PissWeakly Reviews

The Orc King / R.A. Salvatore

2012-01-24T17:20:00.000-08:00

The Orc King

category: fantasy, author:

R.A. Salvatore

book 1 of Transitions, in the Forgotten Realms
original copyright 2007

read in January 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10: well worth reading

As I started reading I thought, Good grief! Who are all these characters?!

If I understand the chronology of the Forgotten Realms books, The Orc King begins with a flash-forward. Just to show that yes, there will be an orc king. Then we jump almost back. Then back again.

Followed by a lot of activity by people who are well known -- if you have already read every other book of the Forgotten Realms...

Plenty of well-established characters. At least I could remember Drizzt, from a book I read a few years ago. Most of the others, I did not know.

You can tell that all of these characters are continuing characters. They suffer guilt from the earlier deaths of friends. Or they are dead but still an essential part of the story. Or they apparently were dead but are now alive...

All too complicated for me!

And surprisingly little action involving the eponymous orc king!

As I read the first few chapters, I was worried.

And then it all improved.

I'm used to not recognising characters as I read a book. If there are too many characters, I only remember the main ones, and only if the author does a good job of making them memorable. Salvatore does a good job of making his characters memorable.

Okay, it's "memorable" as in "cartoonish", "exaggerated", "extreme"... Which is all part of the dungeons & dragons fantasy adventure!

I began to know the key characters. And accepted that others will come and go as they please. If they do anything really important then, perhaps, I will remember them on their next appearance.

So there are characters coming and going, talking, fighting, exploring. Having extreme adventures. But...

It all ties together!

Well, okay, except for the character who takes his adopted child back to the child's real mother. As far as I can tell, his sub-plot is there so that he will be placed for his own -- independent -- adventures in a later book.

There is a lot of fighting. Bloody, extreme fighting.

There is also a moral dilemma.

Yes, a moral dilemma. And this dilemma lifts the book above its game-play simplicity.

Some of the orcs... well, one of the orcs... is hoping to establish a long-lasting peace for his people. Can he be trusted? Can he convince his people?

More importantly, can the non-orcs set aside their orc-hatred long enough to give peace a chance? After all, orcs have been killing non-orcs for many a long book. The Orc King itself includes orcs killing several good friends of the heroes.

The good guy characters have to decide. Should they accept the risks associated with a possible peace with the orcs? Or should they continue their long-standing approach of, the only good orc is a dead orc...

It is this moral dilemma which lifts the book above the ordinary.

The Orc King is one book in a long series of adventures. Can this book break the standard of who is "good" and who is "bad"?

This is more than just a grand fantasy adventure.

It is, also... a grand fantasy adventure.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

Storm Born / Richelle Mead

2012-01-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

Storm Born

category: fantasy, porn, author:

Richelle Mead

original copyright 2008

read in January 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10: bad but could be read

It's funny, really. I read this book and quite enjoyed it. Left it a day or so. And decided that it was really not a very good book.

I enjoyed it -- but it is not a very good book?! Why not? First, check the labels at the foot of this review...

It is "cat:fantasy". Okay, witches, fairies, shamans, Earth and fairy-land. Fantasy. It is also "cat:porn"... It could have been "cat:romance" -- but it is closer to porn.

The heroine is beautiful. The heroes are handsome. There are lots of significant looks and lots of heavy breathing. There is also lots of heavy sex.

So I read -- and enjoy -- books with lots of heavy sex. So I quite enjoyed reading this book. Even so, the sex was... well... not right. Not right for a romance, that is.

No matter how tough, how sassy, the romantic heroine, they do like to have an even tougher hero. But -- in my opinion -- a strong preference for rough sex and bondage is going beyond romance. And into porn.

The heroine is, of course, torn between two strong, handsome men. That's almost essential in a romance... or in any book with a "love interest". Having sex with both the men, though... weakens the romantic appeal. Where's the conflict of the romantic triangle, when she simply sleeps with both of them?!

By chapter four, the first hero had proven his worth by giving extremely good sex. Half a book later, the heroine was still resisting the second hero. Until she decided that it was a good idea to exchange sex for favours.

Prostitute with heart of gold is an old cliche. Heroine with heart of prostitute is less common. And less likable.

From there -- from "6/10 read to pass the time" -- the book rapidly degenerated to "4/10 bad but could be read". As the heroine slipped from sassy-and-strong to slutty-and-uninspired, she lost my sympathy. And the book lost its appeal.

Then there is the final risk-all-for-her-lover scene...

The heroine followed her (first) lover's spirit to hell, to bring him back to life. On the way, she faced a series of challenges.

Except that they were not really challenges...

There's the army, set to invade. The heroine is against the idea of invasion. So what does she do? She simply says, Okay all, let's go invade...

There's her father, who raped her mother. He says, now I'll have you, too. So what does she do? What clever stratagem does our heroine use to get by this threat of rape by father? Oh, okay, have me, she says...

These are not challenges. These are situations that the heroine does not like. And all she does, is to go along with every nasty action. No moral indignation. No attempt to find an alternative solution. Just, do the bad thing.

At best, this is a "morally ambiguous" heroine.

At worst, it's a novel which ignores conflict and conflict resolution, to set up a series of violent action scenes to loosely link the somewhat violent porn.

Good sex. Bad story.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

What the Night Knows / Dean Koontz

2012-01-12T02:11:00.000-08:00

What the Night Knows

category: horror, author:

Dean Koontz

original copyright 2010

read in January 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

The cover of this book has Dean Koontz in big letters. So far so good. Koontz is good -- and well known.

Then there's the title: what the night knows. No argument there. A readable size font. The title does need to be on the cover.

Then, in smaller font, "[A NOVEL]".

"A novel" ? What else would it be ?!

Actually... as I read the book... that's a good question.

No, seriously, it really is a novel. No doubt about that. But what else is this book ?

Night is a positive and inspirational message... An argument for niceness, and its ability to overcome evil.

Unfortunately the message is slathered on like sweet icing on a fancy decorated cake. Far too heavy. Far too sweet.

Then there are the characters...

Have you ever met children so cute ? So sweet ? So controlled ? So unbearably stupid !

Most of their problems are due to their upbringing. Always knock -- and wait -- before entering... Always do as your parents tell you... Study hard so that you will have a great future career... Believe in magic -- but only in white magic.

Not that that's all bad.

But when it comes to the crunch -- these kids survive only because sweetness and light will always resist the horrors of the night. No, not "resist"... The kids survive because their sweetness and innocence is an automatic protection against evil.

Perhaps natural evil just has a natural fear of the artificiality of saccharine.

Oh well.

I do not like these children. The parents are similarly over-sweet. But it's not enough to make me put down the book.

At times I thought that Koontz was writing for children, a moralistic fable. But the violence is a bit strong for children. I think. Then again, the violence is mostly less (or less graphic) when it happens than when it is anticipated.

And finally... everyone is saved by the deus ex machina. Really ! Koontz actually calls it a Machina ex Deo but that's what he means: God pops out of the machine to save the good guys.

The book is easy to read. Somewhat exciting. Just a bit embarrassing.

Unless, of course, you like a good moral fable.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

Vicious Circle / Linda Robertson

2012-01-12T01:24:00.000-08:00

Vicious Circle

category: romance, fantasy, author:

Linda Robertson

original copyright 2009

read in January 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

The library has this book as "horror, romance"... Horror ? Nooo...

Sure, the characters are supernatural: werewolves (sorry, waerwolves), witches and vampires, with mention of various other supernatural beings. But "horror" ? No way !

This book is romance.

With supernatural.

Like Twilight: it's just too nice to be "horror".

I don't like to compare books; each book should be judged alone -- according to my Pissweakly standards. But the thought is too strong to ignore: Vicious Circle is a cross between Twilight and a Dresden Files novel. The romance of Twilight but for an older (female) reader. A simpler version of the right-all-wrongs Dresden hero... Simpler, cleaner and prettier !

I scored Circle as six out of ten but really, it's worth a seven, well worth reading. Except that this is my opinion. I enjoyed the read but would have liked something a bit... stronger... ?

There's action and romance. Magic and potential mayhem. Great fun but just a little bit light -- for my liking. Supernatural-lite. I do like a happy ending. But before that, I prefer a bit more bite from my werewolf.

That said, I would happily read any more books with these characters... Even "Nana" became bearable (not quite likable) as the book progressed.

An enjoyable book. Even more enjoyable for readers who like more teeth but less bite in their fantasy romances.

The author's first novel ? An excellent effort !

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

The Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic / Terry Pratchett

2012-01-04T16:31:00.000-08:00

The Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic
(graphic novels)

category: fantasy, humour, author:

Terry Pratchett

illustrated by Steven Ross

book 1 & 2 of Discworld
original copyright 1991/92

read in December 2011 & January 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

This is a "graphic novel" -- a comic book -- version of two Discworld books. I've reviewed The Colour of Magic as a text novel. And I've read the text original of The Light Fantastic, before I began these reviews.

How does the graphic compare to the text?

Poorly.

The story of Colour suffers from what I shall now name as, the Rincewind effect: a loser, with the entire world out to get him. This effect detracts from the humour. It makes it hard to enjoy reading, when you know that there will not be a happy ending for the hero... That's my view... I'm a softie.

Fantastic seems to almost be going the same way... but it is not!

In my review of Magic, a reader posted a comment:

=Tamar May 25, 2011 09:03 AM
Don't ignore The Light Fantastic.
Rincewind develops significantly in that book, #2 in the series, immediately after The Colour of Magic.

And Tamar is absolutely correct ! Thank you !

For a while, in Fantastic, Rincewind looks as though he is going to finish a poor last. Yet he is able to beat the odds. Not only that -- Rincewind takes positive steps, and succeeds!

What a pleasure to read :-) And, having read the comic version, I now remember reading the text original. And having the same pang of pleasure, as the hero tries -- and wins.

So my rating for The Light Fantastic would be, 08: really quite good.

Except that this is the graphic version.

The graphic novel has captured a lot of the original humour and excitement. A lot has also been lost. If you have trouble following a Pratchett novel -- the graphic version is even more confusing.

Discworld books tend to have a lot of threads of action. Apparently unrelated. Finally, in the last few pages, they all come together.

These graphic versions have a more unified plot. But with holes. Holes due largely to the constraints of space and the graphic format. Within these constraints, the adaptation works well.

As a coherent story, I prefer the text novels.

And the illustrations are disappointing...

Complex, fun, detailed... Just too realistic.

The human characters are human. Okay, that sounds fine. But I somehow expect them to be more than human. I can't explain it better than that. And I certainly could not draw it myself! But I find that the realism of the characters somehow does not fit with the fuzzy images in my own mind.

And then there's Twoflower, the tourist.

Look, in the books he's clearly Chinese. Or, at least, the Discworld equivalent.

Big glasses do not make Chinese.

Is the illustrator trying to be politically correct? Or am I missing something...

Twoflower-the-standard-Caucasian-but-with-glasses-and-a-big-hat... just does not work. It's more of the too-real-to-be-true illustration in the book.

Ah well.

It was worth seeing how Discworld translates to a graphic novel. Last week I enjoyed Going Postal translated to a tv movie. (Sorry, the link is to a review of the book, not the movie.)

The movie worked. The graphic novel... well... read the book.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

Debatable Space / Philip Palmer

2012-01-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

Debatable Space

category: science fiction, author:

Philip Palmer

original copyright 2008

read in Jan 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

Imagination. Action. Breadth. Motivation. Justification. Tedium.

Tedium!?

It was a struggle to finish this book.

There is a grand scale to this galactic adventure. Backstory provides an understanding of the main characters. But it just goes on and on... and on.

All very well to provide a history of a key character. To explain her reasons for being as she is, for doing as she did. Yet it becomes a major block to the development of the main story.

Okay, perhaps the author wants us to see the future history of human expansion into the galaxy. The technology of planetary settlement and control is clever, worth writing about. The life story of Lena is just too much.

Other characters provide insights into the technology and the cruelty of the Earth-galactic dictator. They provide their insights in simple stories of a couple of pages each... While Lena gets half the book to explain her own part on the plot.

And it is very difficult to like her.

Yawn...

Not that it isn't interesting!

Just overdone, overblown, too long, and tedious...

Then there's the plot itself: complex, clever, annoyingly multi-climactic.

Is that a word? "Multi-climactic"?

What I mean is: The story reaches a crescendo... The heroes win the big battle / conquer the key planet / succeed in their ultimate goal... Only to find that there is another battle / planet / goal to now be reached.

It becomes a standard formula: Oh look, we've won :-) Wait, the baddies have an unexpected trick, we've lost after all :-( It's okay, I expected this, here's the real battle / planet / goal which will now become our target...

The hero, apparently, planned everything in advance. Each plot climax is essential, either as a step on the way or as a step which must be attempted rather than going straight to the really difficult task... All very clever. I just wish that there were some hints in advance...

As it is, the story is very episodic. A series of separate stories, where each story must be more exciting than the last. As though the author reached the end of the book then decided, oh dear, this is still too short, what shall I write about now...

On the other hand -- each story is exciting. Imaginative. Over the top. Action-packed.

It's a fine flow of action-packed space opera.

It just suffers from too much history of civilisation.

Like the war that the story covers, I guess: episodes of life-threatening action, interspersed with long periods of mind-numbing tedium.

Extra note:

I did appreciate the development and explanation of the character of Lena, the female lead character. It is well done. It gives a good insight into her drives, her motives. It just slows down the story.

This book is a story of war, violence and revenge in the distant future. It is also a story which analyses the character of a woman who is born mousey and who fights her way to power.

One or the other...

Having both stories in the one book means that one is interfering with the other. Whichever story you like -- the other story gets in the way.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

Alternative 3 / Ken Mitchell

2011-12-30T01:44:00.000-08:00

Alternative 3

category: thriller, author:

Ken Mitchell

original copyright 2003

read in December 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

The book began slowly.

Oh dear, I though, another Nazi-who-survived-the-war thriller. Not that I can remember reading any others... but it does seem that the top Nazis were really tough to kill. Like zombies, really: they seem to be... ended, yet as soon as you turn your back -- they're back.

Anyway, Alternative 3 is not another Nazi-who-survived-the-war thriller.

After a somewhat boring introduction -- the backstory -- we meet the hero of this book. And then the fun begins!

A nerd hero, with extreme hacker skills. Watched by his parole officer. Watching as several friends and acquaintances are destroyed by the group behind a major conspiracy... By that I mean, destroyed by the people who want their existence to be hidden behind a wild conspiracy "theory"...

The hero is not a true nerd. Sure, he can hack into any system... Just give him a safety pin to short-circuit a public phone line and within minutes he'll have cracked into the NORAD site and be using NORAD radar to track the real Santa... Yet despite these skills, he gets the girl. He could have had the other girl. And he can pedal mutant bikes across deserts and security fences.

This is the hero that we all want to be... smart, sneaky and successful with women. (Feel free to replace "women" with "men", as appropriate.)

Once Alternative hits its stride, it is non-stop fun. About as believable as any over-the-top conspiracy theory. (In an end-of-book author's note, Mitchell writes that he used conspiracies straight from the internet. It's not just "the truth" that's out there...) Although, interestingly enough...

By the end of the book, we still don't know -- for sure -- how much of the conspiracy theory is "true". Sure, there's a cover-up. Sure, there's advanced technology. But is the entire "theory" correct? We never find out...

As with any conspiracy-based thriller, the story is in the battle for survival. So as not to strain the reader's willing suspension of disbelief, thrillers end with a valid reason why the unmasked conspiracy is still not widely known... The usual method is, to destroy all evidence.

Was it Michael Crichton who spent an entire book discovering a tribe of intelligent apes -- only to have every single one of them destroyed in the final chapter? With every trace of their homes also -- conveniently -- destroyed? That's the typical, weak, wrap-up of the major conspiracy uncovered / major discovery made style of book. And it's weak as water.

It's like a standard old style sit-com. It doesn't matter what happens during the episode. As long as the visible situation at the end is exactly the same as the situation at the start.

With Alternative 3, Mitchell avoids that weak ending.

Not that I'm entirely happy with the ending!

The book ends well. Loose ends wrapped up, plot twists satisfactorily explained. It's just that I would have liked the hero to make a more positive statement!

The first few chapters -- backstory to the conspiracy -- are hardly necessary. Then the hero successfully survives all that the baddies can throw at him. But really, his efforts have not changed the conspiracy status quo. At the end of this book -- we have returned to the start of the episode.

For my own satisfaction I like to think that... soon after the final chapter of this book... the hacker hero will get further into Alternative 3. Perhaps he will take it over. And steer it from the path of evil, to the path of niceness and good...

Apart from that... apart from my desire for the hero to do more that survive... it's a good book. (Perhaps I want the hero to do more that just survive, simply because I like him?!) Really quite a good book.

Just a tiny bit unbelievable (btw, that's intended as humourous irony). A few weaknesses... A previous reader of my copy of the book has circled the sentence where petrol is used to refuel a diesel vehicle... A question as to how many people are knowingly involved in the secondary conspiracy... and how was it all funded.

All that is nit-picking.

Read it, enjoy it.

And wonder what all those indestructible Nazis will get up to next...

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

The Redemption of Althalus / David & Leigh Eddings

2011-12-20T20:09:00.000-08:00

The Redemption of Althalus

category: fantasy, author:

David & Leigh Eddings

original copyright 2000

read in December 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

This is a book that you simply cannot put down.

I made the mistake of putting it down. Which gave me time to think: this book is a load of rubbish...

It was easy reading, though nothing much was happening. As long as I kept on reading -- with my mind in neutral -- I was happy with the book. It was only when I stopped to think, that I realised that I was not enjoying it.

That was about a third of the way in. By half way I was struggling. Lightweight froth, ridiculously weak plot, too much talk and not enough action.

Page 279 of 693 and I have given up.

Redemption is a moralising child's fable. Where the child should be a tweener girl with religious inclinations and a leaning towards simplistic romance. Perhaps that child would enjoy the book. As a parent I would prefer my children to not read such nonsense.

The two main characters start to kiss. This is getting a bit hot, thinks the man. Perhaps we shouldn't, says the woman. Okay we won't, says the man. And that's that.

If you think that that's a bit... childish?... then you really don't want to meet the cat... She's soooo cute and cuddly and how could anyone possibly resist her... Fine for a while but eventually grates on the nerves.

Then there's the moralising. It's not too long but it's regular.

One character will suggest something. Another character will explain that that's wrong, immoral, not nice. The first character will agree. It's not character development, it's morality lessons for the reader.

Perhaps the authors have not heard that authors should show rather than explain.

On the positive side: This is, "A new single-volume epic". I appreciate that. I am rather sick and tired of fantasy books that just have characters from previous volumes carrying on with previous actions. If an author doesn't know how to end the story -- perhaps they should go back to authors' school.

If you believe that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is essential reading for every child then your children should also be forced to read The Redemption of Althalus. Perhaps Redemption also includes someone being sacrificed. On the bright side, the characters in Redemption are not as creepy as those in the Wardrobe. They are simply so nice, so clever, so always correct and so good... that they make you cringe.

Enough.

Perhaps, too much.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

Unseen Academicals / Terry Pratchett

2011-12-14T06:05:00.000-08:00

Unseen Academicals

category: fantasy, humour, author:

Terry Pratchett

book 37 of Discworld
original copyright 2009

read in December 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10: really quite good

Yet another Discworld book... Many of the same old characters... Still a lot of fun!

Actually, there are more new characters than old. At least, more story built around the new characters. Which is good. For a while, Discworld seemed to be in a bit of a slump, with familiar characters -- admittedly in new adventures -- but acting largely as expected.

Going Postal was an earlier return to form... Well, a return to a new start, with many new characters... Anyway... Going Postal has been made into a movie. Perhaps (I think to myself) because Going Postal has a story which can stand alone.

Unseen Academicals can also stand alone.

Yes, there are several well known wizards of Unseen University. Ridcully's character has become somewhat more realistic, Ponder Stibbons has developed his career and the Dean has changed jobs. Rincewind has a cameo role -- in his usual put-upon style -- but he is now accepted as a regular staff member of UU. The wizards have more depth to their characters.

The non-academic staff of UU has also made an appearance. Many of these characters are new. (To me, anyway. Perhaps they did appear in books that I have not yet read?) These newly-revealed people -- plus a few from outside UU -- play the key roles in Academicals.

The writing style has also changed.

I complained about the hopeless loser role of Rincewind in The Colour of Magic. Now the characters are strong... almost super strong. Nutt the dribbler (see below) is -- to not give too much away -- more than he seems. As he develops his self-confidence, he becomes almost unstoppable... Perhaps even unstoppable, forget the "almost".

Other characters also assert themselves. Which adds up to a totally unbelievable story which is all, perfectly... believable. Believable, that is, given the inherent magic of a world which rides on the backs of elephants which stand on a rather large turtle.

So the characters assert themselves. Far more than in earlier books. The magic is more visible. Even if it is restricted in order to avoid full-on magic wars. And the social commentary is more direct.

The social commentary is hard and direct. Which is fine because it does not in any way detract from the entertainment. In Monstrous Regiment (from memory; I read it long before I began these reviews) the satire is slathered on with a trowel. Hammered home with a sledge hammer. This is not a problem with Academicals.

The satire is strong but not intrusive. The message that everyone deserves to be treated fairly is... well... perhaps slathered on a bit thickly. Yet it does not detract from the fun of the story.

And the societal activity which is the target of this book? It's football... Or soccer, to some.

Which brings me back to Nutt the dribbler.

How do you get those wax candles with the spooky shapes of dribbled wax down the side? You hire a candle dribbler, of course! Which links nicely -- perhaps subtly -- I almost missed it :-) -- to the theme of the book. Which is soccer.

An excellent book in an excellent series. With no-one cast as a hopeless loser. Unless he really deserves it...

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

Passion for Distance / Julia Thorn

2011-12-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

Passion for Distance

category: "other", author:

Julia Thorn

original copyright 2011

read in December 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

What can I say?! A woman runs 100 marathons and writes a book about it... If you are interested in marathons -- read the book and set your target.

If you are not interested in marathons -- this book is still interesting. It's light and easy to read. There is no pressure to get the reader to follow the author into running around the world. It's just a series of linked anecdotes, backed by some explanation of why the author would run so many marathons...

And the answer is...

Why not?!

Some people collect stamps. Some people go bushwalking. Some people run marathons. Some day I may write a book called, "Our 100 Rogaines".

Julia Thorn presents her achievement -- and the steps on the way -- as just something that she did. Interesting, challenging, more varied than you would expect. No sense of a life-long desire to do something both difficult and memorable... Running 100 marathons is just something that she has done.

I do like the way that Thorn approaches her races. She is not out to win at all costs... She is there to take part.

An early target was to run a marathon in each Australian state. Later, she wanted to set a personal best of three and a half hours. That's a good time but nowhere near Olympic standard. Having achieved that standard -- she stopped.

Not stopped running, but stopped trying to go fast. Thorn is happy to compete. She is not driven to win. This is a good example for anyone, in any sport: take part, enjoy.

That said, her training and approach to running are far more dedicated than my own! Thorn casually refers to taking part in several ultra-marathons; some day I would like to just survive an ordinary marathon. She doesn't train too hard, just a few runs a week an five minutes per kilometer. That rate is, for me, just a (so far) impossible dream.

The book makes you believe that it is possible to move beyond our sedentary limits. The training, the participation, the effort are all described as requiring just a little bit of dedication. Scale the target to your own level -- and you can do it!

My own target is to enter and complete just one marathon. Passion for Distance makes me think that it may be possible. It also makes me think -- reading between the lines -- that it will be difficult -- for me.

Not so much an inspirational book... More a book that celebrates what one woman has done. And that gives the reader an idea of what is possible -- if it's what you want to do.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

Crossfire / Nancy Kress

2011-12-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

Crossfire

category: science fiction, author:

Nancy Kress

original copyright 2003

read in December 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

It's an interesting idea: humans caught in the crossfire of an alien war. I read the book and enjoyed it. But it is not great.

At least -- that's my opinion.

The characters are varied and well presented. Different views, different approaches to solving their problems. I find it all a bit annoying.

I like a book with a "hero". Or, at least, a strong author's view of what should be done. Crossfire presents a more realistic view, with people doing their best and hoping that it is good enough. Realistic characterisation? Or just booooring...

The author does seem to prefer the non-violent, sit-thinking-in-the-sun, vegetable aliens. As opposed to the shoot-on-sight, violence-is-the-answer, animal aliens.

But why?!

There should be room in even one universe for both dreamers and doers. Some of the human characters object to the war-stopping solution of turning the doers into enforced dreamers. The objectors argue that this is evil. It's more than that.

It seems that the animal aliens appeared, and started killing the vegetable aliens. Okay, that's bad. Did anyone think to ask why? Apparently not.

Are the animal aliens just naturally vicious? Was there a cultural misinterpretation of some initial vegetable action? Did the vegetable aliens do something so utterly horrible -- in the eyes of the animal aliens -- that vegetable puree is the only satisfactory response?

None of the characters even consider "root causes" of the conflict. After a thousand years of war, with no conclusion in sight, no-one even considers that, perhaps, there could be some room for negotiation. No, it's a straight case of exterminate or be exterminated...

I find that very disappointing. I also find that it weakens my acceptance of the actions of all the characters. The characters see only what is presented to them. They are given options that will effectively exterminate one alien race or the other. The humans do not try to look for a more acceptable outcome.

The crossfire idea is good. The human response is weak. I'd prefer a more imaginative response from the humans. And the humans are too fixed in their personal viewpoints to be particularly interesting.

Still, it's an interesting book. And perhaps there is a follow-up book, where the humans actually solve the alien crisis, rather than simply choosing which race to exterminate...

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

Battlefield Earth / L. Ron Hubbard

2011-12-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

Battlefield Earth

category: space opera, science fiction, author:

L. Ron Hubbard

original copyright 1982

read in December 2011 (and before, many years ago)

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

It's a simple plot: man rides horse out of his decaying, primitive village, goes on to rule the universe. A standard plot for space opera... Although, perhaps, with some twists.

My own standard for space opera is Doc Smith, the Lensman and Skylark series. In the Skylark series an Earth genius, with support from his multi-billionaire best friend, invents and builds a spaceship. He then goes on to rule the First Universe. (His arch-enemy ends up ruling the Second Universe. Doc Smith seemed to realise that the arch-enemy was a more interesting character than the somewhat saccharine hero.)

Battlefield Earth sets an even greater challenge for the hero. Yes, he is a genius but he has to learn everything -- other than how to ride a horse and kill a wild bear with a club -- from his evil captors. Having learnt everything, he utterly destroys those evil captors...

And aren't they just sooo evil! Evil and stupid! Evil, stupid, all-powerful and sooooo easily fooled by our hero!

You really have to read this book with your critical faculties switched off. The characters are cardboard. Racial stereotypes are, well, stereotyped. If you're not a good guy then you're ugly, stupid and easily defeated.

Switch off your politically correct thinking -- and enjoy!

This is space opera at its best -- or worst. It's an enjoyable romp across Earth, then across the universe. (Across the sixteen universes, actually...)

Battlefield is a book to be read and enjoyed, without too much thinking. If it were written today it would be slammed as one-eyed, racially abusive nonsense... Or would it?! I shudder to think how bad the recent movie could have been...

The book is a product of its time, the less-PC eighties.

Speaking of which...

Television last night had "The Grumpies Guide to the Eighties". Clever people paid to froth at the mouth about various topics, with "the Eighties" being last night's topic. And Battlefield Earth is a product of those Eighties...

Having freed Earth, the hero is called upon to guarantee its survival. To do this, he must impress the alien races who threaten to re-invade. The hero dresses in the best that Earth can provide:

He dons his rainbow-reflecting, skin-tight, muscle-emphasising zoot suit. Think... Freddie Mercury, if only he had access to such glittery material.

The hero has his hair done, to the ultimate of dashingly heroic impressiveness... and it's a mullet.

Ah well. Fashions change. But "good" space opera is "good", "forever"...

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

Change Your Thinking / Sarah Edelman

2011-12-13T17:58:00.000-08:00

Change Your Thinking

category: self help, author:

Sarah Edelman

original copyright 2006

read in Feb 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

"I'll be depressed forever." If that's you -- then get some professional help. That is one clear and helpful message from this book. Beyond that...

The back cover of this book sets the scene with that "depressed" statement. It then says that, "Change Your Thinking is the bestselling practical and reassuring guide to overcoming self-defeating thoughts and behaviour." I can't speak for the "bestselling". I can accept the rest of that claim... Note that I wrote "accept" and not "support" -- I am no expert in this field.

As I read the book -- an hour or so each evening on a too-long stay away from home -- I found that it was reassuring. I'm not a person to slavishly follow. I prefer to question and restate. Yet just reading this book did make me think, my life is not too bad at all...

And now -- dredging my memories of ten months ago -- I still carry a positive opinion of this book. From what I remember:

There are explanations of various types of "bad thinking". You experience a minor setback and you see a major disaster. Check what you see and it may fit one of the books standard misconceptions. Now write down a more realistic view of what has just happened... More realistic and probably (hopefully!) more positive.

The aim is to see your life as it is. Perhaps not through rose-tinted glasses. Certainly not through the dark grey glasses of depression.

Depression?

Depression is a clinical state. There are professionals who specialise in treating depression. Change Your Thinking offers help for people with severe depression -- with the clear proviso that, if symptoms continue, see your doctor... The author is selling help, not a snake oil panacea. It's an honest and sensible approach.

I'm not a slavish follower. I didn't do the exercises, I just read the book. It was still worthwhile.

The book explains why we can get into the habit of being negative. It explains the loose thinking by which we make mountains of misery out of the minor molehills of life. Understand your loose thinking and you can gain a better perspective.

Apply the exercises and you should get even more benefit.

And as the book tells you -- if you are still depressed, see a professional.

All good advice.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

Ardneh's Sword / Fred Saberhagen

2011-11-24T16:07:00.001-08:00

Ardneh's Sword

category: fantasy, sub-adult, author:

Fred Saberhagen

book 1 or ?? of (new) Empire of the East
original copyright 2006

read in November 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

This book fails to excite. Fails to impress. It's a book which is written by the numbers.

Take one wimpy kid with obvious hero potential. Add a support cast of magician, wise old teacher, tough old soldier, loyal pet with claws. Throw in a mysterious relic, promise of treasure, group of healers who set up business as far from people as possible...?! Sweeten with attractive girl and a group of cute kids...

Yuk !

Arrgh... it flows... Without much rhyme or reason, but things happen in a somewhat logical sequence. The sequence of events has some logic. The motives and actual events lack logic.

I've included this book in the category "sub-adult". Not to insult younger readers... :-) but the plot and motives are simplified. I enjoy a simple plot. But even young readers deserve a less mechanical story-line.

The book is fantasy, based on a post-post-apocalyptic world. "Post-post-apocalyptic?"

The book is set 1000 years after the Empire of the East books... which appear to have been post-apocalyptic. Where a super-computer was battling against... demons?!

So there is an underlying idea of super-technology. In a battle against the demons of myth and magic. This is trite, a cliche, clever enough as the basis for a series... Perhaps the earlier series was fantasy plus science fiction. But enough, it's drifted into pure fantasy.

Especially the ending...

Trying to not give too much away: At the grand finale, the immortal gods of legend are recreated... With their original memories... So if they are immortal -- where have they been?! And what will the real immortal gods say -- and do -- when they find that they have been cloned?!

Good grief!

After all that hard-to-believe non-excitement... This book is revealed as being chapter one of a totally new series: The Post-Post-Post-Apocalyptic World of the New Old Gods.

Groan.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.
PissWeakly: the Index

The Isle of Glass / Judith Tarr

2011-11-24T03:56:00.001-08:00

The Isle of Glass

category: fantasy, author:

Judith Tarr

book 1 of The Hound and the Falcon
original copyright 1985

read in November 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

Historical fantasy. A mix of real history -- I guess -- with the added element of elves. (I'm not an historian so I only guess that the history is real. Though I guess that it is "real" history that is largely based on dubious documents and word-of-mouth myths. Anyway.)

It's a religious fantasy: an elf who is a monk who accepts the then-current religious belief that elves have no soul. Which raises a severe barrier to my enjoyment of the book.

I have just read a book where people use religious stories as the basis for their own drive for power (The Doomsday Prophecy). To me, Doomsday portrays an accurate view of religion: No matter what the basis of the religion there are always people who will misuse the religious beliefs for their own uses. Isle builds on that view.

The central character of Isle is an elf. A very religious elf -- in the sense that he believes and he is as close to saintly as it is possible to be. And his religious beliefs tear him apart...

This saintly, religious elf believes -- as his religion teaches -- that he has no soul. So he is doomed to have no after-life. No matter how saintly his actual life.

What a miserable premise for a story.

What a depressing book.

Worse yet, nothing much of interest happens.

I have a book from the library: The Hound and the Falcon. It contains three complete novels of which Isle is just the first. My question now is... should I read the next novel?

Probably not, if it's going to be more miserable religious prejudice.

Oh well.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Doomsday Prophecy / Scott Mariani

2011-11-24T01:33:00.001-08:00

The Doomsday Prophecy

category: action, thriller, author:

Scott Mariani

book 2 of Ben Hope
original copyright 2009

read in November 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

There's a real problem with religious-themed thrillers: if you are not religious then the suspense is often rather weak. I mean, if you're not worried about a second coming then you won't be worried about whether it's this week or next... The Ninth Circle suffers badly from that loss of relevance issue...

So why am I so impressed by Mariani's thriller? I mean, it's just a book about "the end times", and whether they will be this week or next week or... never.

The Doomsday Prophecy is grounded in a reality that is believable -- whether or not you are a doomsday believer. Even the most cynical reader cannot dismiss the power struggle over doomsday-influencing relics. There is no need to believe that angels and demons are battling it out in our backyard. The conflict is very, very human.

The characters and the plot, though... well...

The hero is soooo heroic! No worries, it's a work of fiction :-)

The hero is also heroically nice... He is ethical. He is incorruptible. He is loyal to his friends and kind to passing strangers. He probably sends Christmas gifts to orphans...

All of which, I like.

So what about the plot? Well... It's a bit weak.

Doomsday is action. There is a solid plot, but simple. Twists and turns -- but simple in that the hero just has to follow his nose. Or, at least, to follow the clear leads, from one twist to the next turn.

There is one point though...

The hero has finally reached the end of a massive red herring. He has nowhere to go. No leads left to follow. So what happens?

The villains decide, This man is dangerous, he must be captured. Alive. Which, of course, brings the hero back on the villains' trail!

If only the baddies had kept their heads down, they would be safe. Ah! if only...

That little bit of silliness aside, the plot flows well. Simply, but well enough.

Clear plot, realistic motives, almost-super hero, all good!

This is a good thriller. With tension that does not depend on religious belief.

Well worth the read!

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Bone Song / John Meaney

2011-11-23T23:23:00.001-08:00

Bone Song

category: fantasy, author:

John Meaney

book 1 of Dark Suspense
original copyright 2008,

read in November 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 9 out of 10

This... is a very weird world! Yet -- within its weirdness -- absolutely logical. If corpses did provide a power source... then this could well be the world that they power.

Better yet... not all the world is the same...

The action is centred on Tristopolis. The central power plant is an awful place... which is no surprise... it is haunted by the dead people who are being tormented to provide the city with power. The power station in the country of Illuria is equally awful... yet in a different way. The energy of the dead is extracted in a different way.

One fantasy world with a variety of self-consistent countries. The countries are inspired -- loosely -- by our own. With a passing reference to a fantasy book series where power is extracted from fossil fuels...

A dark world. Gothic. Yet very human... including the non-humans.

There is a touch of humour in Bone Song. Sometimes black humour, often cynical. The occasional quotable chuckle in a dark detective novel.

The cops are tough, determined and dedicated. Okay, they are very tough. They also work closely with each other, support each other, care for each other. It's easy to like them.

I liked the characters enough to be upset by the sudden death near the end of the book.

Still, that's just me: I like all the good-guy characters to survive...

This is a great book. I hope that there are more.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Opening Atlantis / Harry Turtledove

2011-11-15T04:24:00.001-08:00

Opening Atlantis

category: fantasy, author:

Harry Turtledove

book 1 of Atlantis
original copyright 2007,
read in November 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

Ho hum. A history book.

Okay, it's called an alternative history book. Still starts out boring.

So here's a new very large island, halfway between Europe and America. It's uninhabited. The settlers decide to call it Atlantis.

So what?!

Sometime in the future -- perhaps in the second or third book of Atlantis -- there may be some impact on the world as we know it. So far, it's just settlers settling. And fighting.

The first section of the book -- initial settlement -- is really, really boring. It's a new land. There are new animals. No-one can explain why they are different to animals everywhere else in the known world. Doesn't stop the settlers killing the animals.

The second section is a battle of pirates versus settlers. A bit more excitement. Trouble is -- despite reading quite a few pages of the book so far -- we don't know the characters... Okay, we quickly learn about them. But anyone that we met earlier -- is dead.

Ditto with the third section: Descendants of original settlers fight it out. Quite exciting. Though the British fleet is so powerful that it can provide deus ex machina as and when required.

Am I supposed to be pleased that the British settlers wiped out the French settlers? Well, I'm not. Not that I have any preference for the French...

But wouldn't it be nice if the two groups could find some other way to settle their differences?

In the first section of the book, one settler uses his influence to prevent inter-settlement wars. That's nice, I thought. Perhaps Atlantis will be different.

But no.

Every native animal is being exterminated. Every native plant is being killed. Feral pests -- introduced from the home countries, deliberately and accidentally -- are taking over. Every accessible area of land is being cleared, populated, over-populated and polluted. Every person who is not "one of us" is hated, feared, conquered or killed.

It's a history of Australia...

It's a history of America...

It's a history of the human destruction of any part of our world...

So what's "alternate" about this history?

What Turtledove is saying is, Give humans any new piece of land and they will treat it like dirt.

Not an alternate history.

Just history as it happens. Everywhere.

Depressing.

Boring.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Ninth Circle / Alex Bell

2011-11-10T17:38:00.001-08:00

The Ninth Circle

category: fantasy, author:

Alex Bell

original copyright 2008,
read in November 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

A man wakes up with no memory of who he is nor of how he lost his memory. A very bad start to any novel.

Sometimes it works, to have the reader follow the protagonist as he struggles to remember. Some very few times. For me, the amnesiac start is a turner-offer.

In Circle, the character is not particularly pleasant. He seems to be involved in some battle over the second coming... of Christ or the anti-Christ. Whoop-dee-doo. He may even be an angel, working with -- and against -- other angels. Other angels who still have their own memories. Boring, over-the-top, may work if you're seriously concerned over traditional good versus evil, and the second coming.

After a very slow fifty pages I start to read faster. Doesn't work... the book is still tedious. I jump ahead, almost 200 pages, to the final memory recovery.

Okay, the denouement is worth reading. Not worth reading the entire book to get there, but worth reading. An interesting idea.

Which then degenerates into a pointless battle with an inconclusive ending.

Really, when you are dealing with supernatural forces which can neither be killed nor defeated -- any story is bound to have an inconclusive ending.

There are, however, two aspects of the book that I do appreciate...

There is no such thing as absolute good, nor absolute evil. Though my impression -- from the bits of this book that I read -- is than Bell has taken that one step further: What appears to be "good" may be mostly "evil". And vice versa. Or, perhaps, what we see as "good" and "evil" is simply PR from creatures battling for their own selfish reasons.

And the second positive aspect?

I am left with the urge to visit Budapest, to see the sights and sculptures and magnificent memorials!

Though I may settle for a visit via Google Earth.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Collision Course / William Shatner et al

2011-11-02T03:14:00.000-07:00

Collision Course

category: science fiction, author:

William Shatner, with Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

book 1 of Star Trek Academy
original copyright 2007,
read in October 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Okay, this is not great literature. I've said it before and I'll say it again: cliches are not all bad...

I mean...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: 8 out of 10 is my opinion. Based -- mostly -- on how much I enjoyed reading the book. And I thoroughly enjoyed reading Collision Course.

You have to admire William Shatner. He has taken to his role as ex-Starfleet Captain James T. Kirk. He has taken to it... but he has not taken it too seriously.

Better yet, he has written a pre-Star Trek novel which maintains the elements which made the original Star Trek great. Characters with high moral standards. With amazing -- unbelievable! -- skills. A lot of clever and intuitive problem solving by Kirk (and by Spock). Some fisticuffs and the ability to charm the socks off attractive women. (But only the socks...)

William Shatner "has written"...??

There are two co-authors. And a comment that this is "an imaginative work deriving solely from the author's personal vision." Perhaps Shatner simply added comments based on his memories of playing the role... Still. I'd rather he take advantage of his previous and most famous role. Rather than deny it. Or, worse yet, run it down. It's nice to have good memories untainted and unchallenged...

If you love the Start Trek characters -- the original Star Trek characters -- then you can't help but love this book.

On the down side, the "science fiction" aspect of the original series is a bit light on in this book. It's almost Star Wars: an adventure which happens to be set in a future world.

Still, who cares?! This is young Jimmy Kirk teaming with young Mr Spock to solve puzzles and beat the baddies! Sure, there are holes in the plot...

The starship is evacuated... Next minute the supposedly empty ship requests permission to leave dock... Permission granted... But who cares!

Just think, "Captain Kirk rules!" and sit back to enjoy the ride :-)

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Original Sin / Allison Brennan

2011-10-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

Original Sin

category: horror, author:

Allison Brennan

book 1 of Seven Deadly Sins
original copyright 2010,
read in October 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

I enjoy a book where the author happily throws out convention and invents their own mythology. After all, a novel is creative writing :-) Brennan has taken the standard "calling demons to Earth" story and built her own rules and methodologies.

aside: Though it does cross my mind that, perhaps, I have not read enough recent horror books to know what is now standard... So what?! This is a personal blog offering my personal opinions... I simply hope that you enjoy reading my posts -- opinions -- as much as I enjoy writing them :-)

Demons, it seems are all around us. Raise one and a host of others will be attracted by the ruckus. Well, why not? Not every demon will be successfully banished after its intended purpose is complete.

To add to the difficulty, magic is evil... The heroine can do magic -- she is a trained witch -- but she has realised the error of her ways. Evil demonic powers are the basis for magic so any use of magic is tainted by evil. Take that! all you Harry Potter fans!

Mind you, the heroes are constantly thwarting evil through the use of holy names, holy water and a quick prayer... So what is that if not magic?

The baddies are free to use evil magic as much as they like. The baddies also have their own people in key positions of power. The heroine spends as much time trying not to be arrested, as fighting straightforward black magic.

I wonder why the good-guy organisation has not also seeded positions of democratic power with its own minions of good? Perhaps the only people who can gain positions of bureaucratic power are those people who are inherently evil...

So it's a tough-yet-lonely -- and incredibly beautiful -- girl, battling the powers of evil and the legislatively-supported powers of the sheriff's office. With a small supporting cast, all fighting witches and demons, as they also battle their own internal demons... Simple fun, as they learn to use their powers for niceness and good.

This is an enjoyable book. With what I am beginning to think is a now-standard approach to backstory...

The backstory is revealed as the book progresses. But is it a backstory reveal? Or are these regular reminders of the previous book?!

There seems to be an entire novel in the backstory. Yet this is "book one" of seven. Have I missed book zero?

Or am I learning the new approach to writing... to provide an enormous history... which will only be presented as snippets in books one to seven.

It's confusing... but, hey, it works.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Chaos Space / Marianne de Pierres

2011-10-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

Chaos Space

category: science fiction, author:

Marianne de Pierres

book 2 of Sentients of Orion
original copyright 2008,
read in October 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

This book was a sad disappointment.

It's entertaining. It's imaginative. There is action and adventure.

So why is it disappointing?!

It is simply one chapter of a continuing saga... There are incidents but no story. The book ends with cliffhangers but no conclusion.

The first Sentients book (Dark Space) had a similar approach: a broad story with several threads, each represented by a chapter with the focus on a single character. But Dark Space at least reached a conclusion! A weak conclusion, with one thread-defining character escaping from the planet-of-certain-doom. One stay of execution though with another six or seven still hanging by their fingernails.

But Chaos Space does not even have that token nod to the art of writing a novel. The book ends with one person missing -- kidnapped -- others separated, most in trouble.

Come on! People are expected to pay for one chapter of a never-ending story?!

I still rate this narrative effort as "six: read to pass the time". But don't even bother unless you have read book one.

The imagined universe is imaginative though somewhat depressing. To match their universe, none of the characters are sympathetic. One or two show signs that they could -- eventually -- learn to be more than narrow-minded ignorant creeps. With this no-end-in-sight approach to writing -- will "eventually" ever arrive?

Okay, a quick check of the de Pierres website... There are four books in the series -- so far. They are classed as "space opera". Big, broad action across far-future space. No worries with that. But even space opera needs a conclusion.

A quick check of the Wikipedia article on space opera. No mention of "endless and pointless".

This is a book which may be read and enjoyed. Just don't expect it to have any point or conclusion.

But wait! There's more!

The book includes a preview chapter from Saturn Returns, by Sean Williams. Thank goodness it's there -- otherwise I could have wasted my time by reading the actual book!

Man wakes up with no memory except his name. He wakes up as a woman.

Mysterious yet helpful alien says, "We will explain." They then spend several pages wandering through the alien spaceship, saying nothing. Following which the alien says, to paraphrase, "We can't explain."

The man has been reconstituted from his exploded atoms. Sorry, says the alien, We were not able to reconstitute your memories... You will have to do that yourself...

Come on now! The memories are either there -- or they are not there. They may be buried -- in which case they have been reconstituted. Or the memories do not exist -- in which case there is no way that the man can recover them.

Willing suspension of disbelief is one thing. Williams is offering absolute contradiction.

Perhaps the rest of that book is better. Based on chapter one, it rates 3 out of 10: so bad it's embarrassing.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The High Crusade / Poul Anderson

2011-10-10T05:33:00.000-07:00

The High Crusade

category: science fiction, author:

Poul Anderson

original copyright 1960,
read in Sep 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

A small group of low level lords, plus all of their vassals and villagers, head off for the Crusades. Instead... they end up in space. Where they promptly begin to "civilise" various planets and peoples.

It's a lot of fun -- and a good book, too.

Is it just a little, well, unrealistic? Or is it possible that space is populated by aliens with not too many street smarts... Is The High Crusade an example of a book based on the natural superiority of the good ol' US of A?

Not to worry: it's a book based on the natural superiority of the British !

There are some interesting aspects to this book...

First, it does remind me of Battleship Earth. Heroes start simple and gradually overcome more and more alien civilisations. Crusade explains the success by pointing to the straightforward -- ie street stupid -- nature of the aliens. Battleship is just as entertaining but the hero depends on the absolute stupidity of the aliens.

Then there is the end result...

At the end of Crusade, a small part of the universe is ruled by the descendants of Crusaders. "Present day" Earth people arrive at that part of space, having been through a more standard process of science, development and exploration. And that seems to be the end of the story.

Except...

How civilised are these modern day Crusaders? Very, apparently. Yet they still have the Christian, Crusader ethos. How will they mix with a less religious "modern" Earth civilisation?

I think that Anderson is suggesting that the Crusaders fight for right rather than against different ideas. I'm not sure. But I do hope so.

This is a book which has aged well. It's still believable -- with the usual willing suspension of disbelief. There was no point at which I thought, Well, he certainly missed the point there!

There is a lot adventure, a touch of humour, a satisfying ending. A story which is as good today as it would have been, fifty years ago.

And despite the Crusader heroes -- there is no preaching by the author.

A book to read and enjoy.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Blue Diablo / Ann Aguirre

2011-09-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

Blue Diablo

category: fantasy, romance, author:

Ann Aguirre

book 1 of Corine Solomon
original copyright 2009,
read in Sep 2011

Agamedes' opinion:7 out of 10

Now that's interesting... I selected the categories for this book: fantasy, romance. Then had second thoughts.

Is this really fantasy?

Is Blue Diablo fantasy? Or is it horror...

I changed the categories. "Fantasy, romance" became "horror, romance". Then I changed my mind again... back to, "fantasy, romance". The fantasy is fantastic -- but perhaps a bit too brutal. Is it slipping into horror? Time to check Wikipedia...

Horror fiction is a genre of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. (Wikipedia, 29 Sep 2011)

Yes, Blue Diablo could frighten its readers. If the readers were sweet innocents who had not grown up on graphic computer games and violence in tv news. If the readers could believe that evil could possibly conquer a heroine who worries that her arse is too big, or a hero who could probably crack walnuts on his abs. If the readers would have feelings of horror and terror when it's revealed that the villain is the person who has very shifty eyes and an evil sneer...

Yes, it's that obvious!

To be more accurate I should say that this book is "romance, fantasy/horror". It is a romance. With a plot based on fantasy or horror themes, take your pick. In the genre of Twilight and True Blood. With the be-still-my-beating-heart feel of Twilight. The beautiful yet insecure southern heroine of True Blood but without the tie-me-up-and-whip-me-please approach to "love".

Corine Solomon -- the heroine of Diablo -- is sweet and uncertain but with a tough and independent centre. She's a slave to her hyperactive hormones -- but attempts to fight back with realism and logic. Of course, her hormones will win -- and be right :-)

. . .

Perhaps I just haven't noticed it before... Perhaps a heavy back-story has been used for many years. Perhaps it's just that I have only noticed it in relatively recent books: Blue Diablo -- apparently the first Corine Solomon novel -- is written as though it is book two. At least, for the first half.

The heroine is constantly referring to past adventures. I began to wonder, Have I missed book one? Yet by the end of the book, all is clear. The back-story is merged into the current action; merged in smaller chunks than I am used to.

I have struck that before, in just five or six other novels: a back-story which is referred to as though it were an already-published prequel. Diablo makes it all clear by the end. Of the others, perhaps half left me wondering. And for one, there was an already-published prequel...

So this book is a heavy breathing, should I shouldn't I, which incredible hunk is my true love, sort of book. Set in a fantasy world of modern America with warlocks and other magic.

The body count rises rapidly at the end. The blood flows, flesh is splattered. The evil warlock uses magic to support the modern evil of sex slavery. The violence is cartoonish but it is not kids' stuff.

Yet the key conflict remains unsettled, waiting on book two, or three, or... The key conflict? Will the heroine ever get back with her one true love...

Ah shucks :-)

btw: I passed this book to a young woman who needed a light book to fill an idle hour. She commented, Yes, it's good. Very tight.

So Blue Diablo may, in fact, be a tightly written novel. But I don't worry about that.

I enjoyed the book. That's what PissWeakly reviews are all about: Did I enjoy it?

I enjoyed reading Blue Diablo. You may, too.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Dark Space / Marianne de Pierres

2011-09-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

Dark Space

category: science fiction, author:

Marianne de Pierres

book 1 of Sentients of Orion
original copyright 2007,
read in September 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Complex, violent and well-imagined. An interesting world and one which is not really missed when it is mostly destroyed...

Lots of characters. Most have a part to play -- though some do not. Yet. This is clearly book one of... several. It does, however, stand by itself.

Lots going on, it takes a while to follow the various characters. After a while it gets clearer.

Still, there is -- perhaps -- too much going on. It does make for an interesting book. It could have been simplified... perhaps.

This book can be read by itself; there is a satisfying conclusion. Really, though, it is very clearly a book which is meant to be read as, part one of... several.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Venus Series / Edgar Rice Burroughs

2011-09-24T02:24:00.000-07:00

Pirates of Venus
and
Lost on Venus

category: space opera, author:

Edgar Rice Burroughs

book 1 & 2 of The Venus Series
original copyright 1932, 1933,
read in September 2011 (and before, in 1997)

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Carson Napier makes a one way trip to Venus... How does his story get back to Earth? Luckily for us, Carson was taught telepathy...

Amtor (or Venus, as we call it) is populated by humans, near-humans and sub-humans. Evolution on Amtor follows a similar path to that on Earth, with the human form being top of the evolutionary ladder. The good humans look good and the bad humans have shifty eyes.

The jungles of Amtor are populated by wild beasts -- mostly ferocious, mostly bad-tempered. There are many harmless beasts but they are generally eaten then forgotten. Only the vicious killers get more than a page of description!

These adventures on Amtor are full of heroic acts and incredible coincidences...

Carson manages to despatch many a vicious creature and many an evil adversary. Fortunately, he had some fencing lessons before he left Earth... Yet there are some creatures which are simply too ferocious and too strong to be beaten single-handed... By a lucky coincidence, these beasts will be attacked -- in the nick of time -- by an equally ferocious other beast!

On Amtor, the men wear a "G-string" plus weapon belts. The women wear a ribbon wrapped around breasts and hips. Even this ribbon is happily shed, when it is required to help escape from a locked room. (Yes, I too expected the heroes to climb down the ribbon...)

All this sounds a lot like Burrough's Martian adventures... (I can't wait to see the costumes when the John Carter movie is released!) Ancient Barsoom (our Mars) and more prehistoric Amtor are different worlds but the sword and sandal adventures are similar. Yet the book styles are different.

Barsoom is all battles, beasts, heroism and the torment of true love. Amtor is all the same stuff -- but the underlying ideas are different.

On Barsoom, John Carter is extraordinarily strong: his Earthly muscles give him a huge advantage in the lighter gravity of Mars. He is a hero who overcomes all obstacles. He is the absolute master of all his battles.

Carson Napier actually has some self doubt. Twenty years after his first Mars book, Burroughs allows his hero to be -- slightly -- more real. There is also, in the Venus books, some social and political commentary.

For example:

In the perfect city of Havatoo, any person who is less than perfect is executed. The policy was implemented by King Mankar the Savior. His first act was to kill each and every politician... At the time, Mankar was known as King Mankar the Bloody.

Now you can guess that Carson would pass all the Havatoo tests with flying colours...

Wrong!

Our hero, Carson Napier, is less than perfect! Perfect physically, of course. But with less-than-perfect psychological attributes... Fortunately he is saved from immediate execution by a lucky coincidence.

Burrough's writing has matured since his first book, John Carson's adventures in A Princess of Mars. He has added a tiny amount of depth to his heroes. The imagination is just as wild. The stereotypes are very slightly less obvious.

The adventures are just as entertaining.

Enjoy!

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Do androids dream of electric sheep? / Philip K. Dick

2011-09-24T01:18:00.000-07:00

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

category: science fiction, author:

Philip K. Dick

original copyright 1968,
read in September 2011 (and before, in Feb 05)

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

Sadly dated.

Or, perhaps, it's just me...

In 1968 -- when Androids was written -- perhaps I would have agreed with Dick, that the world was going downhill fast. That nuclear war, lifelike androids and interplanetary migration were just around the corner. That by 1992 emotional control and telepathic empathy would be implemented and automated. By 1992!

Perhaps it is just me. Perhaps I have changed.

As I started to read Androids I thought, What a gloomy world. What an extreme case of all that is bad overcoming all that is... well... better. I seem to have a less negative view of the future of humanity.

Not a positive view. Just, less negative.

Androids looks at possibilities -- and posits the worst. I look at the world and predict... mediocrity. We have enough sense to reject the worst. We lack the conviction to make the effort to implement the best.

Beyond the scope of these maunderings... beyond Dick's negative view of life to come... Androids is about the definition of what it is to be "human". That's my opinion. As the book (or its introduction) claims, Dick writes about what is real and what is not.

To me, though, when the policeman's job is to kill artificial humanoids -- and it is almost impossible to distinguish between the real and the artificial humanoids -- it is about our definition of humanity. One human is born, another is manufactured. There is no discernible difference. Is one any more or less "human" than the other?

If Androids had been written ten years later, perhaps Dick would have given all of his androids a pastel skin. The policeman's challenge would have been, to remove the black, white or yellow makeup -- and destroy the pastel android revealed underneath. The book would then have been about racial differences and acceptance.

Still, there is the post-nuclear war environment, the abandoned Earth, the misery of the remaining population. There is more to this book than born-human hatred of the manufactured-human.

To tell the truth, the book is depressing.

I read it first a few years ago. I started to read it again... and decided it was not worth it. Dick's science predictions are already nineteen years late. His misery is timeless.

I think I'll wait for the musical Disney version of the movie of the book.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Turn Coat / Jim Butcher

2011-09-12T02:41:00.000-07:00

Turn Coat

category: fantasy, author:

Jim Butcher

book 11 of the Dresden Files
original copyright 2009,
read in Sep 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

With each Dresden Files book, Butcher adds complexity -- and danger. Not quite the right word... Let me explain.

The plots have always been somewhat complex: these books are detective mystery fantasy. The complexity is added by the scope of characters.

Dresden works in modern Chicago. With various "fantasy" realms which add magic to the mix. Each novel stands alone but each novel adds to the background. In Dresden's world you can't simply say, this is a Vampire problem... It's, Which group of Vampires? How does it affect the Wizard Council? Will the Faerie get involved? etc, etc, etc.

I have not read all of the Dresden Files, so some references go over my head. Doesn't matter, there is sufficient explanation in this book. I suspect, however, that it would not be wise to read this book -- eleventh in the series -- as your first Dresden novel. It would be like joining a tv soap opera in the middle of its third season...

The Dresden Files are also soap opera. Not in terms of the main plot of each novel. But there are character developments, romances, love and hate, which grow and build and change from novel to novel. I missed, for example, the start of one affair... which has finished by the end of this book.

It all adds to our interest in the characters. They grow and change and develop. Yet they stay within the bounds set at their introduction. If you like a character who then turns bad -- you will sympathise, and hope that he can be saved. If you hate an evil character who then helps the hero -- you are given an explanation for the help, and you hope that the hero will still watch his back.

The books are adding both complexity -- and danger. How does that happen?

Dresden himself is developing. He develops his skills, his reputation, his standing in the various realms. As per book series standards, he must also fight tougher and tougher battles... His risks are also increasing -- in terms of the potential impact if he fails.

Not the impact on himself...

Well, not only the impact on himself.

As Dresden battles bigger baddies, he is fighting for a wider range of people. In early books, there were just a few people at risk. Now it's entire realms... Shades of the Skylark series!

Beyond the plot, Butcher has also invented sex.

With the escalating level of violence and sex, this series is not for children. (Well, hope that they don't tell their parents what they are reading, anyway.) I'm not sure if this is Butcher developing his writing style -- or a response the the reader's desire for more and more and more.

This is a very enjoyable book. But it does need a parental warning, for sex and violence. The faeries at the end of the bed are not just Tinkerbelle...

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Hunter's Run / George R.R. Martin et al

2011-09-12T01:59:00.000-07:00

Hunter's Run

category: science fiction, author:

George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, Daniel Abraham

original copyright 2007,
read in Sep 2011 (and before, in Feb 2009)

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

In its first 20 or so pages this book would normally have been ringing serious warning bells. Bad book, bad book, bad book. However, I also remembered that I had read this book before -- and enjoyed it. So what was... almost... so bad?

The hero starts the book with no knowledge of who or where he is. Bad sign. The reader can expect to be confused. Even worse, the hero doesn't know how he got to his current position. Warning: confusing flashbacks dead ahead...
The hero is Mexican. A "non middle-class white American" sometimes works... but is often just... because. In an author's note Dozois had read, "Where is the space hero who is Mexican?" and thought, "that was a fair question." So, although he "didn't know much about Mexican culture," he decided to make his hero a Mexican. This token Mexicanism should scare the sensitive reader...
The hero has just killed someone in a knife fight. The reader is lead to wonder, Who will he kill next?
Final danger sign: there are three authors. The first is George RR Martin. The same author who put his name to Busted Flush -- a comic book which forgot to include the explanatory pictures.

Despite all this... Hunter's Run is not too bad at all.

Sure, the introduction -- called an "Overture", for no good reason; there is no musical theme to the book -- the introduction is set a few solid steps into the plot. We then flash back... and forward... and back... and... Anyway, the introduction is just a standard ploy to get the reader started at an exciting part of the book. It's a good way to catch the attention of a short-attention-span reader.

Plenty of people complain that Lord of the Rings starts rather slowly. Boringly, even. According to the Hunter's Run formula, LotR would have started with Hobbits in the Barrow, imagining that they were ancient warriors in a battle against an evil king...

After a while, though, Hunter's Run does get going. The timeline jumps around but the authors keep it clear just when the action is taking place.

But why is the hero Mexican? According to the author's note, Why not?! Despite this unpromising explanation, the Mexican stereotype works quite well.

There are Spanish(?) words thrown in, to give that "authentic" flavour. Is it a way to get swearing past the censor? Even with the ease of Google Translate I was not interested enough to check. So there are blank spots in my reading. The plot still unfolds quite satisfactorily.

My main fear is, that the author will present a glamourised view of the selected ethnic stereotype... Read McCaffrey books for simple examples; some authors are quite embarrassing. I also suspect that many implied characteristics go right over my head... I grew up in Australia, completely failing to identify specific characteristics with each racial type. (Except that Italians ate garlic. So did the French. So did we, eventually...) But I missed the imprinting which -- it seems -- adds depth and understanding to, for example, many American tv shows.

On the other hand, I recognise the Mexican -- or more accurately Spanish -- stereotype of cocky, fighting, knife-wielding. I picked up that one from Asterix in Spain. And the stereotype does suit the hero of Hunter's Run. So, for me, the hero-as-Mexican does work.

So does the knife fight.

In fact, the knife fight is a clear part of the plot. And it is a strong part of the development of the hero's character.

Which leaves only one warning bell: three authors, of whom one is Martin.

As it turns out, this is not as bad as it seems. Where Busted Flush has several authors writing independent stories, Hunter's Run is a coherent single-thread story. The authors took turns -- over many years -- building the story. And it works!

I have rated this book as a seven -- but it is almost an eight. It began -- according to the authors -- as an idea which grew into a story. Then a novella. Not a good market for the novella, so it was extended to a full novel. It seems to me that the story lacks weight as a novel... It has a novella-sized plot with novella-sized characters.

Still. The market rules.

It's a good story. Read it and enjoy it.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Uplift War / David Brin

2011-09-06T05:20:00.000-07:00

The Uplift War

category: science fiction, author:

David Brin

book 3 of Uplift
original copyright 1987,
read in July 2011 (and before, several years ago)

Agamedes' opinion: 9 out of 10

We were heading off on holiday. I needed a book to read... (Never be caught with an hour to spare and no book to read!) Picked up The Uplift War...

What a great book! Just as much fun as the first time I read it. And that was long enough ago that the book was still able to surprise me. (Mind you, even when I immediately re-read a book -- I am surprised by how much I missed the first time!)

Unfortunately... I then read another book on that holiday. Came home to re-start yet another... And failed to review Uplift.

So memory has faded.

There was action and adventure. Suspense and humour. Excellent Earthlings -- of several species -- and believable aliens. All tied into a universe so exciting -- so full of possibility -- that you just wish it were true...

Though there is one... over-riding... problem: If you believe that eugenics is, of itself, "evil" then the Uplift novels are all based on an evil premise.

Fortunately for me, I believe that eugenics is a good idea. Just bad in most practical implementations.

The Uplift War is eugenics in action. The Earthlings learn a valuable lesson, that those who are to be removed from the gene pool must still be treated with dignity and respect. I remember another lesson on eugenics, from Edgar Rice Burroughs:

As a rather weak start to this remembrance... I don't remember the source novel. Possibly set on Venus, less likely to be John Carter on Mars, definitely not Tarzan...

The heroes discover a city inhabited by incredibly handsome men and incredibly beautiful women. How is it that all of the city's inhabitants are so good looking? so intelligent? so athletic...? There is a test: pass it and stay in town, fail and you are killed. (Our heroes, of course, easily pass.)

This is eugenics in action. Almost everyone is satisfied with the system... or dead and not complaining.

How did this start? This is where perceptions play a major role:

The system was begun by (let's call him) King Fred the Great. The system began with a major culling -- killing -- of most of the city's inhabitants. The result was a city of intelligent, good-looking, athletic people, with a gradually reducing need to cull the unsatisfactory.

No wonder he is referred to as, King Fred the Great!

Although, at the time... he was referred to as King Fred the Psycho Killer. But only quietly. Unless you were safely good-looking, intelligent and athletic.

So do the ends justify the means?

Perhaps... eventually... amongst the descendants of the survivors.

The Uplift universe is eugenics in action. With care, consideration and kindness for those who do not meet the criteria for breeding.

Is this acceptable?

Help yourself to any opinion that suits your own ideals.

Forget about the eugenics-based universe... and the book is great fun.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Nimisha's Ship / Anne McCaffrey

2011-09-06T04:28:00.000-07:00

Nimisha's Ship

category: science fiction, romance, author:

Anne McCaffrey

original copyright 1998, read in September 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

McCaffrey at her sweetest...

It's an easy book to read... as long as you can stand saccharine! Well, no, not that bad. But really:

A wormhole in space is swallowing spaceships. The ships get damaged in transit and -- at best -- land heavily. On unknown and highly dangerous planets. Crew and passengers die horribly as they learn the dangers of their new home...

Until Nimisha arrives.

Nimisha has a brand new spaceship which she designed and (almost) built by herself. So Nimisha and Nimisha's ship arrived undamaged and introduce themselves to the earlier castaways... And no-one else dies. Well, they can't die, because everyone is so nice.

I do have a worry here: No-one dies because, in part, Nimisha has brought big guns. Now the killer alien bird-things can be shot before they kill any more of the castaways. Which is good because the birds are big enough and intelligent enough to be a serious hazard.

Intelligent killer birds? Whose planet has been invaded by creatures from space who take the land and kill any creature that poses a threat? Do these birds really have to be killed?!

The First Lensman would have communicated with the birds. Reached a compromise, brought the birds into civilisation. Made them strong friends of humans. (Or possibly exterminated the lot of them, if they turned out to be Eddorian.)

At least Nimisha should have tried...

Anyway. Having quickly made the planet a safe home for humans and cute, friendly aliens, what is the next source of tension for our heroine? This is where "romance" becomes an essential category for this book:

Will Nimisha find a suitable mate? Quickly settled.
Will her daughter -- left at home -- get there on time for her coming-of-age party? That takes a few chapters to be settled.
How will they ensure that the only unpleasant character on the planet does not need to be invited to the coming-of-age party?

Yes, the problems are serious... Sigh...

Yes, it's a romance. Not as much heavy breathing and long lingering looks as Twilight. Nowhere near as much fun, either.

An enjoyable book. No need to go out of your way to read it.

The new version of Blogger seems to have lost the ability to link to the book at Amazon. No worries: if you like this book then I'm sure you can find your own copy. Nor will I miss the income from people following my links... earnings so far are still under ten cents :-) But I have included a different type of picture to brighten up the post.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Pawn of Prophecy / David Eddings

2011-08-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

Pawn of Prophecy

category: fantasy, young adult, author:

David Eddings

book 1 of The Belgariad
original copyright 1982,
read in August 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

Perhaps this book is worth more than six out of ten. Perhaps I was influenced by having just read a much better book. I had just read Jim Butcher's Furies of Calderon -- and found Pawn to be very weak in comparison.

Pawn of Prophecy is a much older book. It targets a younger audience. The lucky coincidences and holes in the plot are even larger than in Furies... But does all this matter?

The two worst parts of Pawn are at the beginning...

Right there on the cover is printed, "A classic coming-of-age epic". A quote attributed to Christopher Paolini. Paolini?! What would Paolini know about a good book?!

Oh well. To be fair, perhaps Paolini could be a fair judge of juvenile fantasy rubbish. With a blind spot for plot holes and logical stupidities. His first book was full of such nonsense. And Pawn is nowhere near as bad as Eragon.

Second, Pawn begins with a nine page Prologue. Providing a complex pre-history of the gods. Boring -- and complicated. Is the reader really expected to follow and remember all that boring background material?

Then the story begins. With a golden glowing youth in the idyllic country-side... Which is -- finally -- interrupted for an adventure. Shades of thirteen dwarfs and a hobbit, running off without even a hat. Except that in Pawn, "the boy" is only there because his "aunt" will not leave him behind.

And so, a mixed bag of fantasy stereotypes sets off for adventure. And finally, the story starts to move along.

From now on it's easy reading. Not great, but entertaining. I don't appreciate the author's attempts at maintaining suspense, with older characters telling "the boy", We know what it's all about but we won't tell you. Weak as water!

But readable.

For a children's book written in 1982, it's not bad. It's a single story-line but with sufficient variation to maintain the reader's interest. Every second character seems to be a king or prince or super-sorcerer in disguise. What the heck...

It's a readable book with a difficult start. Read it to pass the time. You may enjoy it.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Furies of Calderon / Jim Butcher

2011-08-30T06:11:00.000-07:00

Furies of Calderon

category: fantasy, young adult, author:

Jim Butcher

book 1 of The Codex Alera
original copyright 2004,
read in August 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

This book is, "A classic coming-of-age epic". Actually, this quote is pinched from the cover of another book, Pawn of Prophecy, which will be the next to be reviewed. Both Pawn and Furies are coming-of-age fantasies. One book is much better than the other.

Furies of Calderon says, in its Prologue, that the course of history is determined by the actions of the individual. The book then documents the actions of several individuals... and documents them well.

The characters are strong and well-meaning. Even the baddies have good intentions. The book even provides a nice piece of philosophy to explain the motivations of the bad guys:

There's two kinds of bad men... who will hurt others with forethought... Men that don't figure there's anyone else alive who matters but them. And men who figure that there's something that matters more than anyone's life. Even their own... The second kind [are] ... very dangerous.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files have characters who have a strong sense of justice. Who will fight to protect others. Who believe that the individual must be protected against bad men -- of both types. This strong moral sense is carried into Furies: the main characters -- the good guys, anyway -- will risk their lives to save friends and family.

They also -- by being such nice people -- are able to earn friendship and respect in unexpected places. While still crushing the baddies...

All a bit Biggles, really.

Which, to me, is a positive recommendation :-)

At the start I wrote that this book is a coming-of-age fantasy. It is also for young -- but not too young -- adults.

"Coming-of-age"? Furies is the first of a trilogy. The main character is a boy becoming a man. He also has a mysterious past... You can just bet that he will turn out to be the son, probably illegitimate, of the long-dead Prince. No magic sword -- but I'm guessing magic powers...

The fantasy world is interesting... When mankind crawled out of the trees and tried to explain the world, they invented spirits in every tree, cloud, stream, rock... Jim Butcher has put the spirits -- his Furies -- back in the world. Where else would young lads go out and "tease a rock" in the pastures?!

Is this book really, "young adult"? I think so...

There's blood and gore and violence. Okay, so a young adult is used to computer games. The "young adult" giveaway is in the sex scenes...

The teenage hero blushes and looks the other way when faced with a naked girl. His older uncle meets the woman of his dreams... gets hot and heavy... and is interrupted. The adult heroine is threatened with pack rape... and is forced to watch, as the less heroic woman is subjected to degrading sexual violence... with no more description than I have included in this paragraph.

There is battle violence, graphically described. There is sex, willing and unwilling... either hinted at, or happening off-stage. Young adult... Thank goodness:-)

I enjoyed this book. In fact -- having struggled to start Pawn of Prophecy -- I came back and read Furies a second time. Some books are enjoyable enough to read a second time. And complex enough to benefit from the second reading. Furies of Calderon is such a book.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Badgy Book / Diane West et al

2011-08-30T05:21:00.000-07:00

The Badgy Book

category: collection, travel, author:

Diane West et al

original copyright 1998

Agamedes' opinion: valuable!

Not much that I can really say about this book... since I didn't read it.

We were driving north from Perth and stopped for a break at Badgingarra. Nothing much there but all we wanted was a break from driving. All I knew about Badgingarra was, that my brother lived and worked on a farm in the area, many years ago.

We stopped in the shop. Only one shop in town, as far as we could see. So we stopped there. Ordered coffees and cake...

... And saw, The Badgy Book.

That, I said, looks interesting... Well, interesting to my brother, anyway. The book is a collection of stories and anecdotes. Stories of the development and growth and people of the Badgingarra area. It's been perhaps thirty years since my brother lived here, he does keep in touch with friends from the area, he may know some of the people writing and being written about.

Diane West... the first of several authors... Surely my brother knows Diane West?! I'm sure I've heard the name.

Diane West? I say to the woman in the shop. I think that my brother knows her...

Diane died, a few years ago, replies the woman.

Oh.

We bought the book, we drank, snacked and relaxed. Walked through the nearby Vern Westbrook Walk -- very interesting -- and carried on driving.

This is the sort of book that every town, village, association, interest group... should write. It provides a history -- accurate or otherwise -- of their group. A record that is as (in)accurate as but more enduring than stories told by the old folk. Speaking of which:

Further north, we stayed on a working station. (A "station", here, is a large farm. For my overseas reader. If you exist.) We spent one evening sitting round the dinner table with our hosts and various of their friends.

The locals were going from well fed to relaxed to drunk... with a liberal exchange of anecdotes. This, I thought, is oral history.

A group of friends were exchanging stories of years gone by. Of friends and family and the scrapes and escapes, fights and fun of their past. Yes, they were drunk and speaking freely. Yet they also were politely listening.

One would tell a story of Cheque Book Charlie, or whichever character they remembered. Another would add a related anecdote, or add to the detail of the first. They were not trying to win points for their own stories -- they were exchanging, building on and strengthening memories of the past... Memories of the history of their area.

On one station, a group of friends were committing their history to collective memory. In Badgingarra, a group of friends -- or neighbours -- had committed their history to print.

Two different ways of preserving the stories and perhaps the lessons of the past. Two means of preserving the sense of community and of continuity.

I skimmed some parts of The Badgy Book, not enough to claim that I have read it. If you have an interest in small towns such as Badgingarra, this book is of interest to you.

I have sent this book on, to my brother. This book is not for me. I am glad, however, that the effort was made, to write The Badgy Book.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Surface Detail / Iain M. Banks

2011-08-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

Surface Detail

category: science fiction / fantasy, author:

Iain M. Banks

book 12(?) of Culture
original copyright 2010,
read in Aug 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

If I wanted to pick just one word to summarise Surface Detail, it would be "tedious". The author seems to have forgotten to add "action" to his check-list. For the first 400 or so pages... nothing much happens.

Rather, things are happening -- but those happenings are swamped by... well... the surface detail of descriptions of the Culture. Oh, look! here's something wonderful! How does it advance the story? Not at all... But look, it's wonderful!

Go back and watch the very first Star Wars movie. The first one that was made, I mean. Look at the background, the detail, the little robots running round polishing and cleaning. Does anyone say, Look at that little robot! Isn't it wonderful!

No... The wonders of the Star Wars universe are everywhere. If they were not there, the movie would look a lot like a Western. (Okay, a lot more like a Western.) But the technological marvels are either an essential part of the plot -- or just there. Uncommented.

Banks, on the other hand, spends many pages describing the wonders of his Culture universe. Sure, it's wonderful. But so what? What does it do for the story? Nothing much.

Clarke's Third Law states, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." That's why I have placed this book in both science fiction and fantasy categories.

Why not?!

The Culture universe is based on advanced science. Science so advanced that -- for the present-day reader -- it may as well be magic. Oh dear, he's dead! No he's not, he was carrying a Soul Stone...

Chapter 1 of Surface Detail introduces a character who is dead by the end of the chapter. Except she is not really dead. At least, the body is dead... and the mind is dead... but there's a copy. So the copy can be put back into a vat-grown body and the character is alive again. Or, a copy is alive...

Chapter 2 introduces another character... who promptly gets killed. But not really.

Does anyone really die? Is this form of reincarnation real, or is the death real and the new person really a new person... with old memories?! What is "Real" and what is virtual?

One character -- if you can survive 500 pages of this tedious novel -- has a near-death experience. She drinks some water and enjoys it so much that she thinks, Yes, this is Real. Silly woman... Her thoughts have probably been programmed to enjoy water and to believe that nice tasting water is a sign of Real... Similar thought changes have been done to other characters, why not to this woman?!

This is a fairy tale based on an enormous imagination. With some dubious continuity and inconsistent logic.

If you can survive more than 600 pages of the marvelously tedious Culture -- with not much happening -- but with regular rants about the stupid things that are done... in our world, today -- the ending is quite exciting and satisfying. The last 50 or so pages, that is.

There is even a final chapter of, this is what happened to some of the characters, sometime after the events of this novel. I like that, to know that life did go on... Except...

There were so many characters that I really had to scratch my head to work out who had then done what...

With a final sentence of the entire book, "Your table is ready, Mr X."

Look, I've typed "Mr. X." So as not to spoil the surprise for the keen reader. (You must exist. Somewhere.) But who is this Mr X?

I scratched my head. Stirred my memory. Finally... went to Wikipedia... and found...

Mr X is a character from earlier Culture novels.

I hope that that is not too much of a spoiler for the Culture fan. (Sorry!) But good grief! Why?!

I enjoy stories with continuing characters, in a standardised universe. But each novel should also stand alone.

Is this Mr X an in-joke for the Culture fan?

It's clearly intended to be significant... but to me, as a reader of only three or four Culture novels, it is meaningless.

Read the fairy-tale. Watch the various characters wave their magic wands and chant their mystic incantations. It'll pass a few hours. Or, at least, it will put you to sleep.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Rider at the Gate / C.J. Cherryh

2011-08-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

Rider at the Gate

category: science fiction / fantasy, author:

C.J. Cherryh

book 1 of Nighthorse
original copyright 1995,
read in August 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Is there a clear distinction between "fantasy" and "science fiction"? No...

Rider at the Gate is science fiction. I say so, Wikipedia says so, our state library says so. The library has also categorised this book as fantasy -- and I agree.

The author has created a brand new world. A world in which animals -- all of the indigenous animals -- use telepathy. So far -- this is pure fantasy.

The world has been settled by... not a local tribe of dwarfs, not an invading group of orcs... but by non-telepathic humans. Humans from another planet. From another planet? Oh, okay... this book must be "science fiction"... But it's not.

Rider at the Gate is both fantasy and science fiction.

Arthur C. Clarke wrote, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Drop the mention of settlers arriving by space-ship and Rider is fantasy. Provide a pseudo-scientific explanation of the local telepathy and it's science fiction. With space-ship references and telepathy that is simply accepted as part of life -- this book is both science fiction and fantasy.

So... back from the diversion...

Cherryh has created -- as far as I know -- a unique world. A world which is so unusual -- to this staid reader of fantasy & SF -- that it was a real eye-opener: What if this world really existed? What would it be like? How would non-telepathic humans survive?!

Add a cold climate... Nothing unique there; Le Guin famously did that in Left Hand of Darkness. Other authors have probably also taken the cold option.

Where Cherry beats the others -- especially Le Guin -- is in writing a novel which draws us in. A novel which is enjoyable, where we can empathise with the characters. A novel which we can read for pure enjoyment.

This is a book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It is also a book which provided a brand new world... A world with unique challenges. Fantastic -- yet believable.

And very, very enjoyable.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Colony / Rob Grant

2011-07-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

Colony

category: science fiction, humour, author:

Rob Grant

original copyright 2000,
read in Jul 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

There on the cover is this book's big selling point: Rob Grant, co-creator of Red Dwarf. The cover picture -- on my copy! -- is of a head which looks a lot like Arnold Rimmer. A head with a sneer. A head in a bottle.

Not sure if this is all positive or negative...

Arnold Rimmer is the best actor in Red Dwarf. He is quite a good character. One of the show's failings is that it too often leaves Rimmer as an idiotic loser with no saving graces.

Was Colony going to be a story of an idiotic loser with no redeeming graces? Yuk :-(

Fortunately -- not.

The hero looks like a loser and acts like a loser. And loses. But it is not excruciatingly awful... He is almost sympathetic. And he -- gradually -- demonstrates his redeeming features.

So why do I score this book as only six out of ten, for "read to pass the time"?!

I have categorised this book as both science fiction and humour. By adding "humour" I am being kind. Or, at least, I am stating what I believe to be the intent of the author.

I think that Grant is attempting comic irony. What he has achieved is sarcasm. To put it simply -- in my opinion: Colony is cruel irony.

There is irony, in that the best of the best of humanity turn out to be a bunch of nasty self-centered intellectuals. Who breed for stupidity. But there is no humour in simply saying, Look, these people are all idiots! Grant is describing one-dimensional stereotypes, expecting laughter based on prejudice. (And, perhaps, on jealousy.)

"There's no toilet paper in the toilet!" "That's so funny because it's true!" Even Homer Simpson was used to poke fun at the idea that something is funny simply because it matches our prejudices.

Once I realised that the "loser" hero had some depth, I enjoyed this book. But not immensely.

Not too bad. Readable enough to pass a few quiet hours.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Blood / Joseph Glass

2011-07-19T02:32:00.000-07:00

Blood

category: thriller, author:

Joseph Glass

book 2 of Dr Susan Shader
original copyright 2000,
read in Jul 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

The library has categorised this book as "horror". Perhaps it does have "the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror." Perhaps I'm just too blase...

There are rapes, murders, mutilations, combinations of all three. Plus various other nasties. There is some detail -- but far less than in the gore-porn of tv shows such as Silent Witness.

On the other hand -- there is never any real threat to the heroine. Not after she's already survived a previous book! Though one character seemed pointless until she became a final victim.

All in all, I felt neither horror nor terror. Perhaps some sympathy for the victims, some disgust at the baddies -- including the legal baddies. The author is very strong on the role of the legal system in letting loonie killers loose in society... Really, though, the violence was so over-the-top it was just too unbelievable.

Okay, these mad killers do exist. And it would be nice if psychics could help catch them. But it's too far removed from my reality to have a strong impact...

So it's "thriller" rather than "horror". A very nasty thriller. But easy to enjoy.

While berating the legal system for letting killers loose in our society, Glass also points the finger at news media. Killers, he writes, get their ideas from the media. And from literature... And here is Glass giving ideas to psycho killers... Oh dear!

Still. Let's assume that you -- like me -- are inured to graphic descriptions of sexual violence. You like villains who are truly evil -- and you like to see them defeated by morally superior heroes. Like one of the minor characters, you may not believe in second sight but are happy to accept any useful clues...

This is a book that will keep you entertained -- and guessing -- for a few long hours.

PostWord

I also meant to say...

The quality of the English is not the best. There are occasional -- very occasional -- really bad grammatical errors. So what, it's not "literature", it's entertainment.

There's a heap of cheap psychology... Well, the heroine is a psychiatrist, so that makes sense. Is the analysis too glib? Too simplistic?

Perhaps.

But -- again -- so what.

This is a book to be read and -- for those inured to nasty villainies -- enjoyed. Enjoy it and move on. If you want great literary quality and exact truths -- read on faster.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Out of Time / Samantha Graves

2011-07-19T01:47:00.000-07:00

Out of Time

category: romance, author:

Samantha Graves

follows on from Sight Unseen
original copyright 2008,
read in Jul 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

If you like romance -- this is romance. Add some paranormal powers, bad guys who won't hesitate to kill. Love, lovers and betrayal. And a hero and heroine who fall in bed and then fall in love -- despite their own best efforts.

Yes, it's a romance :-) And very enjoyable.

The hero is so macho that every right-thinking girl will swoon. All he needs is the softening influence of "the right woman" to help him understand that yes, there is good in the world.

The heroine is beautiful, strict and boring. With the ability to kick butt, thanks to a short course in self defence. All she needs is a macho hero, to help her realise that she is as good as anyone else in the world. And possibly better.

The hunt is on, for the priceless ruins of a pre-civilisation... Ruins which contain the secrets of anti-gravity, free and unlimited power, a cure for every disease... You know, the usual things that destroyed pre-civilisations all got up to.

Yet the author realises that all the best science did not save that civilisation. Nor would it save our own. Yet when the ruins are, as usual, destroyed... there is still hope that some of the scientific breakthroughs will be retrieved.

Typically, amazing ruins and unbelievable discoveries are destroyed, in a smoke-and-flame filled climax. All evidence is destroyed... but not in Out of Time. Thank goodness for a break with tradition!

As far as I can tell (without reading the first book) this book stars the "quiet" sister of the woman who starred in Sight Unseen. Paranormal abilities and a penchant for adventure run in the family.

I hope there are more relatives yet to star in their own books.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Left Hand of Darkness / Ursula K. Le Guin

2011-07-19T01:10:00.000-07:00

The Left Hand of Darkness

category: science fiction, author:

Ursula K. Le Guin

original copyright 1969,
read in Jun 2011 (and before, in about 1972)

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10

I read this years ago. Back then, I devoured science fiction... I read so fast that I often could not remember the names of the author... I read and enjoyed -- or not -- and moved right on to the next book. Perhaps that is why I have no negative memories of The Left Hand.

This time -- it's boring.

From the blurb, this book "poses [questions] about sexuality, gender roles and the organisation of society". Yes, that's the way I remember it. This time, though, I seem to be struck by a heavy dose of cynicism.

The planetary setting is both freezing cold and populated by hermaphrodites. As I read it, the lack of wars is due to the hermaphroditism of its inhabitants: because they spend most of their time as neuters, they do not have the testosterone drive to start wars.

On the other hand, at least one of the hermaphrodites is doing its best to start a war. And politicians in two countries are responding, slowly but definitely. So much for a testosterone-free peace zone.

What about the weather? When snow and freezing are the norm, perhaps survival takes precedence to war. Does Le Guin examine that idea? Not that I can see.

What we're left with is an alien-contact novel, with politics. The politics are -- to me -- boring. And the alien contact is... strange.

Okay, nice idea to send in one person to make initial contact. Minimum impact, minimum loss if it fails. But why not send in someone who knows what they're doing?!

I get the distinct impression that the sole human representative has had no training other than some notes on the current society. He seems -- to put it bluntly -- to be clueless.

I started reading this book about two months ago. Put it down to read other books. Continued reading. Went on holiday and chose to not take this book with me. Now I lack the inclination to continue. Almost at the three-quarter mark -- and I've had enough.

Yes, yes, I know that I'm quitting before the sex scene... When these people go into heat -- once a month -- they take on the sexual characteristics to mate with whoever else is also in heat. So if one becomes a male then the next will become female. The Earth human male is now isolated with a local hermaphrodite about to go into heat...

Surprise, surprise -- we didn't see that coming, did we?!

I read the book years ago. I suppose I reached the end that time. Once is enough.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Club Dead / Charlaine Harris

2011-07-19T00:41:00.000-07:00

Club Dead

category: fantasy, author:

Charlaine Harris

book 3 of True Blood
original copyright 2003,
read in Jul 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

A book from a series which has spawned a tv series. What more can I say?

Well...

Several books in this series had been written before 2005, the copyright year of Twilight. If anything is derivative, it's Twilight. Which just goes to show:

Sure, you can copy the idea: ordinary girl loves vampire, gets tangled up in vampire world. Faces vampire-related dangers. But you can still make it better.

Club Dead gets off to a slow start. At least, it seems slow... perhaps because I'm starting with the third book in the series. I have not had time to learn to love the heroine -- nor to understand her relationship with her vampire lover.

The book stars Sookie Stackhouse. Does the author know what sooky is to an Australian? Try, "complaining, whingeing, sad; jealous." And that exactly describes the Sookie of the story. Especially at the start, as she fails to cope with the apparent loss of affection from her vampire lover.

Is he worth the effort of caring? Not as far as I can tell from this book. Perhaps there is reason to care, in the previous two books.

Then there's the vampire race.

Apparently, vampires have now come out of the closet. Thanks to TrueBlood, an artificial blood substitute, vampires can now live without human blood. No need to kill for a living. All may now be forgiven.

What?!

After centuries of blood-sucking murder... All may now be forgiven?!

It's not like these are animals with no choice other than to kill or die. These are the same individuals who chose to kill humans. Yet they always had a choice: yes, they do have the ability to suck just a little blood. Yet they chose to kill.

And the humans now say, Oh well, that was terrible, well what the heck, forgive and forget.

Perhaps there was vampire guilt and apology in the first books. No sign of it now. Now, it's just lord-of-the-manor style, human victims but willing, do what we want, vampires out of the closet. With their own government, their own laws and their own might-is-right system of settling disputes.

Appealing to those who wish to be slaves, perhaps.

The vampire social model is awful. The book itself -- after a slow start -- is readable action.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Maxwell & Williams "Microstoven"

2011-06-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Non-stick pot: Microstoven

by Maxwell & Williams

category: gadget, author:

Agamedes

bought in 2010, lasted till 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 3 out of 10: So bad it's embarrassing

About eighteen months ago we were given a present, a Maxwell & Williams non-stick cook-pot.

A beautiful pot with a clever name: Microstoven... Microstoven... get it? MICROwave + STOVE + OVEN... Clever, eh?

Here's the label from the bottom of the pot:

The pot feels great. Light and smooth. A pleasure to work with. And non-stick, the label says so.

There is more information on that label. A series of icons:

Hmmm... Not as clear as I had hoped. Anyway...

The label says, "Non-stick". The pot is non-stick. Very good!

The label says, "Suitable for Microwave Stove Oven". Excellent -- if you believe it. The icons are specific though -- like many icons -- open to interpretation. Here is my interpretation, from left to right:

Safe in a microwave
Safe on an electric stove
Safe to use in an oven
Save to use on a gas stove
Waterproof or, perhaps, safe to use for storing bulbs.

At the start of this posting I suggested that we were given this cook-pot eighteen months ago. This is not strictly true.

Eighteen months ago we were given a present of a Maxwell & Williams non-stick Microstoven cook-pot. After the second or third use -- as the pot was being put back in the cupboard -- the lid broke.

Have a look at the photo below, of the replacement pot in all its current glory. See the lid, to the right of photo? See the knob on the lid? Imagine that knob just falling off... That's what happened.

Barely out of its wrapper. Hardly been used. The lid broke.

We returned the pot. We were given a replacement pot. The pot in the photo is just over twelve months old. New. Shiny. Broken.

Did you notice the base of the pot? Yeeesssss... You can see right through the base of the pot. The base of the pot is between the lid and the rest of the pot. It has fallen off.

How did we manage to break this magnificent example of the product marketer's art? We used it...

Yes, we dared to actually use this piece of rubbish. We used this cook-pot for cooking.

I almost wrote, "this very expensive piece of rubbish." But I'd only be guessing. I know who gave us the present, I know their tastes. But it was a present. So I don't know the price.

So. We actually dared to use this piece of rubbish for cooking. Imagine, cooking with a cook-pot! Silly us.

The cook-pot survived the cooking experience! Which was lucky, really. Can you imagine how we would feel if the bottom had fallen out of the pot while it was full of dinner!

So how did it break?!

After cooking, after dinner, I washed the pot. By hand.

And the base fell off as I lifted the pot out of the washing-up water.

What a crock of... useless rubbish.

Now you're wondering, What did I say to the shop owner when I returned this rubbish?!

Nothing.

What would I demand if I returned this broken pot? A replacement pot? No way!

Two in a row, quickly failed.

There is no way that I would take a replacement Maxwell & Williams pot. So why bother.

In Coles we spent $5 on a small cook-pot. It comes with all sorts of warnings, how not to use it. So what...

The $5 pot from Coles has, so far, successfully cooked more hot meals than the first "Microstoven" rubbish pot. Another few meals and it will have out-cooked the replacement.

Bring on the five dollar pot from Coles!

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Rise of the Iron Moon / Stephen Hunt

2011-06-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

The Rise of the Iron Moon

category: science fiction: steampunk, author:

Stephen Hunt

book 3 of Jackals
original copyright 2009,
read in June 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

As I started reading I thought, yes, this is quite fun. As I read on I down-graded my assessment. Part of it is the standard problem, of reading first the third book in a series.

But there's more.

Iron Moon introduces a couple of interesting characters. So far, so good. Then we jump to the characters from -- it seems -- previous books. Who -- because the author already knows them -- get just a sketchy introduction. There is a basic dissonance: thorough introductions to characters who turn out to be second-string support, weak introductions to main characters.

Reading just this one book, there is very little to attract me to the main characters.

Okay... All of that is a problem with having missed the first two books in the series. But...

There are three main characters -- and a whole lot of Star Trek ensigns...

In Star Trek, when the Captain beamed down to a new planet, he would take other officers -- and an ensign. The key role of the ensign was to be killed, so that we knew that things were really serious.

Well, Iron Moon is not quite that bad. Several of the "ensigns" -- the secondary characters who accompany the main group -- do play important roles. But they do have tendency to die before the end of the book. Perhaps a better analogy would be the later books of Xanth by Piers Anthony: the characters actually strive to be "main" characters, just so that they will be guaranteed survival...

Anyway, I was disappointed as various interesting characters were killed off. Though I'm willing to guess that several will reappear in later books... Never depend on the death of an interesting hero or villain unless you see the dead body. And, sometimes, not even then.

I also do not like the "civilisation" in which the story is set...

The heroes are battling to save a country which practices barbarism. There is some stupidity... well, a lot of stupidity, which could be intended to be satirical. There is also cruelty, the callous treatment of humans as though they were insensate objects.

This is not a "civilisation" worth supporting. Sure, the baddies are worse. It's a matter of, which evil will we support? Except that the characters do not recognise the barbarity within their own gates.

Yet another comparison: This is a Lensmen book, with vast battles, millions killed, planets destroyed. Where the Lensmen fought for ultimate good over ultimate evil -- these people just fight for their own security. They fight for a country which is, essentially, Eddorian.

Iron Moon is an enjoyable read. If you don't look behind the characters to their countries. If you don't get too attached to characters. And, perhaps, if you're a fan of any book of steampunk.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Breaking Dawn / Stephenie Meyer

2011-06-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

Breaking Dawn

category: romance, author:

Stephenie Meyer

book 4 of Twilight
original copyright 2008,
read in May 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

At last (for me) the final chapter in the Twilight saga! And what a saga it has been... Oh! the suffering! Oh! the drama! Oh! the romance...!

Yes, I have enjoyed Breaking Dawn just as much as I enjoyed books one, two and three in the Twilight series. There is, however, one major strength which is also a weakness, in this final book of the series.

Typically enough -- as the fourth book -- you expect that the weakness is to do with unfamiliarity with the characters. Unfamiliarity for the reader who starts at book four, that is. Well, no...

Aside: Category: romance? Yes, definitely. Romance is the main theme of the entire series. Fantasy? Yes, there are plenty of fantasy elements. And I don't just mean that true love is a fantasy! Horror? Hardly! Still... there are vampires, there are werewolves, there is sudden death and threat of sudden death. So, okay, add the horror label... Really, though, this is pure romance set in a world of fantasy.

This book is a conclusion. A wrap-up. In fact, I only started reading the Twilight series because of a book review which said that this book was a good conclusion... So I started reading only because I had been promised a satisfactory ending. (In general I tend to avoid books which become instant cult fiction. On the unsubstantiated grounds that cult means rubbish and that a cult series means never-ending rubbish.)

So, this book is definitely a conclusion. It wraps up the key conflicts of the previous three books. While leaving the world of vampires and werewolves wide open for more books... Very good!

On the other hand... the conclusion is satisfactory only if you have read the first three books.

It's a positive conclusion, with definite signs of the author's moralistic views. Who can argue with the premise that love conquers all? And in Breaking Dawn, love even conquers the perennial problem of forgetting to breathe while kissing your lover...

But really, the very satisfactory conclusion is just a bit too nice -- if you only read this one book.

Read the series and the ending is... just right. Read just this one book -- so you have missed the build-up -- and you will find that the ending is just a bit weak.

So.

Start with Twilight the book. Read through all four books of Twilight the series of books. And Breaking Dawn is the ending that we all have been hoping for... The ending that just did not seem to be possible... The ending which solves all problems without closing off our desire to read more.

So my rating is eight out of ten. And nine out of ten for the entire series.

Aaahhhh shucks... It is soooooo sweet :-)

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Tangled Webs / Anne Bishop

2011-05-26T06:38:00.000-07:00

Tangled Webs

category: horror, author:

Anne Bishop

book 6 of Black Jewels
original copyright 2008,
read in May 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 3 out of 10

This book is so bad that it's embarrassing.

The main characters are vampires. They rule their world by fear and violence. Interestingly, one third of the book read and all I've met are vampires.

That doesn't mean that there is no violence... The vampires are vicious killers, with very little control over their psychotic attacks. They spend their time perched on the edge of killing each other. When they are not killing, they are taking offence and wanting to kill.

There is also sex. I could categorise this book as pornography -- but the sex is pathetic. At best, it's titillation. At worst it's rape and violence. Every sex scene includes the threat of extreme violence and it's the women who are homicidal.

The characters are also childishly stupid. Homicidal, uncontrolled, stupid.

There is nothing at all pleasant about this book.

Okay, there is one character who offered some hope of reader satisfaction. (Unless, of course, you enjoy childish psychopaths threatening each other with sex and violence. Feel free to imagine it fits in the category of, "rubbish, for fans only".) One character is planning to, somehow, punish these vampires for imagined insults.

This character is an outsider. He is a vampire but grew up amongst humans. He is not a part of the vampire sex and violence. He is almost sympathetic.

But you just know that he will be slaughtered.

One third of the way through the book and I can't take any more. This book is unpleasant. Even the sex is dull, though violent.

Avoid it.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Outback Stars / Sandra McDonald

2011-05-24T04:13:00.000-07:00

The Outback Stars

category: military science fiction, author:

Sandra McDonald

book 1 of three
original copyright 2007,
read in May 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

There's a lot going on in this book... A lot to like, too.

First, there's the space ship. It is huge! Giant blocks of self-contained cities (or cargo holds), attached to a base, to form one enormous ship. If you have the power to push (not that there is any explanation of the power source) then why not push a lot. There's no friction in space, so no need to be neat, no need for aerodynamics.

The spaceships travel along mysterious rivers in space. Shortcuts between the stars. Created by a long-vanished alien race... Again, no explanations. The shortcuts simply exist.

One of the sub-plots is the search for better control of an alternative -- also alien, unexplained -- transportation system. A bit of mysticism here, with dream messages from Dreamtime spirits... Though that could as well be telepathic communications from the aliens, since this book is "science fiction".

Amongst all of this technology -- the real story is of the crew who work in Supply on the spaceship.

There are rules and regulations, there are the people who make it all work. There is -- and I like this -- a sense of the importance of the often overlooked back-office role of providing day-to-day necessities for the thousands of crew. This is a story of the people who maintain one of the basic systems essential to daily operations.

The people are -- mostly -- good people. There are the slackers, the trouble-makers, the turned-off. Much of the story details efforts of the new supply officer as she manages this crew of mixed, realistic, people.

There are also enough baddies to offer a criminal case to be identified and then resolved. Plus a few people who may or may not be good, or who may be good but with their own agendas to follow.

There is also the love story... Across the ranks, which is strictly forbidden.

For military fiction, this book offers very human dilemmas. As science fiction, it could as easily have been on a battleship, or perhaps an inter-city train. It's a story of a group of people with work to be done, people depending on their work, rules to be followed -- and outside interference, to make their job more difficult.

Mind you, the reader's job is also somewhat difficult...

There is jargon, there are acronyms, there are ranks and roles which are barely explained. None of this detracts from understanding what is happening. Then there are the dozens of people who keep popping up... I very quickly lost track of the names.

Identifying the person who just reappeared was my main challenge, as I read The Outback Stars. Is this person good or bad or unknown? Is this person a senior officer or a swabbie? All very confusing.

Still, I finally remembered enough names to recognise the chief goodies and baddies. And that was enough to allow me to follow the action.

Enough to allow me to understand what happened. And to think, That was a good book :-)

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Bridge of Birds / Barry Hughart

2011-05-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

Bridge of Birds

category: fantasy, author:

Barry Hughart

book 1 of Master Li and Number Ten Ox
original copyright 1984,
read in May 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Something different...

This is fantasy set in old China. Not in a post-apocalyptic, China now rules the world, reconstructed China. Nor an alternative, these aliens act Chinese China. But the "real" ancient China. The China of legend.

That said, perhaps the legends have been rewritten.

Did you ever watch Monkey? The TV series with the trouble-making monkey god, his companion Pigsie, others whose names escape me and the monk, who acts as Monkey's guide and conscience. Every episode a new adventure, a new villain. And many of the villains turned out to be demons.

Bridge of Birds is a bit like that: Over the top adventures with demonic enemies. Though without Monkey's terrible dubbing, thank goodness!

Monkey was a thoughtless immortal who regularly offended Buddha and Heaven with his antics. As the series progressed, Monkey learned his lessons and -- gradually -- reformed. (Is that correct? Reformed? When Monkey was never originally formed as a nice monkey? Anyway...) Master Li and Number Ten Ox of Bridge of Birds are, right from the beginning, nice people.

Well, Master Li does have "a slight flaw in his character". But he has no hesitation in helping the children from the village of Number Ten Ox. And I like that: two characters who -- without question -- are willing to do everything possible to help the dying children.

They do everything possible -- and plenty that is also impossible.

This book is set in the China of legends.

Myth Busters has tested the story of the Chinese chair which flew under the power of fireworks. Bridge of Birds uses fireworks power to fly, noisily but successfully. For several days, non-stop... If only I could get hold of some of those long-lasting fireworks!

There are labyrinths and monsters and mad Dukes and crazy Empresses. And lovers and hen-pecked husbands and reformed misers... With touches of humour and many likable characters.

Bridge of Birds is unusual. A quick check of Wikipedia shows that the author wanted his Master Li and Number Ten Ox books to be more than "fantasy"... Yes, this book is written in an unusual style. Yes, it makes me think of ancient Chinese legends. But I'm not sure what it could be, other than "fantasy".

I was surprised when I read that it was written in 1984. It has not dated... There is nothing in it that could get any more out-of-date :-)

I enjoyed this book. It took a while to settle into the main story. Once it did, the excursions into myth were less distracting and, often enough, entirely relevant to the main action. Overall, it is a lot of fun with a satisfying ending -- and many satisfying conclusions along the way.

Well worth reading.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Death Masks / Jim Butcher

2011-05-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

Death Masks

category: fantasy, action, author:

Jim Butcher

book 5 of The Dresden Files
original copyright 2003,
read in May 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

After a few rather disappointing books -- it's great to get back to an enjoyable author! I've read a few of Butcher's books and enjoyed them all. Action, humour, magic and great characters...

I've categorised Death Masks as "fantasy, action"... I don't (yet?!) have a category for "crime". The whole Dresden Files series is gumshoe: hard-boiled private investigator with dames, booze, thugs and scheming evil villains... Philip Marlowe, I think, is the original. (Must read some Philip Marlowe books!)

The Dresden villains are particularly evil. When bad guys can be demons and other supernatural creatures, evil is easy to arrange. On the other hand, there are also some really, really, good, good guys. Ones who work for the angel who reports directly to God, for example.

Amongst all this, the author -- via PI and wizard Harry Dresden -- maintains an almost science fiction attitude: all these gods, demons, faeries, ogres, they are just creatures from alternate universes -- or planes of existence -- with their own powers and drives and rules.

It's the rules which make life bearable for ordinary mortals. There may be vampires but they act subtly, or risk an all-out war with the wizards of the White Council. Even in book five -- where Harry started a vampire versus wizard war in book four -- there are rules of engagement.

It's all complicated but well controlled. There are mysteries to solve and innocents to save. With Harry being bashed -- and slashed, and burned, and cursed -- regularly. He survives, and wins.

While making enough immortal enemies to guarantee more tough times for all the future books.

The hero is a wizard with both morals and a strong work ethic. It's enjoyable action with occasional touches of humour -- in the hard-boiled gumshoe style.

You can read this book alone. Or start with book one and work forward. They are all a lot of fun, though the darkness varies from book to book. (I seem to remember that it gets less dark as the series progresses.)

Good characters. Good plot. A good book.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Busted Flush / George R.R. Martin

2011-05-10T06:29:00.000-07:00

Busted Flush

category: fantasy, author:

not really George R.R. Martin

book 19 of Wild Cards
original copyright 2008,
read in May 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 3 out of 10

Apparently, this is a "mosaic novel". That may mean, "Don't blame me, I only wrote some of it." Or possibly, "Be nice to me and I'll publish some of your work in 'my' next 'novel'."

It's "mosaic" because there are nine separate authors. Each author writes a series of related chapters. The series of related chapters are then interspersed to form a book. Perhaps, by the end of the book, the separate series of chapters somehow link together. Or perhaps not.

btw: None of the authors are George R.R. Martin.

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. As far as I read, Busted Flush is a series of short stories. Perhaps they do -- eventually -- join up to form "a long narrative". Perhaps not. As far as I read it was a series of short stories and not a novel.

As a book, this is a comic.

The book consists of a series of visually interesting scenes which would -- in a better book -- add up to a story. Almost frame by frame: Picture this, jump, next image, jump again...

Then there are the characters...

There's one character -- amongst the multitude of weirdos -- who gains just a little of my sympathy. He's a pudgy boy whose super-power has (from indications so far) killed his parents. And most of the town where he lived. This boy is as close to "human" as they come.

The rest of the characters are as dislikeable a lot as you are likely to meet. Oh, gosh, they are soooo tiiiired from their efforts to save the world (one bit at a time). So what. Who cares. Perhaps if I had read some of the previous eighteen books I would care about the characters. Or perhaps not.

Then there's the book category...

"Science fiction", according to the cover. Pity there's no science.

Think "X Men rip-off". Each character has a unique super-power. (Some less super than others.) Super-power usually equals fantasy.

Are the super-powers based on scientific extrapolation? Is there an example of, "what if" thinking? No. And no.

This book is pure fantasy. Since it's the nineteenth in the series, there must be fans.

This is a book for fans only.

If you meet one of the fans at a party... Avoid conversation. Hide behind the nearest solid and soundproof object.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

All Tomorrow's Parties / William Gibson

2011-05-10T05:18:00.000-07:00

All Tomorrow's Parties

category: science fiction, author:

William Gibson

original copyright 1999,
started reading in April 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10

The most interesting thing about this book is the word map generated by my review:

The map was generated by Wordle... What a brilliant idea! I simply pasted in the text of the review...

Then found that the word "good" was highly visible. I had used "good" in the negative sense, of "no good reason" to read the book. Yet the single word "good" leaped out of the word map...

Just goes to show: It's not the words that give meaning, it's the way we use those words.

btw: The above map was generated by pasting the text -- with the word "good" removed. So the map is meaningless but at least it is not misleading.

I started reading this book. Found it a bit hard to get into it, read another. Read a couple more. Read a few more chapters of this book. Gave it away as a bad job.

Near future science fiction: don't like it. Miserable characters: no thanks. Confusing story with random jumps to unexplained situations: need a good reason to read on... I found no good reason.

I don't know what was going on. I don't know who the characters were, neither the ones we met nor the ones referred to by the characters we did meet.

Gave up reading.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Carpe Jugulum / Terry Pratchett

2011-05-06T05:58:00.000-07:00

Carpe Jugulum

category: fantasy, author:

Terry Pratchett

book 23 of Discworld
original copyright 1998,
read in May 2011 (and before, a couple of years ago)

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Witches versus vampires... It's either another Discworld story... or the missing volume of the Twilight series...

Okay, it's Discworld number 23. And if it's Discworld, why is it not fantasy and humour? Because this book is far too serious to be classified as "humour".

On the surface this book is about a vampire invasion which is fought back by the usual mixed batch of weird Discworld characters. There are humorous characters, humorous situations and humorous puns. (If a pun is allowed to be classed as "humorous".)

The actual theme of Carpe Jugulum is, basic morality...

The oldest witch is a crone, a hag, a controller of people's minds. She practices euthanasia, when necessary. The witch herself decides when euthanasia is necessary, with no consultation with the other people involved. Is this immoral?

The witch takes all the pain of the decision onto herself. She saves the survivors from guilt and from the pain of making the life-or-death decision. The witch takes the pain and guilt -- with no other option provided.

Is this moral?

According to Pratchett (at least, as far as this novel states the situation) the witch is acting within a strict and correct code of morality. This absolute -- and good -- ethical standard helps the witches to defeat the vampire invasion. After a difficult test of the witch's moral integrity.

Then there is the religious analysis.

The priest of Om struggles with the conflicts within his religion. Finally, he realises that he can be a moral and spiritual person even if he notices the conflicts within his religious doctrines.

In Carpe Jugulum Pratchett has moved past social satire to social commentary. (Or do I mean, social philosophy?) There are deep and serious questions presented in the usual Discworld confusion.

Yes, the book is funny. But it is a lot more... but the "more" can be ignored, if you just want a light read.

The themes of the book are a little too heavy to allow Carpe Jugulum to be classed as "humour", though it is funny. All presented in a very entertaining fashion.

Better yet, Pratchett has done well with his characters...

There are the Discworld standard "wet" characters -- drips who seem destined to be the butt of every joke. Yet they are all decent people who mean well and try hard. There is no character who will make you cringe.

All the strengths of Discworld. Action, adventure and humour. Good plot and deep discussion of good and evil... Plus a lot of likable characters.

This is a very good book. I enjoyed reading it. Very much.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Dragonmaster / Chris Bunch

2011-05-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

Dragonmaster

omnibus edition, with:

Storm of Wings (2002)

Knighthood of the Dragon (2003)

The Last Battle (2004)

category: fantasy, military, author:

Chris Bunch

books 1, 2 and 3 of Dragonmaster
original copyright 2002, 2003 and 2004,
read in April 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

I had to rethink that rating, 8 out of 10. First I typed 7... then 8. It's not really a great book. What it has, though, is enough good distinguishing features to lift it just a bit higher than "well worth reading".

And another decision: Is it military fantasy? The three stories follow a young man who joins the army, creates an effective dragon air force and fights a whole lot of battles. The military efforts are central to the books. But the books are more than "just" military.

Possibly, the military aspects are just a bit weak for a true military fantasy...

The cover of this omnibus edition says, "A banquet of blood and thunder". That is very true. Yet there is a whole lot more.

One consistent theme is the stupidity of military leaders. The hero notes the stupidity -- and then follows the stupid orders. Perhaps that is a good sign that these books really are "military" fantasy? I kept expecting the hero to win the war by disobeying stupid orders: but that would be pure fantasy.

In fact, the hero works his way up the ranks by the occasional fully sanctioned clever tactics. Clever tactics which still cost lives.

There is no feeling that the author is glorifying war. Yes, the hero -- with his troops -- wins battles. He also loses battles. The dragon fliers mostly enjoy flying. They also die because their flying is into battles. The fliers have tents, food, shelter back from the battle lines. They see and sympathise with the ground troops living -- and dying -- in the mud and blood of battle.

There is also life outside the war.

Life goes on. Or doesn't, if you're living too close to the war. The public support the war, send young people to die in the war. Some make money supplying war goods and black market goods. When the war drags on, public support fades. The promises of early victory become a desire to just get it over. As long as "we" win and the enemy are entirely crushed. But not so crushed that they are invaded by barbarians who will make even worse neighbours and enemies.

There are a lot of issues -- realistic issues -- with the war. The author raises them but does not present any new solutions. Perhaps there are no solutions.

One interesting aspect of the war -- something which may tip these books firmly into military fantasy: Storm of Wings starts the war. In a typical fantasy, the "good guys" would then lose more and more and have the enemy on their doorstep as we read on to book two, Knighthood of the Dragon. In the Dragonmaster books the war quite quickly goes in favour of the good guys. Then reality sets in and the second book is the hard slog of beating the enemy back within the enemy's own country.

The good guys are winning the war. Book two demonstrates that even winning a war involves a lot of brutality and bloodshed -- on both sides. Then, interestingly, book three shows us that the battles may continue, long after the war appears to be over. People who want a war will simply find a new enemy.

Finally, though, the third book turns to the long-hinted home land of the dragons themselves.

The dragons are combination cavalry and air force. Once the war is over, the dragons are simply an expensive nuisance. The hero -- the Dragonmaster -- wants to help the dragons.

In a total change of pace, the hero sets off to save the dragons in their own country of origin. It's a different style of battle, it's fun, it's a satisfying conclusion. Even if I can't quite believe that the enemies of the dragons have really been -- permanently -- defeated...

I enjoyed all three books. The focus is on war but there is attention to the broader picture, the life which continues around, because of, despite the war.

And, okay, I'll classify these books as both fantasy and military.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Colour of Magic [and] Sourcery / Terry Pratchett

2011-05-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

The Colour of Magic

and

Sourcery

category: fantasy, author:

Terry Pratchett

books 1 and 5 of Discworld
original copyright 1983 & 1988,
read in April 2011 (and before, in about 2009)

Agamedes' opinion: 6 and 8 out of 10

What can you say about The Colour of Magic? This is the first ever Discworld book: funny, clever, imaginative... And yet...

The Colour of Magic has the strengths of later Discworld books -- and the weaknesses. More particularly, one weakness: Rincewind the loser.

It is very difficult to enjoy a book about a loser. What is there to enjoy -- other than the suffering of the "hero"?! It may be funny. It is also uncomfortably painful.

On the other hand, there are the puns, the outrageous characters, the ridiculous rip-offs of stereotypical situations... Pure Discworld though still learning.

Read it to enjoy it. More importantly, read Colour for its place in Discworld history.

Then read Sourcery for pure enjoyment...

Why is Sourcery better that Colour? Partly, because Pratchett's writing has hit its stride, it is more... professional? sophisticated? just slightly better. It is also a complete -- and complex -- novel, typical of the rambling interconnectivity of most Discworld books.

More importantly, Rincewind is not just a failed wizard. Yes, his failure as a wizard is a vital part of his character. Yes, he has no power, no ability, no great personality. Yet he does have some internal drive to do the right thing.

Pratchett has taken a loser and made him more human.

In Colour Rincewind was so one-dimensional that the reader can only be embarrassed by his actions and incompetence. In Sourcery Rincewind is just as cowardly and incompetent -- but he does try to save the world. He knows that there is no possibility of winning but he realises that he has to try. This effort makes a huge difference to my enjoyment of the book.

When a loser just... loses... there is only pain. Some readers may enjoy pain. I don't.

When a loser struggles... makes just a tiny effort... maybe has some minor, almost insignificant victory -- the book is far more enjoyable.

Rincewind is a difficult character. In Sourcery I believe that Pratchett has managed to keep the cowardly loser -- and to make him a sympathetic character.

Read Colour for its place in literary history. Read Sourcery for pure enjoyment.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Canberra's Best Bush, Park & City Walks / Marion Stuart

2011-05-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

Canberra's Best Bush, Park & City Walks

category: travel, author:

Marion Stuart

maps by Tony Fakira
one of Woodslane's outdoor guides
original copyright 2010,
read in April 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Okay, I didn't read much of this. It's a library book, borrowed as we look for somewhere to go for a holiday. Canberra is probably not on our itinerary... so I just skimmed the book for general interest.

From what I can see... it's quite a good book. There's an overall map -- well, several -- so you get an idea of what walks are where. Maps, pictures, words. Descriptions of each walk with perhaps enough detail to be enough detail. (As I said, I just skimmed!)

Going to Canberra? Get the book. Thinking of visiting Kosciuszko, Sydney, the Blue Mountains? Go to the Woodslane website and check out their other travel books... the standard seems to be, quite good.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Walks of King Island / Ken Martin

2011-04-29T01:47:00.000-07:00

Walks of King Island

category: travel, author:

Ken Martin

one of a series of (The) Walks of ...
original copyright 2009,
read in April 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Start reading this book and you quickly realise that Martin's interest is not in "King Island"... Sure, he loves the place and he enjoys the King Island walks. Really, though, he's a walker.

Which is reassuring, really.

This book is a book for walkers, hikers, trampers, strollers... Not just a sales pitch for King Island. When you're looking for a holiday with plenty of walks -- as we are -- this is the book for you.

There are plenty of walks on King Island. Each comes with a map, an overview of distance, time, difficulty and a walk description. Better yet, there is a map right at the front of the book which shows the start points for all of the walks on one map. This helps you to get an overview of what is where on the island.

The walk descriptions are quite general. No turn-by-turn detail, just some commentary on points of interest. Enough to provide a feeling for the walk without swamping you with facts. There are occasional recommendations to pick up various local leaflets.

If you are planning a walking holiday, or planning a visit to King Island, this is a good book to read. Skim through the walk descriptions and you get a good taste for the island. (Bear in mind that I have not been to King Island to confirm the impressions that I gained from this book!)

If you are going to visit -- take this book. Then pick up more detailed information when you arrive. This book provides a good overview of where to go to enjoy walking on King Island.

To get the book: The publisher is Bas Publishing. Their webpage does not seem to list this book... At least, I can't find it... They do have another Ken Martin walks book which is probably just as good, especially if you are planning to take some Walks of the Mornington Peninsula.

Or contact the publisher and ask about King Island.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Usurper's Crown / Sarah Zettel

2011-04-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

The Usurper's Crown

category: fantasy, author:

Sarah Zettel

book 2 of Isavalta
original copyright 2002,
read in April 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

An interesting approach to the sequence of books in a trilogy. And it works. Very well!

Book one is A Sorcerer's Treason. Book one is the story of a woman who turns out to be the long-awaited daughter of a famous sorcerous couple. The back-story is provided as an integral part of the introduction to the fantasy world.

Book two -- The Usurper's Crown -- now goes back to the back-story! So we know that the ending cannot be entirely happy. Nevertheless -- the ending is entirely satisfactory. This is a very well crafted novel.

Book one introduces the reader to the world of Isavalta, its magic and its key characters. There are a few loose ends. Book two provides the more tragic introduction. There are no loose ends, rather, clear launching points for the final book.

Speaking of which: It is so good to read a book which promises to provide a complete story! I'm no great fan of the franchise approach, where the reader is expected to return for the world rather than its people. And to allow "character development", characters tend to be regularly replaced...

Terry Brooks is a one-man franchise author. He has managed to link two or more series of books into one large-scale mythology. Trouble is, you pick up a new book in the series -- and have to learn all about a new set of characters. Which often leaves me thinking, Why should I care about this group of strangers?! (Straken almost works. Possibly because it is the last book in a sub-series, so there is some plot conclusion.)

Zettel is providing a trilogy -- a complete story contained within three books. Better yet, each book is a complete novel on its own. Two books so far and two complete stories. No hero left hanging off the edge of a cliff... Just a satisfactory conclusion -- and the urge to read more.

Okay, Usurper is a whole new set of characters. Yet they are all familiar -- as memories from the past, from Sorcerer. In Usurper we learn the motivations and the facts behind the history of Sorcerer.

Meanwhile, we know that the familiar characters from Sorcerer are waiting... Not in some ridiculous side-track but in the future... at exactly the point at which we left them.

Usurper provides essential background reading -- without interrupting the flow of the story. I will go eagerly to book three: Looking forward to the grand finale of the Isavalta trilogy. And with the extra understanding of Isavalta characters and history which is provided by book two.

Oh. Yes. Zettel still writes as though she is being paid by the word. This time I was not surprised. I simply sat back and enjoyed the flow.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Margarets / Sheri S. Tepper

2011-04-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

The Margarets

category: fantasy, author:

Sheri S. Tepper

original copyright 2007,
read in April 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

According to the cover blurb, "Sheri Tepper weaves science fiction and fantasy superbly". Don't believe it. This is pure fantasy...

Okay, the story is set on Earth of the future. With other planets also involved. Characters -- such as all the Margarets -- travel from one planet to another. Sorry, this does not make "science fiction".

The setting may be futuristic. The story is fantasy. Not that there's anything wrong with that. As long as you know.

One girl is split into seven separate people. How is this done? Possibly by cloning, then by a few years in an alternate reality. Or some other possibility... Yes, that's the depth of the explanation provided. How did they share memories to the point of splitting? How did they have a feeling of having been split if they were, in fact, cloned before birth? No explanation.

And no explanation is needed.

The Margarets are nice people, living different lives. When the time is right, they just know what to do to set the world to rights. Oh, of course, here's a million-year-old prophecy which tells them what to do. It just needs to be interpreted.

When they meet the prophet -- the all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful being who is everywhere in the Universe -- he is as surprised as they are, that the prophecy could be fulfilled at all.

This is fantasy in what I have just decided to call, the Wiccan style. All people have the in-built ability to be good. If we can all just see the light -- or remember the lessons of previous lives, or worship the one truly nice supreme spiritual being -- then all will be well with the world. It's all very positive, really. Even the bad guys are bad only because they lack the light / lessons / worship / whatever.

The Wiccan style also has mystical beings who would help humans, if only we did not refuse to see them. No, these are not magical beings, we are told. They are simply creatures who will help where they can. Such as the whirlwinds which very conveniently pick up all the rubbish by the roadside...

Wiccan style fantasy is fun. It's lightweight. It's romantic fairy tales for the older child or younger woman. It also has a strong environmental message.

The Margarets, in fact, has a very strong environmental message. Earth is over-populated. All other life -- except cockroaches and rats -- has been destroyed. If only we can see the light, we can save the world... And Tepper does provide some food for thought.

Just in case we fail to see the light, how about implementing the "two-three-four laws"...

First live birth for each parent is number one, next is two, then three, four and so on. Adults whose birth numbers are two or three or four may be allowed to breed. Anyone else is... well, in The Margarets, if your birth number is higher than four then you are shipped off to another planet. If you and your partner add up to more than four, you are both shipped off Earth.

How could this be applied without space travel? Forced sterilisation or instant death of higher-than-fours, at birth? Heavy fines for a more-than-four couple who have children? No easy options... so there are no answers, in this Wiccan style fantasy.

The issues may be raised. The readers will not be upset by discussion of real-life solutions.

This is a fun fairy tale with a happy ending. Difficult issues are raised but practical solutions are not.

It's a good book but not great. It is a book to be enjoyed. The book raises dfficult problems. It is not a treatise for solution of the world's very real problems.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Walks, Tracks & Trails of Victoria / Derrick Stone

2011-04-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

Walks, Tracks & Trails of Victoria

category: travel, author:

Derrick Stone

original copyright 2009,
read in April 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10

This is a glossy book with a lot of information. As a potential tourist -- someone who plans to visit Victoria and who would like to do some walking -- this book is useless. For a start, there is no overall map. Where are all these walks?!

The walks are grouped by area: north-west, central west, south-west and so on. But where are they? These areas may make sense to a Victorian -- but I need more information. For example...

Okay, so "north-west" will be to the north-west of Victoria. How big an area? In Western Australia the "north-west" could be a quarter of a very large state. What is it in Victoria?

What sort of country would I expect to find in the "north-west"? Flat? hilly? mountain? desert...? There are a dozen "easy" walks and one "easy/med". In "central west" there are four "hard" walks... They seem to be in mountains ("Grampians"). How hard is "hard"?! Is "north-west" also mountains but the walks are in the easy valleys?

The book needs an introduction to each area. With a brief description -- for people who do not know the area. And a map, to place the walks in their area, within Victoria.

Then there's the Major Mitchell Trail. According to the icons it's for experienced walkers, day hike, family walk, drive and walk, push bike and horse-riding. The trail is 1700km and should take six days. All that, in six days!

Then there's the photos. Take -- as an example -- page 19:

There is a photo of "River red gums." And another of "Scar tree at Wood Wood." Are they mentioned in the text? Not as far as I can see. Are they at all relevant to the text? Well... I can see Wood Wood on the map, though there is no sign of where a "Scar tree" would be found.

This seems to be the standard approach for Australian "guide books": a few large scale maps, lots of text explaining why it's worth visiting the area, a few very pretty photos. No clear relationship between the text, the maps and the photos.

It's not a guide to the Walks, Tracks & Trails. It's an advertisement. All very glossy, all very attractive. Obviously these would be great places to visit. Pick any one and the book tells you how to get there.

But no help whatsoever if you are trying to decide, Where can I go to enjoy a whole lot of walking in Victoria.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Hogfather / Terry Pratchett

2011-04-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

Hogfather

category: fantasy, humour, author:

Terry Pratchett

book 20 of Discworld
original copyright 1996,
read in April 2011 (and before, several times)

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Interesting. A book about childhood and children's beliefs. With a vicious killer and more death than the average novel. Unexpected?

Not really. Pratchett is writing about children. And pointing out that blood and violence are a natural part of childhood. Though death itself is never seen, by the children.

Death with a capital D is, however, a key character in this book. In Discworld books Death is a regular character. He does his essential work and he does it well. So who better than Death to stand in for the jolly fat man who says Ho, Ho, Ho as he distributes presents to all the little children?

Yet another very twisted tale of the Discworld. Overdrawn characters, complex plot and pointed social satire. Enough familiar themes to satisfy fans, plus new themes to keep the story fresh. Laced with enormous amounts of humour and puns.

If you like Discworld books -- or enjoy reading humour -- this is a good book. What more can I say? Other than a short discourse on Death...

In the first ever Discworld book, Death provided an entertaining way to indicate that Rincewind the wizard (failed) had, once more, cheated death. Since then, Death has evolved.

In Hogfather Death has a family(?!) and a definite -- more sympathetic -- character. Like Spock in Star Trek, Death has a logical mind. This allows him to misinterpret the strange words and actions of humans (and other creatures). Death's misinterpretations allow Pratchett to point out some of humanity's follies and foibles.

In a fantasy world where death is a regular event, Death is also able to soften the blow -- for the reader. A nice character dies? Death will welcome the spirit and hint that the afterlife need not be all that bad.

When a nasty character dies, Death will also be there. For the nasty characters, the afterlife will be their comeuppance... but Death will still indicate that the spirit that learns its lessons will move on to a better afterlife.

Early in Hogfather, Death does his "Welcome to death" softening of the blow. That's for Ernie, an innocent victim of a cold-blooded Assassin. Later, as various thugs and killers die and are killed -- this is one of the more vicious Discworld books -- Death doesn't get a mention. There is no need...

Readers -- including children, if Pratchett's views are correct -- don't care about death. As long as it is deserved. When Ernie is killed, Death minimises the hurt. When a violent thug is killed -- we cheer! Or, at least, breath a sigh of relief.

In Discworld books Death is one of the great characters, likable and entertaining. He also plays a vital role -- for the reader. When death is inevitable, Death himself makes it more acceptable. No need for a miraculous rescue... death is acceptable without taking away from the humour.

In a Discworld book death is acceptable. Thanks largely to the presence of Death.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Curse of the Mistwraith / Janny Wurts

2011-04-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

The Curse of the Mistwraith

category: fantasy, author:

Janny Wurts

book 1 of The Wars of Light and Shadow
original copyright 1993,
read in April 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

In this long-winded and episodic book, Wurts has missed Vonnegut's second rule for writing a good story: "Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for."

The book begins with a clear indication that there will be a war of good versus evil. With "evil" being, in fact, a good guy. Then we meet the half-brothers who will represent good and evil. And neither of them is particularly sympathetic.

Okay, I can generate some sympathy for evil-half-brother. Clearly, he's good. Except that he's such a moody, self-centred, trouble-making creep that... who cares. And why waste sympathy on someone who is going to be loathed for an unknown number of very thick books?

Good-half-brother in even worse. He's shiny, clean, pure -- and clearly slated for jealous rages and abuse of power. Super-magician uses his powers for manipulation and deceit. Humourous side-kick has apparently spent 500 years as an apprentice; it's no use hoping that he'll even be anything other than a drunken fool.

There is one girl who appears occasionally. She may turn out to be the designated love interest. Maybe the two half-brothers will fight over her? Who knows. Who cares...

Are we meant to cheer for the gangs of murderous thieves who have spent 500 years raping, pillaging and keeping alive their loyalty to the long-departed royal family? Is there some logic to the instant acceptance of a new king simply because he is a member of the long-lost royal family? Okay, super-magician says that good-half-brother will make a good ruler... but we already know that super-magician is a manipulative control freak with a sadistic streak and bad judgement.

I had a thought, while reading: What has happened to the original races who managed the land? They are painted as mystical, caring, all-powerful -- and living quite well, until humans attempted to kill everyone. One of the characters actually asked about them. Has anyone asked them to return, he says. Oh yes, he is told, One person went looking but didn't come back... so we never tried again. Good grief.

Then there's the "plot".

I wish I could remember David Astle's salad phrase from a recent episode of Letters and Numbers... Let's call it "rotten salad": A construction where the main aim is to include as many "features" as possible, regardless of their value to the overall structure. Wurts has provided a "rotten salad" of a book: Throw in as many monsters, characters and complexities as possible -- and hope that it all adds up to a story.

Sorry. It doesn't.

Worse yet, this is just volume one. Of how many? Who knows... as many as possible while Wurts milks the theme without bothering to reach a conclusion, I guess.

I failed to reach half way. Then read the last couple of chapters.

Characters I had not yet met have just been slaughtered. The two half brothers hate each other. Super-magician and his side-kick seem to off on their own adventure.

What a waste of paper.

Don't bother to even start.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

A Sorcerer's Treason / Sarah Zettel

2011-04-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

A Sorcerer's Treason

category: fantasy, author:

Sarah Zettel

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

This book is a lot of fun. Imaginative world, engaging characters, straightforward plot. It does seem that Zettel has been paid by the word... but at least she does know when to stop.

A young woman leaves her safe but uncomfortable everyday life, to discover that she is a super-powerful magician in another world. Nothing new so far! Yet the fantasy world has a range of interesting characters -- both human and non-human.

I recognise Baba Yaga, the name, at least. And her cottage on chicken legs, an old familiar idea. Are the foxes and crows similarly derivative? Who cares! They fit well in the story! And it's a relief to have the heroes' efforts tangled up by semi-human spirits -- rather than driven by anthropomorphic yet inhuman gods.

The book leaps straight into the main plot -- although it then takes a long while to get out of the mundane world. For a while, I thought that all of the action would take place on one small and mundane island... Character development, I finally decided.

On the other hand... Zettel is really, really wordy. In the first few chapters this is a fault. After that, the wordiness is simply a part of the story. Once you know -- roughly -- what's going on, you are caught up in the story and the wordiness is simply a part of the storyteller's style.

Then you reach the climax and think, what more can happen now? And realise... there is a lot, still to happen!

As I was reading and enjoying A Sorcerer's Treason I saw a relatively straightforward plot in a complex fantasy world. As the plot was wrapped up, with satisfactory endings all round, I realised that there was a lot more happening than I had realised... The simple, well-written story provided a complexity which was hidden by good writing.

For the reader there is a strong narrative thread which is easy to follow. Yet this one thread is woven in with a range of closely related ... other stories. That's not quite right. But these are not "sub plots", they are all a closely linked part of the one plot. A series of stories which are each essential to the central issue to be resolved.

The clear (though wordy!) writing makes this book easy to read. The clarity of style allowed me to understand what was happening and to think that this was a simple story. Until all the parts fell neatly into place. And I was able to realise how well Zettel had led me through a quite complex maze of situations, characters and problems.

Finally, all problems are resolved.

A very satisfactory ending to the book. And it's still very clear that there are more problems for books two and three.

I look forward to reading the next two books of the Isavalta trilogy. Which is a lot more than I can say for the next book that I will review...

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Taltos the Assassin / Steven Brust

2011-04-03T01:24:00.000-07:00

Taltos the Assassin

category: fantasy, author:

Steven Brust

a three novel omnibus of the Dragaera series:
book 5: Jhereg, original copyright 1983
book 3: Yendi, original copyright 1984
book 6: Teckla, original copyright 1987
read in March 2011 (and before, several times, from about 1999)

Agamedes' opinion: 9 out of 10

Nine out of ten -- "really, really good" -- for all three books? Let me explain.

I read Jhereg and thought, Wow! that was a lot of fun! With occasional touches of humour, likable characters, complex plot in a well-rounded world... Sure, the hero kills for gold. But he's a nice guy. Nine out of ten...

Then there's Yendi. All of the above, plus a plot which -- by its depth -- expands on the "reality" of the fantasy world of Dragaera. Yet there's something not quite right... Is it the casual way in which the hero kills one of his henchmen for doing something just a bit stupid? Sure, the henchman will be brought back to life. But still... the hero is just a bit less "fun"... Perhaps this is worth just eight out of ten, purely on the grounds of loss of gloss for the hero.

Finally, Teckla. Each book is based around one of the seventeen "classes" of Dragaeran society. (Well, eighteen. If you count the lowest class of "Easterner", or "human".) Teckla are the peasants. The ignorant, the uneducated. The downtrodden masses who -- in this book -- are yearning to be free.

In Teckla, Taltos the assassin -- the hero -- is forced to question all of his values. He begins to wonder if assassination is a worthwhile occupation. He fights with his wife.

This is an uncomfortable book. Entertaining but less so. Perhaps seven out of ten.

Nine, eight, seven... yet I give the three books an overall score of nine!? What's going on?!

Here's how I see it:

Brust wrote Jhereg. Solid fantasy, good action, great characters, touches of humour. A successful book -- so he wrote Yendi. More of the same. Then he realised that an assassin is not, really, the nicest of people. And the world of Dragaera offers a lot more scope for stories.

Brust wrote Teckla -- and began the major effort of providing an epic story of a culture and, perhaps, of its evolution from brutal to ... whatever. (With -- since I have actually read some of the later stories -- with some elements of science fiction, to bring Dragaera into our own universe. Perhaps.)

In the omnibus of Taltos the Assassin we have three early chapters of the "Dragaeran epic cycle". Jhereg was testing the market. Yendi provided one small part of the back-story. Teckla is the beginning of the realisation that all is not as well as it seems...

So yes, the three novels get various ratings. As part of an epic cycle, however... These books are really, really good.

A single novel may have a chapter or two which you would rather not read. Yet they are essential to the plot. You hurry on, hoping that all will be resolved by the end of the book.

A series of nineteen (yes, 19, according to Wikipedia!) books will have some uncomfortable books. You read on, hoping that all will be resolved by the end of the nineteenth book.

That said, each of these three books does have a satisfactory -- happy enough -- ending. Only Teckla leaves any doubt as to "happy ever after"... and that is good, as book number six of a long series.

Each book is an enjoyable novel on its own. But before you read Teckla -- make sure that you are committed to reading more of the Dragaera series. It promises to be an excellent epic.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Cast a Bright Shadow / Tanith Lee

2011-03-29T00:32:00.000-07:00

Cast a Bright Shadow

category: fantasy, author:

Tanith Lee

book 1 of Lionwolf
original copyright 2004,
read in March 2011 (and before, in April 2009)

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

This is a miserable book. You like a happy ending? Forget it. You like sympathetic characters? There are none. This book is simply a litany of woe.

It's also a dream-like fantasy. And I don't mean that to sound positive. Illogical and inexplicable things happen because -- we have to believe -- because the gods decide that these things will happen.

Except for one of the gods. He's described as being an unthinking idiot. For no purpose -- no purpose of which he himself is aware -- he creates a woman. This woman saves some people then destroys another. For no clear reason. Except, perhaps, that a god who was not involved in her creation decided that this person must be destroyed.

Okay, so we may have to wait for the third book in the trilogy to get a happy ending. Judging by the book so far, any "happy ending" will involve all of the characters dying. Perhaps, at the end of the trilogy, this will be considered to be "happy" because their deaths are permanent.

You see, no-one really seems to die. Or, at least, people keep dying but they don't. Sometimes they die but come back as two separate people... Or, they spend most of the book as a ghost and then get back some form of life -- just in time to die again...

The whole book is a confusing mish-mash of what may be intended to be deeply symbolic mysticism. I read it as an author's inability to construct a coherent plot. Overlaid with the most miserable lot of characters that I have read about for a long, long time.

PS: I searched the Amazon site for the link to this book. The search (for "cast a bright shadow") also threw up Monty Python's Life of Brian. Forget Lionwolf. Enjoy life. Get Life of Brian instead.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Book of Dreams / Traci Harding

2011-03-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

Book of Dreams

category: fantasy, subadult, romance, author:

Traci Harding

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

I just can't make up my mind about Harding's books. They are generally girly, sweet, new-age-mystic and cheerful. They target young teen girls who like a happy ending in every chapter. I should, by rights, absolutely loathe them all. (The books, not the girls.) Yet I rather enjoyed each of the first two Harding books that I have read...

btw: To see my reviews for other Harding books, click on the "author:harding" link at the bottom of this review.

Now we come to Book of Dreams...

And Harding has gone just a bit too far... For me.

Okay, I'm not the target audience. So take my opinions with a pinch of old and grumpy salt. But here's how I see it:

Book of Dreams is Enid Blyton for slightly older girls. Girls who are old enough to think that they know what sex is about. Still young enough to want to ride a pony. But the book is definitely not for boys.

Book of Dreams is a moralising fable. Be good, the reader is told. Be pure, open your mind to the spirit world which surrounds us. Protect the environment, swear off the demons Drink and Drugs, obey the Supreme Spiritual Beings... Open your soul to the ancient, all-powerful and all-loving Supreme Spirits of the elevated planes of existence -- and all will be well with your life.

Goodness me! New Age Enid Blyton!

I read the book and enjoyed all the sweetness and goodness and light. I wanted to reach the happy ending. I just had trouble reading on...

Each time that I stopped reading -- it was a chore to start again.

Reading Book of Dreams is a bit like eating fairy floss: Sure, it's nice to eat a bit of solid sugar. After a while, though... you start to long for something just a bit, less, cloyingly, sweet.

Still, this is a book by an Australian author. So give it a try! Especially if you are a girl who has started looking at boys, who longs to ride a pony, and who just wishes that she could see the fairies at the bottom of the garden.

Oh, and tell Amazon to add a picture to their catalogue, and to the link below. This is an Australian book. It deserves the full marketing treatment!

The Book of Dreams

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Playing God / Sarah Zettel

2011-03-26T02:14:00.000-07:00

Playing God

category: science fiction, author:

Sarah Zettel

Agamedes' opinion: 9 out of 10

Right near the beginning of this book I thought, Surely these people can't be that altruistic!? Then it seems that they were. Then it was shown that they were not... An ideal plot twist that is a complete surprise -- but no surprise at all !

This is great science fiction...

First, there are the humans. They have the technology, they have the good intentions, they want to help the aliens. The aliens need help... or do they? Perhaps one character has it right, that the aliens should be left alone to solve their own problems. The alternative is to create a depressed, degraded, cargo cult culture.

Should the humans help, by protecting the aliens from themselves? The alternative is, to let the alien culture risk taking a path to its own self-destruction. Remember Knut the polar bear? It's that sort of dilemma...

Better yet, we are not given the answer. We have to decide for ourselves.

Then there are the aliens. And they are truly alien -- at least in culture, social standards and personal psychology. These aliens are humanoid, yet radically non-human. They are a mixture of family love and support, with pathological hatred of non-family. They are all female -- until they lose their minds and turn male. (Hmmm... is that a message from the author?!)

The best of the aliens think and act in truly alien ways. And yet we can understand them. Zettel has done an excellent job in creating a complete and believable culture which is truly alien, and where we both sympathise and empathise with the alien characters.

As an aside, both here and in the book: Zettel mentions that humans have met other alien cultures. Where the two cultures are able to communicate, they share an interest in getting along, for mutual benefit. Some cultures are so alien that communication has never been established. In these situations, the two cultures are content to simply ignore one another.

This positive view of cross-cultural dealings may be a bit optimistic. But I would like to think that it will turn out to be true.

Okay, for a lot of the book I was thinking, You have the technology -- now thump them into line! When the book ended... I was very glad that the non-thumping approach had been taken.

This is a somewhat complex book, with a lot of strangely-named characters. If you don't try to identify each character, the plot is more of a straight line. I took the fast-read approach. Now I am tempted to re-read, to identify each character as they take their time on stage. I know that I will enjoy this second reading -- and gain even more enjoyment from this book.

Years ago I read only science fiction. Then I moved to, mostly, fantasy. It's great to rediscover the excitement of a science fiction novel with high technology but a very human (and alien) basis to the story.

I hope that Zettel has continued to write more, excellent books.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Gene of Isis / Traci Harding

2011-03-18T06:19:00.000-07:00

Gene of Isis

category: fantasy, author:

Traci Harding

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Actually... this book is a bit silly! But I enjoyed it :-)

I read The Dark Age -- perhaps Harding's first book -- a couple of months ago. It was also silly but fun. Gene of Isis is similar -- feisty heroine, heroic handsome lover, mystic adventures with no chance of the heroine being seriously hurt -- but this is a better written book. So Harding has stayed with the genre and improved her writing.

Now I think of it... There is an interesting difference between Dark Age and Isis... Dark Age has one heroine who becomes immortal and then reappears, at different historical eras, to fall in love with the reincarnated hero. Isis, however, has a series of heroines. They are of the same bloodline, spread across history. With a series of lovers and husbands, one of whom stays alive for the 800 odd years of the story.

Perhaps Harding likes the idea of eternal love!

Isis also has more sex scenes. So Harding is no longer writing for young girls. More for young women. I don't fit into either category. Still, I enjoyed this book!

Take a deep breath. Forget reality. Enjoy an entertaining book!

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

To Ride Hell's Chasm / Janny Wurts

2011-03-04T05:21:00.000-08:00

To Ride Hell's Chasm

category: fantasy, author:

Janny Wurts

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Strangely enough, I can't help but think of Bat out of Hell... Janny Wurts writes the way Meatloaf sings: with melodramatic passion, blood, sweat and tears... Way, way, over the top. Though Meatloaf has possibly less of the blood :-)

The hero is strong and silent. So tough, so experienced and skilful, he's almost a super-hero. The heroine is fun, tough, beautiful and regal. (Well, she is a princess.) The villains are sneaky, violent and very, very evil.

Yet they are all (except for the villains) likeable.

I like the hero. I like the heroine. I like the other characters, even as they doubt the integrity of the hero. Even as they doubt -- and are forced to act on that doubt -- the secondary characters know, deep down, that the hero is working on the side of good.

The whole country -- under threat from evil sorcerers -- is full of peace-loving yet tough citizens. A bit like The Shire, really, where inside even the slowest and fattest hobbit is a seed of bravery. It makes for a pleasant country, well worth defending.

Then there's the action... It starts slow enough. Then builds... and builds... Until there are chapters of non-stop super-human heroics. What a lot of fun!

The finale is a bit... deus ex machina.

But then, so what!

No-one has ever before lived through Hell's Chasm. The hero and heroine succeed -- of course. And then the country is saved by the mysterious shamans who have been waiting for them. Saved, very quickly. Then the shamans solve all of the remaining problems... and that's that.

Really, though, the sudden wrapping-up does not matter.

This story is about action and adventure. There are fights, and heroism, and suffering. That is the key element of the story. If the hero and heroine win through -- the country will be saved. That's what it's all about.

So, once they reach the end of Hell's Chasm -- the end. Just a little bit of wrap up -- save the country, salve all consciences, predict a happy future for all -- and end the story. No need to linger over these small details. The adventure ends at the end of Hell's Chasm.

All great fun!

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Life of the World to Come / Kage Baker

2011-02-27T18:35:00.000-08:00

The Life of the World to Come

category: space opera, author:

Kage Baker

book 4 of the Company novels
original copyright 2004,
read in February 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

This is a Boys Own adventure. A space opera set largely on Earth, though at many different eras. Time travel as a replacement for sailing off to adventure on the Spanish Main...

It would be nice, though, if the book reached a conclusion.

This is the first and possibly the last Company novel that I have read. It seems that the world -- and all of time -- is ruled by a super-secret, all-powerful organisation. (Though it misses other requirements to be a "thriller".) Since The Company now exists and has always existed, even time travel cannot wipe it out. The only hope is a mysterious future time beyond which no-one can travel.

Meanwhile, we get the life story of the hero and a brief meeting with the heroine.

It seems -- from references in this novel -- that the heroine has met several previous incarnations of the hero. How this could have happened is made quite clear in this book. Perhaps it was glossed over in previous books...

The current hero incarnation is born in the "present", a few centuries ahead of now. And I must say that I enjoy the cynical attitude to the future: a future that is extremely safe, extremely politically correct and extremely boring.

Anyway. The hero comes into his own -- fights for freedom and revenge, steals a timeship, has twenty-four hour sex with the heroine, attempts to save Mars but gains guilt instead, discovers his past persona... You know, all the usual stuff. And he is now living just a few years before the mysterious we-don't-know-what-happened block into the future. With a fair chance that he -- the hero -- will create that block as he saves the world from The Company...

And the book ends.

Okay, no real surprise. When you sell a few books, you want to extend the options for more.

What is bad, is the inconclusive conclusion.

Okay, the hero now knows about the evil Company. And he has a souped-up sailing ship which can travel through space and time. Plus an all-powerful electronic assistant and a "crew" of entertainingly argumentative ... people. So what?

The hero has discovered his origins. He has confronted his creators -- who are, themselves, pawns of The Company.

Then he sails off into the sunset.

Piss weak.

This is a great, fun book. I like the way that time travel is made simple and non-paradoxical. The ending is totally unsatisfactory.

If I were thinking of reading more books by Baker, here's what I'd do: Check what books are written; confirm that in one, at least, The Company is finally wiped out. Then buy the entire series and read it as one extended novel.

But if Baker is unable to reach a true ending for the series -- forget it. There are books which are just as good. Where the author has had more luck in developing a satisfactory ending.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest / Stieg Larsson

2011-02-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

category: thriller, author:

Stieg Larsson

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

"The most original heroine to emerge in crime fiction for many years". That's what it says on the cover. Okay, probably true. Except for that bit about "heroine".

Lisbeth Salander is a protagonist.

In a novel the hero or heroine is a larger-than-life character who takes action and moves the plot along. A protagonist is the central person about whom the plot revolves. In Hornet's Nest, Salander is the central character about whom the entire plot revolves.

That said, Salander is a sympathetic character. That is, the reader will feel sympathy for Salander and her plight. Salander herself is less emotional. That, of course, is a central theme of these books: a person who is less emotional than expected can be seen as a dangerous outsider.

In the first two of the Millennium trilogy, Salander shared hero status with Blomkvist. She made decisions, took deliberate action, chose to move the plot along. By the third book, her protagonist status is set. There is a strong message: Society must take care of its members, no matter what their gender, age or emotional state.

To demonstrate the way in which Swedish society has closed down on Salander, author Larsson has closed down her options for action. Most of the work is done by other people -- those who can see Salander's plight and who wish to help.

Just for fun, let's look at the plots for each of the three Millennium books:

Book one is almost a single thread, with steps. Yes, there are several plots: past murders linked to present threats, and the separate corrupt businessman. Each plot -- each villain -- is dealt with in turn. Only when the murder plot is resolved are we brought back to the businessman's final comeuppance.

In Fire, Larsonn's plotting becomes more complex.

There are two main threads. Salander pursues her evil nemesis while Blomkvist pursues Salander. Two separate threads which meet at the end. On the way, however, Blomkvist causes more threads to appear.

Then there's the complexity of Hornet's Nest...

Again, Salander and Blomkvist are separated. This time, however, they each know where the other is, and something of what the other is doing.

Blomkvist is doing what he does best: plodding, analysing and adding strand after strand of interrelated threads of plot. This is a "police procedural", with added following of procedures by journalists, secret police and -- it would seem -- half the population of Sweden.

To some people, this could be boring. To me, it is interesting, fun and -- best of all -- positive. Right from the start, there is no chance that Salander will not win. And I do like to know that a happy ending is inevitable!

So Blomkvist is adding thread after complex thread to the plot. Salander manages to add a few of her own. Yet none of these are red herrings: the only people who misread the facts... are the evil-doers.

Larsson writes a complex book but, really, it is quite straightforward. Like building a brick wall: It seems to be made up of a whole lot of independent bricks but really, it doesn't take long to see the pattern emerging.

I enjoy that straightforward approach to a story. No doubt, no great surprises, just a gradual build-up to ensure the inevitable conclusion. Plus, all the good guys are not just good, they are clever, and dedicated, and honest, and law-abiding.

Hornet's Nest offers a strong message about the possibility of evil in the middle of a complacent society. The story itself is positive, a feel-good novel with a very satisfying conclusion, as all of the baddies are arrested. Just as importantly, Salander may be overcoming her decidedly asocial tendencies... Happy endings all round!

Pick your favourite character, wish that you were even half as good -- and enjoy the book.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Forrest Highway rest stop

2011-02-18T07:07:00.000-08:00

Toilet adds interest to
boring road

category: toilet review, author:

Agamedes

Visited in February 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

I don't really like the new Forrest Highway.

Sure, it save 30 minutes on a 200+ km journey from Perth to Bunbury. So what? It's boring!

It's a highway. Easy driving, good for sleeping. Right through the heart of very boring country.

I wonder, Is the country on either side really so boring? It's hard to tell... It's a wide highway, high speed limit... Mostly road as far as the driver cares to look, when travelling at speed.

Perhaps Forrest Highway is not really a boring highway. Driving along it is certainly boring. I prefer to join the highway later rather than sooner, to enjoy the older and more scenic alternative.

Still, there's over 100km that I travel along Forrest. So I stop for a break at the one rest stop with a toilet.

And what a toilet! Limestone walls, curved iron roof, open plan design... and running water! Not safe for drinking but it does mean that these are flush toilets with running water for washing hands.

Very civilised :-)

These are new toilets, to match the new highway. They are -- as far as I know -- the only toilets which are visible and accessible from the highway. (Unless you count the ones just across the road, for people driving the other way.) In more than 200km of easy driving, just one toilet stop.

Am I the only driver who thinks that toilet breaks are worth having?

It's another part of being a boring highway: One toilet, two parking areas, no shops and no towns. All designed to get you there in a hurry. No time to enjoy the drive itself...

Still, it's a nice toilet design.

Nice? Well, simple. Good looking, really.

Four cubicles on the right. An open passage and a wall on the left. Two handbasins on the wall. Still... running water... can't complain! Plain enough to elegant? Maybe.

Let's have a look inside...

Vandal-proof stainless steel...

No toilet seat -- a toilet seat could be damaged. Or left up or down, whichever you hate most... And no-one has peed on the toilet seat...

Yuk! What is someone has peed on the stainless steel?!

Oh well, at least it's easy to clean.

This is a low maintenance toilet for an isolated but very public location. You can understand why it has the minimum of fittings which could be forcibly removed.

It is clean, there is toilet paper, it's a flush toilet.

What more could you ask for?

Well... What about a geocache?

Yes, there's a geocache. In the same rest area. Just a bit over 100m from the toilet. A convenient location... Look out for the mosquitoes though!

Interestingly enough, the mosquitoes are only around the cache. There were none -- that I noticed -- around the toilet. Another mark in its favour :-)

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Straken / Terry Brooks

2011-02-06T06:07:00.000-08:00

Straken

category: fantasy, author:

Terry Brooks

book 3 of High Druid of Shannara
original copyright 2005,
read in February 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

I do have some doubts about Brooks' books. With Straken, however, he gets it right!

This is book three of a series. The series is a part of the continuing saga of Wish Song, Elf Stones, druids, demons and... well... an entire world of magic. The full series, in fact, starts from present-day Earth and links into a future, post-apocalyptic world of fantasy. (See The Gypsy Morph for a bit more detail.)

There is a general problem with books by Brooks: the characters have too little self-determination. They tend to drift along, depending on the right thing happening when it is needed. Which is a rather weak way of maintaining suspense...

With Straken, there is still a lot of last minute solution discovery. This time, however -- it works.

The hero thinks, Oh dear, I don't know how to use the necessary magic.

But then he thinks, But that's the way my magic works -- and I know it will happen this time.

There is still suspense -- we don't know how the magic will operate -- but it is not artificial suspense. It is a part of the way that the magic works. So the hero takes positive action -- and puts himself in the place where he knows that the magic will work.

The overall story is also more positive than the last Brooks books that I read. The Word and Void series is rather depressing: the best possible ending is to be hidden away while the rest of the world goes to pot. Straken is a more traditional story, with villains defeated and heroes triumphant.

There are some sad endings, or endings which are not quite, happy ever after... Yet there is a strong feeling that there will be some peace and goodwill to come. They may not live happily ever after -- but there are good signs that the heroes will, at least, have a small time of peace and quiet.

By itself, this book three is quite readable and enjoyable. I will look out for books one and two -- but not in any great rush. I have already had the happy ending!

And I will approach other Brooks books with slightly heightened expectations.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Golf Omnibus / P.G. Wodehouse

2011-02-01T06:28:00.000-08:00

The Golf Omnibus

category: humour, collection, author:

P.G. Wodehouse

original copyright 1916 on,
read in January 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

A most enjoyable book: Light, funny, guaranteed happy endings...

Who would have thought there could be so many angles on the game of golf? Who would have thought there is any humour at all, in the game of golf!

The humour is lightly ironic, poking fun at the golfing addiction. Those who do not play golf are... well... odd. Lovers are driven apart when one of them does not play golf; then brought together when the non-player sees the error of their ways and takes up the clubs.

After a few stories, The Oldest Member takes on the role of Narrator. He knows everyone, is too old to play but corners younger players and forces them to listen to his anecdotes. Even the person of the Narrator adds gentle fun to each story!

Still... an entire volume of golfing stories... Surely it's all a bit too much?

Well, perhaps. The style of each story is similar. The style of the humour is similar. There are perhaps only two plots: golfing lovers and golfing rivals.

Yet each story is so very satisfying!

Here is the difficulty... Here is the humorous action... How can the difficulty possibly be resolved? Here is the resolution -- and everyone is happy! Okay, an occasional rival will be put in his place. More often, though -- everyone wins :-)

In one story, two young men challenge each other to a special golf match, winner gets the girl. Each player has a cunning plan -- bordering on cheating. We're not sure which man is nice enough to get the girl... but when she is actually consulted -- she is already engaged to another... And that's about the least happy ending of any story.

More typical is the very first story: A group of golf club members unite, to help a nice guy to win his first ever golf tournament!

Want to be cheered up?

Read any book by P.G. Wodehouse.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

My Name is Denise Forrester

2011-01-31T07:59:00.000-08:00

My Name is Denise Forrester

category: fantasy, author:

Nick Brooks

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

I didn't get very far with this book.

I think that some people would enjoy it. I didn't.

The blurb refers to Denise Forrester as "a changeling child". To me, that means, swapped at birth with a fairy child. So, fairies... fantasy...

As far as I can tell -- from as far as I read -- Denise is a weird kid. Really weird. With a sister who is just as weird and -- possibly -- imaginary. This is a story of one child -- or possibly two children -- who live a fantasy life.

But not -- again, as far as I can tell -- not a fantasy life with fairies. A fantasy life of their own imaginations.

I categorise the book as "fantasy". I don't really think that it is. But I just can't bear to categorise it as "humour"...

After a few weird chapters -- chapters which seemed to jump backwards and forwards in time, as well as from place to place -- I read the comments on the back. "Made me laugh out loud..."

Oh.

It's fuuunny...

Okay, it may be funny.

But, as my mother used to say, "subtle". Meaning... I just don't get it.

On the other hand... This is a readable book. If you know what is going on -- if you understand how funny it is to be a weird outsider, taunted and bullied by all the other children, forced to retreat into a fantasy world of your own -- then you may enjoy this book.

It's not a bad book. It may be worth the one cent that Amazon claim is its current price. Feel free to give it a go.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Return of the King / J.R.R. Tolkien

2011-01-31T07:36:00.000-08:00

The Return of the King

category: fantasy, author:

J.R.R. Tolkien

book 3 of The Lord of the Rings
original copyright 1954,
read in January 2011 (and before, at least 15 times, since March 1970)

Agamedes' opinion: 10 out of 10

The edition that I'm reading has illustrations by Alan Lee. Brilliant! This illustrated edition was a treat to myself, after many years of reading a one volume paperback. A paperback which was gradually falling apart from heavy use.

So I bought the three volume illustrated hardback. Every so often I take it out and read it. Or read just a section... There is a great pleasure in reading a great book. There is a great -- but separate -- pleasure reading a book which also looks and feels good.

Other than that, what can I say?

Eowyn on the Pelennor Fields still brings a tear to my eyes. I smile, as Strider tells Merry to ask the herb-master for some pipe-weed. I worry, as the hobbits move so slowly back to the inevitable trouble back home in the Shire.

The story has a clear structure to it, perhaps a little too formal: peace, adventure, peace for recovery, then on to the next adventure. Each adventure is a little more dangerous than the last. There is always a moment of peace, for recovery before the next adventure. Then the story winds down, with smaller but still essential adventures...

Is this too structured? too formal? Perhaps. Yet this is "the original" Middle Earth fantasy. An entire world is imagined. A formal structure helps the reader to understand the world.

Some tales never end, though people may drop out of the tale. The Lord of the Rings is part of a much larger tale but it is complete in itself. This story is the story of Frodo, and his part in the larger tale of the One Ring. The book ends when Frodo drops out of the story.

I keep a summary list of my reviews. One piece of data is headed, "am I dead keen to read more?" For The Lord of the Rings my answer is, No. Are you surprised?

The Lord of the Rings is a complete book, a story with a clear beginning and a clear end. Yes, it is a part of a larger tale. So what?

There are more stories that could be told. More stories of Middle Earth, more stories of the One Ring. Frodo's story is, however, complete in itself.

There may be other stories of Middle Earth worth writing, worth reading.

When I finish reading The Lord of the Rings, that part of the story is complete.

I am satisfied with the story and with the ending.

It may be interesting to read more.

There is no need to read any more.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Two Towers / J.R.R. Tolkien

2011-01-31T07:05:00.000-08:00

The Two Towers

category: fantasy, author:

J.R.R. Tolkien

book 2 of The Lord of the Rings
original copyright 1954,
read in January 2011 (and before, at least 15 times, since March 1970)

Agamedes' opinion: 10 out of 10

Greatest book ever!

Aside: Before you argue, But what about such-and-such a book... A marketing lecturer once explained that a product may be called -- without argument -- "the best". And that many products -- even very similar, competing, products may also be "the best". It's only if you claim that your product is "better" that you had better be ready to stand up in court to defend your claim. So...

The Two Towers -- and each of the other parts of The Lord of the Rings -- are the greatest books ever! Not (necessarily) better than your own favourites. Just the best!

Yes, I have often read quickly through the adventures of Frodo and Sam as they battle their way to Mordor. It seems just a little bit slow, when compared to the battles and heroism of the other threads of the story.

This time I read just a little slower -- and enjoyed it even more!

Frodo and Sam offer a kind of plodding heroism. Not the eye-rolling, ham-acting, looney-on-the-loose look of the movie Frodo. Just understated, never-give-in heroism. Companionship, unexpected friends, loyalty and good plain hobbit sense.

If you enjoy fantasy -- if you enjoy a good adventure story -- The Lord of the Rings is a must-read.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Peggy Guggenheim Collection / Art Gallery of WA

2011-01-17T22:31:00.000-08:00

Peggy Guggenheim Collection

category: a Collection of ... Art?, author:

Abstract Expressionist Artists ... ?

from the Peggy Guggenheim Venice collection,
visited in January 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10 -- good for a laugh.

I just wish that I had met Peggy Guggenheim. I bet she would have been a sure-fire purchaser of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I'm only selling the bridge because my dear friend the Manager of the Stateless Bank of Nigeria is recently deceased. He left me a bequest and specifically requested that I give $100,000,000 (one hundred million dollars) to my dear friend Pegggie Gaagenherm. Just send $10,000 transfer fee, details of your bank account and a sample signature. Your $500,000,000 (five hundred million dollars) will be on its way as soon as we can clear customs, which will require you to pay a further minor deposit of $17,000...

You get the idea: Guggenheim was a sucker with too much money and no sense of when she was being had. So she bought a heap of kindergarten scratchings which were claimed to be Abstract and Expressionist Art.

For example... Have a look at the Enchanted Forest... It's by Australia's favourite scam-artist, Jackson Pollock. "In Enchanted Forest Pollock opens up the more dense construction of layered color ... by allowing large areas of white to breathe..." And he, "reduces his palette to a restrained selection of gold, black, red, and white." Why not just say, "He was running short of paint and time so he spread the paint quickly and thinly."

For $20 each, it was an enjoyable stroll round samples of dribble and drivel. At least it made us think: Is it polite to laugh out loud at "art"?

The Gugg collection was supported by Lego models which had been inspired by the collection. This was aimed at children. I would say that children had the better deal.

There was also a Gugg-inspired young photographer exhibition. More accurately, there was a Gugg-inspired photoshopper exhibition. There is no inherent artistry in cutting and pasting, blurring and smearing, with Photoshop. You still need to add some artistic inspiration. Although there were two photos worth mentioning:

One photo had two hands curved to form the outline of a heart. Within the heart, green and growing. Outside, brown and dying. Simple, clever imagery: with love the world is green and growing.
Another photographer had left the camera lens open. Not sure what would happen, he wrote, but what the hell. Or words to that effect. What happened was worth the lack of effort. It was rubbish.

And so it was time for lunch.

We tried the Art Galley cafe... Tried and left.

We've snacked there before and it's fine. Today, however, was children's day... and packed. Plus, the underlying and unpleasant aroma of food. Perhaps it was the smell of stale chip fat... Unpleasant.

We left the aroma of stale food and crossed to the Aroma cafe in the State Reference Library.

How often have you been in the concrete desert between the Art Gallery and the Library? Is it ever pleasant?

Concrete. Strong sunshine. Heat. Not enough shade.

Perhaps the designer envisaged a cultural desert. A hot and arid concrete barrens. An unpleasant wasteland in which scorched pedestrians can contemplate the destruction of the natural environment...

Who knows. It's awful. But I've know that for years.

The State Reference Library was an oasis: a cool haven. Busy, lively, alive. Adults engrossed in literature, others clearly just passing through. Children enjoying themselves, sometimes at high speed. No smell of stale food in the cafe...

We both enjoyed salads and coffee in the Aroma cafe in the library.

Salads were fresh and tasty. A good size for a satisfying lunch. Friendly service and reasonable prices. The cafe is also in an excellent location.

The cafe is off to the side of a through passage: to the side of a broad passage which leads from one side of the library to the other. So we could sit out of the way and watch the passing parade.

The Guggenheim Collection is worth a visit -- if only for a laugh. The Gallery cafe is usually pleasant but can easily feel crowded.

The Library has an excellent cafe. There is an interesting exhibition about Italian migrants to WA. There are books, records, all the great things you expect from a Reference library.

And the Library is fully open on Tuesdays.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Fellowship of the Ring / J.R.R. Tolkien

2011-01-17T17:45:00.000-08:00

The Fellowship of the Ring

category: fantasy, author:

J.R.R. Tolkien

book 1 of The Lord of the Rings
original copyright 1954,
read in January 2011 (and before, at least 15 times, since March 1970)

Agamedes' opinion: 9 out of 10

There are two types of people in the English-reading world: those who have read The Lord of the Rings... and those who should have.

In 1970 I was in Europe. Travelling around. With a paperback copy of The Lord of the Rings. I have read that paperback copy many times... many, many times. Now I am (re-)reading a glossy 1970 three-volume hardback, with illustrations by Alan Lee. Yes, illustrations by Alan Lee -- the artist who inspired much of the look of the movie...

So, why am I re-reading the book? It's because I have just re-watched a bit of the movie...

I read a book on the making of the movie. It was fascinating. Enough to make me want to watch the movie (again). As I watched the first half of the first movie -- I decided, it's time to read the books...

The movies are great, they deserve every praise and award that has been heaped on them.

The books are better.

So it's time to read the books again. All in one hit, for a change... After reading all three volumes many, many times, I can now pick up The Lord of the Rings, open it at any page, start reading -- and know exactly what has lead into that point of the story. (I also know exactly what is going to happen next -- and it does not stop me enjoying every word!)

For the last decade or so I have read just parts of The Lord of the Rings. Start anywhere, read till I decide to read a different book.

Now it's time to read the book from go to whoa...

As usual, The Fellowship of the Ring is a bit of a slow starter, so it scores only nine out of ten. This first volume is essential to the book as a whole. It is slightly less gripping than the next two volumes.

One Ring to rule them all... and in the darkness bind them...

What a terrific book!

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Carter Beats the Devil / Glen David Gold

2011-01-17T17:07:00.000-08:00

Carter Beats the Devil

category: fictional biography, author:

Glen David Gold

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

This book is sort of entertaining, as far as I read it. I lasted to page 77 out of 563... It's not a bad book. Just not something that grabbed at my attention.

There's an article in today's newspaper, I bought these books to raise my shelf esteem (The West, 18 Jan 2011) which inspired me to stop reading Carter. "Inspired"? Is that the correct word when I was ... internally convinced ... to stop reading? Anyway.

Heather Zubek wrote, "I am an avid reader and a true book lover. I still haven't read East of Eden..." Zubek's point is, she reads for enjoyment rather than to impress people with her erudition. (No, Zubek did not write "erudition". She was writing for a newspaper.)

I also read for enjoyment. I was not enjoying Carter Beats the Devil.

Why not? Mostly -- it's just not my type of book.

I suspect that the link between Carter and the sudden death of US President Harding is meant to be an exciting take on a real incident. Perhaps an insight into the president's life and times, with hints of conspiracy theory. Too bad. I had never before heard of US President Harding. His death and his life and times are of no interest to me.

So the Harding hook at the start of the book failed to catch my interest. Then we are returned to Carter's childhood.

And what a miserable childhood it is!

Except that Gold has failed to really capture the misery. He tells a story, of children alone over Christmas. Of a father more interested in money than family, a mother who leaves the family for a year or more in order to get quack treatment for imaginary illnesses. And none of it really seems to matter.

The story is a straight recitation of incidents with very little emotion. I feel sorry for the children. But the author has failed to build the sad incidents into a gripping tale.

At least -- for me.

I would have liked to have read on, to see what happens on and off the stage of a great magician. I was struggling. Then I read Zubek's article.

Zubek reads books for enjoyment; she does not want to own books -- "classics" -- purely as status symbols. I read books for enjoyment; I like to try a range of different styles and genres. Zubek has reminded me: I read for enjoyment. Not just so that I can claim Brownie points for having read something different.

I found Carter to be readable but not worth reading. You may have different tastes and a different opinion.

Try it. Tell me.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Dragonclaw / Kate Forsyth

2011-01-12T02:50:00.000-08:00

Dragonclaw

category: fantasy, author:

Kate Forsyth

book 1 of Witches of Eileanan
original copyright 1997,
read in Jan 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

Warning: This is not a novel! It is not even one book of a trilogy... It is the first volume of a three (or more?) volume story.

Yes, it's one of those annoying books which ends with a cliff-hanger. Or several.

Okay, I did enjoy reading this book. Until about page 400 of 500 -- when I thought, There is no way that this plot can wrap itself up in just 100 more pages...

A dead giveaway, really: A group of new characters being introduced at what should have been a build-up to a climax. And all these characters did, was to meet other characters and escape from an evil city... No link to any previous action. No link to any subsequent action, either...

From there, Forsyth introduced yet another set of characters... Introduced them, then left them.

Is there a plot? Or has Forsyth simply written a series of loosely connected escapades, leading nowhere... Will the next... five! ... books lead anywhere? Who knows? Who cares.

The book itself is entertaining enough. For those who like comparisons:

Dragonclaw is similar to The Dark Age. Both target young, female readers. Both are based on centuries-old myths. The Dark Age is a novel with a clear plot, a beginning, middle and end. Dragonclaw is the beginning of a story, with multiple threads very loosely linked, several beginnings and no end.

Age is almost childish in the way problems are resolved, with warm feelings and simple solutions. Claw has the same simplicity of solutions but a little more conflict. And a touch more violence... Although it seems clear that one character has been introduced just to heal the main heroine; the only question is, how long will the healing be delayed?

Age is based on myths, history and mythical history. Claw is based only on myths -- perhaps this is a strength, the movement of the myths to a new planet. Unfortunately, that introduces another problem:

Dragonclaw takes place on a world where humans and human witches arrived from Earth and settled in a land populated by indigenous faeries. The word "invasion" is totally appropriate: The witches went in with all spells blazing and forced the locals out of their traditional lands. More recently, the human invaders have (not entirely of their own choice) begun a campaign of extermination against both faeries and witches.

Are we meant to sympathise with someone here?

The most likely contenders for sympathy are the currently-being-persecuted witches. Yet these are witches with questionable standards. For instance...

The sweet old dear who is really the supremely powerful head witch is a vegetarian. A proselytising vegetarian. She gets cross at humans who eat meat... Yet she is quite happy to be friendly with the carnivorous animals. Double standards?

When the witches make magic together, they are naked. Why? Individually, they cast great spells while fully clothed... Is group nudity a marketing strategy?

Witches don't cut their hair... Hair dragging down behind the backside is a sure sign of witchhood. Any stray strand of hair -- in the hands of an enemy -- gives power over the witch. So why don't the witches cut their hair?! Arrogance? Stupidity? No idea.

As I said, this book is quite enjoyable. Characters so cute that you can't help but like them. Challenges which are overcome within a chapter or so. But a weak series of plots and no ending.

All adds up to a book worth reading... when there's nothing better.

Still... Perhaps if I read all six books... it may be worth the effort?!

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Lord of the Rings : The making of the movie trilogy / Brian Sibley

2011-01-06T23:50:00.000-08:00

The Lord of the Rings : The making of the movie trilogy

category: marketing..., author:

Brian Sibley

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

Did you watch the movies of Lord of the Rings? Then grab this book, have a skim and be amazed! The effort behind the scenes was amazing.

The book itself is less than amazing.

It's an eye-opener but... really... a marketing exercise.

For one, there are no captions on the photos. Yes, plenty of photos. But what are they?

You can work out what they are... usually... but it would be more impressive if the author had taken the time and effort to write, Here is a photo of [scene / character / prop]. As it is, the words and pictures are grouped but separate. Each chapter is a set of words with a collection of pictures on the same topic. But not linked.

That's why I categorise this book as "marketing". There's a distinct feeling that the author was given open access to lots of important people then given a stack of photos and told, turn all that into a book.

Okay, it's very successful as a marketing tool. (Or would have been, back before the world knew how great the movies really were.) And despite having access to key players, there is still a feeling that the author is just describing what he sees. Without getting too involved.

Sure, there's a lot of, Gee whizz, just look at that!

Then you come to the chapter on make-up. Where there is a far better feeling for the feelings of the people involved, the make-up specialists. In this chapter, the behind-the-scenes efforts really come alive! Somehow, the feeling of excitement is captured well, in this section.

Most of the rest of the book gives the reader a feeling of being a spectator to a great event. The make-up chapter makes us feel the excitement of being actually involved... If I could explain it more clearly I would be writing novels, rather than reviewing via a blog...

The book did get me back to the LotR videos for a fresh look. And I was amazed!

But after all that, all I watched was the first half of Fellowship. Plenty of impressive movie there. But -- as usual -- watching a bit of the movie only makes me think... It's time to read the book. Again.

Of course, if you have the DVD sets, watch the extras. The book is okay. But the DVD extras provide an even better feeling for the effort behind the movies.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Dark Age / Traci Harding

2011-01-06T23:29:00.000-08:00

The Dark Age

category: fantasy, young adult, author:

Traci Harding

book 1 of The Ancient Future
original copyright 1996,
read in January 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

This is a children's book. Well, young adult, perhaps. Even more, it is for girls.

The heroine is a modern girl -- with long, flowing and possibly curly hair -- who is drawn back in time to the fifth century AD. There, she uses her clever mind, her charming ways and her saxophone, to win hearts and minds. She also uses her karate skills to fight for... I almost said, to fight for right. In reality, she fights for her own right.

This is a pleasant enough book with strong fantasy elements. Not least is the fantasy of being so nice that everyone is instantly convinced that you are always right.

When Tory -- the heroine -- meets the Dark Age knights, she impresses them by knocking one out with karate blows. When Tory is captured by the evil dudes, she does her best... but has to wait for her Prince -- the incredibly handsome one, with the long blonde hair -- to rescue her.

When Tory decides to rewrite the laws of the Dark Ages to include gender equality, to exclude forced marriages, to replace prostitution with education and to introduce the weekend, she presents her ideas -- and they are accepted. "Wait till that realise what it really means," she is told. And that is the full strength of the debate... There is not even any follow-up where people actually do realise what it really means.

Absolutely fantastic fantasy!

On the other hand, it's easy to read, with no nasty surprises. For example...

The heroine has been captured. The evil witch cries, "Rip her clothes off and search her thoroughly!" The evil henchmen drool and lick their lips. The castle lookout cries, "Look out! We're being invaded by an army of convenient outsiders!" "Oh bother," says the evil witch. "Oh well, leave her clothes on, don't hurt her yet, we'll have time to torture her later..." Phew! That was close :-)

There's time travel, past lives, souls reborn falling in love with the same people as in previous lives... There's fairies, kings, knights, ordinary-girl-gets-to-be-goddess... Multiple planes of being, fortune-telling as standard practice, karate as proof of good guy status and a lot of mystical hocus pocus.

Which all adds up to a lot of fun. Except in the middle, where the marriage, crowning and match-making was just a tad tedious.

Harding has used time travel and magic with wild abandon. Yet it all -- somehow -- seems to hang together. When the heroine deals with her past lover reborn in a future body, she deals with it. Quite well. We are not left thinking, that's ridiculous! Rather, we think, Ha! that's tricky!

All the fantastic fantasy is used casually and... realistically... Well... realistically within the context of this fantasy world. That is, in broad daylight it's ridiculous -- but Harding's style encourages the willing suspension of disbelief.

If I were a teenage girl with a love of fantasy, princes and independent-minded princesses, I would love this book. As an older man, it's fun. But I won't worry if I never read books two and three of the trilogy.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Leather Sofa / Leather Interiors

2011-01-02T09:44:00.000-08:00

Leather Sofa

category: furniture, sold by:

Leather Interiors

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

Have you ever noticed just how easy it is to know what has gone wrong -- just after it has all gone wrong?! Here I am, with a brand new sofa, and it is all wrong.

What could go wrong with buying a sofa? you ask.

Before the fact I would have asked exactly the same question. Now I know a lot of the answer.

Apologetic note:

This is a story of my own bad judgment. There is nothing wrong with the construction of the sofa. The leather is excellent, the frame is sound. There is nothing wrong with the design -- it is just that it is all wrong for me.

Yes, the recliner mechanism is very badly designed. It may be faulty, though I doubt it. It is simply a bad design. But the recliner mechanism is straight from a Chinese factory. It may be a bad choice but the local sofa manufacturer has installed it correctly.

Most of the problems below are a result of my own bad judgment: I failed to understand what I required for a comfortable sofa. Feel free to learn from my mistake.

Short-term Comfort

For weeks on end, I tested sofas. Tested sofas in shops, from one end of town to the other. I sat on sofas, reclined on sofas, even lay down on sofas.

I read about materials, especially leathers. I checked catalogues. I discussed options and prices with helpful sales assistants.

And I never, ever, wondered what it was that made the old sofa quite so comfortable.

Worse yet, all of my testing for comfort was done in a hurry.

Not a great hurry! I was too careful for that. But I never sat in a sofa in a shop and attempted to read all of War and Peace in one sitting.

Price is All -- and Nothing

I believe that now is a good time to buy furniture. As was last year, when I bought the sofa. Consumers are keeping their savings in the bank, shops are discounting, left, right and centre. I was confident that I would get a good price.

Then I settled on “Made in Western Australia” -- for purely parochial reasons -- and good quality leather -- for feeling good and lasting long. All of a sudden, cheap prices are out of the window.

Ah well! A nice new sofa will be worth the expense!

Now, as a piece of formal and decorative furniture, the new sofa is great. As a piece of functional furniture -- it fails.

The Size is All Wrong

The size is all wrong? But it’s a standard size! What could be “wrong”?

The size is all wrong for me. I bought this sofa for me. The sofa is all the wrong size -- for me.

It’s too long. The new sofa is a three-seater, the old was a two-seater. I can no longer brace my feet on one end in order to push myself into a more comfortable position. I can choose to put my feet up at one end -- or to put my head up at the other. Not both.

So what? Well, this sofa is for me. I sleep on the sofa. Not as a permanent thing, just when the day is too long and I need a rest. I stretch out, and sleep on the sofa.

Not on the new sofa! It’s too long, a minor problem. It’s a shade too narrow, for a comfortable lie down. The back is too vertical, which makes it seem even narrower. The seat is horizontal rather than sloping down at the back. So I feel as though I’m about to slip off.

The armrest is too high -- and too firm -- to use as a pillow. Sure, I can use a cushion as a pillow. But why?! I chose a “soft” armrest specifically so that I could lie on the sofa and use the armrest as a pillow. Except that I did not recognise that the armrest is too high for comfort.

What’s the other name for a sofa? A “lounge”... Why is that? Because you lounge on a lounge!

Not on this one!

I lounge down and I lounge sideways. Sometimes I relax -- and sometimes I sleep -- halfway between sitting up and lying down. This is all a part of my requirement for a comfortable sofa.

Sit or lie in any position other than vertical -- and I start to slide down...

Sitting, I start to slouch. And the nearly vertical back makes this very uncomfortable. Semi-recline -- slipping down towards lying down, put my feet up on the sofa -- and I start to slip. There is not enough grip on the leather. The far end armrest is too far away to be a brace.

Sitting and lying on the new sofa requires a constant effort to remain in place. Far from relaxing, I am constantly in fear of slipping... I am not able to “lounge”.

The seat is too high, too.

Just a couple of centimetres higher than the old sofa, just an inch or two. Firm cushions make it seem even higher. I perch on the sofa, lower legs straight up and down, not able to stretch out my feet or they will be off the ground...

But wait! There is a recliner seat at one end! The three-seater is two fixed seats plus one recliner. Surely all is not lost!

Recline at Your Peril

After years of using a footstool I decided that the new sofa required a recliner with built-in footrest. How wrong I was!

Release a catch and the footrest springs up. Put your feet on the footrest -- and it may sink down again!

There is no positive fix-in-place for the footrest. The only way to keep the footrest raised -- is to recline the back. You want to sit up straight with your feet resting comfortably? Too bad! There's a chance that the footrest will sink under the weight of your feet.

Push the recliner back and the footrest is locked in place. Don’t relax yet... If you relax, the reclining back tends to straighten up -- and the footrest may sink again. The recliner spring is too strong for my weight.

Push the recliner back? Not as easy as it sounds! The mechanism moves easily -- but not as easily as I move, across the smooth leather of the seat. Pushing the seat back requires firm bracing, with a firm grip of the arm rest on one side and the fixed cushion on the other.

If I want to both recline and relax, I need to push the back back, as far as it will go. I am almost horizontal but at least I can relax... Carefully.

I am relaxing, comfortably horizontal in my recliner chair. As I relax, I sink down in the chair. As I sink down, the balance of my weight shifts towards the front of the chair. As my weight shifts -- the chair slowly rises towards the vertical.

There is no way to lock the recliner in place. Shift your weight and the recliner will shift, usually towards the vertical. There is no way to simply lean back and relax...

While I am tensely holding my reclined position, there are other problems.

I am a lounger; I lounge. But not on this sofa.

As the back sinks back, I move back behind the fixed seatback of the next seat. Want to lounge to one side? No way! The next seat back is in the way. Want to lounge to the other side? No way... The high armrest is in the way.

So I am now the disappointed owner of a new recliner sofa which is difficult to recline. The footrest works best only with the back reclined. The back tends to revert to the vertical. Sit forward -- to pick up a cup of tea, for example -- and the footrest may sink down.

And what happens when I stand up? If I’m not very, very careful -- the footrest springs up behind me!

When the sofa back is vertical, the footrest slips down, under the weight of my feet and legs. Remove the weight and the footrest springs up again. Before I walk away I must make sure that the footrest is locked down.

There is no positive sign that the footrest is locked... No “click” to indicate that it is safe to walk away. I just have to press firmly -- very firmly -- and hope for the best.

What Next?

I now have a difficult decision to make... Do I dump the new sofa and try again? Or do I put up with it, accepting that it looks good and feels good but is very uncomfortable to use.

There is a large rubbish collection in less than two weeks... Do I put out the old sofa? There are holes in the leather -- thirteen years of dog on one end, twenty years of me at the other -- but the old sofa is still more comfortable than the new. Far more comfortable.

I have bought three sofas in twenty years. Obviously, I did not learn from the first two... Have I learnt from the third? If I do buy another new sofa -- will it be any better than this one? At the time of purchase, this new sofa appeared to be at least as good as any other that I found. Did I look in enough shops?

Already -- with my new knowledge of what I want -- I have found a manufacturer which offers a recliner which does lock in place. With a footrest which works whether or not the back is reclined. Is it worth the risk? Is it worth the expense?

Buying furniture is more difficult than I expected. Luckily, my next major purchase will be relatively easy. We need a new car...

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Running Hot / Nick Lethbridge

2010-12-31T07:26:00.000-08:00

Running Hot
... and POD Publishing

category: science fiction, humour, author:

Nick Lethbridge

original copyright 2010,
read in December 2010 (and before, quite a few times)

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Less a novel, more a short story. The first published fiction from a promising author. Running Hot could be the start of an exciting new career.

Could this reviewer suffer from bias? Could it be that the author is too willing to provide a positive review for his own work? Read the book and find out :-) Spend less than one US dollar (the minimum price that could be set) and there may be more books to follow!

Online Publication

It was an interesting exercise in online publishing... Over several days, Agamedes examined the offerings of three, very different publishers.

Lulu

Lulu has a huge range of books for sale and a huge range of self-publishing options.

Unfortunately, the range of offerings makes it difficult to find a simple process. Admittedly, I'm currently suffering from very slow internet response times. This made it very difficult to try and retry various possibilities. Loading to Lulu is currently on hold -- until my response time is back to normal.

Nevertheless, the Lulu process is far more complex than the website claims. There are large gaps in explanations. The extensive support and help information is too disorganised to be of much help for a first-time publisher.

I received an error message -- possibly an indirect result of slow internet response; I may have missed some vital instruction. But the error message did not tell me what error had been detected!

An email arrives. "We're sorry but we've encountered a problem..." No indication of the type of problem. No help at all, other than to tell me that I failed.

On the other hand:

Lulu offers a wide range of printed publications: books, calendars, photo albums, all different sizes and shapes. And, almost as an afterthought, ebooks. The emphasis is on POD (print on demand) hardcopy. Much of the support documentation would (probably) make more sense to an expert in format, layout and printing.

For the "pure" author -- a person with words and ideas but no publishing experience -- Lulu is very complex. On the other hand, Lulu offers plenty of for-a-price expertise, in all the essential areas past the initial committing of words to paper.

Lulu offers free-up-front POD publishing for those willing to start with a struggle. Plus expertise at a cost. I started with Lulu because a published author named it and uses it. I will go back to Lulu -- to try again, with faster internet response! -- to prepare a hardcopy. For vanity, for friends, perhaps even for sale.

Smashwords

In just a few hours, I had a ebook ready for publication on Smashwords. Just a short story (Running Hot) but a complete novel would have taken not much longer.

If ebooks are the way of the future then Smashwords is a good way to get there.

I found Smashwords via a link from Lulu... A series of helpful posts in response to authors' questions; one post lead to the poster's own website... Social marketing :-)

One of the best features of Smashwords is -- there is an easy-to-follow guide to publication! Download the Style Guide, follow it from beginning to end, publish online.

Most of the style guide is an explanation of how to format your document for an ebook. (Essentially, clear all formatting and keep it simple.) Add a cover, load text and cover, publish.

It really is -- almost -- that simple. It did take me a few tries to correct some strange formats, in text that I had to add at the last minute, beyond the story itself. The corrections and republishing were simple and the process was easy to follow.

As an ebook publisher, Smashbooks encourages simplicity. No need to lay out text to fit a physical page. Format all text to be free-flowing and flexible. The website process -- and the instructions -- are are simple as the ebook format.

I will return to Smashwords for future ebooks. I expect that the process will be even simpler, the second time around.

Xlibris

I spent just a short time with Xlibris. There is an Australian office, an Australian presence, I always like to try local.

It took a while to find out just what Xlibris is offering.

The website is very strong on marketing... By that I mean, lots of promises of success but the actual product takes a while to identify. I was especially annoyed when I was asked to provide full name and contact details -- in the expectation of getting a guide sent to me -- and the guide was just a download from the website.

Still, the guide did clear up what Xlibris offers: pure vanity publishing.

Nothing -- as far as I can tell -- is free, with Xlibris. They are selling proofreading, formatting, marketing... all the services which a professional author requires. But the author pays for it all.

Nothing wrong with that. Plenty of books are overlooked and ignored by publishing houses, books which deserve to be published. It would be nice, however, to have a clear(er) statement of services on the website.

Having entered my contact details, I had a phone call the next day. The caller was friendly, I was friendly, I received more information via email. Xlibris services are not what I want.

Summary

If you want a lot of help -- at a professional level -- Xlibris and Lulu both offer comprehensive services, at a price. Lulu also offers DIY publishing, for those with the time and inclination to struggle through a very steep learning curve. For pure ebook publishing, Smashbooks is quick and easy.

And I have no idea whatsoever about the market reach of any of those sites.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Timewaster Diaries / Robert Popper (as Robin Cooper)

2010-12-27T18:36:00.000-08:00

The Timewaster Diaries

category: humour, author:

Robert Popper (as Robin Cooper)

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

Take a lot of lightweight cliches. Mix with cliche characters. Believe that the cliche stupid hero is actually funny. Serve as a Timewaster.

The hero invents all sorts of things. These could be cliche clever and working, a la Doc in Back to the Future. Or they could be ridiculous and not working, a la Timewaster. I find that this perpetual and unadmitted failure is sad rather than funny.

The hero fails to fix the bathroom door. Until the day when he is trapped in the bathroom so finally gets round to it. Sad and thoughtless. And cliched.

The hero lies to his wife about his efforts to clear a bird from the attic. Sad and thoughtless and stupid. And cliched. Seinfeld, for example, is about people whose first and automatic response to trouble is to lie about it.

The hero has been fired for writing thousands of letters using employer resources during work time. Sad and thoughtless and stupid and dishonest.

Then there's the Simpsons cliche: The hero is sad, stupid, mean, thoughtless and dishonest -- but his wife loves him, despite all his faults.

It's an easy book to read. It provides lightweight entertainment. Just don't think to closely about the underlying pathos.

..o0o..
These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

PissWeakly Reviews

The Orc King / R.A. Salvatore

The Orc King

R.A. Salvatore

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10: well worth reading

Storm Born / Richelle Mead

Storm Born

Richelle Mead

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10: bad but could be read

What the Night Knows / Dean Koontz

What the Night Knows

Dean Koontz

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

Vicious Circle / Linda Robertson

Vicious Circle

Linda Robertson

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

The Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic / Terry Pratchett

The Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic (graphic novels)

Terry Pratchett

illustrated by Steven Ross

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

Debatable Space / Philip Palmer

Debatable Space

Philip Palmer

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

Alternative 3 / Ken Mitchell

Alternative 3

Ken Mitchell

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

The Redemption of Althalus / David & Leigh Eddings

The Redemption of Althalus

David & Leigh Eddings

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

Unseen Academicals / Terry Pratchett

Unseen Academicals

Terry Pratchett

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10: really quite good

Passion for Distance / Julia Thorn

Passion for Distance

Julia Thorn

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

Crossfire / Nancy Kress

Crossfire

Nancy Kress

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10: read to pass the time

Battlefield Earth / L. Ron Hubbard

Battlefield Earth

L. Ron Hubbard

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Change Your Thinking / Sarah Edelman

Change Your Thinking

Sarah Edelman

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Ardneh's Sword / Fred Saberhagen

Ardneh's Sword

Fred Saberhagen

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

The Isle of Glass / Judith Tarr

The Isle of Glass

Judith Tarr

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

The Doomsday Prophecy / Scott Mariani

The Doomsday Prophecy

Scott Mariani

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Bone Song / John Meaney

Bone Song

John Meaney

Agamedes' opinion: 9 out of 10

Opening Atlantis / Harry Turtledove

Opening Atlantis

Harry Turtledove

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

The Ninth Circle / Alex Bell

The Ninth Circle

Alex Bell

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

Collision Course / William Shatner et al

Collision Course

The Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic
(graphic novels)

Pirates of Venus
and
Lost on Venus