Vincalis the Agitator / Holly Lisle

Vincalis the Agitator

category: fantasy, author:

Holly Lisle

book 0 (prequel) of Secret Texts
original copyright 2002

read in May 2012

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

There's a rich and happy society. Ruled by people who are not as nice as they pretend. Who are, in turn, ruled by a secret society who are cruel, evil and known of by a surprising number of people, considering that they are a "secret society". Then there's the underclass; the people who exist to suffer and to supply the power to support the good life of those above.

This book provides the background to Lisle's Secret Texts trilogy. It's an enjoyable book which can be read alone. It's a while since I read the trilogy and I enjoyed some of the new explanation of where it all began. I suspect that it would be a mistake to read the prequel before the trilogy; too much suspense would be lost.

As a standalone book, Vincalis is average. The plot drifts along in a logical progression... unbelievable beyond the excuse of fantasy but logical. The characters are soap opera: each one is a mixture of good and bad, with mixed motives and a tendency to shift allegiance under pressure.

There are four main characters, with the story following the point of view of two of them. Those two live a charmed life. There are threats, there are dangers, there are narrow escapes... these two avoid the worst of the torments. When characters do suffer -- it is seen, safely, from a third-person perspective. I like that! There's a limit to how much I want my heroes to suffer.

There are also social messages. The main message is, that those on top preserve their own energy-wasting lifestyles at the expense of those at the bottom. That comfort -- and the desire for continued comfort -- corrupts. It's a measure of the shallowness of the book that when a few people do take a stand against continued oppression of the poor... They take a stand, make no difference, disappear from the story.

Perhaps there is just too much in this book: The best part of a lifetime for the heroes; an empire from its dizzy heights to its sudden fall; the back story to a trilogy all in one book... A large number of sudden but satisfactory endings in the last few chapters. Is there too much to do in one book? Though I suspect that a second prequel would only stretch the plot too thin.

If you have just read the Secret Texts trilogy, then Vincalis is now worth reading. For others, it's enjoyable enough to pass the time.

The cover picture, really, says it all:

There's the hero, manacled, but otherwise unhurt. Surrounded by suspicious characters in robes, pointing, thinking, accusing but not really hurting. (Sticks and stones...) Now look again at the hero: he has the hands of a Lego person... Plastic.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell / Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

category: fantasy, author:

Susanna Clarke

original copyright 2004

read in April 2012

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

When I say, "Read in April 2012" I mean, "Attempted to read in April 2012". I reached as far as page 127 -- in a book of 782 pages. Long... boring... interminable... pages.

Let's try to look for the positives:

It's a history of the revival of magic in 19th century Britain. Written as a history, with footnotes and references. Set in what is -- I guess -- a culture which matches that of the "actual" early 19th century Britain.

This is possibly quite clever. Except that the book is every bit as boring as the worst of boring history books. Oh, okay, I've already run past the positives from this book. So:

The characters are also unlikable. The title indicates two main characters. So far (by page 127) I have met one. He's a creep. As it says in a title page:

He hardly ever spoke of magic, and when he did it was like a history lesson and no one could bear to listen to him.

Yes, he's boring. And -- you guessed it -- the book copies his boring style. (Is that intended to be a clever authorial technique? It fails.) He also has a history of -- apparently -- murder of other people who are able to practice magic.

There is nothing at all pleasant about this central character.

I have no interest in finding out what happens to him. He mixes with society in order to further his own ends. He does not enjoy the mixing. Neither do I.

He is supported by a servant(?) -- a person whose role is described in a rather mysterious fashion. Yet there is not -- yet? -- any indication that the servant is anything more than an intelligent and useful person. Whose advice is generally ignored. And who disappears for long stretches of the narrative.

Further support is provided by other nasty people. People who are nasty enough to be unpleasant but not nasty enough to be interesting.

The story itself jumps along with nothing much interesting except for what does not happen...

So far there have been just three examples of magic. With no explanation of what really happened, nor of how it was made to happen. Mysterious? Or just boring...

The closest we get to actually seeing magic performed, is when a woman is brought back to life. There is some bargaining with the fairy who does the actual work. Then -- it's done. No further explanation.

The bargaining is interesting: The fairy brings the woman back to life in exchange for half of her remaining life. (The woman is not consulted. Nor is her fiance.) Which half of her life? I wondered...

Will the woman be happily married for another 40 years and then disappear off to fairy-land? Will the fairy prefer to take his half now, while the woman is still young? Or will she spend six months here and six months there... We are not told.

The magician did not seem to consider practicalities. Did the author? Who knows.

Judging by the list of chapters, half the book is dedicated to each of the magicians in the title. We are told, indirectly, that the second magician will be the pupil of the first.

Will the pupil be any more interesting than the teacher? Perhaps the dedicated reader will find out, as they struggle through the remaining 600-odd pages of this tedious book.

I don't know.

And I don't care.

---

Footnote

I have just spoken with someone who bravely struggled all the way through to the end of this book...

Apparently -- there is a plot. Something does happen. The book gets to be rather exciting... for the last hundred or so pages.

So there.

If you're a fast reader. Able to skim lightly over boring material. Willing to suspend judgment for 600 pages... You may enjoy this book.

Maybe.

Good luck !

..o0o..

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

PissWeakly: the Index

Fahrenheit 451 / Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451

category: science fiction, author:

Ray Bradbury

original copyright 1953

read in April 2012

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

For those who came in late... and perhaps, have been asleep when they could have been reading... Fahrenheit 451 is a story of book burning.

Books -- as we all know -- cause nothing but trouble. They stir up ideas, make people think. Worse yet, books contradict each other; they confuse their readers.

The temperature of the title -- 451 degrees Fahrenheit -- is the temperature at which the pages of a book will start to burn. (For modern readers who wish to take up a book-burning career, that's a fraction under 233 degrees Celsius.)

Bradbury writes in a very poetic style of prose. He is also rather wordy, with characters discussing -- at some length -- deep political and philosophical issues. As far as I can remember, my reasons for avoiding books by Bradbury were based on lack of plot and point rather than on poetic prose and didactic discussion.

Fahrenheit 451, however, is good.

Okay, I'm not sure that I agree with his main point, that a book is an almost magical means of opening the mind to wonder, deep thought and a better society. Perhaps it's because the short quotes he uses are from books that I have never read... Though many of the quotes are very familiar. Perhaps from my readings of Readers' Digest...

I also rather like an alternate view -- the Fahrenheit 451 societal control view -- that book burning could prevent wars. Or, at least, destruction of old books could also destroy memories of old hatreds. Thus encouraging people with short memories to forgive and forget. Or forget and not have to forgive.

Only trouble is... Do you burn all books, or just "trouble-making" books? And who decides which books are trouble-makers? Since I have no answer to those questions... I can't support burning of any books at all. (Though there are some... :-)

So Fahrenheit 451 is a treatise against burning of books.

What I really enjoy, is Bradbury's view of television... Talk about the opiate of the people!

So read the book, appreciate the message, tick off one more classic that you have now read.

Meanwhile:

The opiate of the people

First, I typed "Talk about the opiate of the masses!" Then I thought, was that television? Wasn't it Marx, writing about religion? So I scanned the web.

It seems that Edward R. Murrow -- whoever he was -- referred to television as "the opiate of the people":

"It might be helpful," said Murrow, "if those who control television and radio would sit still for a bit and attempt to discover what it is they care about. If television and radio are to be used to entertain all of the people all of the time, then we have come perilously close to discovering the real opiate of the people. (Time Magazine, 1957)

So that was in 1957. Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in 1953. Already, television was being recognised as a drug. A means of entertaining all of the people all of the time. A means of forcing universal happiness.

Bradbury's television is, indeed, a universal opiate. A means of enforcing universal acceptance of government control. A mind-numbing drug. But not a means to happiness...

Today's television is pretty much the same... except that it is not a government in control.

Quick! Save your mind! Go out and read a book!

But first...

The opium of the masses

Marx -- Karl, not Groucho -- wrote that religion is the opium of the masses.

Was Murrow right to steal and misquote the Marx attack on religion, to use as an attack on television? Try this:

Television is the general theory of this world, its encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d’honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against television is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is television.

Television suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Television is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

The abolition of television as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness.

That is the Marx quote -- part of it -- from Wikipedia -- but with the word television replacing the original word, religion.

Doesn't it work rather well?!

..o0o..

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

PissWeakly: the Index

Marathon: from start to finish / Sam Murphy

Marathon: from start to finish

category: self help, author:

Sam Murphy

original copyright 2004

read in April 2012

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

Have you ever considered running a marathon?

A marathon is about 42 km, 26 miles. For most of us, it's an enormously long way. A long way to run, anyway.

Could I even make the distance? Or would I just collapse along the way...

This book is rather reassuring.

No, Marathon does not go all gung-ho. There is no exhortation to run through the pain... No demand to win at all costs... No claim that positive thinking will overcome the agony of the body...

In Marathon, Murphy simply treats the run as something that can be done.

Sure, you need to train. And perhaps you need a doctor's check-up before you even start. But -- in this book -- a marathon is just a longish race to be run. Not a challenge to be won. Just a race to be run.

For the runner who is considering running a marathon, this book is quite reassuring. Without being demanding.

Do you feel foolish if you can't run all the way? Walk if you must. You're just not going to make the distance? Withdrawing from the race is an acceptable option.

Yes, you want to complete a marathon. But it does not have to be "this" marathon.

Yes, it would be nice to win a marathon. This book is all about taking part... And doing what you can. Perhaps to the best of your own ability.

A good positive approach to a major physical challenge. Follow this book for your first few marathons. Then employ a sadistic personal trainer if winning is your ultimate goal.

---

As an aside: It's a good book which is already showing the effect of rapidly advancing culture and technology.

The names of races have changed... Sponsors with naming rights have changed. But it's still easy to track down the renamed races.

The biggest changes are in technology.

Sports watches with GPS tracking are now common. And the internet has developed.

Murphy mentions web sites which help you to track sponsorship. Now each race will (probably) come with its own sponsorship pages.

Various other mentions of the web are also rapidly being outdated.

Not that this detracts at all from the book!

This is an excellent book for the wannabe marathon runner. Set at a realistic level, with good advice. Just minor details of technology already behind the times.

Read and learn.

And good luck with your run!

..o0o..

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

PissWeakly: the Index

The Two Pearls of Wisdom / Alison Goodman

The Two Pearls of Wisdom

category: fantasy, author:

Alison Goodman

book 1 of Pearls ?
original copyright 2008

read in April 2012

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

This is an enjoyable book though quite cliched.

Girl-dressed-as-boy gets accepted for training that is usually restricted to boys. Gains sudden and unexpected elevation in power. Loses friends, gains new friends.

Plus various standards of the more enjoyable fantasy chick lit. Heroine is loyal and always does her best. Friends may have doubts but are ultimately supportive. Certain villains are... well... evil. Until their inner demons are exposed and exorcised.

There's nothing wrong with cliches -- or tropes, to use a word that I have just learnt. Good tropes can add up to a good book. And the Pearls tropes add up to 7 out of 10, well worth reading.

So why is my opinion (at the top of this post) eight?!

Pearls is set in China. Well, in a older China. A China where magic works. And it is very well done.

Not that I know much about imperial China! But Pearls reads true: I can believe in it. Plus, there is an overlay of magic, to make this a fantasy.

Better yet, the magic fits with the culture. If imperial China did have magic -- then this is the magic that it would have.

The final chapter or two was a little strained, as the author rushed to conclude the book while leaving clear pointers to volume two. Still, it was all wrapped up for volume one. Not so much loose ends, as an introduction to the conflict for book two.

This book is an enjoyable adventure, well worth reading. With the additional and interesting cultural environment.

Really quite good.

..o0o..

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

PissWeakly: the Index

Changes / Jim Butcher

Changes

category: Fantasy, author:

Jim Butcher

book 12 of Dresden Files
original copyright 2010

read in April 2012

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

Number twelve of the series. Each book is independent. Each book builds on the previous books.
Each book builds on the previous books. So the hero, Harry Dresden, gets more friends, more enemies, more magical powers. Which means that each book, each adventure, is more challenging than the last.

The alternative is the old-style sitcom, where a key rule was, each episode must end with the same "sit" as at the start. So, for example, if someone wins a lottery then they must lose it, before the end of that episode.

The developing series -- such as the Dresden Files -- is more of a challenge for the author. How to make each book more exciting that the last? As the hero learns new tricks and techniques, how to set challenges that are still difficult?

Well, actually, Changes is just a bit over the top.

Has Dresden reached the limit of acceptable magical powers? Will book thirteen have the hero solving all problems by simply clicking his heels and wishing? Will the baddies simply wilt and fail in the face of Harry's magical super-powers?

Probably not...

Changes is over the top. In terms of magical powers, magical bad guys... and kill count. But it's still a lot of fun. And Dresden is still a good character, doing his best to be good, in a world full of evil.
I am beginning to wonder... Is there a particular end point for which Butcher is aiming? Is there a plateau of magical power that will see Dresden set for life, as the benevolent controller of all things magical? Or will he just continue to grow... and grow... and grow.

Either way, I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Oh. But. I do have one rather picky complaint.

At the end of the book is an "Author's Note". These can be interesting. Sometimes the author's note offers an insight into the writer. Or into the writer's approach to writing.

This Author's Note is simply an ad for a book by the same author but in a new series..
Worse yet, it's much the same set of words -- according to my memory -- as is published in the new book.

No mention of the Dresden Files series, past or future. No insight into the author's approach to writing. A claim that he is interested in the style of story in the new book. So what?!

I tell myself, It's not the author's fault, the publisher made him do it...

Still...

Disappointing.
===

13jul18: 

a second reading.

Yes, I agree with everything I wrote in the original review. With points which I may have mentioned in reviews of other Dresden books:

This series is (a) very comic book and (b) aimed at horny teenage boys.

Comic book: Despite being all words, the book (and series) is very visual. Lots of strong imagery, plenty of characters with strong visual -- as well as characteristic -- differences. And yet... the wordy self-analysis does occasionally drag.

Teenage: very attractive women, most of whom are unavailable. (Or should that be "women"; many are female but not human.) Wish-fulfilment, escapist fantasy with the hero risking death and worse in order to save all and sundry.

I had barely read a chapter when I thought... again... wordy comic books for horny teenage boys. Then I continued reading & enjoying :-)

..o0o..

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

PissWeakly: the Index

Good Omens / Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Good Omens

category: fantasy, authors:

Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

original copyright 1990

read in March 2012 (and before, possibly...)

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

There's a hint, in this book, of Pratchett's "not so good" Discworld books. The ones where he lays it on just a bit too thick. I've read only one Gaiman book (that I can remember) and I found it to be rather stupid.

The best part of Good Omens is the series of authors' notes at the end.

Easy to see why it's a cult book, though: it makes fun of the underlying stupidity of bible stories. Create Earth, create humanity, allow free will then destroy everything in a pointless battle of Armageddon... Angels and demons are, well, angels and angels with a different point of view... Heaven and Hell are enormous, unthinking bureaucracies...

Then, after all this, there is still an ineffable god-being who -- possibly -- knows and plans all. A bit of a let down, after all the fallibility of the visible cast of natural and supernatural characters.

An enjoyable romp. Lots of good laughs, mostly of the they're-no-different-to-us variety. A rather weak, not-really-deus ex machina twist at the end. Perhaps a good book for those who believe in God, doubt the basics of religion... and see humanity as the pinnacle of creation.

The authors' notes at the end are the best bit of Good Omens.

As an insight into the authors, interesting. As an description of the approach to shared authorship, entertaining. As an explanation of the non-stop humour, the characters of the children, and an implied explanation of the somewhat haphazard approach to the climax... very good.

If you're a religious cynic, it appeals: as a cynical -- or perhaps ironic? -- view of biblical ideas. A cult book for people who wish to challenge the ideas that were accepted doctrine as they grew up. If you don't care, it has less impact: if you don't care about the ideas, you don't care about challenging the ideas.

Still, it's a very funny book.

Mostly.

..o0o..

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

PissWeakly: the Index