Only Child / Andrew Vachss

Only Child

category: crime, author:

Andrew Vachss

book 14 of Burke
original copyright 2002

read in February 2012

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

According to my local library, this book is "fantasy"... Hmmm... Though I must admit, it took a while for me to decide.

Is this book over the top? Or is it so far over that it has slipped into fantasy...

No, this is "crime". Gritty, underbelly, modern-day, crime.

I don't have a label for "crime" so I have labelled this review as action and other. Neither is correct. It's just easier than starting a new label :-)

"Burke", the hero, is a tough-as-nails rough diamond. Earns his money through crime -- except when distracted by his need to save children from the clutches of evil. Which is lightly phrased but the topic is treated very seriously.

Burke has many loyal friends. All extremes, almost caricatures. This had me confused, for several chapters. (Not that Vachss restricts the narrative flow by the use of chapters...)

I have never before read a "Burke" book. The characters are unfamiliar. The style is... choppy. Incomplete, jargonistic, abrupt. I was rather confused.

Is this book worth the effort? I wondered...

Last night I watched five minutes of a tv show called Luther. Tough-guy cop, plays outside the rulebook, talks in jargon. Standard bbc tv cop fare, in fact. The fact that he mumbled made the plot -- as far as I watched it -- incomprehensible. Sort of similar to Only Child...

Except that Only Child has no mumblers. One of the advantages of the written word! Still, I was confused.

Until, suddenly: the plot was revealed!

After some introductory settling-in of the characters, Vachss provides the key element of the plot. I do not know the characters, so I am confused rather than settled in. But suddenly...

The key conflict is revealed. I find myself sympathising with the victim. I begin to support the hero in his drive to solve the crime.

I am hooked!

This is a tough book. The good guys are willing to be violent, the bad guys are extremely violent. Yet the main villain turns out to be just a fool who set up a stupid situation which lead to a violent crime.

On the other hand, the violence is not overplayed. I dislike tv's gore-porn, where the point of the show is to describe -- in intimate detail -- the violence of the crime-of-the-week.

Yes, Only Child describes violence. In enough detail to shock but not enough detail to thrill the gore-porn addicts.

And real enough to make you think.

..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

Elminster's Daughter / Ed Greenwood

Elminster's Daughter

category: fantasy, author:

Ed Greenwood

book ?? of Forgotten Realms
original copyright 2004

read in February 2012 (and before, in December 2005)

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

My book memory is quite good although I have difficulty remembering authors and titles. As I read this book, there was nothing familiar. So I was fairly certain that I had never before read Elminster's Daughter.

And then -- half way through the book -- I met the wizard reading a "chapbook"...

A "chapbook"?! I remember that!

In fact, I also remember the situation: The wizard should be on watch but he is reading a "chapbook". I also remember thinking, "A chapbook, haha, that's quite clever. Or funny. Or something." Which is exactly what I thought this time...

A clever word which sticks in the mind. Yes, I definitely have already read Elminster's Daughter. In 2005, in fact.

And the "chapbook" is all that I can remember from that first reading...

Which is really a good indication of the quality of Elminster's Daughter.

This book is a lot of fun. Action, adventure, magic and mystery. A single chase through the streets takes perhaps a quarter of the book -- and is never boring.

The book is also... totally forgettable.

Lightweight fun. Easy to read, easy to enjoy.

Just as easy to put down and forget.

..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

Tek Power / William Shatner

Tek Power

category: science fiction, author:

William Shatner

book 6 of Tekwar
original copyright 1994

read in February 2012

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

A book by William Shatner... A man who has been type-cast as Captain James T. Kirk... An actor who has taken his type-casting -- and run with it!

Tek Power is a book for lovers of Captain Kirk. Fans who enjoy the adventures of a hero who is smart enough to solve puzzles, yet is willing and able to go one-on-one with his fists. Fans who enjoy a bit of heroics in a high-tech but very human science fiction universe.

Star Trek -- the original series -- was good science fiction. Each episode took an SF "what if" idea and expanded on its impact. Then the Enterprise arrived, and an ensign was killed to show that the situation was serious. Captain Kirk and his senior officers would rescue themselves and, perhaps, solve some idea-related problems.

The Star Trek characters were likable stereotypes. The solutions were related to the SF idea but could be simplistic. (How often did "the girl" save the day after falling in love with Kirk? How many evil geniuses were felled by Kirk's fists?) The SF ideas added depth to the plots. This was good science fiction.

Tek Power is a bit like that -- except without the driving force of a unique SF "what if" idea gone wrong.

It's a likable Kirk-type character battling evil. Lucky coincidences, close escapes, instant answers. Jumping from one situation to the next with scant regard for realism: ask the question, get the answer, move on... Set in an interesting universe with a touch of humour.

All good stuff!

Not great, but good.

I read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I won't go out of my way to look for more in the Tek Wars series. But if they turn up, I look forward to reading them.

Well done, Captain Kirk!

..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 Name of the Wind / Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind

category: fantasy, author:

Patrick Rothfuss

book 1 of Kingkiller Chronicle
original copyright 2007

read in February 2012

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

This is a book of contrasts... A pastoral introduction with the hero retired and waiting to die, interspersed with enough violent action to tell us that the story is not really over. A flashback narration with enough here-and-now action to keep us on our toes. A standard getting-an-education and coming-of-age tale with enough mystery, threat and interest to make me want to read more...

It's a story of a young man developing the skills and knowledge needed to survive. Skills that will make him a killer. By the end of this book one, he has only some of the necessary knowledge -- and none of the killer skills. Yet the journey-so-far has been fascinating.

The flashback style lets us know that the hero will be both hated and feared. Yet he saves innocent lives and helps those in need. It is clear that he would send money home to his grey-haired mother, if he had a mother at all.

As I read The Name of the Wind I could not help thinking, this is Tom Brown's Schooldays, with magic. Worse, this book is just the introduction; it's book one of Kingkiller Chronicle and we have not yet even met a king. This book should be boring.

This book is not boring.

This is no non-stop-actioner, yet The Name of the Wind grips the reader.

Okay, on the down side...

A lot of the incidents draw us on, with strong characters and imaginative settings. (Unbelievable but imaginative. That's good; this is a fantasy.) Yet the incidents appear to go nowhere. The story is somewhat episodic.

This may be the fault of being "book one". But it is a weakness.

Read as a standalone book, The Name of the Wind is a series of related anecdotes rather than a complete novel. Yes, there is a satisfactory conclusion. But it is simply a cliff-hanger, even though the hero is at least left standing safely on a ledge.

This is a book of contrasts... A build-up of tension rather than a strong plot with a climactic conclusion. A clear path forward but with an inconclusive ending. A book which should be boring, yet it inspires the reader to want to read more.

I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the characters and the fantasy universe. I would have liked a better conclusion, even if this is only book one.

I definitely want to read more.

..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 Year's Best Science Fiction #20 / Gardner Dozois

The Year's Best Science Fiction: twentieth annual collection

category: science fiction, editor:

Gardner Dozois

book 20 of The Year's Best Science Fiction
original copyright 2002

read in February 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 3 out of 10: so bad it's embarrassing

I grew up on science fiction. For years I read only science fiction. (Okay, and various myths and legends.)

Then I drifted to fantasy. Read less and less science fiction.

A collection of "the year's best science fiction" seemed like a good book to refresh my enjoyment of SF.

Wrong.

The first story was sort of interesting. A girl growing up in a strange -- to us -- culture. All seems to be sweetness and light, except that it's not. But that is not the point of this overlong story. Girl grows up to be a space pilot. No surprise, hardly worth wondering if this is the point of the story. Through the magic of unexplained time travel, girl's friend seems to have killed girl's pilot mentor, who seems to be the girl as an old woman. So what? A pointless story complexity. The story is sort of interesting, but overlong and ultimately pointless.

Another story -- a novella -- begins with the protagonist attending a night-club. The main act is a man who talks to his penis. Or perhaps it's a woman who pretends to talk to her penis; we never see the penis. Whatever, I gave up reading before the end of the act.

One story followed an interesting idea: humans can't reach the universe so they go small... Shrink themselves, adapt in various ways, live in microscopic "universes", all within a very small physical area. It's possible that the three or four sets of characters all live as bodily bacteria on one man... That's just my best guess. It seems a reasonable explanation of the role of the "narrator" who dances naked and jerks off between the mini-chapters of the story.

Then there's the story of the woman who herds sheep. She sees a flying saucer and its dog-like occupant. Most of the story tells us about the techniques of sheep-herding... Boring and pointless. The woman sees the space dog a few times, briefly. When the space dog crashes its saucer -- for no apparent reason -- the woman comforts it as it lies, dying. "Good doggie," she says, as she pats its head. Nice, but so what?!

I know that there is at least one good story in the book... but it is lost amongst the dross. So what has gone wrong? The clue is in the introduction to each story.

Each introduction mentions previous stories by this author. "So-and-so has had a story in The Year's Best numbers 2 through 7, 9, 11 and 13 through 19..." Get the picture? Dozois (the editor) likes certain authors. He has not changed his opinions in the last twenty years. He keeps on selecting stories from the same, select group of his favourite authors...

And if you don't like Dozois' favourite authors, this book is not for you.

I don't like Dozois' favourite authors. I think this book is rubbish.

---

btw: I originally rated this book as "4: bad but could be read". Then I changed my mind.

Nearly every story -- as far into the book as I could bear to read -- is overlong and boring. Some are also stupid. I could not finish this book. I did not want to finish this book.

And some of the stories are embarrassing: So bad -- when categorised as "science fiction" -- so bad that they give science fiction a bad name.

..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 Orc King / R.A. Salvatore

The Orc King

category: fantasy, author:

R.A. Salvatore

book 1 of Transitions, in the Forgotten Realms
original copyright 2007

read in January 2012

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

As I started reading I thought, Good grief! Who are all these characters?!

If I understand the chronology of the Forgotten Realms books, The Orc King begins with a flash-forward. Just to show that yes, there will be an orc king. Then we jump almost back. Then back again.

Followed by a lot of activity by people who are well known -- if you have already read every other book of the Forgotten Realms...

Plenty of well-established characters. At least I could remember Drizzt, from a book I read a few years ago. Most of the others, I did not know.

You can tell that all of these characters are continuing characters. They suffer guilt from the earlier deaths of friends. Or they are dead but still an essential part of the story. Or they apparently were dead but are now alive...

All too complicated for me!

And surprisingly little action involving the eponymous orc king!

As I read the first few chapters, I was worried.

And then it all improved.

I'm used to not recognising characters as I read a book. If there are too many characters, I only remember the main ones, and only if the author does a good job of making them memorable. Salvatore does a good job of making his characters memorable.

Okay, it's "memorable" as in "cartoonish", "exaggerated", "extreme"... Which is all part of the dungeons & dragons fantasy adventure!

I began to know the key characters. And accepted that others will come and go as they please. If they do anything really important then, perhaps, I will remember them on their next appearance.

So there are characters coming and going, talking, fighting, exploring. Having extreme adventures. But...

It all ties together!

Well, okay, except for the character who takes his adopted child back to the child's real mother. As far as I can tell, his sub-plot is there so that he will be placed for his own -- independent -- adventures in a later book.

There is a lot of fighting. Bloody, extreme fighting.

There is also a moral dilemma.

Yes, a moral dilemma. And this dilemma lifts the book above its game-play simplicity.

Some of the orcs... well, one of the orcs... is hoping to establish a long-lasting peace for his people. Can he be trusted? Can he convince his people?

More importantly, can the non-orcs set aside their orc-hatred long enough to give peace a chance? After all, orcs have been killing non-orcs for many a long book. The Orc King itself includes orcs killing several good friends of the heroes.

The good guy characters have to decide. Should they accept the risks associated with a possible peace with the orcs? Or should they continue their long-standing approach of, the only good orc is a dead orc...

It is this moral dilemma which lifts the book above the ordinary.

The Orc King is one book in a long series of adventures. Can this book break the standard of who is "good" and who is "bad"?

This is more than just a grand fantasy adventure.

It is, also... a grand fantasy adventure.

..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

Storm Born / Richelle Mead

Storm Born

category: fantasy, porn, author:

Richelle Mead

original copyright 2008

read in January 2012

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

It's funny, really. I read this book and quite enjoyed it. Left it a day or so. And decided that it was really not a very good book.

I enjoyed it -- but it is not a very good book?! Why not? First, check the labels at the foot of this review...

It is "cat:fantasy". Okay, witches, fairies, shamans, Earth and fairy-land. Fantasy. It is also "cat:porn"... It could have been "cat:romance" -- but it is closer to porn.

The heroine is beautiful. The heroes are handsome. There are lots of significant looks and lots of heavy breathing. There is also lots of heavy sex.

So I read -- and enjoy -- books with lots of heavy sex. So I quite enjoyed reading this book. Even so, the sex was... well... not right. Not right for a romance, that is.

No matter how tough, how sassy, the romantic heroine, they do like to have an even tougher hero. But -- in my opinion -- a strong preference for rough sex and bondage is going beyond romance. And into porn.

The heroine is, of course, torn between two strong, handsome men. That's almost essential in a romance... or in any book with a "love interest". Having sex with both the men, though... weakens the romantic appeal. Where's the conflict of the romantic triangle, when she simply sleeps with both of them?!

By chapter four, the first hero had proven his worth by giving extremely good sex. Half a book later, the heroine was still resisting the second hero. Until she decided that it was a good idea to exchange sex for favours.

Prostitute with heart of gold is an old cliche. Heroine with heart of prostitute is less common. And less likable.

From there -- from "6/10 read to pass the time" -- the book rapidly degenerated to "4/10 bad but could be read". As the heroine slipped from sassy-and-strong to slutty-and-uninspired, she lost my sympathy. And the book lost its appeal.

Then there is the final risk-all-for-her-lover scene...

The heroine followed her (first) lover's spirit to hell, to bring him back to life. On the way, she faced a series of challenges.

Except that they were not really challenges...

There's the army, set to invade. The heroine is against the idea of invasion. So what does she do? She simply says, Okay all, let's go invade...

There's her father, who raped her mother. He says, now I'll have you, too. So what does she do? What clever stratagem does our heroine use to get by this threat of rape by father? Oh, okay, have me, she says...

These are not challenges. These are situations that the heroine does not like. And all she does, is to go along with every nasty action. No moral indignation. No attempt to find an alternative solution. Just, do the bad thing.

At best, this is a "morally ambiguous" heroine.

At worst, it's a novel which ignores conflict and conflict resolution, to set up a series of violent action scenes to loosely link the somewhat violent porn.

Good sex. Bad story.

..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