After Alice, Gregory Maguire

After Alice

by Gregory Maguire

fantasy

copyright 2015

part read in Feb 2022

rated 3/10: so bad it's embarrassing

I've claimed that this book is "fantasy". That's because I don't have a category for "rubbish".

The author takes bits of Wonderland and Looking-Glass. Retells incidents with no wit and no enjoyment.

He does add nastiness. Hits us in the face with oh-so-woke stupidity.

So bad. Not worth any more review. 

Just don't bother reading it.

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18jul22:

I had given up reading a nonsense book. Looked at this blog to see what else I had read by this incompetent author. And only then discovered that I had read -- and reviewed this book -- twice.

It was so terribly forgettable that I gave up reading before I even realised that I had seen it before. Soooo... boring :-(

For completeness, here is the earlier review:

started reading in December 2017

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

It may be worth 6 out of 10, read to pass the time. But I couldn't be bothered reading to the end and this is my rating, So: 5/10.

There's a story which seems to be an interesting alternate view of Alice in Wonderland... or of the real world of Lewis Carroll. I think that I could get to like Maguire's heroine. The writing style is ... clever. But:

The story creeps exceedingly slowly. The bulk of the words are poking fun at the characters. The "fun" is generally cruel, or at least insulting. And the clever writing style very quickly becomes tedious.

I ignored about 80% of the book. Had a quick look at the last few pages. Found what appeared to be a satisfactory ending for the heroine -- the only sympathetic character, as far as I could tell. Decided that enough was enough and read no more.

possible spoiler: In my skim of the final pages I met a character who seemed to be black, a slave who decided that living in Wonderland was better than returning to slavery. I may have misunderstood. However, I took that character as an example of how far the author went away from the original Alice in Wonderland, to make some point of his own.

The back cover blurb claims that this book is, "a magical new twist on Lewis Carroll's classic". 

No. It's a new book which steals and spoils ideas from the classic.

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Luna Moon, Ian McDonald

Luna Moon

by Ian McDonald

science fiction

copyright 2017

not read in Feb 2022

rated 4/10: bad but could be read (possibly)

A family commercial empire has been violently destroyed. A small number of people have escaped into hiding.

A few pages later, a new character does something which may be daring. Or stupid.

Who is this character? Was he briefly mentioned as a survivor? Who knows, who cares. I don't like anyone so far, I'm not interested in re-reading. I stop reading.

Then I look at my review of another book by this author. Sounds awful.

I stop reading. Less than 20 pages. Unpleasant, unclear, uninteresting.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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"Life's tough. It's even tougher when you're stupid." ... probably not John Wayne

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

The Third Eagle / R.A. MacAvoy

The Third Eagle

by  R.A. MacAvoy

science fiction

copyright 1989

read in Feb 2022

rated 6/10: Read to pass the time

A man with good looks, rippling muscles, wearing a loincloth... good grief :-)

There's a lot of potential. As it happens, the book is somewhat understated. Yet it's far less ridiculous than it could be. And there are some good ideas... The most noticeable being, what happens to slow colony ships when they are overtaken by FTL travel?

The seemingly primitive story grows into the problem of colony ships. The solution is quite good, though somewhat simplistic.

The book turned out to be better... deeper... than I expected.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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"One joy scatters a hundred griefs" ... Chinese proverb

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

The Lost Continent / Terry Pratchett

The Lost Continent

(Discworld 22-ish)

by Terry Pratchett

Humour, fantasy

copyright 1998

read in Jan 2022

rated 8/10: really quite good

In summary: this is yet another excellent Discworld book

Okay, it's another where Rincewind loses and suffers -- but it's not as unpleasant as earlier books. I do not enjoy a book where one character is always going to lose... this one is acceptably balanced.

In this book the "lost continent" bears a remarkable resemblance to Australia :-) As an Australian -- I like that. A Pommie author who knows us -- and likes us -- enough to make fun of our unique peculiarities. Beer, shorts, heat and flies... Yep, that's Australia :-)

Okay, it's exaggerated for the sake of humour... and it is humorous.

We can laugh at ourselves. It is funny -- not cruel. It is funny the way humour should be. We can laugh at ourselves :-) And it's nice to think that other people can also laugh at us... or, even better -- with us.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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"One joy scatters a hundred griefs" ... Chinese proverb

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

The Sum of all Men / David Farland

The Sum of all Men

Runelords #1 of many

by David Farland

fantasy, dystopia

copyright 1998

read before December 2021

rated 2/10: unreadably bad

Let's be clear about that rating. The book has imagination. adventure. a unique world with unique magic.

The magic is evil. So evil that the book is unreadably bad.

If you're kinky for slavery. cruelty. absolute control by the strong... then fine. I don't like it.

Then there are the characters. They are beautiful, strong, intelligent, etc. That's because their rich and powerful parents bought all of those attributes. Literally.

Money and power are everything. With money and power you are a leech. Every named character is a leech -- or a sucked-dry husk.

It is a miserable world. With characters who would be stupid, weak and ugly -- if not for the money and power of their parents.

Then there's the logic...

The story starts with the hero in a market. Accompanied by his bodyguard and by the person whose job is to follow an important person wherever they go... and the hero is surprised that he is recognised as an important person... good grief.

I read as far as the scene where a magical supreme being does mysterious things... all very significant... and stupid.

Years ago I read more of this book. Read enough to be left with a very nasty memory of the magic. And enough to realise that the goodies... ie the not-so-baddies... have no hope.

This time I stopped a lot sooner. It is a very nasty book.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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When the going gets tough, the smart get going ... per Ginger Meggs

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

The shadow of the gods, John Gwynne

The shadow of the gods

(Bloodsworn saga #1)

by John Gwynne

fantasy

copyright 2021,

read a bit in Jan 2022

rated 2/10: unreadably bad

I understand that Norse life was bloody and brutal. As history that is interesting. As fantasy it is awful.

After about nine chapters I stopped reading. Why? Because it was just too horrible. So horrible that I hoped for a storm at sea, to drown every single character in the book.

A world of absolute might is right. Slaves treated as worse than animals. Villages raided simply because they are there. villagers killed for defending their homes. The raiders then take everything of value. Dumb brutes -- anything and everything not "one of us" -- is killed.

Then I read the last few pages. To see if the obvious people had lasted that far.

This paragraph is a spoiler... but only if you are a reader who cannot spot the bleeding obvious: One character mentions a dragon sealed in a cave. Another character laughs at the stupidity of that myth. Sure enough, the book ends with the dragon being released from its cave. To fly off and, presumably, be a focal point for the next book.

In reality... A dragon which kills and eats every person in the land... would be more likeable than most of the characters in this book.

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19jan22: No, I have not re-read this book. No way :-(

It crossed my mind... The characters are brutal. nice or nasty. unthinkingly violent or well-motivated to violence.

Underneath all the violence... Not a single character is a human being.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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Stay cool but stop at frostbite" ... per Ginger Meggs

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

She who became the Sun / Shelley Parker-Chan

She who became the Sun

by  Shelley Parker-Chan

fantasy

copyright 2021

read in January 2022

rated 6/10: read to pass the time.

In the author's thank-you section she tells of one person who argued that at least one of the male characters should be a decent human being. It's possible that one was. That would be the man who destroyed his brother. An unusual definition of "decent".

The story is set in 14th century China. It's a world of war, casual violence, betrayal and male domination. Or, more correctly: female subservience and absolute control by anyone with power... I wonder if today's China is any different.

The "hero" is a woman pretending to be a man. Her life is dedicated to pursuit of her destiny of "greatness" by which she means, absolute power. At any cost. She is an unpleasant and unsympathetic person.

It's interesting to read the descriptions of beauty: very non-European. As a book with a "different" perspective I originally rated it as seven. Having written the review -- remembered how much I dislike the characters -- it's only a six.

Oh, and it is "to be continued". Usually, that really annoys me. With this book, I don't really care... The end is conclusive enough and I don't care what happens next.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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Stay cool but stop at frostbite" ... per Ginger Meggs

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