The Fear Institute / Jonathan L Howard

The Fear Institute

(Johannes Cabal 3)

by Jonathan L Howard

fantasy, humour

copyright 2011

read in October 2017

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

There is no way this book can get a fair review. Not from me, not today.

I post from either a desktop PC -- preferred -- or a tablet. Both run off the same internet connection. That internet connection -- Telstra, in case you are wondering -- has been dead all morning. So neither PC nor tablet is worth a pinch of internet shit.

I tried a mobile hotspot which I had recharged for a short stay away from home. Of course it had expired -- 99.9% unused -- a week ago.

Now the desktop PC still has no internet connection. Yet the tablet is working fine! yes, it's bloody magic. Oh, Windows 10 on the PC, in case you are wondering. In case Windows 10 is the pile of crap which randomly kills the internet connection. Who knows. In the past I have spent hhours on the phone to Telstra. And hours on the internet -- when it works -- reading idiotic wild guesses by self-professed experts as to why Windows 10 could be a pile of shit. And still, both -- or one -- or some weird combination -- will randomly kill the internet connection.

So... while the tablet at least appears to be working:

I think that 6 out of 10 is fair for this book. I didn't really enjoy it.

The humour is clever, some is quite funny. Lots of it is overdone.

The hero is awful. I dislike him. For a short while I thought, okay, this is book three, he's about to gain some humanity. But he did not.

The end was of the form, Oh, so it's *you* Who is behind all this! At least, I think that was the point. Unfortunately I have no idea who  the mysterious "you" really is. And -- because I don't really like the book or the characters -- I'm not interested in finding out. Though at a guess -- and this may even be a spoiler -- if I were to guess, I would guess that the hero just saved himself. Twice in a row, probably. By cunning use of loops in  time.

Which is a pile of rubbish, really.

When characters can go anywhere -- anywhen -- in time and space, why don't they do it more effectively?

Oh, and of the very few Lovecraft books and stories that I have read... my opinion is... that they are absolute rubbish. Which does make it difficult for me to appreciate what may well be an homage to Lovecraft.

If you like Lovecraft. If you like nasty, sarcastic, self-centred main characters whose only redeeming feature is intelligence. Read the book. Apart from the ridiculous "I'll save myself by looping back in time" ending, the plot is quite logical. Pointless, perhaps, but logical.

I wouldn't bother.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it." ... Karl Marx

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Skitter / Ezekiel Boone

Skitter

(Spiders #2)

by Ezekiel Boone

horror, disaster

copyright 2017

read in October 2017

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

This is a book which is written to be a blockbuster... Not too heavy, not too light. Plenty of action, plenty of destruction, plenty of human interest...

Human interest? A cast of thousands! And yes, I just mean the humans.

Do you like these characters? No? Well, not to worry, I have plenty more... Do you -- the reader -- need a character to "identify with" ? Somewhere in this huge cast will be just the right person... Which is annoying, really.

Good point: the characters are distinct enough to tell apart. There is no confusion. Bad point: there are a dozen on more parallel stories -- it's hard to really care about any one of them. Though perhaps that's the point?

This is a story of world-wide disaster. It is told through the eyes and actions of a relatively small number of characters. (Yes, dozens of named characters. But there are millions more -- named and unnamed -- being killed.) The characters are there as examples of the range and variety of the disaster.

The characters also provide a variety of approaches to battling the disaster...

Remember when disasters such as alien invasions or massive attacks of the common cold were solved by a very small group of characters? Usually it was the brilliant old scientist, his attractive granddaughter and the capable young man.

In Skitter there seem to be ten different parts of "the solution" coming from ten different groups of people. More realistic, perhaps. Though I'm surprised by the number of people who live in remote communities yet have ready access to powerful people in key government positions...

In fact, come to think of it... No, no need to think about it: From the word go this book is unbelievable! But still enjoyable :-)

It's horror-lite. Tedious in parts -- too much of the character-building breaking up the actual plot development. But easy-enough to read. Easy enough to put down, too. Which leads me to my regular complaint:

It's not obvious -- until I start reading -- but this is book two. Worse yet, book two does not finish the story. I would normally put that complaint right at the top of my review... but...

Skitter is lightweight entertainment. The characters are introduced and quickly placed in context. It doesn't really matter where the spiders came from, in fact, I suspect that book one could have had a lot of tedious "discovery" of the threat. This book leaps straight into the action!

And book three? Does not really matter...

Skitter is a snapshot of a disaster. Nice people surviving -- or not. Not-so-nice people either causing mischief in a minor way -- or being wiped out of the story. There is development towards a conclusion but the conclusion is not important.

This is an easy-to-read book with no power to grip. Enjoyable, yes. Would I like to read about phase three of the disaster? Yes. If I never read it, will I miss phase three? Not really.

Not a great book. But a good book for reading to pass the time.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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​"No one said they wanted faster horses, they wanted less horseshit." … no, not said by Henry Ford

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This Day all Gods Die / Stephen Donaldson

This Day all Gods Die

(The Gap #5)

by Stephen Donaldson

science fiction

copyright 1996

re-read in October 2017

rated 8/10: really quite good

And now... it's politics !

Each of the Gap books seems to have its own theme. The Gap into Ruin -- #5 -- has space battles, aliens, heroic space-people... and the final *political* machinations. All good fun :-)

All over the top, too... even more so than usual. The characters have been pushed, in the first four books, to their limits. Now they go even further :-)

There may, however, be a slight shift: Earlier books pushed characters to their limits. In this book the characters *choose* to go even further.

Several major characters have been tested... and succeeded... and now discover new depths. Which enable them -- or encourage them --to try even harder. Yes, it's the final book -- with loose ends being tied up and characters finally achieving their ultimate goals... Not always "winning" but reaching their personal bests.

The science is -- as usual -- over the top and rather dated. Not that it matters. (I may have mentioned this in an earlier review: Donaldson writes this "science fiction" rather like a "fantasy".) The characters are over the top. The politics...

The politics is rather unbelievable.

Why can I accept over the top science but not unbelievable politics? Because science is *expected* to develop... Yes, the Gap science is dated. Yet it is still futuristic, it's just the general approach that seems dated.

When the political discussion starts, it is as over the top as the science... and yet... And yet, I am not able to believe that the people -- the politicians -- have "advanced" so far!

Science advances, yes, use whatever ray-gun technology you like and I will accept it. People, though... I just don't expect them  to change. Not so much, anyway.

The characters are overdrawn caricatures of "ordinary" people: strong, weak, greedy, honest, whatever... The physical and mental toughness -- the characteristics which drive the heroes and villains -- I can accept. It's the political cunning which seems -- to me -- to be a bit hard to accept.

But, no worries -- it's a most enjoyable book :-)

A lot of excitement, action, cunning plots -- and a very satisfying conclusion.

A great end to a great series.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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​"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." ... Albert Einstein

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The Last Wish / Andrzej Sapkowski

The Last Wish
(The Witcher #1)
by Andrzej Sapkowski

fantasy, short stories

copyright 1993
(translated by Danusia Stok 2007)
read in October 2017

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Yes, it's "really quite good". Which would rate it as an eight. If the cover did not claim that this is a "novel".

Novel: "an invented prose narrative that is usually long and complex and deals especially with human experience through a usually connected sequence of events" (Merriam-Webster.com)

This book contains a series of short stories. Ostensibly linked by occasional chapters called "The Voice of Reason". This does

​ *​

not

​*​

turn the short stories -- despite their common characters and common fantasy world -- into a "connected sequence of events". It's a book of short stories. I read, hoping for a developing plot leading to a unifying conclusion... and was disappointed. Enough said.

The back cover quotes SFX: "There's a fairy-tale quality..." Do the reviewers at SFX get out much? The entire book is a fairy-tale. A warped fairy-tale. Plenty of the humour is due to the author's turning of well known fairytales on their heads.

It's great fun. the hero is heroic -- and moral. The adventures are action-packed, often bloody, of variable quality but always entertaining. The actual "last wish" of the title is... satisfying? Yet i

​t

 has nothing to do with any of the other short stories. As far as I can tell. Oh, and the author is clearly gaining confidence: he suggests the wish but I can't guarantee that I understood it. Nor am I clear as to why that particular wish -- as I guess it -- managed to solve the final near-disaster.

Oh well.

I enjoyed the book. Yes, it was well worth reading. Yet I finished reading in one rather hurried sitting... simply because if I had not finished quickly I would probably not have bothered finishing it at all.

Overall it is well worth reading, for passing entertainment. A book to be read and enjoyed. Then -- whether finished or not -- put away and forgotten.




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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"A lot of people cry when they chop onions. The trick is to not form an emotional bond." … Jimmy Carr

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Nagash the Sorcerer / Mike Lee

Nagash the Sorcerer

(Rise of Nagash #1 of 3

in the Warhammer world)

by Mike Lee

fantasy

copyright 2008

read (in part) October 2017

rated 7/10: well worth reading

This is absolutely over-the-top fantasy. Super heroes, super villains. Hmmm... aside: "heroes"? I don't think that there are "heroines". But the women are incredibly beautiful and the men are incredibly handsome. Or hugely attractive in a rather monstrous way...

The battles are enormous, the smallest stake must be world domination. The gods are involved in every step... but are rather overwhelmed by the villainy of Nagash.

All very enjoyable!

But far too complex for an entry into the Warhammer world.

I read a couple of books from Warhammer 40,000, the science fiction equivalent of this series. I had no idea who the characters were -- but it didn't seem to matter. In this fantasy Warhammer world -- I am out of my depth.

Nagash is a villain who -- as I understand it -- has been the chief villain in several earlier Warhammer books. This book (and two others) provide the complete Nagash history. For those who know this world -- an excellent and probably essential trilogy.

But I am confused. Nagash I soon know. I'm enjoying his history. But who are all these other people? Well known from other books... I guess. But for me -- as a newcomer to Warhammer -- I have no idea. So it makes it just too difficult to find the... significance... of the rise of Nagash.

I'm enjoying the book. Less that one third through. With two books to follow... The full volume is due back on the library in two days. I may read a bit more. But... the book will be returned. Largely unread.

For fans and followers of Warhammer: I believe that it would be an excellent book :-)

For me... as a newcomer... no. This is *not* the book to use as entry to this extremely complex world.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
=======

"A lot of people cry when they chop onions. The trick is to not form an emotional bond." … Jimmy Carr

====

Now much more than a clever name for a holiday journal:

 https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/  :-)

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