The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Other Stories / Washington Irving

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Other Stories

(category: collection)
by

Washington Irving

published by Dover Publications in 2008
(stories were written between 1820 and 1824)
Nick read a library book, in March 2010

Nick's rating: 7 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

When I spotted this book in the library I thought, it's about time to read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The name and basic concept were familiar -- from the Disney cartoon. I had never seen more than excerpts from the cartoon but neither had I read anything of the original story. I prefer to read; here was my chance to catch up with a classic.

Sleepy Hollow is quite fun: a view into life in a particular part of early America, characters exaggerated but with some sympathy, humour that may have faded with age. Several of the other stories are written in a similar style (though mostly with less humour). Slow reading due to the somewhat convoluted writing style of the time. A nice appreciation of the beauties of Nature.

Some of the stories are, in fact, essays: descriptions and opinions rather than plot and character. The Mutability of Literature, written in 1820, is fascinating -- for its relevance to today.

In Mutability, Irving has a conversation with an old book. They discuss the way in which books -- ideas and literature -- fade with time, as people stop reading those older books. Why do these old books get forgotten? Because they are replaced -- in the reader's attention -- by new books. Irving points out that this process has sped up since the invention of the fast-printing, movable type, printing press. And what is happening today? Instant "publishing" via the Internet, causing yesterday's ideas to be overwritten, faster than ever. An interesting insight into today, from almost 200 years ago!

I enjoyed each story but could only read them slowly. The wordy style combined with the difference from my usual fare, slowed me down. There are still five stories unread but I have reached the limit of allowed library borrowing. It's disappointing -- I really would like to find out what is in the final stories -- but this good book will now return back to the library.

..o0o..

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

Viscous Circle / Piers Anthony

Viscous Circle

(category: science fiction)
book 5 of Cluster Series by

Piers Anthony

published by Grafton Books in 1982
Nick read a library book, in March 2010

Nick's rating: 5 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

Anthony likes to take a play on words -- and work it to death. Viscous circle, a planet of doughnut -- circular -- aliens, discussion groups where the circular aliens form a circle for exchange of ideas. Ah well, it can be entertaining.

Viscous Circle presents a simple yet perfect civilisation: no nasty thoughts, no lies, no fighting, no fear of death because their heaven -- the "viscous circle" -- is so perfect. Humans, of course, come in to spoil it all. Only the hero -- a human mind transferred into a doughnut body -- can save the aliens. First, he falls in love with a female alien (then cements the bond with circle sex). He tries to teach the pacifist aliens to fight back, but they die rather than fight. Only the hero can save the day, and he is willing to die to do it.

But wait a moment: isn't that the plot of Avatar?!

Avatar was accused of plagiarism... of various stories. Viscous Circle can be added to the list of possible inspirations. In fact, the "military human spies on aliens, falls for alien girl, sympathises with alien culture, fights against human evils" plot is very, very standard in science fiction. And in fantasy. And in any other genre where bigger, social issues are explored. Just add Viscous Circle to the list of stories where one human sees the light and protects the innocent aliens against the rest of (evil) humanity.

Apart from that, the book offers very little. Take a bunch of doughnuts who fly along magnetic lines of force. Explore and explain what this will do to their lifestyle. Add doughnut sex and human sex. Leaven with perfect pacifists and evil invaders... It's an Anthony fable pushing his own ideas of right and wrong.

Speaking of which... Anthony seems to feel that both of these civilisations offer full equality of the sexes. Then he tells us how every female, in every race of the galaxy, is a conniving schemer, intent on gaining flattery and top quality sperm. The "perfect" doughnut aliens also have internal contradictions. Their stated aim is to gain as much knowledge as possible, then die, so that their knowledge can be absorbed back into the unified, after-death consciousness. Yet they show no interest in seeking knowledge outside their own group of planets.

At the end is an Anthony, I-am-always-right author's rant: interesting but strange. On the interesting side, this seems to have been his his last SF novel before he switched to fantasy (well, to fantasy with some SF). Interesting. But it doesn't make this book any better than, "adequate".

..o0o..

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

Storm Front / Jim Butcher

Storm Front

(category: fantasy)
book 1 of Dresden Files by

Jim Butcher

published by Orbit in 2000
Nick read a library book, in March 2010

Nick's rating: 8 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

Magic in modern-day Chicago... The hero is a wizard in the private eye mold: tough, honest, fair, put-upon. And he's a gentleman who wants to protect the innocent. It doesn't hurt, that the innocent are often incredibly attractive young women. For even more emphasis on Dresden's nice-guy image, one of the attractive women is protecting her two adorable children... Mind you, there are also a lot of young, attractive women who are involved in the sex trade.

I like the fit of magic into modern Chicago. There are magic-user rules which -- in general -- protect non-magic users. When these rules are broken, Karrin of the Chicago police gets very upset. Dresden helps Karrin solve magical murders, while protecting Karrin from magic threats. Not everyone uses magic but there are still strong though minor roles for the non-magicians. One very minor character is a policeman: he is scruffy, cynical, dislikes Dresden -- but is still recognised as being an extremely intelligent cop. See the positive in everyone!

Meanwhile, Dresden meets, argues with and fights against all sorts of magical creatures and forces. These are sort of familiar but uniquely interesting -- characters who are interesting, helpful, scary, threatening -- without being too outlandish. Lots of action, solid plot, good characters, mystery to be resolved, life-threatening climax followed by a happy ending. Enjoyable. Very!

..o0o..

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

New Moon / Stephenie Meyer

New Moon

(category: fantasy, romance)
book 2 of Twilight by

Stephenie Meyer

published by Atom in 2006
Nick read a new book, in March 2010

Nick's rating: 8 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

Another great romance! Okay, I've also labelled it as a fantasy but romance is the main theme: Bella still has to remind herself to breathe when she is kissing Edward. There are hints that this love may be even more; that Bella and Edward are linked at some mystic level of conjoined souls; that there is some physical requirement for proximity, that the two will physically collapse if their love is not requited.

Still, any reader of romances knows that that is all true of any pair of true lovers.

I did feel that New Moon was shading into "horror" but it's a relatively light touch. It is, however, definitely "fantasy". Twilight could almost have been pure romance: tweak here, minor rewrite there, make Edward an innocent member of a Mafia family, the fantasy could have been downplayed even further. New Moon depends on the fantasy element: if Jacob was able to put on a suit and tie and become an FBI agent, the book would just not be the same.

You could almost see these first two Twilight volumes as being chapters one through four of a single novel: first, introduce Bella and Edward, then introduce Jacob and the Volturi. Next volume will -- I hope -- build up the conflict, to be resolved in volume four. I look forward to it!

An aside on the Volturi: They live in a castle, in the walled Italian town of Volterra. Top of a mountain, cramped town with narrow streets, car park outside... Is this the same town that was visited -- at great peril -- by the hero of The Genesis Code? Or is Italy just littered with these closed-in, closed-off towns of mystery...

I was surprised, in New Moon, at how small a role was played by vampires. My mistake: I had understood the books to be about vampires but the fantasy scope is much broader than that. I enjoyed meeting Jacob and his friends; I appreciated the heartbreak of his one-sided love -- with no expectation (for the reader) that Bella would ever love him in return. His brave acceptance that he is suddenly no good for Bella -- then he is dropped, without ceremony, when Edward returns to Bella's life. Ah! young love! Oh! the pain!

New Moon is every bit as good as Twilight. Perhaps even better... I had been wondering just where the author could go with the human/vampire love story. My wondering has been more than satisfied. I look forward to reading books three and four... but not immediately. There is, after all, a limit -- be still, my beating heart! -- to the level of tormented romance which I can handle at any one time.

..o0o..

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

The Dwarves (Die Zwerge) / Markus Heitz

The Dwarves
(Die Zwerge)

(category: fantasy)
by

Markus Heitz (translated by Sally-Ann Spencer)

published by Heyne Verlag in 2003
English translation published by Orbit in 2009
Nick read a library book, in March 2010

Nick's rating: 9 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

From one point of view, this is just a good fantasy novel. What sets it apart is... the point of view. This is the only book that I have read where the dwarves are the central characters. Sure, every fantasy quest has men, elves, hobbit equivalents... and dwarves. And yes, the dwarves are tough, loyal, etc. Then there was the LoTR movie, where Gimli suffered the ignominy of being cast as comic relief. Now -- at last -- a book where dwarves are treated as more than just quest-group fillers.

The dwarves of The Dwarves are real characters: They have history, depth, emotions -- and variety. Good dwarves and bad, honest and sneaky, leaders, tradesmen and fighters. Yet all are distinctly dwarves, as distinct from men and elves. And -- my own preference -- the good guys are good and the baddies are obviously bad. (Though it does take a while for the good guys to recognise, or to prove, the badness of some of the baddies.)

A rip-roaring fantasy adventure, with plenty of close calls and good luck. (Meaning that even I can see that a more miserable author could have made life even more difficult for the heroes.) Enjoyable from start to finish, with happy endings all round, as the final plot twists are revealed.

My only problem was with the language. This book was written in German, as Die Zwerge. The English translation is excellent -- just different to English as I expect it. I can't even put my finger on it, it just causes my reading to stumble, occasionally. Once I realised that I really was reading a German book translated to English, I relaxed and read happily to the end. And hope that it is not really The End: I look forward to finding out what evil is lurking in the west...

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A blog reader asked me if The Dwarves was suitable for children. Specifically, an eight-year-old who enjoys reading long fantasy books. This is my reply:

I would say that book one (The Dwarves) is okay for children. Let your son know that the book is translated from German (unless he is reading in German?!). It may interest him if he notices the occasional not-quite-common-English phrasing. Best point, book one is "complete" -- happy endings all round, just a strong indication that a further story will follow.

The second book (The War of the Dwarves) is *not* a children's book. Too much violent death, too many plot threads, too many characters to follow, not as good a book as the first. I've not read the third.

So... Get hold of The Dwarves, book one, for your son. But don't get either of the follow-up books. In my opinion :-)

..o0o..

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

Breville Stratus / kettle

Breville Stratus

(category: kettle)
by

Breville

We bought a new kettle, in 2009

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

It's a cord-free kettle. It boils water. There's not much more, on the "plus" side... So let's consider the facts which make me dislike this kettle.

This kettle is supposed to turn itself off when the water boils. How long are you willing to wait? It boils, and boils and boils... Full, vigorous roiling & boiling... Then, finally, it will turn off. Sure, it works -- eventually. I would prefer to see a kettle which boils and then turns itself off. Then there's the lid. Press a button and the lid pops open -- barely. There is a spring but the spring is far too weak. If the lid is going to open, it should open all the way. As it is -- if you want to fill the kettle from the tap -- you press the button and then manually lift the lid the rest of the way.

Oh yes, there is one more "plus": If you lift the kettle off its power supply, it does switch off. So if you lift up, pour hot water, put it back on the base -- the kettle will not continue to heat. That's a sensible safety precaution.

But with a dodgy lid and slow-to-react cut-off, I will be looking for a better kettle, next time.

Addendum (June 2010)

Remember the slow turn-off when it boils? And the weak spring helping to open the lid? (I hope you remember... It's what I wrote about, just a few paragraphs above this...)

There's yet another problem... the catch to hold the lid closed, is too weak.

When the kettle boils -- it boils on and on. Long past the point at which a person would have said, this kettle is boiling, turn off. There is plenty of time for the steam in the boiling kettle to build up pressure. That steam pressure -- forces the lid open!

If you let the kettle boil -- expecting that the auto-shut-off will automatically shut it off -- then the lid may pop open. It pops fully open -- the steam pressure has more power than the worthless lid-opening spring.

Worse yet: with the lid now open, the kettle will not stop boiling. So the kettle will boil on... and on... and on. Presumably, till it boils down, catches fire, burns the house down and starts a repeat of the Great Fire of Wherever-you-live.

Look, I would love it if you followed the link to Amazon, bought a kettle (or anything else) and earned me a small commission. And yes, the link is to a Breville kettle. Just make sure that what you buy is better than a Breville Stratus.

..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.

Ardor / Lily Prior

Ardor

(category: fantasy)
by

Lily Prior

published by ecco / Harper Collins in 2004
Nick read a library book, in March 2010

Nick's rating: 6 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

More a fairy-tale than a fantasy... Mysterious woman follows her instincts to go to a new place -- following a sort of "that direction feels right" internal compass. The new village is full of over-the-top eccentrics who plot, overact and fall madly in love. Even the mule -- the story-teller -- is in love. With a human. The Tuscany countryside matches the excitement, with wild abundance, rich & fertile stock & crops, an extreme drought, followed by a thunderous storm to break the drought. Finally, most issues are resolved, lovers pair off -- not necessarily as expected -- and the mysterious woman leaves town. A cheerful fantasy of Spring rites. An easy-reading fantasy for fun and enjoyment.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your own documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.