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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 18, 2021 12:31:24 GMT -5
This seems like the best place to post this link. The focus of the latest episode of the history podcast Throughline is on one of my favorite writers, the late, great Octavia Butler. It's a well done show, as it has some audio clips of Butler herself and also commentary by yet another of my favorite authors, Nnedi Okorafor.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 18, 2021 12:42:55 GMT -5
The Mark of Zorro aka The Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulleyI've seen almost every major Zorro movie (and a number of the minor ones), seen decent bits of the classic Disney TV show and read copious Zorro comics (including all of Toth's work). And yet I'd never read McCulley's original pulp novel. Given how incredibly influential the character has been on the things I love this seemed like an inexcusable oversight. I don't know why I hadn't, but now that has been corrected. McCulley was a pulp writer and Zorro was a pulp character, first appearing in All-Story Weekly in August of 1919. Most of the classic Zorro tropes appear here. Foppish Don Diego Vega masquerading as the gallant rogue in black. The blustering fat sergeant, villainous Captain and equally villainous Governor. The lovely damsel who is in love with the perceived villain, Zorro, while also being wooed by the Captain and vaguely pursued by the ineffectual Diego, all the while her father is being oppressed by the Governor. Sword fights. Chases on horse-back. Oppressed natives and friars. And eventually an uprising by the local Hidalgos and Caballeros. This is a fun rousing pulp tale that is honestly head and shoulders above most of its brethren. It's important to remember when it was written and the setting. There's a fair bit of misogyny and racism, though that was endemic to both periods. And all the heroes and the villains are blue-blooded Spaniards who have to either save or oppress the poor people of the soil. If you're familiar with Zorro from the myriad of other sources, there aren't going to be many (if any) surprises. But this is fun well written pulp. And really that's all it needs to be.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2021 14:34:49 GMT -5
I've been in a bit of a rut lately, reading bits of books but not finishing much. It's the malaise that comes with reading 1000 page monstrosities in fantasy series like the Wheel of Time combined with not being in the mood to read anything in particular after reading a lot in January. I did however, manage to finish one of the pulp novels I had been working through last night: Created the Destroyer by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy Book 1 of the Remo Williams: The Destroyer series Origin stories are usually the least interesting story featuring a character, and I hope that holds true for this series if I move on to other volumes. There were bits that were interesting and entertaining, and bits the were a slog that would have been less bothersome if they were just combined into a "training montage" as is done in visual mediums, but those bits were too prevalent throughout this initial offering for the series. Hopefully further volumes have more of the interesting bits without the need to show how the Destroyer came to be. Those sloggy training bits contributed to not making a lot of progress at times in this book and added to the general reading malaise. -M
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Post by berkley on Feb 18, 2021 22:07:07 GMT -5
I once read someplace that Murphy or Sapir or both felt that they never really got a handle on the series and its lead characters until the third book (I think it was - I should look that up to make sure). But I still thnk it's a good idea to start with that first or "origin" instalment.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 19, 2021 15:02:49 GMT -5
This seems like the best place to post this link. The focus of the latest episode of the history podcast Throughline is on one of my favorite writers, the late, great Octavia Butler. It's a well done show, as it has some audio clips of Butler herself and also commentary by yet another of my favorite authors, Nnedi Okorafor. I just read Kindred this week.. and it's hard to review, because I can't possibly do it justice. I read it back in college, and didn't get it.. I was focused on the window dressing of the time travel, and being annoyed about it. I'd been wanting to read it for a while, and the library having it out in plain view for black history month got me to actually get it. Wow... that's one powerful book.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 19, 2021 15:16:13 GMT -5
I just read Kindred this week.. and it's hard to review, because I can't possibly do it justice. I read it back in college, and didn't get it.. I was focused on the window dressing of the time travel, and being annoyed about it. I'd been wanting to read it for a while, and the library having it out in plain view for black history month got me to actually get it. Wow... that's one powerful book. Indeed it is. It's one I really should get around to re-reading, as the last time was about 15 years ago. Of course, my to-read pile has several of her other books that I still haven't read (and I'm still feeling a bit guilty about re-reading Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents last summer - those are also outstanding books, I highly recommend them).
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 21, 2021 6:49:03 GMT -5
Abengoni. First CallingCharles R. Saunders, 2014 A rich fantasy story set mainly in Khambawe, the capital city of an empire called Matile Mala on the vast continent of Abengoni. The Matile empire is in decline, though, and this seems to be underscored by the interruption of a ceremony held in Khambawe’s harbor to make contact with one of the empire’s patrons, a sea goddess, by Tiyana, the daughter of the empire’s high priest. While doing a ceremonial dance on the water, buoyed by magic, a strange-looking ship seems to appear from nowhere and almost crushes Tiyana before crashing into a wharf. The ship’s crew and passengers are pale-skinned denizens of the almost forgotten northern continent of Cym Dinath. Initially they’re all unconscious, some of them dead, from the ordeal of passing through the Sea of Storms that separates the two continents. And one of them, Kyroun, is the leader of a religious sect who seems to be the master of supernatural power, and represent a god, far more potent than anything wielded by the Matile priesthood and their largely neglectful deities. This incident sets into a motion a series of events that will radically change everything in Matile Mala, and eventually all of Abengoni. In a brief foreword, Saunders noted that Abengoni was his attempt to create a ‘Tolkeinian’ setting in contrast to the more ‘Howardian’ world inhabited by Imaro. It’s definitely a far more fantasy-like setting than Imaro’s Nyumbani, which seems to bear a greater resemblance to the real Africa. Abengoni is a lot more like Tolkein’s Middle Earth, in that there’s only a very vague resemblance to our own world. Also, there are peoples who are dwarves and elves and suggestions of other not-quite-human denizens. But Saunders’ writing is far more gritty, especially in the sense that he puts a sharp focus on the social problems in a decaying empire, like urban poverty and class tensions. He also stated that one of his goals in writing this was to have people of different races coexist without racism – they are aware of their different appearances, but they don’t attach any particular significance to them (one could facetiously remark that that’s the most fantastic thing about this book). I thoroughly enjoyed this, but I was a bit sad when I reached the end for a number of reasons. First, it basically means I’ve pretty much read everything by Saunders that can be more-or-less easily found, and second, it’s the first installment in what was meant to be a series of novels, which will now never see the light of day due to Saunders’ untimely death last year.
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Post by berkley on Feb 21, 2021 19:14:28 GMT -5
Abengoni. First CallingCharles R. Saunders, 2014 ... He also stated that one of his goals in writing this was to have people of different races coexist without racism – they are aware of their different appearances, but they don’t attach any particular significance to them (one could facetiously remark that that’s the most fantastic thing about this book). I wouldn't - I think colour prejudice is a modern development of the last few centuries and was largely absent in the ancient world. There was national or ethnic chauvinism, but no real racism as we understand and experience it today.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 22, 2021 5:28:51 GMT -5
I wouldn't - I think colour prejudice is a modern development of the last few centuries and was largely absent in the ancient world. There was national or ethnic chauvinism, but no real racism as we understand and experience it today. Fair enough; racism as we know it today is indeed a more modern phenomenon. It is, however, quite present in fantasy, historical fiction, etc. set in past periods (or meant to resemble them). Otherwise, you have to be careful with use of the term 'national' - nations as we think of them today and nationalism in particular are extremely modern phenomena, far more so than racism.
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Post by berkley on Feb 22, 2021 9:23:34 GMT -5
I wouldn't - I think colour prejudice is a modern development of the last few centuries and was largely absent in the ancient world. There was national or ethnic chauvinism, but no real racism as we understand and experience it today. Fair enough; racism as we know it today is indeed a more modern phenomenon. It is, however, quite present in fantasy, historical fiction, etc. set in past periods (or meant to resemble them). Otherwise, you have to be careful with use of the term 'national' - nations as we think of them today and nationalism in particular are extremely modern phenomena, far more so than racism.
Yes, very true.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 23, 2021 16:23:12 GMT -5
Tales from the White Hart by Arthur Clarke I'm a big fan of Arthur Clarke... he does great Hard sci-fi... this is not what Clarke does generally. Tales from the White Hart is a collection of short stories told at the White Hart Tavern, a pretend bar that the sci fi writers, scientists, and their buds hang out in to pass the time on Wednesday nights. Like Asimov's Black Widower Mysteries, I'm sure the people therein are fictionalized versions of Clarke's writer friends... (wikipedia also says so, though I didn't look at the sources, since none of the people are writers I am familiar with). The stated purpose of the books is to be funny, but Clarke, being both British and scientifically minded, has a very dry sense of humor... the humor totally evaporates at times. There are definitely some good ones, though. The last one is especially hilarious, as it also serves as a finale for the fictional story teller. Fun for a change of pace for sure, but not your usual Clarke fare.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 27, 2021 0:46:03 GMT -5
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
I always like viewing things from a different cultural lens... books are no exception. I don't remember how I came across this book, but it's a mystery written by a Japanese writer, which I thought would be fun. If the plot was half as creative and different from Western style ones as anime is to American comics, I figured it be great.
I was not disappointed. This is written in 'Columbo' style.. where you see the murder happen in the beginning of the story, and that watch as the detective(s) try to figure it out. In this case, the detectives are assisted by a physics professor that is rather Holmesian in his approach.
The murderer is also very much a victim, which is quite interesting... even though as I see the murder, I'd call it justified and not really murder, but rather self defense, that was clearly not even a consideration here.
The plot to trick the police was amazing, made even more so by the twist at the end. I suspect some twist, and had an inkling of what it would involve, but the extent of it was crazy. The killers mindset at the end was also quite fascinating.. as if his plan all along was to get into prison.
There were a few logic leads the lead made that seemed a bit out there, but that's not really unusual for this type of character or story, and nothing too heinous. There was one bit at the end with one of the suspects daughter that seemed totally out of nowhere and no necessary.... just thrown in to make sure no one has a happy ending. Very much like anime indeed... but like any good anime, it didn't ruin a great story.. just one of those things you accept with the style. Highly recommended.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 1, 2021 23:49:06 GMT -5
Islands in the Sky Arthur Clarke This is definitely a book that you have to read in context... it was written before there was anyone in space. Clarke does a pretty darn good job of guessing at what it would be like though. This is definitely meant as 'juvenile' SF, it focuses on a boy that wins a contest on a quiz show and finagles the prize to be a trip to 'Inner Station'.. the lowest orbit of the various stations in orbit and jumping off point to the solar system. It's clear Clarke's goal here is not to tell a story, but rather to correct some of the myths of space travel (which is interesting, since space travel is yet a few years away).. and he talks to the reader at several points about how ray guns and space monsters are not REALLY out there, but tries to show how exciting space is anyway. It's pretty effective for that, I'd say.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 4, 2021 10:33:34 GMT -5
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde Jack Spratt and the NCD (Nursery Crimes Division) are back. The shine of the Humpty Dumpty case has faded and the debacle of the Red Riding Hood swallowing has Jack in hot water. Which makes it a very bad time for the Gingerbread Man to escape from custody and go on a rampage. Added to that there are strange happenings in the Ursine population (and not just with the Right to Arm Bears crowd). Add to that mysterious explosions and Jack may not have a job. Or a life. It all may hinge on finding the Fourth Bear. This was a re-read but it had been so long I only remembered the bare details of the book. Overall it was a perfectly cromulent book, but I think I just wasn't quite in the mood for it. Ultimately it just didn't hold up to The Big Over Easy for me. But it's always nice to see DCI Spratt and company. And I did enjoy the way that Fforde used Punch & Judy in the book.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 4, 2021 10:46:29 GMT -5
I really need to read those at some point... I think it'll be different enough from Fables to not annoy me Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi This is one weird book.... I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. On the face of it, it seems like Scalzi is trying to homage/imitate Foundation, but with using 'real' physics. Of course, known real physics isn't compatible with space opera in any way, so he came up with 'the Flow' which is basically a worm hole network.. not a new thing, just a new name. Perhaps this is the point he's making, but the set up of the Interdependency makes no sense at all.. they have no habitable planets essentially, it's just a string of space stations that are connected because of the where the flow lets off.. but if you're going to have all artificial spots anyway, why not just have them all in the same place? Or a two or three at most (if you want to not have your whole civilization in one place). Then there's the fact that there's no mention of people going off on their own to try to find actual habitible planets, which would totally be happening. The writing is decent, if predictible. The villains of the piece practically twirl their mustaches, and the 'good guys' are straight out of the 'what good guys should be in 2020' sci fi handbook. He also is sure to throw in some gratitutious sex and bad language so no one thinks it's a YA book. While I'm curious as to what will happen next.... the next book could follow right on after this one, or be 100 years later, either would make sense.... I'm not sure I want to read them.. I'll probably check the summaries to decide.
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