Wild Seed by Octavia Butler
For the most part, I loved Wild Seed. The concept, itself, was interesting, but it would be a gross understatement to apply that adjective to the lead characters. Anyanwu and Doro, in combination, are two of the most unique individuals I’ve ever read. Yes, they are both immortal, but they are both very human in their immortality. They have very mortal thoughts, and these are what drive the plot of the novel.
The horror of this tale is evident from the first few pages. Doro, I think, is the single most fundamentally evil character I’ve come across. Wild Seed is frightening. And the tension is palpable throughout.
The ending, however, is, in my opinion, a copout. I could see it coming, and it ruined most of my good feeling about the book. It would have been an A+ book otherwise.
C+
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
The Dream Team
The Dream Team by Jack McCallum
I was highly disappointed in this book. Instead of being about the Dream Team, it was more about Jack McCallum’s experience covering the Dream Team. It was not about the players, the team, and what they meant to the Olympics so much as it was about the author’s feelings about them. The end product was not very enjoyable. It was, in fact, highly disappointing.
The biggest takeaway for me was that McCallum’s just not good at writing long, book-length pieces. From chapter to chapter, the narrative was disjointed. It did not feel like one cohesive work, but rather a series of independent essays that, fairly often, contradicted each other. One of the major contradictions involve Isiah Thomas’ exclusion from the team. In Chapter 5, McCallum wrote that he believes the major strike against Thomas was his agreement with Dennis Rodman that Larry Bird would have been just another player had he been Black. Later, he stated that Isiah was never really under consideration because Michael Jordan’s initial reaction to being approached about playing was to tell Rod Thorn that he wouldn’t be on the team if Isiah was. Still, in another chapter, McCallum wrote that Isiah used an intermediary to lobby Magic Johnson for support and that Magic never spoke up because Isiah had questioned his sexuality after the HIV diagnosis. The initial announcement was made on September 21, 1991; Magic’s announcement wasn’t until November 7 of that year. Isiah was left off the initial roster long before Magic’s HIV was known.
Other takeaways are that McCallum doesn’t have a lot of respect for Charles Barkley and that he really doesn’t like Magic Johnson. Throughout the book, he went out of his way to disparage both players. But, oh, how he loves Larry Bird.
The subject of Christian Laettner versus Shaquille O’Neal was a rather large omission from the text. That subject cannot be ignored. It should have been explored.
The author tried to be clever with his phrases, but it rarely worked for me. Far too often for my liking, the book was littered with condescending statements. Here’s one: “When talking about Bird, one must be careful not to carry those Midwestern attributes too far because you run the risk of making him sound dumb…” Another: “My late father-in-law was a straight-shooting kind of guy—he kept the trains running on schedule at a plant that manufactured condensers and pumps, good old-fashioned American stuff like that—so he understandably had trouble getting his mind around the Dream Team’s decision to hold pre-Olympic training in Monte Carlo.”
And, man, can this man watch a newish movie? Every movie reference is so dated you would think the book was written before the Dream Team had even been assembled. Of the dozen or so films referenced, I think Basic Instinct is the most recent. I think it’s a sign that this book wasn’t written for me or my generation. It’s an old man’s book. Given the subject matter, that is probably its biggest failing.
D+
I was highly disappointed in this book. Instead of being about the Dream Team, it was more about Jack McCallum’s experience covering the Dream Team. It was not about the players, the team, and what they meant to the Olympics so much as it was about the author’s feelings about them. The end product was not very enjoyable. It was, in fact, highly disappointing.
The biggest takeaway for me was that McCallum’s just not good at writing long, book-length pieces. From chapter to chapter, the narrative was disjointed. It did not feel like one cohesive work, but rather a series of independent essays that, fairly often, contradicted each other. One of the major contradictions involve Isiah Thomas’ exclusion from the team. In Chapter 5, McCallum wrote that he believes the major strike against Thomas was his agreement with Dennis Rodman that Larry Bird would have been just another player had he been Black. Later, he stated that Isiah was never really under consideration because Michael Jordan’s initial reaction to being approached about playing was to tell Rod Thorn that he wouldn’t be on the team if Isiah was. Still, in another chapter, McCallum wrote that Isiah used an intermediary to lobby Magic Johnson for support and that Magic never spoke up because Isiah had questioned his sexuality after the HIV diagnosis. The initial announcement was made on September 21, 1991; Magic’s announcement wasn’t until November 7 of that year. Isiah was left off the initial roster long before Magic’s HIV was known.
Other takeaways are that McCallum doesn’t have a lot of respect for Charles Barkley and that he really doesn’t like Magic Johnson. Throughout the book, he went out of his way to disparage both players. But, oh, how he loves Larry Bird.
The subject of Christian Laettner versus Shaquille O’Neal was a rather large omission from the text. That subject cannot be ignored. It should have been explored.
The author tried to be clever with his phrases, but it rarely worked for me. Far too often for my liking, the book was littered with condescending statements. Here’s one: “When talking about Bird, one must be careful not to carry those Midwestern attributes too far because you run the risk of making him sound dumb…” Another: “My late father-in-law was a straight-shooting kind of guy—he kept the trains running on schedule at a plant that manufactured condensers and pumps, good old-fashioned American stuff like that—so he understandably had trouble getting his mind around the Dream Team’s decision to hold pre-Olympic training in Monte Carlo.”
And, man, can this man watch a newish movie? Every movie reference is so dated you would think the book was written before the Dream Team had even been assembled. Of the dozen or so films referenced, I think Basic Instinct is the most recent. I think it’s a sign that this book wasn’t written for me or my generation. It’s an old man’s book. Given the subject matter, that is probably its biggest failing.
D+
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
San Diego 2014
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant
This novella is probably not the best thing Mira Grant has written—Feed was just that good—but it is my favorite of her works. Unlike the Newsflesh trilogy, in which the characters had lived nearly their entire lives in a world with zombies, and Countdown, which chronicled the origin of the Kellis-Amberlee zombie virus, San Diego 2014 puts the reader in the middle of a zombie outbreak among people who were unprepared. In this manner, San Diego 2014 is like the typical zombie story. The similarities end there.
For the first time in the Newsflesh series—and something that’s fairly new to me as a reader—we get ample opportunity to study zombie behavior. In the small, closed environment, where no one knew how to deal with them, the zombies went, for the most part, unchallenged. Their undisturbed behavior was fascinating. It wasn’t what I expected, but it makes a lot of sense. It was very well thought out by the author. More importantly, it was conveyed very well.
The story takes place inside a San Diego convention center during Preview Night of Comic-Con; thus, the characters are people who are familiar with the concept and mythology of zombies. They don’t all run and panic. Instead, many take up arms and fight. How these people fight is what makes the story so great. The heroism of some of the characters, especially those who make conscious efforts to not put others at risk, is written in a very real manner. None of the plot comes across as unrealistic (relatively speaking…it is a zombie story, after all) or pasted on. The bonds formed and chance meetings come about organically.
In the beginning, the style of the story put me off a bit. The further I read, the more I changed my opinion. The back and forth nature of the telling (bouncing between Mahir interviewing a survivor and an actual omniscient third-person narrative) works. It helps the pacing of the story while also building the tension and emotion.
There is no suspense here; we know from the very beginning how things turn out. That knowing makes all the action, all the heroic decisions, even more tragic. Wonderful, wonderful piece.
A
This novella is probably not the best thing Mira Grant has written—Feed was just that good—but it is my favorite of her works. Unlike the Newsflesh trilogy, in which the characters had lived nearly their entire lives in a world with zombies, and Countdown, which chronicled the origin of the Kellis-Amberlee zombie virus, San Diego 2014 puts the reader in the middle of a zombie outbreak among people who were unprepared. In this manner, San Diego 2014 is like the typical zombie story. The similarities end there.
For the first time in the Newsflesh series—and something that’s fairly new to me as a reader—we get ample opportunity to study zombie behavior. In the small, closed environment, where no one knew how to deal with them, the zombies went, for the most part, unchallenged. Their undisturbed behavior was fascinating. It wasn’t what I expected, but it makes a lot of sense. It was very well thought out by the author. More importantly, it was conveyed very well.
The story takes place inside a San Diego convention center during Preview Night of Comic-Con; thus, the characters are people who are familiar with the concept and mythology of zombies. They don’t all run and panic. Instead, many take up arms and fight. How these people fight is what makes the story so great. The heroism of some of the characters, especially those who make conscious efforts to not put others at risk, is written in a very real manner. None of the plot comes across as unrealistic (relatively speaking…it is a zombie story, after all) or pasted on. The bonds formed and chance meetings come about organically.
In the beginning, the style of the story put me off a bit. The further I read, the more I changed my opinion. The back and forth nature of the telling (bouncing between Mahir interviewing a survivor and an actual omniscient third-person narrative) works. It helps the pacing of the story while also building the tension and emotion.
There is no suspense here; we know from the very beginning how things turn out. That knowing makes all the action, all the heroic decisions, even more tragic. Wonderful, wonderful piece.
A
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Perfection Unleashed
Perfection Unleashed by Jade Kerrion
This book really wasn’t for me—I’m not a huge fan of stories about telepathic powers. That’s a me thing; it has nothing to do with the story or the writing, so I cannot fault the writer for it. I felt a need to state that as a disclaimer before telling you why I disliked the book.
I did not particularly like the plot. The conflicts between the different types of people could have been interesting. Instead, I felt the story was hurt by the characters, who all seemed to be stereotypes and caricatures. Granted, I only completed half of the novel, so it’s possible I checked out too early; however, I did not read much depth in any of the characters.
For a story involving the idea of genetic perfection, there was, in my opinion, a lack of solid description. For instance, we know Galahad is genetically perfect—whatever that means—but we don’t get a full picture of his appearance. Innuendo and facial reactions seem to be the primary mode of description, and that felt inadequate for the story being told.
And the writing…it didn’t work for me. Too many clichés, too many adverbs, too many contradictory passages, and too many half-expressed thoughts made the book hard to read. Here is an example: “he had never been able to keep his eyes from betraying him, but nothing crept past his iron control.” Another: “If she had taken a step back, she would have seen his staggering beauty, so flawlessly perfect as to be intimidating, but standing so close to him that she could feel his breath against her skin, she could see only the strength in his dark eyes and the gentleness in his smile.” And then romance was pasted on.
Not my kind of book.
Even though I barely read half of the book, I can’t rate it too poorly. I’ve read many awful books in the past couple of years, and this was far better than them. It might be pleasurable for a hardcore science fiction fan.
D
This book really wasn’t for me—I’m not a huge fan of stories about telepathic powers. That’s a me thing; it has nothing to do with the story or the writing, so I cannot fault the writer for it. I felt a need to state that as a disclaimer before telling you why I disliked the book.
I did not particularly like the plot. The conflicts between the different types of people could have been interesting. Instead, I felt the story was hurt by the characters, who all seemed to be stereotypes and caricatures. Granted, I only completed half of the novel, so it’s possible I checked out too early; however, I did not read much depth in any of the characters.
For a story involving the idea of genetic perfection, there was, in my opinion, a lack of solid description. For instance, we know Galahad is genetically perfect—whatever that means—but we don’t get a full picture of his appearance. Innuendo and facial reactions seem to be the primary mode of description, and that felt inadequate for the story being told.
And the writing…it didn’t work for me. Too many clichés, too many adverbs, too many contradictory passages, and too many half-expressed thoughts made the book hard to read. Here is an example: “he had never been able to keep his eyes from betraying him, but nothing crept past his iron control.” Another: “If she had taken a step back, she would have seen his staggering beauty, so flawlessly perfect as to be intimidating, but standing so close to him that she could feel his breath against her skin, she could see only the strength in his dark eyes and the gentleness in his smile.” And then romance was pasted on.
Not my kind of book.
Even though I barely read half of the book, I can’t rate it too poorly. I’ve read many awful books in the past couple of years, and this was far better than them. It might be pleasurable for a hardcore science fiction fan.
D
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The Kings of Cool
The Kings of Cool: A Prequel to Savages by Don Winslow
I liked Savages, but I loved The Kings of Cool. The prequel corrected the issues I had with the first book, which were that Ben and Chon and Ophelia were unlikeable and I couldn’t find a way to care about them. In The Kings of Cool, they are five years younger and, therefore, not yet fully formed into the people I didn’t like in Savages. Those five years made a huge difference.
The Kings of Cool is the trio’s true origin story. As is the case with most origin stories, the protagonists’ story isn’t the most interesting part. The previous generation, the people who make up The Association, a group referenced throughout Savages, was fascinating. Stan and Diane and Frederica and Kim and Doc and John. Great stuff. Again, Winslow’s book was smart and funny. And very insightful.
My only complaint is that this O was more like the Ophelia of the Savages film than the one from the first novel. The age difference between her and the boys has a higher impact at a younger age, so that explains some of her naivety. It doesn’t explain, however, the hero-worship of Chon. It wasn’t a big deal, but she was a noticeably different character.
Still, I loved this book.
B+
I liked Savages, but I loved The Kings of Cool. The prequel corrected the issues I had with the first book, which were that Ben and Chon and Ophelia were unlikeable and I couldn’t find a way to care about them. In The Kings of Cool, they are five years younger and, therefore, not yet fully formed into the people I didn’t like in Savages. Those five years made a huge difference.
The Kings of Cool is the trio’s true origin story. As is the case with most origin stories, the protagonists’ story isn’t the most interesting part. The previous generation, the people who make up The Association, a group referenced throughout Savages, was fascinating. Stan and Diane and Frederica and Kim and Doc and John. Great stuff. Again, Winslow’s book was smart and funny. And very insightful.
My only complaint is that this O was more like the Ophelia of the Savages film than the one from the first novel. The age difference between her and the boys has a higher impact at a younger age, so that explains some of her naivety. It doesn’t explain, however, the hero-worship of Chon. It wasn’t a big deal, but she was a noticeably different character.
Still, I loved this book.
B+
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Savages
Savages by Don Winslow
Savages was fun and smart and funny and highly entertaining. Don Winslow’s unique writing style put me inside all the characters’ heads and also put me smack in the middle of Orange County, California. It’s an area I know reasonably well, and Winslow captured it perfectly. Savages was a really good story. It was, however, limited.
At its core, Savages is the tragic tale of Ben and Chon and Ophelia. As with any love story, its success ultimately depends on how much the reader cares about the lovers. I cannot fault the author, but I did not care enough about Ben and Chon and Ophelia to emotionally invest in them. They are the type of people I don’t particularly like. It would be difficult for any author to get me to care about their love. I tried, but I couldn’t do it.
Still, I enjoyed the book enough to purchase the prequel, Kings of Cool.
C+
Savages was fun and smart and funny and highly entertaining. Don Winslow’s unique writing style put me inside all the characters’ heads and also put me smack in the middle of Orange County, California. It’s an area I know reasonably well, and Winslow captured it perfectly. Savages was a really good story. It was, however, limited.
At its core, Savages is the tragic tale of Ben and Chon and Ophelia. As with any love story, its success ultimately depends on how much the reader cares about the lovers. I cannot fault the author, but I did not care enough about Ben and Chon and Ophelia to emotionally invest in them. They are the type of people I don’t particularly like. It would be difficult for any author to get me to care about their love. I tried, but I couldn’t do it.
Still, I enjoyed the book enough to purchase the prequel, Kings of Cool.
C+
Sunday, July 1, 2012
The Remaining
The Remaining by D.J. Molles
Most of my thoughts about this book can be simplified into one word: NO. The plot wasn't good. The writing was worse. The characters were not endearing. The protagonist is dumb and impossible for me to root for.
I feel that the author didn't really think everything through. The United States Army built a fortified bunker for Captain Lee Harden, but built it such that the only entrance was from inside the basement of Harden's home. And this bunker did not include any surveillance, which left Harden virtually blind any time he wanted to leave.
Here's another example: Harden felt that satellite phones would be useless because "it was likely that the satellites they used would fall out of orbit without human intervention." At the same time, however, his GPS device was "his bread and butter, the life blood of his mission."
I can't see Harden as a hero. I can deal with his naivety and his true believerism, but I cannot deal with his never ending stupidity. Digging graves was careless enough, but attempting to hole up for a night with a group of survivors in a house whose patio door had been destroyed was too ridiculous to take seriously. But then it got worse because Harden then led the survivors to spend a night sleeping in the cab of a pickup truck with a guy who had been bitten! Of this arrangement, the author wrote, "Their dreams were dark and hazy and filled with fear and hope. They slept unaware that fate would not allow all of them to reach Timber Creek alive." Of course not…one of them was already known to be infected! Come on, man. This book was too much.
Also, the author could have used a better editor. I understand that not everyone can afford a top-notch editor, but any author can have at least one friend who knows how to construct a sentence so that it actually conveys the author's intended idea or can let the author know that he failed to actually introduce two of his characters.
The premise was good, but the execution left a lot to be desired. Just not good.
F
Most of my thoughts about this book can be simplified into one word: NO. The plot wasn't good. The writing was worse. The characters were not endearing. The protagonist is dumb and impossible for me to root for.
I feel that the author didn't really think everything through. The United States Army built a fortified bunker for Captain Lee Harden, but built it such that the only entrance was from inside the basement of Harden's home. And this bunker did not include any surveillance, which left Harden virtually blind any time he wanted to leave.
Here's another example: Harden felt that satellite phones would be useless because "it was likely that the satellites they used would fall out of orbit without human intervention." At the same time, however, his GPS device was "his bread and butter, the life blood of his mission."
I can't see Harden as a hero. I can deal with his naivety and his true believerism, but I cannot deal with his never ending stupidity. Digging graves was careless enough, but attempting to hole up for a night with a group of survivors in a house whose patio door had been destroyed was too ridiculous to take seriously. But then it got worse because Harden then led the survivors to spend a night sleeping in the cab of a pickup truck with a guy who had been bitten! Of this arrangement, the author wrote, "Their dreams were dark and hazy and filled with fear and hope. They slept unaware that fate would not allow all of them to reach Timber Creek alive." Of course not…one of them was already known to be infected! Come on, man. This book was too much.
Also, the author could have used a better editor. I understand that not everyone can afford a top-notch editor, but any author can have at least one friend who knows how to construct a sentence so that it actually conveys the author's intended idea or can let the author know that he failed to actually introduce two of his characters.
The premise was good, but the execution left a lot to be desired. Just not good.
F
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