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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 3, 2017 20:25:51 GMT -5
Nightmare Town by Dashiel Hammett
This took me alot longer to get through than I expected... the Maltese Falcon was just a page turning pleasure, I thought I would buzz through these just a quickly.
While you still get an amazing feel of each case, as if you where a witness on the side of the road, it many of these shorter stories there's just a little too much detail. There are definitely times where they read more like a police report than a story.. which, given Hammett's background, they may well be.
The Continental Op also isn't nearly the character Sam Spade is.. he's really more just a run of the mill PoV character that doesn't really have a whole lot of personality. The stories are still very well told and interesting, but the heroes and villains often are just there, rather than popping off the page with personality,
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 6, 2017 15:11:09 GMT -5
The Sargasso Ogre by Kenneth Robeson/Lester Dent. Doc and his crew are steaming back to the U.S. with the diamonds from their last adventure when the ship is hijacked and ends up in a shipping graveyard in the center of the Sargasso Sea. This one is a bit of a mixed bag. It's got an interesting premise and the antagonist is actually almost a match for Doc. On the other hand it tends to drag at times, probably because of the fairly static setting. Overall a decent entry in the series though.
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Post by berkley on Sept 6, 2017 22:53:28 GMT -5
Nightmare Town by Dashiel Hammett This took me alot longer to get through than I expected... the Maltese Falcon was just a page turning pleasure, I thought I would buzz through these just a quickly. While you still get an amazing feel of each case, as if you where a witness on the side of the road, it many of these shorter stories there's just a little too much detail. There are definitely times where they read more like a police report than a story.. which, given Hammett's background, they may well be. The Continental Op also isn't nearly the character Sam Spade is.. he's really more just a run of the mill PoV character that doesn't really have a whole lot of personality. The stories are still very well told and interesting, but the heroes and villains often are just there, rather than popping off the page with personality, With the Continental Op, I think it's his lack of personality that is his personality, if you see what I mean. Sometimes his facelessness makes the other characters stand out all the more in relief against his blank background. But there are also hints that it's the job and the world he lives in that has made him this kind of empty shell, and that however effective it renders him in his profession it's also rendered him just that, a kind of empty human being who has no life beyond functioning well as a detective, an employee.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 7, 2017 23:28:34 GMT -5
I can see that... it probably works better in longer form where the other character have more time to shine. It's not that any of it was bad.. just a few of the stories were very workman-like.
This week:
League of Seven Alan Gratz
I grabbed this off the shelf the other day when helping my middle daughter look for something to read... steam punk and the intriguing alternate history setting got me interested, so we grabbed it.
She seems to have since lost interest, but I gave it a shot. It tries just a bit too hard to do everything. The author says he took everything he thought was cool when he was 10 and added it all it, and that, sadly is the truth. There's just too much going on, none of it will. The steampunk element comes because electricity summons Lovecraftian horrors that have destroyed civilization several times. In this alternate history, the Romans colonized America, as Atlantis before them, but there's little in actual info. We are presented a world where Native Americans own North America, but only vague hints of how they got cut off from Europe when the monsters rose some time before the American Revolution (maybe) that didn't happen.
Add to that the titular 'League of Seven' (a epochal version of the Justice League) fighting as part of a secret society that fights electric progress and Thomas Edison (who seems to be the bad guy of choice in Steam Punk these days), and there's just too much going on.
There were some fun things.. steam robots, crazy Nicola Tesla, tin foil hats that actually work, just to name a few. But there's just too much at once.. none of the cool ideas are really developed enough, and the characters, while decent, aren't enough to cover up the faults.
Also, as a minor but VERY annoying thing, the book lists an illustrator on the cover, as if there are illustrations that perhaps are important, and has a pretty cool cover. Inside, the the 'illustrations' are small pics at the start of each chapter that are simple a bit of the cover made black and white... I felt a bit cheated there.
I suspect the target audience will probably like this book more than I did.. it's not a bad read. It's the wasted potential that got my goat.
The Dispatcher by John Scalzi
This is one of the most unique premises I've seen i a while...people can only die if it's an accident... if they get murdered, they come back to life. Enter the Dispatchers, who murder anyone near death, do give the victim another chance at life.
Lots of fascinating moral stuff to concern in that premise that was (briefly) explored... human fighting games where they battle to the death every night? Old fashioned duels with no consquences? No need to allow anyone to be crippled, ever... as long as you're willing to take the small chance (1/1000) you won't come back.
The story itself follows a Dispatcher who gets sucked into a missing persons case involving one of his colleages... which was a pretty run of the mill mystery. What a great universe to get back to an explore though, expecially with a good writer like Scalzi.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 16, 2017 23:17:03 GMT -5
White Mars Brian Aldiss and Roger Penrose c. 1999
While I have really enjoyed some of Aldiss' earlier work, I can't really say this is a good story. It has some really interesting concepts, certainly, but the focus is far more on Aldiss getting out his views on what a utopian society is, or should be, that it gets in the way of the story. There's also quite a bit of semi-real science that seems to be a focus, but then leads nowhere.
If the 1/3 or so of the book devoted to science and political lectures (which are literal lectures in a lecture hall delivered by the characters), and instead spent more time talking about how the world got to where it was in his story, this could easily have been a 4 or 5 star story.
That said, there are a few interesting and unique bits that I wish were elaborated on, the main one (which I won't actually post here as it's sorta a spoiler, if an early one) especially. Unfotunately, like the science, it essentially led nowhere.
As is, it's a self-indulgent lecture masquarading as a 60s style sci fi novel that I can't help but think could have been so much more.
Apparently, not alot or people like it...it has the lowest good reads score (2.76) I've seen for a book with a reasonable amount of ratings. I few reviewers called it an 'answer' to Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series... sure, the title is, but I'm not sure the story has much to do with it. Sure, this book is anti-terraform, while KSR's is trying to be a terraform instruction guide, but it's not like the idea of terraforming is unique to that series.
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Post by berkley on Sept 17, 2017 0:08:02 GMT -5
Just the mere idea of Roger Penrose co-writing a science fiction story is enough of a draw for me to read this one.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 21, 2017 22:09:56 GMT -5
Hello, Darlin' Autobiography of Larry Hagman (With Todd Gold)
I don't think I've ever read an autobiography of a popular person before, but the library system popped this book up at my wife randomly, and, as I am a HUGE fan of JR Ewing (he was my hero growing up... what can I say, it was the 80s)... I figured it a sign and grabbed it.
As a book, it was OK... lots of fun stories, ALOT of lists and name dropping, and a fair amount of philopsphizing and promoting causes (all good ones, in this case). What struck me reading the book is that it was clear the reason Hagman was so good as JR is because he WAS JR. I've always found actors to be at their best when they're playing a character that is either their own self taken to the extreme, or what they wish they were.. in this case JR was both for Mr. Hagman.
Definitely worth a read if you're a Dallas fan, even if only about 15% of the book is about Dallas-related stories.
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Post by Calamas on Sept 22, 2017 13:25:49 GMT -5
I don't think I've ever read an autobiography of a popular person before. . . That’s funny because I can count on one hand the autobiographies I’ve read: Linda Ellerbee, Waylon Jennings, Craig Ferguson. Connect those dots.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 23, 2017 14:40:54 GMT -5
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazy. "His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the Maha- and the -atman, and called himself Sam. He never claimed to be a god. But then, he never claimed not to be a god. Circumstances being what they were, neither admission could be of any benefit. Silence, though, could." Re-read of the Hugo winning classic, arguably Zelazny's masterwork and most important book. I really love this book, but it had been at least 20 years since I'd read it and it was a long overdue re-read. Zelazny's story of those who have turned themselves in to Gods and the one who would remove their Godhood is timeless. There's a lot here to dwell on. The importance or non-importance of names. The meaning of Godhood. Gender dynamics. I got a lot more out of this book than I ever did before. It really is one of the seminal works of science fiction.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 23, 2017 18:21:14 GMT -5
I've seen that one several times... I really should read it one of these days... I remember before I was annoyed it wasn't an Amber book (the title is evocative of them), and I put it aside.
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Post by berkley on Sept 23, 2017 22:24:48 GMT -5
I've seen that one several times... I really should read it one of these days... I remember before I was annoyed it wasn't an Amber book (the title is evocative of them), and I put it aside. You might have been thrown off also because it has the exact same (and I think excellent) cover design as the first Amber series paperbacks, by artist Ron Walotsky, as does my favourite Zelazny book Creatures of Light and Darkness.
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Post by brutalis on Sept 25, 2017 14:35:26 GMT -5
Finished book 11 of the Jane Yellowrock Skinwalker series: Cold Reign by Faith Hunter. Dark urban fantasy where Jane Yellowrock is a Cherokee shapeshifting Vampire Enforcer in New Orleans. While she starts in the 1st book as a rogue hunter of vampire's killing them for their bounty she and the series continue to grow and evolve with each book. She now has a complete team which has become her new family as she heals and mature's from the broken life she lived. Her skills and powers are growing stronger and she has become more than just a hunter/killer and is now more of a protector for the supernatural beings which are now a part of her life. She has human friends, vampire friends, witch friends, werewolf friends and now she has a new lover who is an Onorio, a man who was blood bonded to the Patriarch "Ruler" of Vampire's for most of the USA and after partaking of his Vampire blood over the decades has now become another type of supernatural entity himself with his own powers and magical abilities. This series has wonderful characterization where ALL of them are never stagnant. Every soul within the pages of these books grows and lives (and dies) taking on changes as we all do in life. Jane herself has become a warrior woman unequaled whose life has expanded and grown to amazing levels where she is now considered as being a supernatural "Queen" of her own right in the exotic New Orleans underworld of monsters which has both human and fantasy evils. One of the better series you can follow and not become bored with. Each novel can be read on their own as whole story/adventure but best when read from the start. This is a superb treasure filled with lots of depth and creative world building and oozes with a Gothic action filled atmosphere that is fun and very exciting. Recommended for all
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Post by berkley on Sept 25, 2017 18:12:12 GMT -5
I still haven't tried any urban fantasy but I'll put that series on my list as a possibility once I get around to it. I'm a bit iffy about the romance angle that seems to be a big part of all the ones I've heard about. Have any of them tried to get away from that?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2017 22:34:26 GMT -5
I still haven't tried any urban fantasy but I'll put that series on my list as a possibility once I get around to it. I'm a bit iffy about the romance angle that seems to be a big part of all the ones I've heard about. Have any of them tried to get away from that? There's a difference between urban fantasy and paranormal romance. If you want to try urban fantasy, I'd suggest starting with something like Stormfront, the first book of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, or something by Christopher Golden or Tom Sniegoski (both veterans of the Mignolaverse, they have collaborated together and written separately in prose. For Sniegoski, I might recommend the Remy Chandler books. A Kiss Before the Apocalypse is the first-here's the basic premise of the series For Golden, I'd recommend the Hidden Cities series (co-written with Tim Lebbon) Mind the Gap is the first... or The Veil series (Mythhunters is the first) while there may be romantic elements in some of these they are not romantic novels. The relationships help define the characters lives, but aren't the thematic or plot center of the stories. Paranormal romance is essentially a romance novel with fantasy trappings. The adventure is there to further the romantic elements, not the other way around. Urban fantasy and paranormal romance are flip sides of the coin with superficial differences, but the urban fantasy are essentially adventure/horror stories that may or may not have romantic elements, paranormal romances are romance stories set in fantastic/adventure worlds. If you want to avoid the romance being prominent, stick to urban fantasy, avoid paranormal romance. -M
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 26, 2017 9:25:07 GMT -5
I still haven't tried any urban fantasy but I'll put that series on my list as a possibility once I get around to it. I'm a bit iffy about the romance angle that seems to be a big part of all the ones I've heard about. Have any of them tried to get away from that? There's a difference between urban fantasy and paranormal romance. If you want to try urban fantasy, I'd suggest starting with something like Stormfront, the first book of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, or something by Christopher Golden or Tom Sniegoski (both veterans of the Mignolaverse, they have collaborated together and written separately in prose. For Sniegoski, I might recommend the Remy Chandler books. A Kiss Before the Apocalypse is the first-here's the basic premise of the series -M My suggestions for urban fantasy would be Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, Rivers of London - Body Work by Ben Aaronovitch or pretty much anything by China Mieville. There's certainly a difference between urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Not least of which are the soccer-Mom bait covers in the latter category.
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