Broken Angels / Richard Morgan

Broken Angels

category: science fiction, author:

Richard Morgan

book 2 of Takeshi Kovacs
original copyright 2003

read in July 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10, really quite good(*)

A few years ago I was given a book, as a present, written by John Pilger. Boring, I thought. Biassed. What a load of negativity, of unmitigated doom and gloom.

This month I read Broken Angels. One man against corporate greed. Against corrupt government. One man who deals out nasty death before it can be dealt out to him. A thoroughly enjoyable book and... the greed, corruption and violence is so believable.

In his acknowledgments, author Richard Morgan names John Pilger as an author who provided strong influence for Broken Angels. "These writers [Pilger and others] did not invent their subject matter as I did, because they did not need to. They have seen and experienced it for themselves at first hand, and we should be listening to them."

I ignored Pilger, who writes the truth as he sees it. I enjoyed -- and accepted the message of -- Morgan, who writes of the same truths but in a futuristic setting.

A friend asked me, Why do you read so much fiction?

The messages are so much more acceptable when they are dressed up as fiction. Pilger writes of the truth and I ignore it. Morgan wraps the same truth in a "fiction" -- and I accept it as being, the truth.

A book of "the truth" is too much to accept. Why should I believe what Pilger writes? And it must be an all-or-nothing acceptance: if I reject one assertion, why should I accept the rest? A book of fiction allows me to accept whatever underlying "truth" I am willing to accept. I can recognise exaggeration. I can selectively accept only parts of the story. The rest, I can dismiss without prejudice.

So a work of "fact" leaves my ignorance untouched. A work of "fiction" has had a far larger impact on my view of the world.

Or... perhaps it's just the accumulated cynicism of the years between books.

Either way, Broken Angels is far easier to read that Pilger. Action, excitement, violence, brutality and enough heroics and ethical behaviour to let me know that the hero is the good guy. No matter how many people he kills. And it all happens in a good science fiction universe.

Some words at the end, though, do remind me of another book, where a character mentioned various types of idealists. The worst, he said (if my memory serves me correctly!), the worst kind of idealist is the one who believes that his own life -- and your life -- are less important than his ideals. That is the most dangerous type of idealist. And, it seems, Morgan's hero is just that most dangerous kind of idealist.

Read and enjoy and gain insights into the corruption of humanity.

Or just read and enjoy.

----

(*) I have rated this book as 8, really quite good. Perhaps it is really 7, well worth reading? Perhaps I'm rating high because, after a couple of really boring books... Broken Angels did seem to be 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

Evil for Evil / K.J. Parker

Evil for Evil

category: fantasy ?, author:

K.J. Parker

book 2 of Engineer Trilogy
original copyright 2006

read in July 2012

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

This book is second of a trilogy. Perhaps there is something positive to say about the third book; perhaps some of the gloom and misery is dispelled in a somewhat happy conclusion.

Happy conclusion ? Who am I kidding ! If anyone is still alive -- anyone vaguely likable, that is -- if any likable character is still alive at the end, I would be surprised.

Let's consider the "category" of this book. The library identify it as science fiction. I've settled on fantasy. What is it really ?

There are the various city-states which are destroyed. Standard medieval places, with princes, cavalry, archers, foot soldiers with swords and pikes. Other than being not from our own history, there is no "fantasy" element to these places. No science fiction, either. Boringly standard, really.

There's a city-state where everyone operates to rules. Very strict rules, where trying to improve is punishable by death. Okay, could be fantasy or science fiction. They produce some machines which are apparently quite sophisticated. btw: This place is due to be destroyed in book three.

It's not just cities and states which are destroyed. Characters are also destroyed. Either physically or mentally or morally.

What if you asked Cormac McCarthy to write a "fantasy" novel -- but with less of the cheerful positivism that failed to grace The Road... You could end up with Evil for Evil.

What if you asked Woody Allen to define characters for a "fantasy" novel -- self-pitying, whining, ineffectual -- but with less reason to like them and with no chance of self-improvement... You could end up with Evil for Evil.

Characters do something, go somewhere, look as though they may just make a fair go of their lives. Then they are dragged back to an even worse situation. Or they just hang around, doing nothing. And are dragged down. Or killed.

Sometimes, the characters talk to themselves, for pages at a time (or so it seems; it drags). They explain to themselves how absolutely useless they are. How everything they do is wrong. Then they carry on being useless and doing the wrong things.

There is one central character (the eponymous engineer?) who is central to everything. He is willing to kill hundreds of thousands of strangers, to kill people who trust him, to kill people who are almost friends. He is also happy to destroy cities and countries. This is the central character of the series... Really, he sets the miserable tone for this story.

Forget it.

..o0o..

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

PissWeakly: the Index

Imager / L.E. Modesitt Jr

Imager

category: fantasy, author:

L.E. Modesitt Jr

book 1 of the Imager Portfolio
original copyright 2009

read in July 2012 

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

Tedious.

Exceedingly tedious.

Imager is an introduction to a series. It may be a fascinating series. As a book, this one is boring.

Young man becomes an apprentice artist. Passes ten years between chapters. Spends the rest of the book learning to be an imager, a magician.

We are given full details of every lesson. Every conversation. Every... single... boring... meal.

Half way through this book I thought, Why are we told what is eaten at every single meal? Why are we told what clothes the hero wears? What clothes his girlfriend wears? I see several possibilities.

Perhaps Modesitt is being paid by the word. Perhaps he has a well-imagined world but no plot, so he describes the world. Perhaps -- and I give this possibility the highest probability -- perhaps Modesitt has been told that lots of women are reading fantasy series. So, he thinks, Keep the women happy by detailing every meal and every costume...

Does it work? Do food and clothes attract the female reader? I don't know. Perhaps a female reader could tell me.

In between lessons and meals and descriptions of clothes, the hero is the target of assassins. As far as I can tell, there are three groups of assassins out to kill him.

One group seems to be linked to some people that the hero killed. As far as I can tell, it's not the killing which upset them. No worries, someone else has already killed that lot. Or at least scared them away.

They were scared away by the second lot. The second lot are believed to have a long-term grudge against the hero. Sometime in the future... in a far distant book, perhaps... the hero expects that this group will punish him severely. His evidence? Well, they killed the people who wanted him dead, didn't they?!

Then there's the third lot of killers... Who seem to be part of international attempts to destabilise the hero's country. This group randomly kill beginner imagers, those who don't know enough to defend themselves. When the hero proves hard to kill -- they just keep on trying!

Meanwhile, the hero is learning his magical tricks. Naturally enough, he is the best imager for hundreds of years. On top of this, he has the unexplained and unrelated Guesswork Superpower: when he guesses that the baddies are hidden behind the garden wall -- he is always right...

Okay, so it's an interesting world. The many dozens of characters are mostly cardboard. The hero is food- and clothing-fixated but otherwise acceptable. It makes for an interesting chapter one.

But a whole book? With so much scene-setting, so much explanatory conversation... so little actually happening!?  No way.

Light.  Wordy. Tedious.

..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

Anathem / Neal Stephenson

Anathem

category: science fiction, author:

Neal Stephenson

original copyright 2008

read in July 2012

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

Round about page 100, one of the characters complained about his life. "If only something would happen," he said. Strangely enough, I had been thinking the same thing.

This is a very slow-moving book.

Perhaps it was near page 150 that I was reminded of the standard advice to authors: Show, don't tell. Perhaps Stephenson has read that advice. Perhaps he didn't understand it.

Here's the hero. He's spent many pages in earnest discussion with other characters. And, occasionally, with himself. Now, thinks Stephenson, it's time to show something... So what does he do? The hero shows some tourists round a museum, while telling them -- and us -- some more of the history of his world...

Boring!

Still, it does get better.

Anathem is a textbook, a primer, in quantum physics. Wrapped up in a slow-moving story of "alien" invasion. The textbook material is quite good... Several times I found myself thinking, Wow! so that's what [some esoteric theory of physics] is all about!

This book does hit many of the essential points of traditional "hard" science fiction. One major scientific theme. Clever but cardboard characters. Scientific theory made practical to save the world. Hero is logical, understanding, brilliant. There's a token love interest. Rest of the world is, by and large, cooperative.

Look, I may sound as though I think that this book is awful -- but I don't and it's not! There are just so many faults... But the faults are all part of good science fiction. Except, perhaps for the slow-moving plot.

Those characters...

I spent several years in a support group for intellectually gifted children. Often, it was the parents who needed support. One particular issue was with "average" parents of exceptionally intelligent children.

"My child is a mind reader," was a common claim...

The smart child sees clues... The parent rushes them past the bike display. They quickly hide the small tool kit. They spend an hour locked in the garage, after a large cardboard parcel has been delivered... Aha! thinks the child, It looks as though I'm getting a bike for my birthday! Not mind-reading, just observation and logic.

The main characters of Anathem are like that: intelligent, logical, taking small clues and building a clear picture of the world around them. With an added bonus: the Anathem characters are also able to turn scientific theory into practical devices. How can the aliens possibly win, when the heroes can "read their minds" and build effective counter-measures?!

If you enjoy hard science fiction, read Anathem. If you want a primer on quantum physics, read Anathem. If you are a slow reader, or easily bored... try any book by Doc Smith.

..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

Leave it to Psmith / PG Wodehouse

Leave it to Psmith

category: humour, author:

PG Wodehouse

book 2 of Blandings
original copyright 1923

read in June 2012

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

Enjoyable, entertaining, light, likable: a typical Wodehouse book!

The hero -- Psmith -- is a bit of a rogue. A delightful, charming rogue. Also loyal, honest, dependable... Honest? An honest rogue?! Of course this is a book by PG Wodehouse.

Psmith sees an attractive woman, sheltering from the rain. Psmith selects the best umbrella available... it belongs to another member of the club but so what? Could Psmith leave a lady at risk of rain? A lady wearing such a beautiful hat, a hat that would obviously be spoilt by getting wet... In such need, a gentleman will happily offer another gentleman's umbrella...

And this is Wodehouse. The umbrella will eventually be returned to its rightful owner.

Wodehouse writes -- with humour and affection -- of the English upper classes. The characters are varied and distinct. Bright, dim. Strict, casual. Beautiful, ... pretty. Handsome, ... okay. Even the criminals are quite acceptable members of society!

Yes, there are criminals. And Psmith -- of course -- foils their dastardly deeds. Sends them on their way... no hint of police, no jail, no punishment. And Psmith gets the girl.

This is a delightful story about delightful people.

Read it, enjoy it, occasionally laugh aloud.

Leave it to Psmith to make your heart feel lighter.

..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

Dead Men's Boots / Mike Carey

Dead Men's Boots

category: fantasy, author:

Mike Carey

book 3 of Felix Castor
original copyright 2007

read in June 2012

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

This book is definitely noir. So deep in noir that it almost comes out the other side. Deep dark, with humour. Darkness laid on just a bit too thick.

World-weary, tough, cynical. A hero who's seen it all and found it all, wanting. And says so, with some excellent one-liners.

The effect is, dark humour that is somewhat depressing.

Nothing that makes you outright miserable. Just nothing really cheerful, either. The hero has no real friends, just acquaintances who work with him because they don't have a better choice. The hero feels some guilt for manipulating nice people into supporting him. He's right to feel guilty.

Then the humour fades away and is replaced by escalating violence. Personal violence and mass violence.

Don't get me wrong: this book will not make you feel miserable. But when the villains are roundly trounced the hero -- and the reader -- are left feeling... low. It feels as though this is not a victory... just a temporary staving off of the inevitable defeat.

Felix Castor -- the hero of this book -- can be compared to Harry Dresden of the Dresden Files. Both are magic workers battling supernatural enemies in an almost here-and-now big city. Read my review of Grave Peril, where Dresden's life appears to be on a downward spiral. Yet Dresden still has friends -- loyal friends. And Dresden favours the truth rather than manipulation.

Dead Men's Boots has no positive inter-personal interactions. When the hero says that he is reluctant to help, you believe him. When he seems to continue on because evil acts must be punished, you wonder if he is just protecting himself from future retribution.

Read this book, you may enjoy it. Do not expect to be cheered up when the hero finally wipes out the baddies. To the very last ghoul and ghost. With no feeling at all of a job well done.

..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 Jazz / Melissa Scott

The Jazz

category: science fiction, author:

Melissa Scott

original copyright 2000

read in June 2012

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

This is an enjoyable book with some surprises. Well, not so much surprises. More, I was surprised when some stereotypes failed to materialise...

Which is good !

First up, the conflict of the story is set up by a teenage hacker. Or, rather, a teenager who uses a tool which was hacked by a friend. The heroine is a smart web user with a past. She helps the teenager.

I kept expecting the teenager to come out of his shell, to develop, to use his skills to somehow solve some of the stories problems. But... he remained a teenager: sometimes surly, sometimes scared, sometimes suitably chastened. Which is fine, really... I suspect that my expectations were set by my recent readings of teen-boy-saves-world-and-gets-the-girl wish-fulfilment stories.

Then there's the heroine with the past...

At one point she thinks, Is this all a long-term plot aimed at me? Then she dismisses the idea as being worthy only of conspiracytheory.com... Which is a pity, since I was looking for a deeper plot. A major conspiracy plot, perhaps.

The Jazz is a straightforward story of nice people versus nasty. No great conspiracies, no nasty surprises. Just a looming threat, a few good friends and fast evasive manoeuvres. With the heroine using her special skills -- right at the last minute -- to save the day.

No great plot complexity but an interesting world. And nice characters except for the one, chief villain.

A pleasantly enjoyable book.