Puzzles of the Black Widowers
by Issac Asimov

This book jumped out at me when I was at the library the other day.... what was Asimov doing in the Mystery section?

I had vaguely heard of the Black Widowers (and the real life meetings they simulate), but hadn't realized there were actual book collections of the stories. They are pretty decent... each is more a word puzzle than a 'mystery'.. many relying on language trickery. The most enjoyable part for me is picturing this bunch of old authors sitting around arguing with each other about stuff... sounds like a great time... I totally would want to be a guest!

Finished the third book in the Wheel of Time, The Dragon Reborn



clocking in at just under 700 pages (book 4 clocks in at just under 1000 so page count keeps creeping up).

This was a reread for me (I made it up to Book 7 or 8 as they were coming out), but I find I am discovering a lot more this time around (I've read this one 2 or 3 times previously, as I often reread all the previous volumes each time a new one was released through the 90s). I am noticing much more of the craft of the book, the plethora of foreshadowing Jordan used, parallel construction of the narrative between character arcs, etc. that faded into the background before as the narrative itself took my full attention as a reader. And there are lots of details that have faded and have been quite enjoyable to rediscover. It is taking a while, but I am making progress on my attempt the read all 14 books in the series this time around.

-M

Diplomatic Immunity
by Lois McMaster Bujold

I was definitely about done with this series... running on fumes, as it were. If this one didn't amuse me, there's a fair chance I wouldn't have bothered with the last couple.. probably just read the spoilers to see what the end is like and move on, but this one really brought things back around to what is good about the series.

We have a mystery, but we also have some action, and some good space opera intrigue. To be honest, my only major complaint was that we skipped a good part at the end that I would have liked to see the details of... maybe they'll be a short story for it sometime.

I really thought the author's thoughts on art, and why people do things like ballet and music to the point of excelling at the were great... its bits of that nature that separate good authors from great ones, IMO. I'm not sure I'd call LMB great just on reading this series alone, but maybe.

Why DO authors like to physically abuse their main characters so? Poor Miles!

I just stalled halfway through book 3 (Last Argument of Kings) which everyone I knew who had read the trilogy said was the best and the big payoff of it all. My tongue in cheek overall impression of Abercrombie is this-it's like a D&D game where each of the players has created and developed an amazing character, and the campaign setting is well developed, richly detailed and fascinating, but the DM has no idea what to do with the game, so there are some vague "big things" going on in the background, some random seemingly cool encounters that are made more interesting because of the characters reaction to them than the encounters themselves, and attempts several plot twists, but they ultimately are predictable and feel ham-fisted.

By halfway through book three, I had predicted most of the major plot twists in the character arcs so when they happened I was ho hum rather than excited, and I couldn't work up enough interest in what was going to happen to keep reading. I kept in on my nightstand next to the other books I was reading and would occasionally read a chapter or two and come away feeling it was well-written and I liked the characters, but couldn't care less what was happening and had no incentive to pick it up again other than obligation to finish the book I had started. Eventually, I just gave up and it was a DNF. I checked a plot synopsis online and it pretty much played out how I had expected for all the characters and big plot resolutions, so I don't feel I missed much.

Abercrombie's prose itself is great, he's awesome at worldbuilding and character development, but his plotting is plodding and pedestrian and rather than drawing me in and keeping me turning pages, it became an obstacle itself to following the exploits of characters I liked.

-M

There's one thing I think really works against Abercrombie building momentum in his books-his decision to have a different POV character each chapter and to have them so spread out none of the plots seems to go anywhere before you are switching gears. This is a common technique in modern fantasy, Jordan did some of it in Wheel of Time and George R.R. Martin did it so successfully in a Song of Fire and Ice that it has become a standard technique in modern fantasy. When it is done well, it really works at making the work feel expansive and builds a sense of epicness to the story. When not done well, it is a frustrating series of starts and stops that interrupts the narrative flow and blunts any sense of momentum.

With Jordan, he would switch from one set of characters to another every few chapters (even Tolkien did it after the breaking of the Fellowship, so it's not a new phenomenon to modern fantasy), but he would make sure each stop in the rotation accomplished something and moved their story forward while offering some perspective that impacted the other parts of the story. Martin was masterful at doing this in his stories and again used each POV character to move the larger story forward and either have something significant happen or offer a major revelation, or built to a bit of a cliffhanger that gave the reader motivation to move through other chapters to get back to it to see what happens. Abercrombie moves form POV character to POV character, and each chapter is well written and interesting because of the character work, but often nothing is accomplished story-wise in the chapter or nothing is revealed that contributes the the larger narrative. We might learn a little more about the character, but there's no line through for the larger story, so when you finish a chapter, there's not much reason to move to the next chapter, and the chapter just read often feels vaguely unsatisfying. If he stayed a little longer with each POV, or made sure each chapter accomplished something to move the story forward, I'd be more inclined to keep reading and start another chapter after finishing one to see what happens next. But he doesn't. And that makes chapters often feel empty and pointless despite the great prose and character work and creates inertia in me wanting to keep reading.

-M

Slam_Bradley, so glad that you find this novel so appealing. Your description captures it beautifully. Autumn, Halloween, growing older, nostalgia, loss of innocence, friendship, loneliness, sadness. It's really a beautiful story, complete with Bradbury's usual debts to those who have gone before, from Melville to Twain to Gothic novels to movies like "Freaks," "Frankenstein," and Lon Chaney silents.

First read it (or tried to) when I was in ninth grade, but put it down. I think the allusiveness of Bradbury's images and the almost rococo style of the prose in the early part of the book frustrated me. And yet, the book stayed with me.

Picked it up again several years later and flew through it. This time I reveled in the allusions and made it beyond where I'd left off to find that most of the book fairly whistles by. I decided to teach it to my freshman English classes soon after and it became a staple of my ninth grade syllabus (every October) for decades.

It wasn't every kid's cup of meat (but then what is, besides Skittles?), but was popular enough for me to use it with almost very group of freshmen I taught. It was a superb way to introduce all kinds of literary techniques and poetic terms painlessly and in vivid context.

And what got the kids was that the themes, the conflicts, and the musings on the nature of good and evil that were perfect for the age group. And tied in perfectly with another minor classic I would teach later in the year: Walter Wangerin's "The Book of the Dun Cow."

(Sorry to get wonky.)

It's a shame that this has never been turned into a movie or limited series worthy of it. The 1982 movie has some moments, but it's a botch, primarily due to Disney's lack of money at the time. hard to believe now.