This is less a review and more of a trip down memory lane.
If you looked at my book collection you’d only find one book by Louis L’Amour, and you’d think that westerns just aren’t to my taste. After all, my collection is dominated by fantasy, romance, and some other more eclectic choices. However, I do appreciate a good book by Louis L’Amour and authors like Louis L’Amour played a role in getting me to read even if they aren’t exactly my favorite authors.
As children, we mostly learn by example. Language is most easily learned by immersion, behavior and manners are learned by watching others interact, and reading seemed to be a part of daily life to me because I lived with someone who loved to read: my grandfather. He had a pretty large collection of books, which wasn’t apparent until we had to gather them all up after he passed away, and he spent a good deal of time at a buy-trade-sell style used book store back home where he would trade in or “rent” books for outrageously cheap prices (as in fifty cents per book – and it wasn’t that long ago). So, even with the challenges of work, helping my grandmother keep house, raising me and keeping the family together he still made time to read. That made an impression on me. It was more than having Reader’s Digest in the bathroom, and less than really openly encouraging me to read. It was teaching by example and even though the lesson wasn’t intentional, it took.
For him -and now for me – reading is a means of travel and exploration. In my mind I get to see new places, meet new people, and do extraordinary things that just don’t happen in reality. He never expounded on how reading was an important part of mental development; he just noted, when asked, that reading was enjoyable. So, I would pick up one of his paperbacks and browse through it whenever the fancy struck me. Sometimes I thought the story was stupid, or the words too big and other times I was riveted. I still wish today that we hadn’t gotten rid of all of his books when he passed away, but at that time my grandmother and I were grieving. Every book was a reminder to us and right after he passed it was too much to deal with. In the end I have only the one book, by Louis L’Amour, that belonged to him. (Fortunately, my grandmother says she found a few more around the house and is saving them for the next time I come home.)
Later, I started buying my own books whenever I had the chance (I never really had an allowance, but every once in a while I’d get some money) and that was the beginning of my own little library.
So, in the end I owe a lot not only to my grandfather for leading by example, but to Louis L’Amour and his ilk for making reading fun for me when I was a kid. Even if westerns don’t fill my library, and the books of Cussler and Grisham don’t sit between Goodkind, Pratchett, and Martin, they hold a special place in my heart just by virtue being interesting to my grandfather – who taught me to love to read.
Archive for March, 2009
I have to admit right up front that this is not a book I would have picked out all by my lonesome while browsing through the bookstore. This was a book I needed to read for class and I still have very mixed feelings about it. On the cover, Brown as hailed as being an author to the tune of Faulkner and I have to say that whether I like the book or not the comparison is not at all applicable. The style of Brown’s writing seems very similar, to me, to Jodi Picoult or Alice Sebold though it does have a distinct “flavor” all its own. This is not a legendary story, and Brown is not a legendary writer.
What I don’t like is that the story of Father and Son does not really tell the tale of a character that I can relate to. Glen, the main character, returns home after a two-year stint in prison – the result of having killed a child while driving drunk. Filled with seething hate and rage, Glen proceeds to murder those he carries old grudges against. He falls quickly into bed with an old flame, but goes on to rape two other women and consort with a more promiscuous “old flame” he meets while out drinking.
The picture that Brown offers of the South during the period of Vietnam is not a pretty picture. The area is an impoverished small-town South where life is hard, and society tends to either church or liquor. Glen fits well into the “liquor” category, but the sad part of the violence that he commits is that he seems as much a victim as the actual victims. Glen is not what we would call insane, but neither is he a rational being. He cannot, or does not, accept any blame for the crimes he has committed against his fellow human beings but neither is he free of victimization himself.
The story is not a feel-good story, and the portrayals are painfully realistic in a way that can make you feel a little sick, mentally. This fictional account is not outlandish in any way, nor is it something that a person can shrug off as fiction. The wrongs done to and by Glen hit too close to home to be comfortable, even if the situation is not like anything you have ever personally experienced.
For my part, I can’t decide if I hate the story for its ugliness or if I appreciate it (I can’t say I like it) for the fact that it doesn’t pull any punches for the sake of my feelings.
I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone, but I wouldn’t recommend against it either. Just have the facts before you. This is a harsh story about a very harsh world, and even a good ending will not be a happy ending because in telling about the world Brown has had to acknowledge that happy endings just might not exist.
The “final” book of the Dark Elf Trilogy by Salvatore is Sojourn. Now, there’s something misleading about this trilogy and now that I’ve gotten to the end of it, I’ll tell you the simple truth: the story doesn’t end here. The “Legend of Drizzt” series actually continues past this. The initial trilogy only covers the period of time that it takes for Drizzt to leave behind his family (and his past) and find a place on the surface world where he can stay without being endlessly persecuted or driven away just for being a drow.
Sojourn was by far my favorite of the three books because it finally offered some resolution to the more emotional, “inner” problems faced by the main character. It also has more episodes that involved humor or good nature, though there were plenty of foul characters and horrible events to keep the story from becoming less “real”. The plot seemed more character-driven in terms of external or peripheral characters than in the last two books – mainly because the real “drive” in the last two books centered around Drizzt’s moral decisions and need for companionship.
I appreciated the introduction of more characters to the story, and I enjoyed watching the way Drizzt adapted to and interacted with the various situations presented. As far-fetched as the first book seemed to me, Drizzt has become a real character in my head like all my favorite “people” and I enjoy “seeing” how he reacts to different situations, how he deals with people (or creatures, as the case may be), and how he develops psychologically.
The inclusion of a villain I could really hate also spurred my enjoyment of the story. I love to hate the bad guys, and this one made me want to scream. Strangely, this particular villain was not frustrating because of his cunning or tactics, but because of his stupidity and stubborn, blind persistence in the pursuit of a less-than-noble goal. He didn’t even really have the justification of vengeance, greed, or the desire for world domination. Strangely, I even hated this character’s pets and folks, it isn’t easy to get me to hate an animal. Salvatore wrote a great bad guy.
Unfortunately for Drizzt, his aversion to killing is what helps make this bad guy such a nuisance. If Drizzt had erred in favor of killing the man instead of being merciful then many disasters and many deaths could have been prevented. There we find the flaw of Drizzt’s struggle to remain a moral being in a violent world. In the end, his attitude will shape the entire course of his future just as it has shaped the journey of the last two books.
Fortunately for me, the series continues past this trilogy and I’ll get to read more about Drizzt in the future.
In late 2008, ABC took a chance by bringing back the full-hour syndicated show. In this case, it was a visualization of the Terry Goodkind book, “Wizard’s First Rule” in the form of a TV series titled “Legend of the Seeker” (don’t worry, there won’t be any spoilers about it here; however, if you want a comparison between the two, please visit this comparison of Wizard’s First Rule v. Legend of the Seeker).
Some people were overjoyed that one of their beloved books of the Sword of Truth series was being brought to the screen where it may find new fans. Others weren’t too crazy with what they saw as unnecessary creative liberties taken with the plot and characters.
The series does it have its share of fans and detractors. But one thing it does is open the door to an interesting discussion: In your opinion, what has been the best visualization (movie, TV Series, Mini-series, etc.) of a book you’ve loved? Read the rest of this entry »
True to my word, I have read Dark Haven and now that I am recovering from my death-defying encounter with an oral surgeon I am ready to give you my take on it.
Dark Haven, by Gail Z. Martin
Dark Haven is the third book of the Chronicles of the Necromancer, a series that seems to be gaining quite a bit of momentum and promises to be considered an epic in my own personal library. Similar in some ways to the ever-popular Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, but utterly unique in plot and characters, this series has a lot to offer to fantasy readers.
Dark Haven picks up with Jonmarc Vahanian, former merc-turned-landlord, as he begins making headway in the holdings of Dark Haven. Dark Haven is a territory for the vayash moru, or vampires, set aside for them and over which a mortal lord must govern. The previous Lord of Dark Haven was killed when the false king Jared of Margolan had his chief mage wrest a magical orb called Soulcatcher from beneath the foundations of Dark Haven. The loss of this magical item disrupted the Flow – a sort of magical river – sundered the foundations of the manor at Dark Haven, killed the mortal lord who ruled there, and may have resulted in the decline of the lands that surrounded Dark Haven.
Jonmarc, appointed the new Lord of Dark Haven, has his work cut out for him. As a fighter, he knows that the vayash moru the reside in and around Dark Haven are faster, stronger, and more dangerous than he is. As the Lord of Dark Haven, he is both responsible for them and in some ways answerable to them. The complication is that not all of the vayash moru are glad to have a mortal lord restored to Dark Haven. They see Jonmarc Vahanian as a lesser being, incapable of truly leading them, and they will do anything to see him ousted from power. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Chronicles of the Necromancer, Dark Haven, Gail Z Martin, review
Atul Gawande has enough achievements in medicine to steal my title of Grand High Poobah, but what interests me is that he is also an excellent writer. Better, like his first book Complications, is not full of medical jargon nor is it written in such a way that the reader feels like he or she is being talked down to by the all-knowing M.D. So, the tone of the book offers something different.
What is also different is the candid manner in which Gawande approaches his subject, and the honest, trustworthy narration he provides because whether or not he went into the project intending to project that kind of ethos, Gawande does it. This, you say to yourself, is someone who will give it to me straight without pulling any punches.
The book itself is divided into the parts. Part 1 is entitled “Diligence”. Part 2 is “Doing Right”, and Part 3 is called “Ingenuity”. Catchy, eh? For the purpose of my review, I’m picking one chapter from each Part of the book to talk about because each Part covers a different aspect of a story. What makes these stories interesting? First, they’re true stories and secondly, they are told in such a way as to make them interesting. Read the rest of this entry »
When last we met, our intrepid heroes were discussing the fate of the publishing industry based on our inevitably flawed knowledge of the writer’s market which is largely based on one simple fact: we like to read books. (Doesn’t reading imply books though? I mean, what else does a “reader” go for? The writing in the toilet stall? I do not count magazines or newspapers. That’s not really reading – in some cases it’s not even writing.) At the end of our discussion last time, we had not reached any firm conclusions, but we did have a few hypotheses to offer to our readers.
First: Size of a company alone cannot sustain it, despite the fact that absorbing smaller publishing companies may be a viable move for the larger ones to remain solvent.
Second: The way the economy has been going can, and most likely will, affect the amount of new writers that are able to break into the market. Fortunately, self-publishing is catching on so they may not be out of options altogether.
Third: Established authors will probably be fine since they are the moneymakers for their publishers and no sane business will bite the hand that feeds it.
Fourth: It is possible that the mass-market paperback will become a thing of the past as the more expensive versions of pseudo-hardcovers and trade paperbacks make their way into the mainstream book market.
Now, we return you to your current programming, with Gambit and Poobah officiating… Read the rest of this entry »
Coming Soon…
For those of you who can never get your hands on enough reading material (and you know who you are), I have some recommendations for books that are either now available or coming up soon.
First, The Shadow Queen is now available. This is a standalone book by Anne Bishop which seems to be somewhat distantly related to both the Black Jewels Trilogy and The Invisible Ring. Now, if you haven’t read aforementioned trilogy I would recommend you do that first, but this book can stand all by itself if you’d rather not. The first book of the trilogy is Daughter of the Blood.
Next, for paranormal romance is The Immortal Hunter, by Lynsay Sands. This is also part of a series, but fortunately for you they don’t really need to be read in order for you to understand what is going on. I would still recommend visiting her website for reading order, though…it’s a little confusing since several books are being re-published that are much earlier in the series.
For sci-fi/fanstasy fans, Turn Coat, by Jim Butcher should be coming out April First-ish. It will be the most recent book of the Dresden Files series, which I also highly recommend. Again, these can be read separately, but it is much easier to understand if you start at the beginning. There were enough issues left unresolved on the last book to leave me crazy for more details and I’m hoping Turn Coat will ease some of my mental pain.
Blood Noir, the most recent of the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, is coming out in paperback on May 26, and is followed on June 2 by Skin Trade in hardcover first printing. I have found that the series does not suit my taste as it once did, but hardcore fans may be up for more.
Now, if you aren’t looking for something new to the market, or new in a series as my list seems to be, I would recommend some of the following:
The Summoner, by Gail Z. Martin — this has developed into a trilogy thus far and it looks like there will be more
Wizard’s First Rule, by Terry Goodkind — this first book of a series is the basis for the Legend of the Seeker which is now on TV
Or, just check out my Now Reading page and browse my online “library” for interesting titles.
Exile picks up quite a while after the end of Homeland, but it seems that the interim time is time passed the is unnecessary to the plot beyond how it shapes Drizzt’s mental and emotional state. After the initial confusion of realizing that time had passed, the story got up to a pretty quick pace. Drizzt has managed to flee House Do’Urden and the plots that go with it. In the Underdark, there are many places to hide and Drizzt is free to go his own way as long as he can stay alive to do it.
Most of Exile seems to focus on a new dilemma. If Drizzt has escaped the taint of Menzobarran, and is free to range the Underdark under his own moral code then where shall he go? What good is morality when you have no companionship? Can moral compass exist in isolation? And, is it possible for Drizzt to escape to any place in the Underdark that is truly outside of the influence of Matron Malice and her evil goddess, Lolth?
Drizzt eventually finds that even Guenhwyvar is not company enough to keep him from surviving on base instincts alone, and in desperation he manages to find a friend…someone that we have met in reading Homeland. Finding such a friend is a gamble, though. Lolth – and therefore Matron Malice – want Drizzt dead. Anything or anyone who gets in the way of that is just canon fodder, and Drizzt has to overcome many obstacles in order to be civilized, let alone to keep himself and his friends alive.
On a scale of one to ten, Exile gets a five. Don’t think I’m damning with faint praise, however. I think that Exile is helping to build up to a bigger and better story overall.
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As a disclaimer, I’m still on pain meds from having teeth pulled so I absolve myself of all blame for typos, weird off-tangent remarks, and any plot spoilers that may have appeared.
A Quick Update
Despite a recent encounter with an evil dentist, I am almost done with Dark Haven. So far I’ve loved every chapter and I’m looking forward to the conclusion. Once I can wean off the vicodin and antibiotics I’ll definitely get back to my reviews. Anyway…Dark Haven is AWESOME. A Visitation of Spirits has been a little ignored, but I’ll pick back up on reading it soon. More details later.
And to be honest…my dentist (oral surgeon) was actually really nice. I was sedated for the whole procedure. Don’t remember a thing about it. I thought I was staring out the window the whole time.(And apparently asked my boyfriend the same five questions over and over on the forty-five minute drive home: how did we get to my car? was I nice to the nurses? what did they tell you about how it went? where are we now?….I’m nominating him for sainthood.)