reads like a textbook, but maybe that’s just a function of the harrowing, sad and frustrating experience everyone is put through. I probably would have been complaining if it had been any different so don’t listen to me – just read it!

HEP SCORE

Universe 5/5

Social/Political Climate 5/5

Dialogue 3/5

Scientific Wonders 5/5 (Stillsuits deserve a ‘5’ on their own!)

Characters 5/5

Overall 23/25

The Roll of the Die

This week’s book is Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. So far my rereads have not been as good as I remember them, so I’m hoping this one will buck the trend. Either way I got a pretty good hardcover edition with my favorite cover art so it will be fun to look at.

Next week’s book is The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber. I’m under the impression that this one was better than The Big Time so I’m looking forward to see what he can do here.

The Lies of Locke Lamora Read Along Week 5

2012-04-07T11:15:00.000-04:00

The final week of the LOLL Read Along!

This has been an awesome experience for me and there has been so much fun discussion about a book that I wouldn’t have known about if it wasn’t for this group read. If you haven’t been reading this book with us, you need to pick this up. It is too good to overlook.

I realized today that I’ve been extremely remiss in my posts. I’ve always neglected to mention where these questions are coming from for those of you who aren’t participating in the read along. This is a problem because they come from some really great bloggers and I hope you’ll check out what they have to say if you haven’t already. This week’s questions come from Lynn’s Book Blog.

The previous week’s discussions:

Wk 1 – Little Red Reviewer

Wk 2 – Dark Cargo

Wk 3 – My Awful Reviews

Wk 4 - SF Signal

This week has been so busy that I actually forgot about the AMA with Lynch on Wednesday. Man, and I wanted to ask him some stuff…pout. What’d I miss?! So, I still have too much to do today and I can feel myself getting sick as I write this so I’m not sure I have a lot of energy to put into this post, but I should be able to participate in everyone else’s discussions more tomorrow and hopefully make up for it. At least this isn’t the end of the Lynchmob and I’ll be able to come back strong for the second half of this Read Along with Red Seas Under Red Skies. YAY!

1. The Thorn of Camorr is renowned – he can beat anyone in a fight and he steals from the rich to give to the poor. Except of course that clearly most of the myths surrounding him are based on fantasy and not fact. Now that the book is finished how do you feel the man himself compares to his legend. Did you feel that he changed as the story progressed and, if so, how did this make you feel about him by the time the conclusion was reached?

I think the ultimate development in Locke’s character was the realization (for readers and for Locke) that he couldn’t live up to the insane myth that had been built up around him. Struggling with that is what made the end of the book so chaotic and heart-wrenching for me.

2. Scott Lynch certainly likes to give his leading ladies some entertaining and strong roles to play. We have the Berangia sisters – and I definitely wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of them or their blades plus Dona Vorchenza who is the Spider and played a very cool character – even play acting to catch the Thorn. How did you feel about the treatment the sisters and Dona received at the hands of Jean and Locke – were you surprised, did it seem out of character at all or justified?

Man, you stab a guy in the neck with some poisoned knitting needles and think you’re not going to get punched?! Was I the only one who stood up and shouted at her Chris Tucker style, “You got knocked the fuck out!”

Haha, remember that?

3. Towards the end we saw a little more of the magic and the history of the Bondsmagi. The magic, particularly with the use of true names, reminds me a little of old fashioned witchcraft or even voodoo. But, more than that I was fascinated after reading the interlude headed ‘The Throne in Ashes’ about the Elderglass and the Elders and why their structures were able to survive even against the full might of the Bondsmagi – do you have any theories about this do you think it’s based on one of our ancient civilisations or maybe similar to a myth??

I always enjoy long lost civilizations in books that leave behind technology that we don’t understand. It recalls Easter Island or Stonehenge. I don’t know if it is important whether this story was fact or fiction, what seemed important was the knowledge that there are things about the world that we can never understand and that which will always confound our best attempts at comprehension. It adds a sense of mystery that pervades everything in the book and I thoroughly enjoyed the limited exposure we had to it.

4. We have previously discussed Scott Lynch’s use of description and whether it’s too much or just spot on. Having got into the last quarter of the book where the level of tension was seriously cranked up – did you still find, the breaks for interludes and the descriptions useful or, under the circumstances did it feel more like a distraction?

I struggled with it at first, but pretty quickly came to understand the rhythm to Lynch’s writing that made it easier to get through. That tension-relaxation rhythm eventually worked pretty well for me.

5. Now that the book has finished how did you feel about the conclusion and the eventual reveal about the Grey King and more to the point the motivations he declared for such revenge – does it seem credible, were you expecting much worse or something completely different altogether?

I was actually disappointed by this reveal. I felt like we hadn’t ever met him and we really only knew very little about his sisters so I had trouble caring about his history and what happened to him. I thought Camorr was full of possible Grey King candidates without introducing a new character and on top of that, we had just met the Spider so there were these two characters that we had just met for the first time yet had been so instrumental everything that led up to this point. On top of that, we had just lost 3 very important characters who all had huge personalities and we were wondering if Locke and Jean could hold it together without getting themselves killed. By the time he was finally revealed, I just didn’t have room to care about the damn Grey King, who was the supreme ruler of all dirt bags.

6. Were you surprised that Locke, being given two possible choices (one of which could possibly mean he would miss his chance for revenge on the Grey King) chose to go back to the Tower – especially given that (1) he would have difficulty in getting into the building (2) he would have difficulty in convincing them about the situation and (3) he would have difficulty in remaining free afterwards? Did anyone else nearly pee their pants when Locke and the rest were carrying the sculptures up to the roof garden?

I wasn’t surprised at all. But I also didn’t interpret this choice the same way. It was a given that he would seek out the GK eventually. He’s pledged his life to ruining the GK’s life and even his desires. Insomuch as the GK wanted the nobility dead, Locke would do whatever it took to keep that from happening. This seemed less dilemma of two opposite choices than the first step in his long range goal.

And yeah, that was pretty nerve-wracking. I was just waiting for one to drop!

7. Finally, the other question I would chuck in here is that, following the end of the book I was intrigued to check out some of the reviews of LOLL and noticed that the negative reviews mentioned the use of profanity. How did you feel about this – was it excessive? Just enough? Not enough?

Beautifully profane in every way. Loved it. I didn’t think he used it every chance he got

8. Okay one further, and probably most important but very quick question – having finished, will you pick up the sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies?

Not only am I excited about RSURS but I already can’t wait for Republic of Thieves. Oh, and I wouldn’t miss the chance to participate in the second part of the read along for anything.