Tread Lightly: Form, Footwear, and the Quest for Injury-Free Running by Bill Katovsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I haven’t read very many running books. In fact, I’ve only read three that I can remember, one being Christopher MacDougal’s legendary “Born to Run”, and Jason Robillard’s excellent “The Barefoot Running Book”. Continue reading
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
This will be a short review. It’s a fairly fast read, but not very consistent, not very interesting. The characters are flat and uninteresting and the plotting doesn’t work. But mostly, I’m rating it low because it doesn’t fit together very well. Here’s two short examples (with spoilers): Continue reading
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This will be a rant born out of disappointment, and probably a long one at that. I love Stephen King, but here I’m afraid he put his foot in his mouth just one time too many. Also this, which we will call ‘review’, but which is only really a pretense for a rant, will contain serious spoilers, so if you haven’t yet read the seventh and final installment of the Dark Tower, consider yourself duly warned. Continue reading
Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have to date read all of Alistair Reynolds books (at least I think I have, he is after all rather prolific). So. I’m a fan.
I’ve always seen him as slightly uneven though, and although a brilliant story-teller, not always the perfect craftsman, and his characterization leaves at times things to which for.
(Usual self-repeat: I won’t cover the story in this review, plenty of others do).
So let’s start with the major let down: characterization. The main character (Geoffrey) starts out a whining bitch and continues so for half of the book. This is a characteristic he seems to share with his sister, unless their together at which point the sister seems to grow a bit: clearly you can’t have two characters who’s only contribution to the dialogue is “it won’t work”, “we’ll all die”, or “what makes you think I like you”. Really, that’s a fair summary of nearly 85% of all Geoffrey’s dialogue through the first half of the book.
I’m all for anti-heroes, but there’s got to be something interesting in the character you can latch onto. But for Geoffrey there is nothing. His love for the elephants? Meh…
So in order to move the story along there has to be other people than the main characters around to not only explain things but also to take initiatives at all… Let’s just say that there is a certain construct who got a lot of disposition on her plate, poor thing.
Interestingly enough, I think my other major problem with the book stems from the first: When Geoffrey “grows up” and stop whining (which is, by the way, through with a suitably transparent kill-move) the feel of the entire story changes. From an anti-hero travelogue to an ordinary space opera. It felt… A bit abrupt and… sloppy.
That’s my whining out of the way. This is still a terrific read. Everything else is exactly where I want it. Pace, scenery, grandeur and story. It all slot together in a slick machinery that you just want to continue forever.
Although this is, by Alistair Reynolds measuring, fairly near future, and contained around the solar system, the feeling of awe and grandeur that Reynolds can magic up at times is astonishing. Someone said that the hallmark of great SF is the feeling of opening-up, of a sense of wonder, and this book has it in abundance.
A 3/5 rating? Well… It really is a very strong 3. Had the transition from anti-hero to “normal” story been smoother this would have been a 4. And with the whining toned down a bit and Geoffrey fleshed out a bit earlier in the book it would have been a border-line 5.
Good stuff! I can’t wait for the next volume.
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“The man in black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed.”
Honestly, if that doesn’t go down as one of the great openings of all time, to be remembered long after we’re gone, even if the the person recognizing it doesn’t even know where it comes from, I’ll be sorely disappointed.
In fact, this reading is a re-read, but I hardly remembered anything but the opening line from the first read-through; which must have been back in the eighties.
I remember being somewhat nonplussed with it though, without being able to articulate exactly why at the time. Perhaps I can now: it is the overall, sweeping, “introduction-type” style to the text that I didn’t really grasp. It is in effect, one long setup of a much longer tale to come. And read in that function, it succeeds admirably: It sketches at the grandeur, the mystery and the size to come.
As usual I’ll not cover the plot, you can find that elsewhere.
It is somewhat crude; if you read later King you’ll realize that he has indeed learned a thing or two about story-telling a the craft of stringing words together since this was written. But regarded as an introductory piece it still works well.
(Here’s a minor issue though: I had no problem with the town of Tull. The Isaac-moment I had forgotten though. And I probably didn’t care about it when I was sixteen, but now this particular version of Abraham’s dilemma doesn’t sit very well. I look forward to see if it’s going to be explained or resolved later.)
So: this time around I love it. What a brilliant setup! The lone gunslinger chasing his destiny across a Sergio Leone inspired waste land entirely owned by Stephen King. Awesome!
Now on to book number two, the plan is to read it all in one go. Wish me luck!
Prador Moon: A Novel Of The Polity by Neal Asher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I picked this up out of curiosity after seen Neal Asher on the local SF book store. What I was after was a straight forward space opera; I thought anything more than that would be a bonus. And yes, that’s what I got.
Several other reviewers has complained that this book might not be as good as Neal Asher is supposed to be. And having read it, I think I can see that: there is capacity here, there’s good pacing, and interesting characters. However, there’s also a shallowness in the story, the world building and the character interactions.
Did I say character interactions? Er.. Well, there’s one point down then: there really isn’t much of interplay at all. The main characters do their thing separately through much of the book, and when they’re finally put together the author quickly separates them again. As a romantic sucker, I do not agree.
There’s graphic violence. I have however read, say, both Richard K Morgan and Steven Erikson, so I wasn’t too bothered by this.
The action pacing is really nice. In fact, the pacing and spacing in the entire book is good, making it a really quick and engaging read.
Here’s another possible reason the book doesn’t really work: The author tries to tell a surprising amount of the story from the POV of the aliens. It’s kind of dangerous to assume a completely alien mindset as you’re running the risk of 1) removing natural tension as the aliens becomes “knowable”; and 2) humanizing the aliens. Contrasted to some of the best aliens I know of, Stephen Donaldson’s Amnioni, the Prador are easier to understand and hence more predictable and not at all as scary.
So, all in all a fast a furious read. And sometimes, that’s what I want. Also, I do believe this author has more to give, so I’m continuing on, hopeful next book will be a bit better, because then it could be really good.
A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This will be a short review as I actually finished this book a while back, and it wouldn’t be fair trying to outline more than the big pictures given my horrible memory.
I really wanted to give this book more than 3 stars. On a scale of 10 it would have been a strong 7. And the reason I wanted to rate it higher is simple: It is not you ordinary run of the mill fantasy. No any orphan discovering their destiny as kings/magicians/gods. No cheesy love story (but a nice triangle, if you know your Arthurian legend you’ll be right at home). A unique magic system. And so on.
However, I never really got gripped by the characters, and I never believed in the story, and here’s why: The magic system, unique as it is, is presented without limits. In this book we’re led to believe that there is *no* boundary in sight; one single “demon” can reach out and rip every single unborn baby right out of their mother’s womb. Literally. From a continent away. And naturally the first thing I ask myself is: why don’t they?
So let’s get abstract for a moment: why don’t they? In any believable world there will be people taking advantage of power, and if you introduce magic that is controllable, you need to explain why the greedy, evil or power hungry has not taken over the world. If you’re going to employ magic make sure there’s things you can’t do, and make sure your readers, who don’t have the implicit knowledge of your characters, are told. You don’t have to go to Harry Potter extremes, nor Eddings but both are examples of magician stories, and within both it is clear that you can’t do everything you want, that there are boundaries for you might.
Power without boundaries is meaningless.
So no, I didn’t really get gripped. I probably will read the rest in the quartet. But not for a while. There’s a lot of other books out there.
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Here’s a hyped book indeed, but having sat through it in one go (6 hours) it is a well deserved 5 star.
Others will expand on the content, so I’ll concentrate on a few highlights. And there are many in this book. Part adventure story, scientific discovery and party book, it’s a rip roaring extacy ride with a lot of impossible-to-let-go pages.
Characters: what an intriguing lot of personality! From the cadaverous mystery of Caballo Blanco (“the white horse”) to narcoleptic hipster kids and obsessed ultra-marathon runners, this book has them in abundance. And the author treats them all fair and square. Very nicely done.
Language: erratic, somewhat slang-ridden, but in my mind, nicely flowing and entirely appropriate. If it leaves you put off, I can sympathise, but when I got past the first 5% (yes, I’m on a Kindle) it just felt… Right.
Interesting stuff: shitloads. I’m a nerd with a passion for hiking, I’ve been running since early adulthood, and yes, last couple of months I’ve started looking into the whole “barefoot movement” thing. Still, this book had me hooked to figure out what the scientist would say, something you don’t always associate with “page turning”.
On the whole, it is a charismatic book about charismatic people and the lost love for running. It resonated in me as it seemed to have done in many others.
And yes, I’m now officially playing with a very different way of running than I’m used to. If it works out, I’ll let you know.
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A really enjoyable book although somewhat idiosyncratic and un-even. The author does not apologize though and have even refused to even it out for the later editions. That way it stays personal and interesting. Another word on the style, it is easy to misread it as an attack and only see the snark, whereas the author is failry clear about his goals, he puts them clearly down, but it’s easy to loose them on the way. I didn’t care though, as I found it hilarious at times.
The content is about the randomness in many of our environments and our inability to cope with much of it. Most of the examples comes from Wall Street as the author not only have experience from that particular arena but also sees it as a highly random business. On the way we’re sail past Hume (induction), Popper, Kahneman, Soros, Pinker as well as poets and artists and… Clearly, mr Taleb is a very well read man.
For those interested I highly recommend his (slightly more technical) Edge.org piece “THE FOURTH QUADRANT: A MAP OF THE LIMITS OF STATISTICS”: http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/taleb08/…
The Books of the South: Tales of the Black Company by Glen Cook
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Very good indeed. I felt some of the originality went away as the story teller becomes, not a spectator, but a leader and “cause” in himself. However, it is still very good and I’m looking forward to the “glittering stone” compilation.
But oh, the pregnancy and “herald child” business was all too predictable and cheesy. I did feel a bit let down by that, let’s hope it turns to something interesting in the last books.
