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.