Oathbringer / Brandon Sanderson

Oathbringer

(Stormlight Archive #3)

by Brandon Sanderson

fantasy

copyright 2017

read in August 2018

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

Longwinded, violent, going nowhere. Twelve hundred pages ! of fantasy history. Yes, it's about as much fun to read as a history textbook.

The first couple of hundred pages I'm catching up with the characters from books 1 & 2... so many characters, so many separate plots, so confusing. Still, I eventually learn to identify the key characters. And read a couple of hundred more pages.

The book begins to drag. I read it because, well, it's the book I'm reading. I have no great interest in the overall plot, though some of the "fine detail" is interesting. The world itself, for example, is interesting and unique.

Of the dozens of characters, three are sympathetic. By which I mean, I like three characters and hope that they survive and thrive. Unfortunately the book seems to be supporting a fourth character as being the main character. He certainly thinks that he is the only person who can save civilisation…

Not that this civilisation is worth saving. Strict social stratification, slavery, women as an underclass. And the "technology" is based on the capture and killing or forced "labour" of … spiritual creatures ? … of varying levels of sentience. In fact, anything which is not a male member of the hereditary ruling class of the local tribe of the almost-human main race -- is open for exploitation. No chance of improvement for anyone else and no say in their own futures. Obey & serve -- or die.

The self-proclaimed star of this "civilisation" is a psychotic murderer who uses his magic powers to destroy any opposition. And innocent bystanders, no quarter given. Sure, he seems to be having an attack of conscience -- in an interminable number of flashbacks -- but so what ? He is an evil megalomaniac.

So I read perhaps half the book and begin to wonder, will it ever end ? We finally find that (a) the world goes through regular cycles of "civilisations" growing and being destroyed. Worse yet: (b) the opposition -- and quite a few of the "them" race -- are immortal. So... (c) defeat the opposition and "they" will return. To battle the same set of immortal "us" -- and to kill nearly all of the ordinary creatures and people of the world.

When the sympathetic heroine faces off against a monster -- and wins -- but the monster is not killed, just runs away -- I think, if you don't kill it, it will return. Creating a never-ending -- pointless -- story.

Another hundred pages and I check the web... The plan, it seems, is for *ten* books in the series ! This book is #3, #4 is due out in 2020... By the time the series is ended... I'll be dead.

Very close to two-thirds of the book read. It's getting more & more mysterious. Who are all these people & creatures ?! It's getting slower, more tedious. I skip to the end... which is, obviously not the end. But -- as far as I can tell -- it is at least a reasonable point at which to pause.

I give up reading. If I want a complex story with hundreds of characters, multiple intersecting -- and separate -- plots and no real conclusion, I could study real history. To me, an author should present a story so that it can be read and enjoyed -- and understood, without the need for an encyclopedic set of cross-referencing notes.

This book is just not worth the effort.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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"When it comes to ideas, some people will stop at nothing." … per Ginger Meggs

===

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

cafe: The Little Pantry / Shenton Park

cafe: The Little Pantry / Shenton Park / 25aug18

This place is absolutely buzzing ! Busy, busy, busy, we're lucky to find seats. Busy but still friendly.

There's a "garden" area out the back, just as crowded. The counter is in the front section, kitchen out back on the other side to the "garden". Which does mean that staff have a long journey from the kitchen, round the counter & its customers, back to serve in the garden. Staff navigate the narrow path with the ease of experience.

Okay, this café is hipster. (Still not entirely sure what that means. But happy to use the description to mean whatever I understand it to mean. And thus does language grow and change.) A different shade of hipster.

There is no half-finished look, the Pantry is well established. Walls painted, shelves adorned with small potted plants, paintings on the walls. Even the pressed metal ceiling is clean & painted.

There is also a wide range of food available... by which I mean, plenty of cakes. (We are here for cake. There is savoury food but we are not looking.) Many are familiar cakes but not from "the same old factory". A few are less common: we try the baked cheesecake. And it is delicious.

Baked cheesecake is easy to over-cook, this one is just right. Creamy texture, creamy taste.

Staff are almost running but we don't wait very long. Not so long that we get bored watching the crowd. Amazingly -- staff all manage to smile -- and seem to mean it. I wonder (with no real basis) is this a friendly family-run café ?

We are there for coffee & cake, others are eating or still getting brunch. By the time we leave, there are several empty tables. Perhaps the brunch crowd are leaving and the lunch crowd are yet to arrive, it's that time of day.

On the down side: there is a slight smell. We are near the entry to the kitchen, I would say a smell of fish. Fresh fish, nothing objectionable. But my clothes have a slight food smell when we leave. Again, not objectionable, just that I prefer fresh air :-)

Overall rating: 3/3. A place we would go just because we like it.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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"When it comes to ideas, some people will stop at nothing." … per Ginger Meggs

===

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

Child of a Mad God / R.A. Salvatore

Child of a Mad God

(The Coven #1)

by R.A. Salvatore

fantasy

copyright 2018

read in August 2018

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Warning: book #2 is not due to be published until 2019.

A really nasty tribe. Regular extreme violence. Yet not as bad as it sounds: the violence is cartoonish and usually happens to people for whom the reader has developed very little sympathy.

Meanwhile, outside the tribe, one man travels the land, battling villains and his own (not literal) demons. Which is interesting... the story covers the growth and development of the heroine from toddler to young adult. Then -- in the final chapters -- the man appears and plays a key role. How does the author deal with this -- without having the man appear suddenly, via deus ex machina ? Very cleverly ! We are given enough of the man's story to be interesting -- even though he seems to be well outside the story. Then his appearance at the crucial moment is completely logical. Well done :-)

For such a violent story, both man and woman are remarkably sympathetic. Other characters, however, are more confusing than conflicted. Though some of the confusion does eventually sort itself out. Often, again, in a surprisingly sympathetic -- if unbelievable -- manner.

That one man... Is he an escapee from previous books ? He certainly seems to have sufficient backstory. Not that it matters, this book reads well on its own. Almost...

The ending is satisfactory -- but with too many unresolved issues. Yes, it makes sense to end where it does. But will any of the loose ends ever be tied up ? Or is this the first book of an intended never-ending saga... Unfortunately, we will need to wait till at least 2019... waiting for a second Coven book to be published.

Hmmm... Re-reading the various cover blurbs: "she dreams of escaping to the world beyond"... I suspect that it will take several books for her to come anywhere near escape. And, "So begins a new saga". Yes, bother, a new saga.

Expect myriad loose ends and a failure to conclude. Oh well.

This book is fine to read by itself. What I'm left with, however, is not a feeling that I would like to read more. I'm left feeling slightly disappointed. Disappointed that there are so many loose ends -- admittedly, not ridiculous cliffhangers.

Enjoyable but feeling incomplete.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"When it comes to ideas, some people will stop at nothing." … per Ginger Meggs

===

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

cafe: Architects & Heroes / Subiaco

cafe: Architects & Heroes / Subiaco / 11aug18

Our second hipster café ! And a better understanding of what makes a "hipster" café...

First: no convenient parking. Second: open early, closes mid-afternoon. Third: not much choice of sweet & sticky cakes. So a "hipster" café targets people who travel by share-car to do healthy brunch.

Okay, that's just first (or second) impressions :-) Have you ever heard of the game called Eleusis ? I'm using the principles of Eleusis to build an understanding of "hipster café".

A&H also satisfies another hipster criteria: a small area, probably repurposed, partly renovated. The back section was clearly a separate room (separating wall now removed) and the walls have not been repainted. Though there are two posters on food & coffee flavours which are too complicated for me to fully read.

We sit at the back -- because the tables are at table height. The front section tables are higher and the seats are high stools. Interesting, but not a distinguishing "hipster" feature. Our own seats are lower but still stools: no back. Comfortable enough, though, for sipping coffee with elbows resting on the table.

Coffee is at a good -- drinkable -- temperature. Flavour is fine, I'm no connoisseur. Food choice -- for our "coffee & cake" -- is limited.

There are lunch rolls -- bagels. Fine if you like bagels. We want "cake". There's a good selection of muffins. I don't look closely but they seem smallish, probably a good thing. For "cake" the choice is... three or four types of "protein ball". (Straining the memory: there may have been something sweet & possibly sticky at the far end.) I choose the protein ball covered in coconut.

The coconut ball is a bit plain, stodgy & filling towards the end. Suits what I want today but does not convince me to try "protein balls" again. (I think it is a well-known local brand.) Just not my kind of snack. But satisfactory.

The service is efficient and cheerful.

Overall rating is 2/3: we would be happy to go again but would not go out of our way to go again.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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"Silence is one great art of conversation." "Good. Let's keep that conversation going." … Ginger Meggs

===

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

Authority / Jeff VanderMeer

Authority

(Southern Reach 2 of 3)

by Jeff VanderMeer

horror

copyright 2014

read in August 2018

rated 3/10: so bad it's embarrassing

It's my own fault that I read this book. I bought one volume containing all three of this trilogy. If I had bought only Annihilation (book one) I would never have opened this book two. But... I spent good money... I'd better read it :-(

I almost gave up within the first few dozen pages. Almost gave up -- many times. What a load of absolute rubbish.

Finally, perhaps half way through, something almost starts to happen. Still rubbish. But at least it isn't one character seeing the world through the warped lens of his own inadequacy. Or insanity. Well, not entirely.

Then there are many many pages of a tedious... chase ? I suspect that the reader is supposed to be worried by the people following and excited by the prospect of catching the person being chased. Instead, I felt the tedium of an author trying to give clever insights into people and life. Ho. Hum.

Then (is this a spoiler ?! ) two characters meet. Make the one interesting revelation of the book. Then jump off a rock and disappear...

Yes, this book has no ending. No explanation. No idea. I'm wondering if book three will manage to reach a conclusion. I wonder if the author has any idea of a conclusion. Unfortunately, I will be forced to find out. Eventually.

Still, I live in hope ! The main character ends this book by jumping into the ocean. Wearing a heavy backpack. I live in hope that book three will begin, Weighed down by his backpack, he drowned.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"I've found that there's a reason for everything… I constantly make the wrong decisions." … Pardon my Planet

===

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

cafe: Boubar / Nedlands / 28jul18

My wife and I are stuck in a cafe rut. We regularly go out for "coffee & cake" -- and, as often as not, to one of a small number of "familiar" cafes. It's time to spread ourselves. To drink coffee in a wider variety of cafes.

We pick a cafe theme: Hipster Cafes in the Perth Metro Area. Why that ? Because our son & his wife are creating a list of "hipster cafes" -- and have given me access to the list... An easy way to go beyond the few cafes that we already know and enjoy.

First cafe, first lesson: Check the opening hours before arriving at the door ! Second attempt, more success:

We are almost distracted by parking directly outside Baskin-Robbins. Icecream? asks my wife, plaintively. Coffee & cake, I reply firmly. We cross the road to Boubar.

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Boubar / Nedlands / 28 Jul 18

Our first impression is of an old, solid, closed door. Is this cafe open ? A sigh of relief as the door opens.

Inside seems small -- room for forty ? A cosy feel.

We cross the room, straight to the counter. I place our coffee order then we take a minute to check the cakes on offer. There are not many cakes, more savoury foods. We select a rosewater & pistachio cheesecake. Our order is written onto the glass top of the counter. Is this a sign of a "hipster" cafe ?

We are reminded of a meal -- forty years ago -- in a restaurant in Paris. There, our order was written on our own paper table-cloth. Before the invention of magic markers, I guess. (A French friend placed that order. I didn't know what she ordered. As we ate it, much of it was still a mystery. Mysterious French cuisine.)

We sit down -- selecting a comfy bench seat -- and look around. As yet, we are not sure what makes a cafe "hipster".

Solid brick interior walls, original plaster scraped off. Old, solid, wood & glass entry door, paint scraped off. A large picture of Astro Boy near the door, nice touch :-) Makes me think of old country cafe... except for Astro Boy. Except that old country cafes tend to be repainted rather than unpainted.

Coffee is good, not exceptional. (Admittedly, my tastebuds have suffered a recent upset and are not entirely dependable.) Temperature is on the cool side, ready to drink -- just as I like it. Ultimate coffee taste test (with my tastebud confusion): it tastes good right to the much cooler end.

The cheesecake is not one that we have seen before -- a plus, we like to try new cakes. It's in three layers: choc biscuit base (very thin), green pistachio middle, pink rosewater top. Topped with a smear of something and a scrap that may be dried strawberry. One of the layers includes coconut, which raises it in my estimation... Overall, an interesting texture with a mild and pleasant taste.

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As we walk out Deb says, That was nice, we could come here again. I agree. And I quickly develop a cafe rating system: 1=never again; 2=we could come here again, 3=wow! that was good.

Boubar rates a 2/3: good enough, pleasant enough, we could come here again.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"I've found that there's a reason for everything… I constantly make the wrong decisions." … Pardon my Planet

===

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

Cold Days / Jim Butcher

Cold Days

(Dresden Files # 14)

by Jim Butcher

young adult, fantasy

copyright 2012

read in July 2018

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Have you ever read Asimov's Foundation books ? I read the first three -- "the" Foundation books -- and thought, Good fun, solid ending. Later, I read more in the series. And it just went on and on... There is a secret agency controlling the first Foundation. Behind this secret agency is an even more secret agency which controls the first secret agency. And behind that... well... each book discovers that the people "in control" are puppets for an even more secret group.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Butcher -- with his Dresden Files -- has a similar problem: how to find ever more powerful villains for the hero to battle. Dresden has -- so it seems -- battled his way to nearly the top of the power tree. (Sure, that's not all good news.) But now, who on Earth could possibly challenge him ?

The latest villains are -- spoiler alert -- from *outside* the Earth ! Possibly from outside the Universe, or from another dimension... or somewhere. Somewhere we have never before even heard of. Good grief ! What next ?!

On the other hand, this book is still a lot of fun. Comic book fun. With a hero who wants to be good, while he exterminates people and creatures who -- thank goodness -- are *not* good. (Actually, not many are "exterminated". Most villains are thrashed -- then left alive to come back in future books.)

The plot is as complex as the book series, with villains behind villains behind villains. There is also a supporting cast of thousands, so many that key battles are run off-stage, simply reported as "successful". Butcher has also -- in the spirit of controller behind controller -- explained a lot of past adventures as being part of the long-term plans of various controlling interests.

The main problem with all this complexity is... Do not make this book your first-ever taste of the Dresden Files !

Finally: Harry -- as the first-person story-teller -- seems to be getting very wordy. Those off-stage battles, for example, took many paragraphs to set up. Hmm... more words to set them up than to describe them. Perhaps saving the graphic battle descriptions for battles where the star is directly involved.

There are also several pages devoted to moral statements. Sure, they are fitted into the plot. Really, though, they are the author stating his values for the reader. Which is fine, all part of the pleasure of reading. And all part of the "young adult" genre... I guess.

Overall it's an enjoyable book. With too much dependence on previous books, too many characters who appear largely because they are entrenched in the series. And too ridiculous a set of villains -- and heroes -- to be taken seriously.

Violent, yes. Serious, no. Still good fun.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"I've found that there's a reason for everything… I constantly make the wrong decisions." … Pardon my Planet

===

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