Running Hot / Nick Lethbridge

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)

The Timewaster Diaries

category: humour, author:

Robert Popper (as Robin Cooper)

book 3 of Timewaster
original copyright 2007,
read in December 2010

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.

Vitals / Greg Bear

Vitals

category: science thriller, author:

Greg Bear

original copyright 2002,
read in December 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

When I wrote my first review for a thriller I did not really know what a "thriller" was. I categorised Criminal Conversation as action and thought, near enough... But now I am writing my eleventh thriller review and I have a better understanding of the genre.

In my defence, I had not read many thrillers even before I began PissWeakly Reviews. With Vitals I believe that I am beginning to understand the genre. Here's how it works:

• Hero notices that people around him die suddenly and violently. Yes, always him, never her.
  
• Despite being a very ordinary guy / genius / scientist / ex-marine / test-pilot / husband... the hero escapes one or more attempts on his life.
  
• Hero discovers the (possible) existence of a super-secret, all-powerful organisation (SSAPO-1) which rules the world using money, influence, violence and some ancient yet all-powerful secret. Conspiracy theory... to the max.
  
• Hero is helped by life-long best friends who betray him because they are secret organisation plants.
  
• Hero gains support from quiet people who were always there but seemed to be so very, very ordinary.
  
• At least one very ordinary quiet person turns out to be a member of a super-secret, all-powerful organisation (SSAPO-2) which is dedicated, in secret, to defeating SSAPO-1.
  
• Hero is weakened beyond human endurance yet he endures. He then gets isolated from SSAPO-2 and single-handedly defeats SSAPO-1.
  
• In a final, post-climactic chapter the hero -- or perhaps just the reader -- realises that SSAPO-1 was not completely defeated.
  

And there you have the plot of Vitals. And of The Tenth Chamber. And of The Husband... and most of the others. (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo misses one or two steps; The Girl who Played with Fire is closer to the genre.)

Vitals does up the ante in terms of unbelievability. It's a "scientific" thriller -- so I've categorised it as both thriller and science fiction. And it's the scientific unbelievability which is way up there... If you find that the "science" is just too fantastic, feel free to label this book as fantasy thriller.

It is an entertaining book. Read it to happily pass the time. Just don't expect it to be a really good book. Oh, and while you read it, enjoy some of the stylistic essentials of the thriller genre...

• Brand names will be dropped. Regularly.
  
• The author will make several statements which highlight what's wrong with the world. What's wrong as well as the existence of SSAPO-1, that is.
  
• The plot must be complex.
  

Did Ian Fleming start the trend? James Bond was always driving brand-name cars, drinking brand-name drinks, eating at always expensive and now-famous-by-association restaurants... Now it's an essential element of the thriller. Including Vitals.

Then there are the statements of author opinion. Highlighting a problem which has nothing to do with the plot. A statement which simply emphasises the cleverness of the author.

For example:

White America, with so shallow a history, was always looking for affirmation from more rooted cultures.

Wow! So Black America never looks to Africa, Yellow America never looks to Asia, Red America never refers to its previous life in tepees? Goodness, what a clever insight! A clever insight into the unthinking blandness of Bear's analysis, anyway.

And then, there's the requisite of plot complexity... And Bear has outdone himself.

There are twists and turns. Gradual revelations. Even more hidden secrets. Traitors and turncoats at every twist and turn...

'How do you know whether or not they'll be [traitors],' I asked...
'I appreciate your concern...' [replies the SSAPO-2 agent]...

... and he changes the subject. Having built up a complex and all-pervasive system of SSAPO-1 treachery -- Bear has no answer to the way in which SSAPO-2 will detect traitors.

Oh well.

For those who like to know what the book is about, turn to the Epilogue. In an open admission that the plot is difficult to follow, Bear allows his hero to explain what just happened. Although there are still gaps, in both plot and explanation.

Perhaps you should save time. Just read the Epilogue. It's about as clear as the rest of the book. Quicker to read. And with less unbelievable science.

An entertaining book. Switch off your good sense, and maybe 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.

Young Einstein / movie

Young Einstein

category: movie, humour, starring (etc):

Yahoo Serious, etc

released in 1988,
watched in 1989

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Never heard of Yahoo Serious? Nor had anyone else, when this movie was first released. Not that we've heard much of him since, either...

Young Einstein is an enormous amount of fun. Splitting the beer atom, indeed! Good Australian humour plus some great music and occasional social commentary. A great effort with an entertaining new (then) star.

Watch the movie -- but avoid the rather awful Ned Kelly follow-up. Einstein worked. Keep the good memories...

..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 Chanur Saga / C.J. Cherryh

The Chanur Saga

(Chanur's Venture & The Kif Strike Back)

category: science fiction, author:

C.J. Cherryh

books 2 & 3 of The Chanur Saga
original copyright 1985 & 1986,
read in December 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Warning: This is not a novel!

What? Not a novel?! Why not?!

Chanur's Venture is one volume of a longer novel. Venture is not complete in itself; it has no real conclusion. The Pride of Chanur was a novel; it stood alone -- beginning, middle, climax, end. Yes, Venture follows closely on Pride -- and depends on Pride for its logic -- but Pride can be read, by itself, as a satisfactory novel.

Venture ends with a desperate cliffhanger. There is no conclusion.

No worries, I thought. I am, after all, reading a book of three volumes: Pride, Venture and Kif.

But blow me down! Even The Kif Strike Back does not end!

So if you want to know how the heroines get out of their ever-increasing difficulties... make sure that you have Chanur's Homecoming ready to hand. And perhaps, even Chanur's Legacy. Who knows how long Cherryh can stretch out this money-spinning franchise...

It really annoys me that writers and/or publishers can print what is really an incomplete story -- with no warning on the cover.

I have no trouble with The Pride of Chanur, a standalone book which leaves us wanting more. I have no trouble with Harry Potter where we knew -- right from the start -- that there would be seven books. And in any case, each of the seven is a complete adventure on its own.

I strongly object to an author and/or publisher who lies -- through omission -- to the reader. Here is a published novel, they say. And fail to tell us that the so-called "novel" is just the first instalment of a much longer story. If we -- the readers -- want to know how the heroines get out of the cliffhanging chaos -- we have to pay more. And... possibly... more again and again.

That said, the two books make for good reading. It's still hard to follow what's happening. Though the captain regularly takes several pages to explain the plot to the crew and to us. So it's not quite as confusing as Pride.

Good books. Good characters and character development. Lots of action. And even more, lots of complex fuge and subterfuge. Which the poor reader struggles with. Just as much as do most of the characters.

..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 Pride of Chanur / C.J. Cherryh

The Pride of Chanur

category: science fiction, author:

C.J. Cherryh

book 1 of Chanur
original copyright 1982,
read in December 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Aliens, aliens, aliens... The Compact is a loose arrangement of alien races willing to trade with each other. Now, the first human has entered Compact space.

From there, you expect the human to make friends, save lives, initiate new trade routes and, possibly, lead at least one alien race to victory. Well -- wrong!

One of the the alien races -- the hani -- provides the heroes. The sole human is a catalyst, a cause of much of the action, but with minimal involvement. Almost like a treasure which starts arguments, causes troubles, then is returned to its rightful owner.

The Pride of Chanur is a story of aliens, with one human catalyst. The hani have space travel and politics. And the politics are at least as important as the space travel. Not that this makes the book any less "science fiction" because the politics are, of course, alien :-)

Pride is an action-packed adventure, yet the main theme is the decisions made by the hero. With a growing theme of, the development of the Chanur family within the hani race. The hero recognises that the current hani approach to politics is, perhaps, not the best; this leads to a small shift in attitude, for the hero. (Strictly speaking, for the heroine. Major hani characters are female; the no-space rule for males is one of the problems recognised by the ... heroine.)

I wonder if the heroine's new understanding will spread to other hani, as the book series continues? Since I'm reading a three-in-one volume, I'll soon find out...

Back amongst the action -- and the politics -- this book can be hard to follow.

At many points I'm left wondering, What's happening? The action and interest continue on but the detail is confused. Perhaps Cherryh -- or her editor -- has also noticed this...

I've already read a chapter or three of the next book. In book one (Pride), all characters suffer physical effects from using the warp drive. In the second book, we are given a reasonable explanation as to why. I just hope that this extra clarity will extend to other aspects of the story!

But that's a minor quibble. The book has depth, breadth, good characters and an exciting plot. There is enough to keep any reader... any reader who likes the sort of book that I like... enjoyably entertained, right to the end.

With a solid and satisfactory ending. Though I still hope that the human will come back in book two, and possibly do something beyond being a catalyst.

Although, truth to tell, the hani are interesting enough. The Pride of Chanur is a story of unique people who have to deal with a strange alien. And that alien just happens to be a "human".

..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.

Cowl / Neal Asher

Cowl

category: science fiction, author:

Neal Asher

original copyright 2004,
read in December 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Time travel... Going back in time to affect the present... Multiple timelines, all possibilities exist somewhere, so who really cares... Asher has overcome the pointlessness of these battles through time. Sort of...

Sure, every possibility has happened. If you think that you have won -- another timeline exists where you have lost. Asher adds another dimension to time travel: Some (most?) timelines will slip down the probability slope and eventually fade away. So -- in Asher's time travel tale -- there is a definite benefit to being on the "winning" timeline.

Thank goodness for that!

So we have a book about a battle across time. A book which does have a point, because the winners can actually win. And there are interesting characters who fight and grow and survive. All up -- a good book, well worth reading.

With an interesting insight into technique and the way in which a writer develops technique.

Cowl is published just two years before the other Asher books which I have read. (Follow the author label below this post, or jump straight to Prador Moon or The Voyage of the Sable Keech.) In Cowl, the adventure is there, the excitement is there, the plotting is there. The everyday acceptance of improvements to the basic human, already there. But there is an occasional stilted phrasing, occasional explanation where demonstration would have been better.

Cowl reads -- occasionally -- like an author's early book. Perhaps it is? I'll check, once my uninfluenced opinion has been written.

I do hope that Cowl is one of Asher's first books. I will then be correct in saying, this book is good -- and the author will be even better, once he has mastered some of the more subtle techniques of effective writing...

..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.

Invisible Zinc SunScreen

category: other product, author:

Agamedes

Agamedes' opinion: 3 out of 10

We were heading off on holiday and needed a small tube of sunscreen. Small, because we were only away for two weeks. Small, because we were going to New Zealand, land of the long white cloud. Small, because we didn't want to carry too much.

We bought the smallest container of sunscreen that we could find, in our local supermarket. We bought a 75g tube of Invisible Zinc.

Our first surprise was the price: $19.95 for 75 grams.

To put that in context, our next sunscreen purchase was Cancer Society sunscreen at $10.35 for 110 ml. Different measurement units but the Cancer Society tube is larger and costs about half as much.

Why does Invisible Zinc cost so much? Is it the effectiveness of its sun-screening? Or is it the cost of using a bronze goddess supermodel in the advertising campaign...

Our second surprise was that -- despite the name -- Invisible Zinc is not invisible! Rub it in as much as you like, you will still have a ghostly but obvious white smear on your skin. Read the very fine print on the tube and yes, it says, "Product may leave a white cast on certain skin types." That's the small print. The LARGE print says, INVISIBLE ZINC. Yes, INVISIBLE.

This is marketing versus honesty.

Then we went to New Zealand and used the product, nearly every day.

I have patches of skin which have no pigment. I call it my Michael Jackson Syndrome: the skin is turning white, starting with my hands. A side effect of having no pigment is that that skin burns easily in the sun.

Under our Australian sun I use standard sunscreen on my hands and have no trouble: the skin stays white. Under the New Zealand sun, using Invisible Zinc sunscreen -- my hands turned pink. Not enough to call it "sunburn". But enough to know that Invisible Zinc was not protecting my skin from the sun.

So that's the third surprise: The "SPF 30+" Invisible Zinc Sunscreen provides less protection to the skin than our usual, cheaper brands. Given the relative strength of the sun in Australia and New Zealand, I wonder if Invisible Zinc is, in fact, anywhere near the claimed SPF 30+.

So we bought a sunscreen which is very expensive, misleadingly named and does not do what a sunscreen is expected to do.

Ten out of ten for marketing hype. Three out of ten as a consumer product. Three, because it may have been better than no sunscreen at all.

..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.

Helliconia / Brian Aldiss

Helliconia

(Helliconia Spring + Summer + Winter)

category: science fiction, author:

Brian Aldiss

book 1, 2 & 3 of Helliconia
original copyright 1982, 83, 85,
read in December 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

Every good science fiction reader has heard of Helliconia. It's a classic: An entire civilisation -- from beginning to end -- on a planet with one major distinguishing feature. Aldiss at his amazing and most creative best.

Yes, it's a classic. And boring.

There's this character, Yuli. He lives out in the wilds, slips in amongst the more organised cave-dwellers, then escapes to a village on the edge of the wilds. In the caves he learns about a religion which opposes the god of his childhood. This makes him disbelieve all religion. Then he dies.

Do not buy this book.

Well, Yuli doesn't actually die... Having learnt something about religious differences, having escaped from the caves, he becomes chief of a village. The book then skips a few generations and starts with the death of Yuli2, who happens to be Yuli's grandson. It appears that Yuli's grandson's grandson is about to become the central character...

So what was the point of Yuli's religious discoveries? What was the point of his village leadership? Who knows? Who cares!

After failing to get particularly interested in Yuli -- having struggled through a hundred pages or so -- I failed to have any interest whatsoever in his descendants. With perhaps a thousand or more pages still to go -- I stopped reading.

If you enjoy long narratives with no interesting characters, long histories of a civilisation which (judging from the author's preface) will teach us all sorts of things about our own civilisation (of the 1980s), read these books. If the first hundred pages is intended as a message then it is a ham-fisted, slap-in-the-face sort of message: "Hey! You! Look! There is no god!" No subtlety, no argument, convincing or otherwise.

If you enjoy good stories with interesting characters, absorbing plots and significant messages presented as part of the story -- read something else.

My recommendation is: read something else.

..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.

Against the Tide / John Ringo

Against the Tide

category: military science fiction, author:

John Ringo

book 3? of Council Wars
original copyright 2005,
read in December 2010 (and before, in April 2006)

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

First time I read this book I had never heard of "military" science fiction. I thought, entertaining book -- but too many characters, too little excitement, not enough result...

As "military" science fiction, it makes a bit more sense:

This is war in a different environment. And war is about numbers, chain of command, clever strategies, small numbers of leaders and large numbers of cannon fodder.

Not, an independent scientist battling to solve a scientific problem. Not, humans battling an alien environment and each other. (Nor, vice versa.) Not a what if, taking one scientific possibility and exploring its possible impact.

Unless you take that last and say, military science fiction is taking a scientific possibility and exploring its impact on war... But really, it's not even that.

Against the Tide sets up a post-apocalyptic world -- where the apocalypse is post a far future society. In this world there is war. And the war is, really, fairly standard.

The strategic leader of Tide is a military genius who constantly refers to strategic lessons from history's great generals. War in this far distant future is just war. Perhaps with different types of troops, with some fancy weapons and steeds. But -- as an example of the standard nature of this future war: it's the cavalry which rides in to save the day!

It's an entertaining novel with plenty of unbelievably macho characters. And tough yet girly women. Breast beating and breast baring.

There's an interesting insight into the (possible) core beliefs of the author: The general uses great strategies based largely (so he says) on lessons learnt from past wars. He very seldom explains his plans -- waiting to reveal them when they actually happen. Then there's the status of women in various areas of this future society: one character spends several pages explaining why women are always subservient. Then another couple of pages explaining that his role in sex is always as a strongly dominant male.

Battle strategies -- the core of the book -- are implemented but not explained. The relative roles of men and women, in society and in bed, are explained -- in glib detail and with inaccuracies in the reasoning.

Still, that's just a few pages of the whole novel!

If you like your battles violent, your heroes superior and your heroines tough yet subservient -- this is your book. And yes, I did enjoy the book! It was just a bit embarrassing when the underlying machismo was discussed as though it were an undeniable truth.

Interesting science with defined limits. Wars which ultimately are settled by mass battles. A satisfactory conclusion: one battle won, more to come.

An enjoyable novel of military science fiction.

..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.

More than Human / Theodore Sturgeon

More than Human

category: science fiction, author:

Theodore Sturgeon

original copyright 1953,
read in December 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Another "authentic masterpiece", according to the cover blurb. Well worth reading but not great, I would say. This is science fiction from the days when mental powers were the up-and-coming science of the day...

Take a bunch of troubled kids, dumb kids and cretins, mix them together, gain a superior being. Just as the body is made of separate parts -- none of which could exist as an individual -- so too is Sturgeon's new being a mix of people who could not survive on their own.

Is this a story of the creation and growth of a gestalt being? Or is it a pointed message for the need for a complete mind in any human being... In true science fiction style, this book is both.

Sturgeon describes the growth of his gestalt being. The middle third of the story is rather boring and confused. Or perhaps I simply don't appreciate the use of psychological concepts as though they were absolute, immutable and all-powerful. Still, it's part of the interesting structure of the story: id, ego, super-ego...

First, Sturgeon creates a being driven by its id. Reactive, simple, survival oriented. Then the ego is born... Or, since this is a gestalt being, the pure id "head" is replaced by a more analytical and ego-centred head. Finally, the third section of the book follows the development of a super-ego -- in simple terms, a social conscience.

Now that's interesting... Did Sturgeon actually use those terms? Id, ego, super-ego? Not as far as I remember... He discussed morals and ethos and ethics but missed the neat, three-level labels which neatly classify what he, Sturgeon, is trying to say...

So... this is a novel about the next stage of evolutionary development, "homo gestalt"... Or not.

The new homo gestalt is a being with individual humans acting as head, arms... No, I just can't make sense of the breakdown. Sorry, but Sturgeon's gestalt being is confused. He writes of the two arms but there's a third. Then there's the brain but that brain is for memory and analysis, with a second brain for overall control and a third for conscience. Sturgeon says that his gestalt being is a separated version of a single human being -- but it isn't. Not in the terms that he uses.

The gestalt being is a group of semi-independent people with overlapping roles within the gestalt. The main point of the story is the essential nature of the conscience. The gestalt conscience is provided by a new person within the gestalt -- yet the new conscience is simply overlaid onto the existing ego person...

Ignoring that confusion, consider my claim that, "The main point of the story is the essential nature of the conscience." Sure, Sturgeon is writing about a gestalt being. But his message is for every human being: a conscience -- a working set of ethics -- is essential.

That's what science fiction does: Step away from current reality and use an invented and restricted world to give a clear message back to the real world. (Well, that's just one thing that a science fiction story may do.) Sturgeon has given us an interesting view of an improved humanity. At the same time, he has given us -- unimproved humanity -- a message which is as true now as when his story was written.

Still, I wish he had been a bit more imaginative with his gestalt being... What's wrong with having more than two "arm people"? Or perhaps three or four "eye people"?! A specialised "green thumb" person to manage the gardens? I mean, okay, he's making a human gestalt. With human abilities but even better. Why not add a few useful extra "organs" while he's at 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.

King of Sword and Sky / C.L. Wilson

King of Sword and Sky

category: fantasy, romance, author:

C.L. Wilson

book 2 of Tairen Soul
original copyright 2008,
read in December 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

There's a reasonable story here. Heavily overlaid with longing looks, deep sighs and heavy breathing... It's a romance, in the sense of true love, jealousy and do-anything-for-the-partner heroics. Sigh...

But it's not a great romance. I have nothing against lovers who will give their lives for each other. But come on! Lovers who fly into a jealous rage when someone else just holds the partners hand? Oh well, just a bit too heartfelt heavy-handed for me... The Twilight books are ridiculously good fun. King is just a bit ridiculous.

It's also a bit, well, nasty. There's the couple who have been prisoners for one thousand years. The villain will torture them mercilessly, bring them screaming to death's door -- and then... eventually... heal them. To start the torture again. For the last thousand years. Sure, the prisoners are immortal. But still... Yukk!

I just have a thing against people being held completely at the mercy of a villain. It's only the fact that these two are still resisting -- even a tiny bit -- that allows me to enjoy other aspects of the book.

Another problem is with the number of characters. All with the standard, complex, fantasy names. After half a book, I was getting to grips with them all -- then I went away for a couple of weeks. Read other books. Came back for the last few chapters of King. And found myself very confused, trying to remember who was who.

Okay, it's also a problem with reading the second of a trilogy without having read the first. The confusion of characters is largely my own problem. Bear that in mind when you consider my rating of this book!

If you like to mix your true love romance with torture and slaughter, this book is for you. For me, I may read other books by Wilson. But I won't go looking for them.

..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.

Queen of the Demonweb Pits / Paul Kidd

Queen of the Demonweb Pits

category: fantasy, author:

Paul Kidd

book 5? of Greyhawk
original copyright 2001,
read in December 2010 (and before, in March 2009)

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

Action, fighting, magic... cute fairies, doe-eyed lovers, some nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more... With a villain so evil that you just have to laugh. Not a great book but an easy and enjoyable read.

Cities are destroyed, millions killed, slaves are eaten like popcorn. Yet you can be sure that the good guys will survive... Or, at least, that they will not be dead for long. This is a fairy-tale with a happy ending.

This book just has to be aimed at the "young adult" market. (Even though I enjoyed it and I'm certainly no young adult.) A young adult fantasy -- with a challenging adult idea thrown in, for good measure:

There are demons and monsters and gods, all from other "planes" of existence. There are the "physical" planes, lots of them, where mortals live. And when mortals die, their immortal souls travel to the "spirit" planes. Simple enough, so far.

Some of the spirit planes are populated by demons and monsters, the source of the stories of a hell in the afterlife. After life -- ie in death -- human souls may end up in a demonic plane, being tormented by the resident demons. Nothing too challenging in that idea.

But what about the "good" souls?

If you worship a particular god then that god will claim your soul when you die. Unfortunately, the gods of the Demonweb Pits universe are simply beings with greater-than-human powers. Your chosen god will claim your soul -- and turn your soul into an immortal slave.

Gods and demons are all very similar beings, all fighting for your soul, offering various inducements to try to seal the soul-sale contract before you die. Once you die, your soul becomes a tool, to help your new owner in its efforts to gain power and influence over all of the other gods and demons...

An interesting view. Perhaps, even a thought-provoking challenge to accepted views. This may simply be a contrivance to support an otherwise unbelievable (but enjoyable!) plot. Or it could be a sneak attack on establishment views; an alternative idea to help young adults to look beyond the heavy black box of conventional thinking.

Or it may even be, that I'm a cynical old person who sees challenging ideas in the simplest of fantasy novels :-)

And that's not my only bias...

Isn't it great to see that the author, Paul Kidd, is a West Australian!

..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.

Best Served Cold / Joe Abercrombie

Best Served Cold

category: fantasy, author:

Joe Abercrombie

original copyright 2009,
read in December 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Is this book brutal? Yes. Is it honest? I think so. Is it enjoyable? Yes -- if you don't mind blood, guts and gore.

The action is brutal, with graphic violence (and occasional graphic sex). The violence is over the top... so brutal that -- to the hardened reader -- it is like a Warner Bros cartoon: it's obviously just a story, it's clearly not real, it is not offensive.

Except, of course, that some of the good guys also get brutalised. I never really enjoy that.

Still, it's a ripping good yarn... With added complexity:

There is a clear heroine; you hope that she wins through in the end. Yet what she is doing -- revenge -- is ugly. Even the heroine questions her actions!

From the book's title, Best Served Cold, it is clear that revenge is the theme. At first you think, yes, go girl! Get those evil... people! Then you begin to have second thoughts: second thoughts which are prompted by the heroine's opinions and by other points made by the author.

The same is true of the fighting: hard and bloody, show no mercy, pull no punches. Yet ultimately pointless -- as the author points out, several times. Violence breeds violence. Blood leads to more blood.

At times I am wondering, Is Abercrombie writing this book with a strong anti-war message? Sure, the book is violent. Yet the violence is hardly glorified. Both characters and author let us know that violence makes for a good story -- but it is not the answer to all of our problems.

Still, it's a violent book, and that is part of the enjoyment of reading it. To be honest, the violence is a key part of the enjoyment. In a fantasy world steeped in violence we would be bored by characters who ran away from every fight.

So it's a violent book.

The next strongest theme is... betrayal.

After betrayal comes the urge for revenge. Yet the betrayal never stops! I was beginning to wonder, Is there any character who will not change sides?

Until the revenge theme changed up a gear... And betrayers began to feel the pains of revenge. At which point I began to wonder, Will there be anyone alive at the end of this book?

No worries though. There are enough characters left alive to start a new book. Just.

I expect -- and hope for -- a book to continue the adventures (to use a euphemism; I mean, to continue the brutal and violent adventuring). It will be an interesting sequel, too, with a whole host of new characters. Unless, of course, the fantasy extends to raising the dead...

..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 Space Merchants / Frederick Pohl & C.M.Kornbluth

The Space Merchants

category: science fiction, author:

Frederick Pohl & C.M.Kornbluth

original copyright 1952,
read in November 2010 (and before, in July 2007)

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

Six out of ten? "Six", meaning, "read to pass the time"? Thirty years ago I may have given it a seven but now, it seems a bit too over-the-top to be "well worth reading". Still, the message is still good.

That's the problem with "Masterworks" -- they may have been great in their time but sometimes that time has passed. Or, perhaps, my time has passed for reading this book.

The book presents a simple message: The world is going to hell in a hand basket because money is seen as more important than environment and quality of life. The message is simple and it is still valid. Perhaps that's a part of the problem.

We have a Mamas and the Papas CD. The Ms&Ps sing about dancing in the streets. According to the song, this open air festivity will cure the world of all evil... And yet the world -- so many years on that most if not all of the Ms&Ps are now dead -- the world is still full of evil.

It's the same with The Space Merchants: the simplistic answer was not implemented, it may not have worked anyway, the world is still driven by consumerism ahead of conservation.

The consumerism versus conservation war still rages but the field of battle has changed. Reading The Space Merchants reminds us that we have not yet reached hell but the war continues.

The book itself is heavy going at the start. Again, perhaps because it takes a stretch of the imagination to get past the failure of the predictions made. The reader has to read about the world as described and apply the plot to the world as it has actually developed. I also had trouble believing the extreme view of the then-future consumerist society.

Once the imagination has been stretched and belief correctly suspended, this is a good book.

Perhaps The Space Merchants is worth seven out of ten? When it was written -- and for many more years -- it was "eight", "really quite good". I believe that this book suffers due to comparison with the actual track of the predicted future.

Perhaps you should read it and form your own opinion.

..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 Heart / Margaret Weis & David Baldwin

Dark Heart

category: fantasy, author:

Margaret Weis & David Baldwin

book 1 of Dragon's Disciple
original copyright 1998,
read in November 2010 (and before, in August 2005)

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

It's five years since I first read this book. On the re-reading it was familiar -- but not enough to spoil my enjoyment. And I definitely gained something from the second reading...

Justin works for The Dragon. Sandra is still recovering from an abusive husband. This time, I could see the similarity even before it was announced by the author...

That's a benefit of a second reading: I find extra depth -- sometimes extra idiocy! -- after the often-too-fast first reading.

So what's it all about? Well...

Weis writes about dragons... I can see that during a quick browse of the "W" shelf at my local library. Dragons are traditionally associated with (or against) men scantily clad in leather armour and wielding huge swords. Sure enough, there's the man-with-sword -- fighting dragon -- on the front cover of this book.

And then it gets non-traditional...

Perhaps Baldwin writes tough-city-detective pot-boilers? I don't like to look until I've written my own views. At a guess, though, Weis put her name to a dragon book and Baldwin set the book in his familiar tough city streets of modern-day Chicago. ("Assume the position, punk. You know the position." The punk knew the position.)

This requires an interesting take on dragons... And makes for an enjoyable book with a mix of background expectations.

Perhaps the tough Chicago cop scene is overdrawn. The main characters unbelievably good and unbelievably evil. (I do like the way the evil guy punishes his errant henchman. Though it still makes me wince in sympathy.) Perhaps it just takes a while to adjust to fantasy extremes in a modern city setting? Or is the style just a bit too melodramatic...

Why do all of the mysterious but helpful strangers have to be Chinese? Has there been no intermarriage in the last few centuries?! And why do nice people have to die? Okay, I have a strong preference for books where they all live happily ever after :-)

Not a great book but a very enjoyable book. I hope that Book Two was actually written... and I look forward to tracking it down and following the story further.

---

Oh well.

I like to write my review before I search the web for background information... Keep my opinions untainted... And now I have discovered three facts:

(1) David Baldwin is Margaret Weis' son, (2) There is no Dragon's Disciple book two, and (3) David Baldwin is deceased.

Behind every story is another story.

True life can also have unhappy endings.

..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.

Tarzan of the Apes / Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan of the Apes

category: fantasy, author:

Edgar Rice Burroughs

introduction by John Seelye
book 1 of Tarzan
original copyright 1914,
read in November 2010
(and only once before, a couple of years ago)

Agamedes' opinion: 9 out of 10

Agamedes' opinion is 9 out of 10, "really, really good". Is that really, really true?

Well, I enjoyed it. Very, very much. And, as it says, it's "opinion". Enjoyment has a strong effect on my opinion. Still...

It is so very unbelievable! But then, it's fantasy.

There are errors of fact! Plants and animals in Tarzan's jungle which normally live in a different environment -- or on a different continent. But it's fantasy!

This time through, I noticed something new (to me). "The Apes" are not apes of any common genus... Without really thinking about it, I had in my mind that Tarzan was raised by gorillas: the largest of the primates. Yet Tarzan's Apes swing through the treetops. And they battle with their traditional enemies -- the gorillas!

One more layer added to this fantasy: In the depths of the unexplored jungle is a tribe of giant apes. Apes which have never been seen before... or since.

Okay, now it seems obvious. But it was new to me, the realisation that Tarzan was reared by Apes which only exist in the fantasy world of the Tarzan stories.

Ridiculous characters. Over-the-top characterisations. Racial and badly dated stereotypes. Unbelievable action... Yes! It's absolutely great!

Tarzan is fantasy, action, adventure, romance... Pure escapist fun. Read Tarzan of the Apes, perhaps be embarrassed by it... enjoy it.

Oh, and there's a bonus!

I read the Penguin Classic edition of Tarzan. There are explanatory notes -- and they actually help the reader!

Earlier, I read Wells' The Sleeper Awakes, in Penguin Classic edition. The notes were printed -- intrusively -- in the text. And the notes were worthless: self evident at best and with no notes for the truly confusing parts of that book.

Seelye has done a good job of producing interesting notes which actually add to the reader's understanding of -- or interest in -- the book. Then there's his Introduction... which is a fascinating examination of the evolution of the "wild man" in literature. An examination which is almost incomprehensible to the reader who has not studied the topic! Yet it still provides enough interest to be worthwhile.

Thinking about it... Perhaps "9 out of ten" is too much. It's not a great book.

Not a great book in the sense that it is well written and it stands alone as a shining example of the skill of the superior author.

Yet, as a very enjoyable book... Taking fantasy out to new horizons and back home for enjoyment by hordes of readers... As the precursor to a score of popular books and uncountable other media releases... As a book which is widely known and well remembered (if only indirectly) a century after its publication...

Tarzan of the Apes is very, very good. Well worth that 9 out of 10.

..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 Braided Path / Chris Wooding

The Braided Path

including:

1. The Weavers of Saramyr
   
2. The Skein of Lament
   
3. The Ascendancy Veil
   

category: fantasy, author:

Chris Wooding

book 1, 2 and 3 of The Braided Path original copyright 2003, 04 & 05, read in October/November 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 9 out of 10

Interesting... As I considered my "opinion" I realised that each book was different -- but the three together added up to an excellent read! For the record:

• Eight out of ten for The Weavers of Saramyr
  
• Seven for The Skein of Lament
  
• Eight for The Ascendancy Veil
  

What?! Eight, seven, eight ... to give an overall score of nine?! Absolutely!

Weavers was a good fantasy yarn: Action, characters, climax, resolution. All set in an interesting world. Skein continued the story -- and expanded the world. Uh oh! Is the author simply trying to add more "excitement" by introducing new monsters? For example, when going from point A to point B, why do the heroes have to cross a demon infested swamp?!

But there was a point to the swamp -- an action which helped the heroine to grow, to develop her powers. Still, this second book has a touch of the monsters being included just to pad out an otherwise boring chapter...

Then you read the third book and it all falls into place.

Major plot threads are brought to satisfying conclusions. Major and minor confusions are explained. The significance of apparently minor actions is fitted into the whole.

Yes, the battles are violent, death count is huge, action is non-stop. On the other hand, there is a feeling that battles, deaths and actions are all essential to the plot.

I would have read and enjoyed any one of these books by itself. The second, not as much as the others. Taken as a whole, the three books make for a tightly crafted, easy to read and hard to put down, thoroughly enjoyable story. The whole is, indeed, greater than the sum of the parts!

The world is changing in Saramyr. What was commonly accepted at the start has been turned upside down -- or thrown out -- by the end. Yet the people and the civilisation will survive. There is a consistency in the world, strong enough to make me believe that the civilisation of Saramyr will be rebuilt. The same, yet different, due to the events described in these books.

And that is one of the strengths of The Braided Path: the world is so believable that I am happy to accept that Saramyr will be rebuilt. Still not perfect but with some major problems removed.

The characters, too, have depth and consistency.

There are fighters and magic users and leaders and negotiators. All play their parts, without having to play other, less logical parts. The "diplomat", for example, is not a fighter. She plays an essential -- and non-violent -- role. The magic user can fight, but not particularly well. The characters are human, with a variety of skills, but they are not super-human. (Well, yes, some are. But they are each limited in their super-human skills.)

There are goodies and baddies. Some of the goodies have their own agendas, hidden or otherwise. They support each other and betray each other. And it all seems to be so perfectly reasonable... They act in a very human fashion. Consistently inconsistent. With no"unexpected plot twists" where the author has lost the plot...

Better yet, there is obvious room for more books. One threat removed, another -- a logical follow-on from these three books -- will soon need to be countered. If Wooding has written another Saramyr trilogy -- I look forward to reading 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 War of the Dwarves / Markus Heitz

The War of the Dwarves

category: fantasy, author:

Markus Heitz (translated by Sally-Ann Spencer)

book 2 of The Dwarves
original copyright 2004, translated from German in 2010
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

I read The Dwarves a few months ago and found it to be excellent. The War of the Dwarves is... a bit of a disappointment.

It's still a lot of fun to have a story told from a Dwarf perspective. There are still some good Dwarf characters. And the Dwarven hero finally gets his Dwarven girl.

Unfortunately, Heitz has taken a rollicking adventure -- and built on it.

First up, there are too many strands to this story:

The first book began -- as many fantasies do -- with a hero setting forth on an adventure. Along the way, the hero meets other people -- of various races and abilities -- and a group is formed. The group splits, only to be reunited at the climactic conclusion...

At the start of this second book -- The War of the Dwarves -- there are already a number of plot strands in place. Heitz follows these... and coherence is lost.

Yes, Tungdil the hero plays a major role in the story. Yet there are a dozen or more others who pop in and out of the narrative: friends, villains, kings, elves, dwarves and men. Worse yet, whole armies seem to appear as though from nowhere! Not really "nowhere", but the distance between points seems to grow and shrink at the author's whim: armies march for weeks in one direction then apparently take only days to return... Perhaps I simply did not pay enough attention to the geography!?

Then there are the names... Okay, I managed to keep track of most of the place names. After a fashion. But the elvish, dwarvish and human people names were just too much for me. Take the necessarily different naming styles of the major races. Add multi-part names, alternate names and alternate ways in which each name is used. With, perhaps, Germanic overtones... I just could not keep track of who was who.

A second or third reading -- or a slower and more careful first reading -- would sort out who was doing what to whom. On the other hand -- the book does not warrant a second reading.

Take a first book with interesting characters and strong action. Add more battle scenes, up the death count, unexpectedly kill off key characters -- and a lot of the book's enjoyment is lost.

The War of the Dwarves is just too violent, too realistic in its death count. Too over-the-top to be enjoyed. Okay, too over-the-top to be enjoyed by me. I like my fantasy to be more fantastic and less violent. Or at least less violent to the characters that I have come to like. War is a violent, almost non-stop, battle.

The Dwarves was an enjoyable adventure with the added perspective of the dwarven perspective. The War of the Dwarves adds somewhat to the dwarven story -- but at the expense of plot. Along the way, some of the enjoyment has been lost.

Still... There are plenty of indications that book three is on its way. I will probably read it. I just hope that the battles are toned down and the story depends more on plot than on violence.

..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 Dying Light / Sean Williams & Shane Dix

The Dying Light

category: science fiction, author:

Sean Williams & Shane Dix

book 2 of Evergence
original copyright 2000,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

For the first page or three I was very confused... I'd read two Williams & Dix books a few months back. Both of those were book one of three. For some reason... I expected The Dying Light to be a continuation of Echoes of Earth. Where really, The Dying Light continues the story after The Prodigal Sun... Who are all these people? I wondered.

Once I sorted out my memories, the book made a lot more sense :-) And was a lot more enjoyable...

The Evergence series is also more enjoyable than Orphans of Earth. Orphans is just too big; the characters have no time to gain our sympathy. Evergence has an equally large scope of impact -- but the story is held down to just a handful of, in general, sympathetic characters.

I read The Dying Light as an adventure, with a handful of heroes battling incredible odds and (incredibly!) winning. The big picture is there, but the adventure is constrained. The story is tight enough -- and human enough -- to be appreciated and enjoyed.

It's probably not essential to have read The Prodigal Sun in order to enjoy The Dying Light. The adventure is exciting enough to enjoy, even if the characters are unknown. Still, it would help to have read Sun.

On the other hand, these first two books of a trilogy are set in totally different environments... The characters get to know each other on a single planet, then battle baddies in spaceships and space-stations in a different part of the galaxy. Will the third book be set in yet another different environment?

I hope to read the final book of this trilogy, to find the explanation to the plague of killer superhumans...

Yet I do not have to read the third book. And I see that as a strength of this series. It would be nice to read all three books. But each book is an enjoyable story on its own.

A trilogy is fine. But not if it is really one book published in three volumes: that's just lazy writing and sneaky marketing.

Evergence is an ideal trilogy: three good books, three good stories, one consolidated 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.

The Tenth Chamber / Glenn Cooper

The Tenth Chamber

category: thriller, author:

Glenn Cooper

original copyright 2010,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

I enjoyed this book's "environment": France, cave paintings, archaeology... Something a bit different. I also appreciated the way that "France" was the country it was set in -- and not some cutesy foreign setting where we were expected to appreciate the exciting French-ness of it all... It's just a good story which happens to be set (mostly) in France.

Also an enjoyable idea, with a realistic portrayal of what could happen to fairly ordinary people who gain the benefits of... the mysterious secrets of The Tenth Chamber.

Then there's the government involvement... How many books expect us to believe that no-one in power has ever discovered the secrets right under their noses? The Tenth Chamber is far more realistic. I like it!

It's just a bit surprising when -- suddenly -- mass murders occur. Still, it suits the story and the characters. And -- speaking of mass murder! -- the grand finale is rather satisfying!

It's a good book, well worth reading. Not a great book. Solid story, great background. Keeps you reading... Just doesn't quite grab you with ... whatever it is with which great books grab you...

..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 Dreaming Void / Peter F. Hamilton

The Dreaming Void

category: science fiction, author:

Peter F. Hamilton

book 1 of Void
original copyright 2007,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10

When I say, above, "read in October 2010" I mean, I attempted to read this book. Years ago I would read and finish each and every (fiction) book that I started. Now, if a book makes no sense -- I give up.

The Dreaming Void makes no sense.

To confirm my guess -- as to why this book makes no sense -- I searched for some reviews. And found this: "this is one of the later books in a series which keeps referring to events and people that are alluded to in earlier volumes." Yes, that's what I thought... the book makes no sense if read by itself. From that same review: "buy every book this man writes and read them in order. Rather than write a 10,000 page book, Peter Hamilton has broken it up into many volumes..."

Alternatively: don't bother trying to read The Dreaming Void. It makes no sense.

This does introduce a difficulty with my rating scale.

I rate The Dreaming Void as "4: bad but could be read." But the book is not really "bad", it's just not worth reading -- by itself. Perhaps this book would improve if you have, in fact, read all of Hamilton's books in order... But -- somewhere back in the past -- I do seem to remember reading another Hamilton book. With the same result: complex, boring, unreadable.

Oh well. I read 'em, I rate 'em, I review 'em. And I recommend that you don't bother reading this one.

..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.

Reaper Man / Terry Pratchett

Reaper Man

category: fantasy, humour, author:

Terry Pratchett

book 11 of Discworld
original copyright 1991,
read in October 2010 (and before, years ago)

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

A very enjoyable Discworld book!

This is a story of Death losing his job and learning a bit more about being human... An enjoyable plot with likable characters. Especially the confused but always wanting to understand, Death himself.

There are a few -- quite a few -- of the standard Discworld characters. Thankfully, they are not yet fixed in their roles... Okay, Sergeant Colon of the Watch is predictable -- but he only plays a small part. In this eleventh Discworld book, we are still meeting new people. And the miserable Rincewind does not make an appearance...

There are nice characters and foolish characters and strange characters and reeeeaallly strange characters. Yet they all get our sympathy and they all add their bit to the story. There is nothing cruel, there is nothing nasty. There is just a lot of good fun and a lot of excellent humour.

Reaper Man is Pratchett at his best. And that, is very 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.

Eon / Greg Bear

Eon

category: science fiction, author:

Greg Bear

original copyright 1985,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

This book is "a triumph of soaring imagination and huge detail." It says so on the back cover. And it's true. Unfortunately soaring imagination and huge detail are not enough to make a great novel.

Early on I decided, there are too many characters, I won't try to remember them all. So there are dozens of characters doing things for no apparent reason... Who is that? I wonder, Why are they doing that? Sure, it's a sign of a lazy reader. It's also a sign that the author has failed to fully capture my attention.

There is also the huge detail of the science... Again, I simply looked at the words and didn't bother to try to absorb.

Do you remember the very first Star Trek movie? All the great Star Trek characters, a great plot for a Star Trek episode -- stretched out to a full length movie. How did they stretch that movie? By including lots of slow fly-bys of the model spaceships. Boring!

Compare that to the original Star Wars movie: non-stop action, a Western set in space. Robots, spaceships, planets, movie models of all shapes and descriptions -- but all just background. The movie action rolls right along and the models are just, well, just there. Background. Adding depth to the action.

With Eon, Bear has taken the Star Trek approach: stretched out the action with boring details of the technology. Futuristic? Great. Exciting shapes and colours? Very nice. But what about advancing the plot?!

The plot itself is, sort of, interesting. A story of its time, 1985. With 1985 politics and one-eyed patriotism extended a thousand years into the future. Somewhat dated but still interesting.

More interesting is the human response to alien threat.

Aggressive aliens threaten to dump a star into the battleground, to wipe out all life -- human and alien -- in order to... well, I'm not sure. Perhaps this is Bear's reference to MAD, the mutually assured nuclear destruction of his era: we'll all be dead but so will you. So how do the humans -- the psychologically adjusted, peace loving humans of the far future -- how do these humans respond?

These peace-loving humans use their own methods to wipe out all life on the battlefield. They make all uninhabitable. At least the humans intend to survive, by moving on past the huge area of destruction. Oh well, a response for the times, I guess: You threaten me and I'll wipe your alien selves from the surface of this world...

Finally, as a sort of icing on the cake of boredom, Bear uses the then-fashionable parallel worlds theory. Which makes a nonsense of all the strife and striving...

Let's go back and help the world recover from nuclear devastation! Why bother? There is still an infinity of parallel worlds which we will not be helping. Worse yet: One woman actually decides to "go home" -- to a parallel universe where (a) nuclear devastation did not happen and (b) she does not exist but her family and boyfriend do... Riiiiiggght.

Once you introduce parallel worlds, all efforts are pointless. Sure, you may be able to find a world where "you win". But there will still be an infinite number of other parallel worlds where -- "you lose". By "winning" here you guarantee that you will have "lost" somewhere else.

Leave the parallel worlds to the quantum physicists. All it does for a novel, is to make all the protagonists' efforts, pointless.

..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 Stainless Steel Trio / Harry Harrison

A Stainless Steel Trio

category: science fiction, humour, author:

Harry Harrison

contains books 1, 2 & 3 of Stainless Steel Rat
original copyright 1985/87/94,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

A Stainless Steel Trio contains the first -- is story chronology -- three stories of the Stainless Steel Rat series. I have already reviewed the first novel, A Stainless Steel Rat is Born. In that review I wrote, "By the end of the volume -- I suspect that I will have raised my rating..." I was wrong.

The second and third novels -- The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted and then Sings the Blues -- take problems from the first and make them worse.

The Rat himself is strong, intelligent, agile, good at everything... When he was Born he was learning. Now, he is perfect. Yukk!

Worse yet, everyone else is a fool, a total moron, weak, or strong but uncoordinated. In the army the Rat does meet -- as he tells us -- the one person who actually earned the medals that he was wearing... So what happens? The Rat runs, then picks on the next person in line, who is the standard strong but thick moron.

There is a handful of more capable characters. These all turn out to be bad guys who are revealed then easily defeated, or good guys who recognise the greatness of the Rat and swoon at his feet. Sheesh! Two-dimensional boredom!

In an introduction, Harrison claims that the Rat's adventures in the army reflect Harrison's own period as an army draftee. Sorry, but it takes more than bitter memories to create humour.

It's quite a few years since I read the original -- first written -- Stainless Steel Rat novel. I remember enjoying it, quite a lot. Has my taste in books changed so much? Or has Harrison simply grown old and retreated into the simplicity of churning out formulaic potboilers based on sarcasm and stupidity...

Oh well. A least these books are light enough to read quickly.

..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.

Vellum / Hal Duncan

Vellum

category: fantasy, author:

Hal Duncan

book 1 of Book of All Hours
original copyright 2005,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 2 out of 10

I read the introduction; it made some sort of sense. Jumping around, incomplete & unclear, but there was some sense of the beginning of a story.

Then it all went downhill.

Open a magic book and look at the map on page 1. It looks like where you are -- but not quite. Page 2 zooms out on the map... and there are noticeable differences between the map and reality. Page 3, zoom out further, the map is purely imaginary... And guess what? The hero is now in that imaginary world...

Great, let's have some imaginary-world adventures... But no! There is no-one else there. The story keeps flicking backwards and forwards -- incomprehensibly.

Suddenly: there's an unknown character doing unknown things before heading off into the great unknown. "Do this," she is told. "Why?" she asks. "Because that's what we do, here," she is told. "Okay." Good... grief.

So we have a main protagonist who doesn't know where he is, doesn't know what he's doing and doesn't explain why "his" storyline keeps bouncing from one confusing time+place to another. Then there's the unknown protagonist who decides -- for no stated reason -- to go from an initial unknown place to another place with a name but no explanation, for no known reason.

Sorry, but at this point I gave up reading and skimmed, looking for a point.

I found the author's thank-yous, including thank-yous to people who had translated legends from Latin, Greek and Sumerian... Which, apparently, the author had then rewritten in his own fashion. Which makes sense: a lot of old legends seem to be written in Gobbledegook. They are, after all, originally written for people with a complete mythos which we do not share.

The secret of getting a good story from an old myth, is to rewrite the myth for the modern reader. Duncan seems to have simply copied the old myth. With all the attendant lack of meaning for the modern reader.

I have just downgraded my rating from 4 to 2. If you're a lover of ancient Sumerian myths -- feel free to set your own rating. If you can struggle far enough into the book to make some sense of it, feel free to set your personal rating of this book to a higher level.

The words are written in English -- yes, I have read worse in a published book. But as far as being a "novel"... Vellum is unreadable.

..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.

Grumpy Old Holidays / Judith Holder

Grumpy Old Holidays

category: humour, travel, author:

Judith Holder

book ?? of Grumpy Old...
original copyright 2007,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

A lot of funny bits... surrounded by a lot of words.

The Grumpy concept is good. Very entertaining. For a while. Then you begin to think, So what?!

There are other holiday / humour books which are better. Grumpy is, well, a series of grumps. Okay, a lot of it is funny. But with the minimum of writer's effort. Which is fine (clever, lazy). For a while. Then you start to wish that the "author" had done more than tie together a lot of holiday-related complaints.

Compare Grumpy to Molvania: a land untouched by modern dentistry, by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner & Rob Sitch. If I reread it I'll link this to a PissWeakly review... Meanwhile, a quote from a "better" book of humour + holiday:

Meanwhile, a little further south are the Pucjicj Hills where keen hikers can walk for miles without seeing so much as a road or electricity pylon, provided of course they do it at night.

Molvania is both funny and inventive: actual imagination has gone into writing the book. Okay, Grumpy is funny and somewhat inventive -- but the humour depends on the readers' acceptance of the worst aspects of holidays. Molvania takes the same stereotypes and invents a complete catalogue of holiday humour.

I jumped quite quickly through Grumpy; that's the best way. Read too slowly and it becomes boring. Read fast enough and there is a sustained level of enjoyment. Because the book does contain quite a lot of enjoyable material.

Enjoyable material... surrounded by a lot of extra words.

Read a bit of Grumpy now and then. Come back for a small dose of light sarcasm. Just don't attempt to read it all at once.

..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.

Eclipse / Stephenie Meyer

Eclipse

category: romance, fantasy, author:

Stephenie Meyer

book 3 of Twilight
original copyright 2007,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 9 out of 10

Okay, I'm just a sucker for a great romance! And by "great" I mean, where the girl is kissing the guy -- so she forgets to breathe... Aaaaaahhhhh shucks :-)

I had delayed reading Eclipse for a couple of months. I had the book, just didn't pick it up. The feeling was, How much sap could I handle in one year?

I picked up Eclipse. Started reading... And just could not stop. I finished the book in a day. And enjoyed every minute of it!

About half-way through you realise, there is going to be a big battle, very soon, with vampires, werewolves and one human in the middle...

Another 200 pages of breaking hearts, anguished romantic suffering, despair, guilt and forgiveness -- and the battle is still to come...

More pages of love and (controlled) lust and longing, then one very individual battle... The heroine prepares to sacrifice herself for the cause of good (and the hero is heard to give yet another exasperated sigh at the heroine's silliness -- truly!)... Oh, and the big battle just happened, off-screen...

And all that's left is unresolved heartbreak for the odd member of the romantic triangle. "All"?! The ghastliness of the loser's fate is an entire, heart-wrenching epilogue!

Absolutely brilliant! I am really, really looking forward to reading the final book of Twilight!

Sigh...

The overall Twilight plot has also gained some depth.

Why don't they just stop sighing, get married, get vampired and enjoy life? Now I have a better understanding of why not. Where did all those werewolves come from, just at the right time? Now we know. Is "cuddling" just a euphemism for what is really going on? Well...

This book really hits the deep patches of teenage sexuality. "Don't worry Dad," says our heroine, "I'm still a... [mutter] virgin ... and I [blush] intend to remain that way until ... married." And that's it. Just for those who did not really follow the story...

This is a book for "young adults". I am not "young". (There are those who would say I am not "adult", either, but that's by the bye.) No mixed messages, no forcing adult ideas onto unwilling or too-willing teenagers.

A great book, for all ages. Just be prepared for a lot of heart-wrenching angst and anguish.

..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 Stainless Steel Rat is Born / Harry Harrison

A Stainless Steel Rat is Born

category: science fiction, humour, author:

Harry Harrison

book 1 -- in story chronology -- of A Stainless Steel Rat
original copyright 1985,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

In his introduction to the three-novel volume, A Stainless Steel Trio, Harry Harrison writes that these books are picaresque. As with the author himself, I checked my dictionary... or, rather, Wikipedia. A picaresque novel can be, "an episodic recounting of the adventures of an anti-hero on the road."

A good description! Unfortunately, this story is just a bit too episodic. Too many characters coming and going, with too loose a thread to hold it together.

I also have one major problem with the central development that forms the unifying thread.

The "Stainless Steel Rat" is -- in this prequel -- a youngster, just starting out in his life of picaresque anti-heroism. To support his need for a criminal education, The Rat seeks out a past anti-hero, The Bishop. The Rat sets a trap and The Bishop takes the bait. So far, so good.

Unfortunately The Bishop does not want to train The Rat. So they part, on amicable terms.

Then The Bishop gets arrested. The Rat rescues The Bishop and the anti-hero mentoring begins.

What?! The Bishop makes mistakes and gets arrested?! After 50 or so years of successful crime?? No way!

The way I see it, The Bishop has set up his own arrest and trial. He has changed his mind and decided, after all, to train The Rat. So The Bishop sets the trap and this time it's The Rat who takes the bait.

That's the way it must have happened. It's a pity that Harry Harrison did not realise the truth...

Ah well...

I rated this "first" Rat book as a six. I'm reading this novel in a volume containing three "early" Rat stories. By the end of the volume -- I suspect that I will have raised my rating...

The Stainless Steel Rat stories are a lot of fun. This first one is just a little bit strained, perhaps by too much story for one novel...

Agamedes' opinion, six out of ten: Read to pass the time. But if you're like me, you will enjoy the 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.

Cocktail Time / P.G. Wodehouse

Cocktail Time

category: humour, author:

P.G. Wodehouse

book 3 of Uncle Fred
original copyright 1958,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

What a pleasure to read another book by Wodehouse! It's been too long... I must do it more often :-)

I had been reading The Great Gatsby and -- realising that both Fitzgerald and Wodehouse were writing about the idle rich -- I took a break from Gatsby in the charm of Wodehouse's Uncle Fred.

What a relief!

Wodehouse writes with charm, with humour, with humanity. There's a tangled plot, with ultimate success depending on a dozen or so successful resolutions, several of these being successful romantic pairings. Uncle Fred -- Lord Ickenham -- strolls through the idyllic English countryside spreading sweetness and light and no little chaos amongst all of his friends and acquaintances.

Wodehouse also has an excellent -- amusing and clever -- way with the English language. It took me a second reading to absorb the reference to "the old son of a bachelor"... Then there are the classic and poetic references mixed in with the casual conversation.

Young Cosmo Wisdom is speaking with the elder Howard Saxby:

"How's your wife, My Wisdom?"

Cosmo said he had no wife.

"Surely?"

"I'm a bachelor."

"Then Wordsworth was wrong. He said you were married to immortal verse."

Now that meant absolutely nothing to me, either! But it did seem to be significant... and a little web searching found the original poem by Wordsworth... which still meant very little -- but was such a pleasure to find!

Two days after reading Cocktail Time I needed a book to fill in a few idle hours. I reread Cocktail Time. And enjoyed it just as much -- at least.

I must remember to check my sources, for more books 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.