I can’t wait until July. DRM-Free ebooks go on sale from my favorite publisher: Tor/Forge
Category: New Releases
Book Review: My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke
My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I barely read any non-fiction (outside of the technical writing found in information technology reference guides) in any given year. When I do branch out away from fiction, I prefer to read a biography, autobiography or memoir, or a history book, usually on a particular brief period.
I breezed through Dick Van Dyke‘s autobiography quickly, probably because it felt like he sat in my living regaling me with tales from his past in his engaging and witty manner. His charm and good will bubbled out of the pages. Even the troubles and tragedies he confessed only evoked my compassion or caring in my assessment of him.
A couple of excerpts that really struck a chord for me:
I was all about living a kind, righteous, moral, forgiving, and loving life seven-days a week, not just the one day when you went to church. … And if there’s not a higher power, no one’s going to be worse for the wear for his or her effort. Was there one way? No, not as far as I could tell — other than to feel loved, to love back, … as simple as making sure you spend time helping make life a little better for other people.
(from the Family Values chapter)
A few years ago, I told Esquire magazine that the Buddhists boiled it down to the essentials. They said you need three things in life: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. The message does not get any clearer. I heard walt Disney, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Carl Reiner all say the same thing in their own way. Hope is life’s essential nutrient, and love is what gives life meaning. I think you need somebody to love and take care of, and someone who loves you back. In that sense, I think the New Testament got it right. So did the Beatles. Without love, nothing has any meaning.
(from the Curtain Calls chapter)
When I finished the book, I wanted to give him a big hug, but of course, I’m too far away to do that. So I’ll send him a little love for all the laughs and love he’s shared unconditionally with me, with all of us really, for some many decades. As long as I’ve been alive, there’s always been a Dick Van Dyke to make me smile.
Book Review: Maphead by Jennings
For my twenty-first installment in my ‘Thirty Days of Thankfulness‘ I am grateful for my sense of direction, my spatial awareness and love of maps and geography. This post will do double duty as it also masquerades as a book review of Ken Jennings’ recently released Maphead.
Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
by Ken Jennings
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
(actually more like 3.5 stars, but GoodReads doesn’t allow half star ratings)
A quick read, similar in format and informality to Ken’s inaugural Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs book. All twelve chapter titles included a cartographic definition together with a quote. For example, the first chapter entitled ‘Eccentricity’ with the definition ‘the deformation of an elliptical map projection’ and the Pat Conroy quote ‘My wound is geography.’
My favorite chapter falls in the center, halfway from nowhere to somewhere, Chapter 6 ‘Legend’ with a definition of ‘an explanatory list of the symbols on a map’ and the C.S. Lewis quote ‘Most of us, I suppose, have a secret country, but for most of us it is only an imaginary country.’ I did a double-take when I read on p. 113 that Brandon Sanderson and Ken Jennings were college roommates. I heartily agree with Brandon’s assertion that ‘The hallmark of epic fantasy is immersion’ and that’s why he always includes maps in his books. Brandon goes on to relate to Ken that he ‘started to look and make sure a book had a map. That was one of the measures of whether it was going to be a good book or not.” When Brandon first read The Lord of the Rings he thought, ‘Oho, he [Tolkien] knows what he’s doing. A map and an appendix!’ Ken states a few paragraphs later that ‘Fantasy readers like that abrupt drop into the deep end and the learning curve it takes to keep up’ further affirmed by Brandon’s confirmation that ‘By the end of a big epic fantasy novel, you’ll have to become an expert in this world that doesn’t exist. It’s challenging.’
I felt affirmed and validated for years of pouring over maps of fictional non-existent realms. I once thought to recreate the map of Middle Earth as a tapestry to hang proudly in my living room or library. One of the first prints I purchased from a newly favorite epic fantasy author, Janny Wurts, was a large format (40×30 inches) map of Athera, solely because I wanted to be able to trace (without squinting or resorting to a magnifying glass and the loss of the center of the map to the no man’s land in the binding of the books) the routes of Arithon, Elaira, Dakar, Lysaer and other characters intrinsic to her Wars of Light and Shadow epic fantasy series. The first thing I did upon receiving the next Wheel of Time novel was to skim through for any new maps interspersed in the chapters and sections. Back in the mid80s, I purchased both the Atlas of the Land and the The Atlas of Pern by Karen Wynn Fonstad so I could pour over even more imaginary maps while waiting for the next Pern or Thomas Covenant novel to be published. But I digress, tangentially, from the book at hand.
In Chapter 9 ‘Transit’ (definition: ‘a piece of surveying equipment used by mapmakers: a theodolite with a reversible telescope’), Ken sparked my interest in road rallies (something I always wanted to do when my husband was a member of the local SCCA). I always excelled at those trick-question instruction test in school, so I might just try Jim Sinclair’s annual St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (a contest by mail where you travel a circuitous course across American from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Statue of Liberty entirely by maps) next year. That is if I can find a way to sign up; an Internet search came up oddly sparse.
Ken introduced me to ‘geocaching’ in Chapter 10 ‘Overedge’ (definition: ‘the portion of the map that lies outside the neatline border’), which so intrigue me that I grabbed my Nook Color and signed up at Geocaching.com, even though I don’t even own a GPS unit (outside of the one in my dumbphone which doesn’t have any ‘free’ software associated with it to assist in finding or placing geocaches).
Overall, I enjoyed the few hours I spent geeking over cartography and geography with Ken Jennings as my tour guide. I learned a few things and I laughed out loud a couple of times. I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend, especially if cold November rain greets you on the other side of the door.
Book Review: A Shot in the Dark by Stewart
A Shot in the Dark by K.A. Stewart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
3.5 stars
A Shot in the Dark continues a few months after A Devil in the Details, with Jesse James Dawson mostly recovered from his last demon death-dance and tornado tango, but still suffering from nightmares of an earlier near-fatal demon fight. His annual Colorado camping trip with his buddies should provide ample opportunity for rejuvenation and recreation… What should have been a relaxing retreat quickly turns into a siege reminiscent of the Alamo . . .
A Shot in the Dark provides a good mystery, a few thrills, a new take on zombies, MacGyver-esque innovations in demon fighting and a peek into the true identity of Jesse’s favorite demon sidekick, Axel (hint: read To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust or Milton’s Paradise Lost). This is a strong sequel to last year’s A Devil in the Details and a great summer vacation read. Just don’t forget the holy water, mirrors and swords.
Book Review: The Winds of Khalakovo by Beaulieu
The Winds of Khalakovo by Bradley P. Beaulieu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Prince Nikandr Iaroslov, of the Duchy of Khalakovo, one of the mountainous islands of the Grand Duchy of Anuskaya, harbors many secrets. He contracted a fatal wasting disease, as has his sister Victania, for which he desperately seeks a cure. His lover, Rehada, is a native Aramahn, scorned as the ‘Landless’ by the ‘Landed’ citizens of the duchy. Rehada, in turn, harbors secrets of hate and revenge for the murder of her infant daughter by the Landed. Scorning her peaceful Aramahn heritage, she joins the splinter terrorist sect called the Maharraht, seeking to secretly strike back at the invaders The Aramahn work with the Landed, setting an example of peaceful coexistence, unconditional love and all-encompassing forgiveness, while the Maharraht strive for action, sabotage, subterfuge and lethal violence to rid the islands of the hated Landed.
Princess Atiana Radieva, of the Duchy of Vostroma, arrives with the rest of her family to seal the arranged marriage with Prince Nikandr, becoming the third and final side of this love/hate triangle. She and her two sisters grew up with Nikandr, teasing him and their brother, Borund, relentlessly and sometimes cruelly. Nikandr dreads leaving Rehada, has little hope of forging any emotional connection to Atiana, and fears what will happen should the Vostromans discover his disease. As with most arranged marriages among aristocracy, all is not romance and roses, political influence shifts hands, trade concessions secure Khalakovon natural resources for the Vostromans, all to strengthen these two Duchies as the islands are wracked by years of famine and blight. The starving peasants care little for the political posturing, seething with unrest and starting to riot over scant rations.
I could appreciate the new twist on a fantasy world, using Czarist Russia (and possibly the Cossacks in particular) as a basis for the ruling regime. I didn’t quite grasp the connection from land-locked unforgiving Ukraine or Siberia with a naval-like empire of wind ships, which appeared to be (from the limited descriptions provided by the author) some sort of strange sailing monstrosity with masts on four sides (top, bottom, port and starboard). Landing, even on an eyrie perch, must have been a nightmare, and what happens in an emergency when you need to ‘crash’ land on the sea or land? Masts break and sails rip dramatically, but completely impractical and short-sighted.
The magic system as revealed through the actions of various bit players also did not lend itself to easy understanding. The Aramahn bond with elemental spirits through various semi-precious stones and the Matri (the Duchy matriarchs) manipulate the aether from the cold dark, forcing order upon the world’s winds over the entropy of the natural and spiritual worlds. This, together with a thin skin of worldbuilding left me with nothing but the forward fast pace of the events unfolding to keep my attention. Not even the tragic ending could bring any emotion to the surface for Nikandr, Atiana or Rehada. The growth experienced by these characters failed to convince me to believe the actions they took. Even Rehada’s confession to Atiana lacked conviction. Nikandr’s professed love for the pivotal Nasim, even though Nikandr seemed willing to sacrifice himself for the boy, just didn’t ring true. Much too much ‘telling’ and sparse ‘showing’ prevailed throughout the novel.
Kudos to Brad Beaulieu for providing me with a crash course in Slavic vocabulary, including words he crafted for this world that look and sound like their consonant-heavy guttural Eastern European counterparts.
I doubt I’ll be following the further permutations of Nikandr, Atiana, Nasim or the Flying Cossacks. The pacing kept me wanting to read what happened next, but when I finished, I found I didn’t care what had happened.
Book Review: The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
4.25 to 4.75 stars
Five stars is a gift, because parts of this ‘story’ frustrated me to no end, though the novel carries a very strong four star rating for me. Yet the hidden gems I found along the winding road this tale took made me laugh, cry, rage, cry some more, laugh some more, and scratch my head in wonder.
Pros: Exceptional story telling (occasionally, sporadically), often lyrical prose, beautiful deep embedded world building beyond the mere descriptive paragraph. I loved the scenes with Master Elodin, Devi, Bast and to some degree with Denna, a character I had little sympathy for in The Name of the Wind.
Cons: When we finally leave the University (a full one-third of the way through the novel), the action and adventure is quashed in a couple of sentences, at least as it respects the actual journey east. All the chapters seem too short to me, but that might be because I tend to read epic fantasy where the length of the chapters can approach one hundred pages or more. And here we are, back at the University again when we reach the end of the second day.
I plan to re-read, in succession, both novels of the Kingkiller Chronicle, later this year. I decided not to re-read The Name of the Wind prior to reading The Wise Man’s Fear and feel now that was probably a mistake. I struggled to remember some of the characters the author referenced in passing in the second novel.
And now the waiting begins, and if history is any indicator, at least a half decade will pass before the past (Kvothe) and present (Kote) converge in the final (or is that ‘next’) Kingkiller Chronicle novel.
Rothfuss Raises the Roof Under Left Bank Books
Saturday evening, I found myself in the basement under Left Bank Books in downtown St. Louis with several hundred other ‘friends of friends’ waiting for Patrick Rothfuss to speak about Kvothe, Denna, musicianship, spoilers (and appropriate punishments for people who deliver them), poetry, guinea pig abuse and writing advice (using Oot to demonstrate his point).
Earlier in the afternoon, after Terry and I had drooled over several gorgeous classic muscle cars at Fast Lane in St. Charles, Missouri, we ventured downtown to seek out the best parking options around Left Bank Books. We found a sea of green celebrants overflowing the streets, and most of the street parking discouraged by order of the police for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade (five days early). What with the construction, blocked off streets and pseudo-Irish crowds, we aborted our reconnaissance and returned to our motel.
Concerned we might need to take the MetroLink rail, I called Left Bank and asked if the parade and parking situation would clear up before the event. They assured me it shouldn’t be a problem. Terry didn’t think he would do well walking the half mile from the closest rail stop nor standing around the book store for a few hours, so he opted to stay in our room but wouldn’t let me take the rail. So I left extra early in order to find the best parking spot. I lucked out and got a nearly front door spot before 5:30 pm. I fed a dollar’s worth of quarters into the meter (which amounted to one hour’s worth of parking grace) with the intention of getting change for a five when I retrieved my pre-ordered hardcover inside the store.
I picked up my pre-ordered (but completely undiscounted full retail price) copy of Wise Man’s Fear at the counter and asked for change to feed the meter. I learned I didn’t need to pay for parking downtown on Saturdays or Sundays. My signing ticket placed me in the first group, thankfully. I found a quiet corner and read another chapter in Magician: Master while I waited for the basement room to officially open at 6:00 pm
Left Bank Books borrowed the basement room, obviously setup for a house band including mics, speakers and a soundboard, for Pat’s reading. I snagged a third row end seat so I could move freely down the left aisle for photographic angle freedom. After only a few minutes, Pat arrived and began pre-signing a few books, mostly from the front rows (he almost got to me before the official start time) and families with small children.
Pat started his talk with a few ground rules, after noting the basement venue (complete with band equipment and beer dispensing) might prove to be his most ‘rock-n-roll’ event setting to date. While he encouraged photographs, he emphatically requested a ban on all video, providing some hilarious examples and excuses. I had hoped to record his talk, but my video camera had lost it’s charge overnight when I left it in the cold trunk overnight, and his request made it moot anyway. He moved on to spoilers, and his loathing of those who spoil, especially those who ask questions and proclaim them not spoilerish (a sure indication the question will be a spoiler).
For the next hour, Pat answered questions with humorous anecdotes. He finally took a break from Q&A and polled us for something to read, placing a short non-spoiler section of Wise Man’s Fear, some of his own poetry or one of his humorous weekly advice columns from his college days. We more or less agreed on the latter and thus did I learn of Pat’s penchant for guinea pig abuse (you really had to be there).
After a few more questions, Pat retired upstairs to begin the signing gauntlet. At even just one minute per person, he probably had six or eight hours (starting at 8:30 pm) of arm numbing signatures to write. I actually made it back to the motel about an hour later.
I had a fantastic evening listening to and laughing with Pat. If you haven’t yet read his first novel, I highly recommend The Name of the Wind. I hope to finish the sequel, The Wise Man’s Fear within the next week or so. And even though, according to Pat’s research, fantastic fiction is in the literary basement (pun intended I’m sure), just slightly below science fiction and barely above westerns and romances on said totem pole, his novel dominated the NYT Best Seller’s List (for Fiction) it’s first week after release!
Wednesday Whine
I woke up to the second day of March with significantly more sleep than I got for the first day. And, a stunning sunrise evolved over the course of my commute from home to Kansas City, Missouri:
I enjoyed my cran-raspberry white chocolate scone (baked Sunday morning) with two cups of average tea (just Lipton for easy prep) while cleaning up log files before monitoring MOSS 2007 crawl a large content source. At least I have no meetings scheduled for today.
I’m looking forward to a short walk at lunch to take advantage of Planet Sub‘s double punch day. This evening, I’ll take a long walk with Roxy during Wolfguard‘s practice.
Ah, the joys of tax preparation season and gathering all the necessary documentation for filing an itemized return, especially when some of your offspring don’t answer their cell phones and may never check or respond to their voice-mail messages.
And the things my husband says when I gather the appropriate information and return his call to relate said information:
“Would there happen to be a pen up here?” meaning the kitchen table.
“I have no idea. I was a secretary for years and have no desire to be one again. I keep mine in my purse.” my reply.
“Well, I only have two places to keep a pen on me, and neither one of them pleasant.” his reply which sparked images that may scar me for the rest of my life.
While speaking to one of my offspring’s significant others, I learned all of them (my offspring and their better halves) are involved in indoor soccer leagues. I feel so left out of the loop. I adamantly requested photos and updates at the first opportunity.
I despair of ever catching up on my group reads. I have at least two left over from February, bleeding over into March. I may drop everything so I can read the newly released (yesterday and in the mail to me right now via pre-order from Barnes & Nobel) The Wise Man’s Fear. The rest of my current reads pile can be found here.
And I’ve been asked to lead the discussion in two different groups, the first on Willis’ Doomsday Book and the second on Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. As if I needed anything else to do.
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Higher Expectations for a First Edition Hardcover
No, I’m not talking about the content composed by the author (in this case Robert V.S. Redick) but rather the publisher or the publishing industry (in this case Del Rey Ballantine Books an imprint of Random House) lack of polish or finish on this first edition hardcover of The Ruling Sea:
Do you see the unevenness of the pages? This is one of the final steps when you bind a book. You trim the edges of the book signatures so they are flush and even (makes for easy fanning of a book with your thumb). I’ve even done this process myself (with my dad’s help as he had the razor sharp chisel and vice in his basement workshop). I’m appalled when I see a first edition hardcover in this state.
Is this becoming more common from the publishing industry? When I see a book like the one displayed above, I think it’s a reprint by a low-budget or discount publisher, not a first edition! Sheesh!
Perhaps I’m just overly sensitive. I would have hesitated to buy this book for this very reason. As it stands, I’m only borrowing it from a library, but still. Come on!
Book Review: Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay (5 stars)
Under Heaven
by Guy Gavriel Kay
5 out of 5 stars
Read in December 2010
Shen Tai mourns his father for over two years by burying the bones of the dead in a vast battlefield on the western edge of the Kitan empire. A backbreaking labor of grace daily and the company of the restless shades of soldiers nightly. He gains the respect of friend and foe and the attention of women in high places with influence, intrigue and power. The unfathomable gift of two hundred and fifty horses from a rival empire courtesy of a Kitan princes sent as tribute sets Shen’s life adrift on the high tide of potentially lethal imperial politics. He receives unlooked for and unlikely assistance from several women as he travels from the far western reaches to the very center of the Kitan empire in Xinan: a well trained assassin, Wei Song, sent by a former courtesan of the northwestern district previously known as Spring Rain and a former dancer now the favored courtesan of the emperor himself.
Even though we only ever see one of the famous Sardian horses for much of the novel, Shen repeatedly attempts to exchange them for knowledge of his sister and her rescue from the Bogu barbarians of the north, since his own older brother, now adviser to the prime minister, allowed her to be elevated to an imperial princes and sent as a tribute bride to the Bogu leader. But not even the most powerful players on this corrupted game board can assist Shen with his quest.
Kay delivers sweeping epic vistas of the open grass steppe and the heart-stopping gut-wrenching frenzy of court intrigue and rebellion. No other prose flows so seamlessly as Kays, completely engulfing me in the world he unfolds before me.
My only quibble with this novel, and which almost made me drop my rather to four or four and a half stars, was with the ending. Shifting to third person and a more remote historical sagacious point of view distanced me from the characters just as the story culminated and resolved. I still enjoyed the novel immensely, though, and highly recommend it.