Special Topics in ... / Marisha Pessl

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

by Marisha Pessl

fiction

copyright 2006

partly read in June 2020

rated 5/10: readable but only if there's nothing else

Readable? Sort of. My wife gave up reading it. I lasted 50 pages then skimmed the last few pages. Readable -- sort of -- but not worth the effort.

The book is a continuous series of literary (I think) allusions. The message from the author is, I'm so clever I bet you are not as widely read as I am.

I enjoy a book where the author is clever with words and with references. In this case, I make an exception. So I have not rated it as three, so bad it's embarrassing. After all, I did enjoy the first few pages... till the confusion and lack of coherence sank in.

Up herself, I say. Pretentious, my wife says, and she has read some reviews.

The narrator had a mother who had killed herself and a father who is a -- again pretentious -- dickhead. Then there's a character who apparently hanged herself and the body was discovered by the narrator. So what? Who cares? In 50 pages I never found out, never cared.

Don't bother. Unless you enjoy pretentious, I'm-so-smart, writing by an author who is somewhere up herself.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===
"No sense being pessimistic. It wouldn't work anyway." … per Ginger Meggs
===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https: // notdotdeaddotyet .blogspot. com. au/ :-)

Children of Earth and Sky / Guy Gavriel Kay

Children of Earth and Sky

by Guy Gavriel Kay

fantasy

copyright 2016

read in June 2020

rated 7/10: well worth reading

As I'm reading I'm thinking, Oho, these characters and places are lightly disguised real places: I recognise Italians, Russians(?), English... An easy way to get character variation, I think. As I read I realise, Oh, it's "taking place in a world based on Italy, Istanbul and the Balkans in the 15th century." (Wikipedia) Not so lightly disguised after all.

And I'll pinch another quote, from... a quote... in the author's afterword: 'Kay writes "history with a quarter turn to the fantastic".' Yes, I can see that. It's based on history but it's a story of people who could have lived there & then, if history had been different.

I'm not fond of "historical fantasy". This author says that he does not write historical fantasy, good. I enjoy this book as a fantasy -- and enjoy the historical references. Then am surprised to find that the history is closer to the book than I realised. No, I don't know much history.

So, it's fantasy. With violence and sex, lots of each. Lots of characters, plenty of very likeable characters. With several quick deaths to keep the character count under control. Interestingly, I accept the deaths because the characters accept death as being likely. They live in dangerous times.

There is also a lot of action. Lots of those characters generating lots of plot lines, I regularly lose track of the "minor" stories. Half way through and I think, there's too much happening, there is no way these can all be wrapped up, this must be book one of a series... and I am wrong.

Some stories are wrapped up with an historian's summary -- the author, that is -- providing a few sentences of, And then this & that happened... The key plots are simply followed to their natural and satisfying conclusions.

If, like me, you are weak on history, this is a very enjoyable book. I suspect there would be extra enjoyment if you already have an interest in the real world history which has provided the setting -- the inspiration for the setting -- of this rollicking tale. 

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===
"No sense being pessimistic. It wouldn't work anyway." … per Ginger Meggs
===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https: // notdotdeaddotyet .blogspot. com. au/ :-)

The Obelisk Gate / N.K. Jemisin

The Obelisk Gate

(Broken Earth #2)

by N.K. Jemisin

fantasy

copyright 2016

read in June 2020

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

There's a solid "scientific" basis for the dystopian world of this book. It's still fantasy. Which is neither good nor bad, I just like to be clear :-)

The powers used by the characters are... wow! ... super powers. There's a lot of gosh! wow! going on. Extra powers discovered just in time to save the day. Not to worry, it's an enjoyable book.

The theme of people being hated and feared for being "different" is thoughtful and well done. The message of environmental destruction is there, without interfering with the story.

I read book one five years ago, I was well into this book before I realised it. Part of this is fading memory... Part is that the book is enjoyable but vague. By which I mean, much of the depth -- much of the significance -- is understated, so it does not stick in my mind. Oh, also, I believe that my taste in books has shifted over the years...

I see that I rated book one as eight. I don't believe that book two is as good. Then my current state of, "what I want to read" has brought this book down to six.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===
"No sense being pessimistic. It wouldn't work anyway." … per Ginger Meggs
===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https: // notdotdeaddotyet .blogspot. com. au/ :-)

The Mad Apprentice / Django Wexler

The Mad Apprentice

(Forbidden Library #2)

by Django Wexler

subadult, fantasy

copyright 2015

read in May 2020

rated 7/10: well worth reading

This is a book for children. For young teens. I'm well past that age -- and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The characters are perhaps a bit sweet but I like them. The monsters are weird, wonderful, frightening but not awful. The characters may be scared but they are not horrified.

The plot is complex but straightforward. The long-term -- multi-book -- story is advanced as an integral part of the one-book adventure.

An enjoyable book for all ages, well worth reading. I shall keep an eye out for other books in the series.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===
"No sense being pessimistic. It wouldn't work anyway." … per Ginger Meggs
===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https: // notdotdeaddotyet .blogspot. com. au/ :-)

Hellhole / Brian Herbert, Kevin J Anderson

Hellhole
(Hellhole #1)
by Brian Herbert, Kevin J Anderson

science fiction

copyright  1998
read in May 2020

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Well that was disappointing. A book with no ending. No hint -- that I can see -- that this is only part of a story. It just ends. With nothing resolved. An unannounced "book one" of a continuing saga.

What rubbish.

Quarter of the way through the book and I'm starting to worry. Too many characters, too many locations, too little focus. I realise that this book will not be the last.

Even worse -- the end turns out to be a rather boring cliffhanger. A dozen characters in half a dozen threads, all standing round and saying, Mine is bigger than yours.

The whole book is simply setting the scene. You have to hope that the next book will have less posturing, perhaps even some action.

There are aliens. The most annoying bunch of hippie aliens that I have met. With what I suspect it's a built-in way to get rid of them all when the humans have won their battles. (If they ever start.) And -- I can't believe that this is a spoiler -- what looks like a fleet of alien spaceships. Pop in, flaunt their superiority and disappear. Presumably to reappear in time to save the day in some future book.

Tell you what: if you already have the entire series, go ahead and read. It's sure to have mighty battles, heroic rescues and last minute triumphs. It promises to be a lot of fun.

Just book one, though, is very disappointing.

Nick Lethbridge / Agamedes Consulting
   ===
When you don't know what to say, it's time to stop talking ... Ginger Meggs

The Secret People / John Wyndham

The Secret People
by John Wyndham

science fiction

copyright 1972
read in May 2020

rated 8/10: really quite good

Okay, perhaps I should rate Secret People as seven, well worth reading... but no. I enjoyed it, it's a good book. Really quite good.

Very dated in its stereotypes yet not embarrassingly so. Characters are defined -- initially -- by their race or gender... then they are allowed to show depths which are beyond their stereotyping limits. On the other hand... only the WASPs make a clean escape.

Wyndham shows a lot of understanding of and some sympathy for the non-WASPs. They still "lose" but not because primitive people are lesser people.

The story is your basic what-if science fiction, with the reader learning what if as we follow the main characters as they, as our guides, discover the secret world.

The author -- through his characters -- also throws in plenty of comments and observations on our own society. Fifty years on, the comments are still relevant and challenging. Better yet -- the comments are brief, clear and to the point. Enough to make us think, not enough to distract from the story.

The style is dated but the book is not out-of-date. The underlying what-if is simple, the resulting story is entertaining, the "extra" ideas are thought provoking. The characters are limited yet with some depths. An enjoyable book. Really quite good.

Nick Lethbridge / Agamedes Consulting
   ===
"Metaphors be with you" … Ginger Meggs

Cradle / Arthur C. Clarke, Gentry Lee

Cradle
by Arthur C. Clarke, Gentry Lee

science fiction

copyright 1988
read in April 2020

rated 5/10: readable but only if there's nothing else

I guess that I have to label this book as "science fiction". Given the authors I have little choice. However, I'm tempted to label it as " fantasy".

Yes, it's full of science. Good for its time. It's the characters who are straight from fantasyland. They are ridiculous. There's a lot of backstory -- and that is also ridiculous. And pointless. I mean, what does it add to know that two -- yes two -- of the characters are warped due to earlier -- very similar -- sexual misadventures?

There is some good social commentary. Some of which, I believe, is still valid.

Okay, so the book is full of deep and meaningful -- that is, ridiculous and pointless -- backstory, motivation and interaction. There is still plenty of science.

Early in the book, the main characters sail over a pod of whales. The whales have been there a while, they stay a while. Do the authors not know that whales are mammals? That whales breathe air? That after a few hours, even a whale must surface to breathe?

Oh well. The alien science is fine. There is, for example, a long chapter in which alien tech is set up. Fascinating. Imaginative. Adds nothing to the story.

In the final chapter, the main characters discover the weak point in the alien plans. It was obvious as soon as the plans were made clear. What is really surprising is that the aliens themselves had not noticed the flaw. The aliens have been repeating their master plan many times, over many millennia. Yet they have never stopped to think, Hang on, perhaps that's not a good plan...

Aliens, eh. Who can understand them. And humans, eh. Who can understand them. Not these authors, that's for sure.

This book is easy enough to read. It's lightly entertaining. And it's a little bit embarrassing.