The Caves... of Awesome

Well for the Space Opera section I didn't really read a Space Opera novel, more of a Space Detective novel. BUT THAT'S OK! I'll make it work.

Caves of Steel addresses a lot of issues dealing with personal identity and how we let our preconceptions of other people color the way we interact with them and assume they are going to behave. Elijah's ideas about robots and their uses at first colors his opinion of his new robot partner R. Daniel. However he is also judged by others for living in the many domes that are scattered on the Earth shielding the residents from the sun.

The overall narrative is fun and rather engaging, and I love the idea that Asimov decided to prove that Sci Fi could be applied to any other genre and it would still work. While it may not have the same amount of adventure and conflict as space operas personally I enjoy these deeper twisting looks at people more.

Dune

For some reason Dune has always been a challenging book for me to read. Which I find really odd considering I have read Lord of the Rings several times and enjoyed it. The writing and is very dense and each attempt I make I get a little bit deeper in but I still don't really know what to make of it. I really enjoyed the world but I feel that any analysis I would make of it would be rather uninformed.

Snow'd In

Snow Crash wasn't really my cup of tea. Just something about the flow of the story stopped me from really enjoying it. However I love Cyberpunk so I'll talk about that.

A dystopia with the glossy sheen of technology. A loss of what is normally considered to be human to machine parts and cyber brains. What happens to a society where what you think and see can be recorded in your head and seen by others? As in most Cyberpunk stories a heavy hand of the government and military falls over the people. Police and anti-crime units evolve to find and respond to crime as soon as they are committed or in some cases even before. Of course as counter measures evolve so do those doing the crimes, hacking, cracking, cyber brain diving, whatever they find a way in.

This genre can really play to peoples fears of an overly oppressive government, which in reality we are seeing some of the things described in these novels. For me what I find really interesting is a lot of the political play that is described in series like Ghost in the Shell. The string being pulled by corporations and their interplay with the people just trying to do their jobs is really fascinating to me. As well as seeing the Major as someone who doesn't associate herself with a body but more as an idea or consciousness. Plus it has sweet spider tanks, what else could you want?

Lilith's Brood

An interesting book, one I don't have a whole lot of thoughts about except for the sort of major overarching theme.

The one of what is alien and what is normal? When do these two become intertwined or inverted? An question that's fairly prevalent in the United States being such a country with so many cultures fighting to stay independent yet to also fit in so as to form a functioning society. Personally I respect the idea of culture and tradition, but I don't really follow it religiously or focus on it and display it proudly. I've always been confused about people who are so wrapped up in their tradition and heritage, to me it seems like limiting yourself to what people in the past did or practiced, not really evolving with the times. I like my Irish and Mexican heritage but if I were to be a practicing Irish-Catholic just because I was Irish I feel like I would be letting the past define my life.

So I guess in relationship to Lilith's Brood, sign me up for integration into the alien gene pool. Living life without moving with changes or finding your own way just feels like a shallow way to live life.

Oryx (what a freaking cool name) and Crake (not as cool but still...)

The death of the human race, it's bound to happen sooner or later. Stephen Hawking says that if humanity can survive the next 200 years, we'll should be able to survive a further 500. But he doesn't have the highest hopes for those 200. So whether by our own pollution or the genetically engineered virus of a mad man (or a misguided man who knows). Oryx and Crake takes a very interesting look at what brings about our end and what comes after.

In a society, well I don't what to say depraved or loss of morals because morals are subjective and flud. But people seem to be bored with a lot of things in life, a lot of the escapism seems to come from pornography and games. Snowman's friend decides that humanities time is up and that its time to make way for a genetically superior species that was created.

For me this book brought up a lot of poignant questions about our ideas of morality. Do we really deserve life? Does an unborn child have the right to live? My ideas about population and disease are semi-morbid and what a lot of people would consider to be un-humanitarian. But really, life isn't fair and I think that humanity has sort of gotten it into its head that we are not apart of nature and that life should be fair to us. I think it comes from a long time at the top of the food chain with no real threats or dangers apart from clotted arteries or an errant car to the face.

Maybe people need to realize again that life is in fact a struggle, one that we make easier by living and working together but none the less, its a challenge were if you fail there is no do over and no second chance. Hopefully the Crakers in the book will overcome that hurdle that we seem to have gotten tangled up in. Who knows maybe I'll be the Crake of this world and end up killing us all, but maybe I'll be more like Snowman and just watch as we fade away and the new comes rolling in.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Movie, radio, book, all incarnations of this tale are fantastic and highly entertaining. The life of a man who is randomly thrust into a world that he has no idea about, and is choc full of bizarre creatures and machines is a wonderfully fascinating one. This idea of a stranger in a strange land is a staple of sci fi genre and Hitchhikers pulls it off wonderfully. All the characters are interesting and embody interesting classes of emotions, from the manic narcissistic Zaphod, to Marvin the definition of depressed. These characters also bring up interesting ideas, what is home? What does one do when ones home is destroyed by a Vogon Constructor Fleet? Questions that I think we can all identify and empathize with.

The humor of this story is wonderfully counter pointed by the more tender moments between Arthur and Trillian and later Fenchurch, as well as some heart wrenching moments. Its a book that both makes fun of the sci fi genres and some of its conventions (translators, aliens, etc) but at the same time writes a wonderful sci fi narrative in itself with a world that is rich and vibrant with absurdity and emotion. Personally the only short coming that I can find with the series is that Douglas Adams died before he could finish it, and I feel that that is truly a crime.

Like Calvin and Hobbes or The Emperor's New Groove, this story is one that I find myself coming back to again and again for both a laugh, and one mans ingenious and twisted take on life, the universe, and everything.

The Night Angel Trilogy

I picked up this book on a whim and found a fantastic series of novels. The story follows Azoth a street kid in a very hard rough and tumble life, he witnesses a wetboy kill a group of thugs and from that point on he wants to be a wetboy. Wetboys are essentially assassins but better, assassins have targets, wetboys have deaders, because its not a question of if they will die, but when. Azoth views them as a figure of power and an escape to the horrible life he lives. So he pursues an apprenticeship with the best wetboy in the city Durzo Blint, and eventually gets him to take him in. But his life really doesn't get any easier, better perhaps, but much much harder.

This book series reminds me a lot of Warbreaker in terms of its writing, the story, and characters. The use of magic is sort of slowly slipped in there and even then it's not a huge aspect of a wetboys work, you need the talent to become a full fledged wetboy, but it only serves to accentuate not define. Interestingly enough I found the characters of Durzo Blint and Vasher to be incredibly similar. The sort of rough and tumble vagabond who, beneath his rough exterior, turns out to be something more, I even pictured them being played by the same actor (Vigo Mortenson)

The trilogy aspect helps avoid the issue I had with Warbreaker, in that it felt like it ended to early and it could have gone on longer. The books are always interesting, and don't overstay their welcome. I really couldn't stop reading them.

Fun side note, I couldn't find the last book in the series. But I happened to be going to the Book Bazaar with some friends. On a whim I figured I would see if they had it, being very dubious as it was a recent novel. Looked down, it was sitting right there. Happiest book finding moment for me ever.

Anansi Boys

To come once I finish reading it.

The Lord of the Rings

These books were my first real exposure to fantasy, my family read the Lord of the Rings to me when I was younger and I have loved the Discworld series ever since my mom suggested I read them. For me I love the sense of adventure and true exploration that the Lord of the Rings books bring. Going to far off lands, fighting monsters, a time that is at once more simple and much more complicated and terrifying. The worlds are lush and vibrant, the characters engaging and unique, and the fights exciting and harrowing. The only thing that can be said against them is their lengthy wordyness, by to me that's hardly an obstacle.
As for the Discworld series I think they are some of the funniest books I have read, from Guards, Guards! to Thud the books never stop making me laugh. The world is just ridiculous and rich, and I love the parody that Terry Pratchet creates. So on one side we have the perfect example of the fantasy adventure exploration novel, and other the other the perfect example of a book making fun of that world, while still being a wonderful read.

The J-Horror from below

J-Horror and ghost stories have always been interested in me, whether its the ghosts and apparitions in anime, or the more traditional stories like the ones in Kwaidan. The difference between Japanese and American horror are quite different and its really interesting to see the difference especially in the movies that have been taken from Japan and made American. Personally I like the Japanese versions better as I like the more creepy sort of horror rather than the more and more prevalent jump out and scare you horror. Watching Pulse I got a lot of hair raising moments and a general feeling of "oh what the fuck...". Pulse was a fantastic movie that I felt got less good as it went on, but that often happens once movies start to explain themselves. As for the Japanese horror stories, I never really much cared for the actual stories, as a lot of the tradition and that sort of sense is lost on me. But the ghosts and creatures have always interested me. This is what I like the most about these horror stories. With the creatures ranging so greatly over the areas of Japan the number of oddities is quite staggering, with their powers and appearances ranging from rather cute, to bizarre, to terrifying. The selection and imagination in the creation is what interests me the most.

Vampyr

One of the most ubiquitous horror creations out there, from The Cont on sesame street, to Count Chocula, to Nosferatu, and Edward Cullen, vampires span the scale in terms of all aspects. I liked the way that Interview with a Vampire portrayed them. Not necessarily bloodthirsty mindless monsters like in I Am Legend, and not pretty sissy boys as in Twilight, but somewhere in between. They care as demonstrated by Louis being distraught over Claudia's death, but can also be angry and mindless as demonstrated by Lestat and the Vampires in England. Vampires always seem to be a tricky thing to get right, at least for me. Stray to far to one side and they become hard to identify with or just seem to be monsters, and stray to far to the other side and you get whatever Twilight is, I don't really know what. However Interview with a Vampire falls nicely in the sweet spot and I can see why it is so highly regarded.

Warbreaker Peacegiver

Personally I loved this book, the story had several twists that left me genuinely surprised. The book had some basic fantasy conventions, the princess in distress, the vagabond who isn't as he seems, a kingdom torn apart from inside. The author did a marvelous job of manipulating my feelings toward characters, at first I really liked Denth, didn't see his betrayal coming, and then disliked him, where as I began to like the God King's Priests. I think that this is a wonderful work of fantasy and I really want to get into his other creations. The idea of the colors and breaths were really unique and reminded me of another series called the Night Angel Trilogy which I'll talk about in another post.

A Spiritual Compass

Easily one of my favorite book series ever. What truly makes me love this series is the character progression and the really fascinating world that Phillip Pullman creates. At first I found Lyra to be a bit annoying, not really helped by her voice actress in the BBC production. But after reaching the second book she started to become an interesting character, independent and strong. While Will is still one of my favorite characters in literature, his personality and weapon just make him so amazing.
The underlying symbology is not really underlying, its fairly obvious to see. A story about kids becoming teenagers, discovering sexuality, and butting heads with the adults in their life. The biggest point of contention with people who don't like the book is its anti-religious tone. However I always saw this book not as anti-god, but as anti-organized religion. In the final book god is portrayed as a weak and frail figure, kept alive only as long as he stays inside his glass coffin. Lyra even feels pity for the angel when he dies. The real bad people are the church and the general oblation board, they pull the strings and act as the antagonists.
Either way the story of the Golden Compass is extremely enjoyable and I'm sure that it will continue to be my favorite book long into the future.

Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!

The zombie is becoming more and more of a prevalent figure in today's pop culture. From movies like Zombieland to games like Left 4 Dead, it seems that zombies are certainly rampaging in our media. Our fascination with the walking dead could stem from several sources, they act as a punching bag to vent our frustrations and anger. Is killing something that's already dead really wrong? Additionally it seems to become a bit of a spitting contest between developers to see in what new and interesting ways you can present new hordes to turn to red mist in the most novel of ways.
The Zombie Apocalypse is also a fun exercise for your imagination. How would I survive? What would I need? Where would I go? Would I even survive? These questions present interesting dynamics not only in a personal will to survive but an chance to see more complex group dynamic. What will happen when a group of people come together to try and live? Will they come together as a group and over come, or will the crumble under the collective weight of their different backgrounds and ideals? Several times I have found myself thinking and devising plans and scenarios in which the dead have taken over and what my actions would be.
(PS: 3d labs for weaponry, Publix for supplies, then stay on the move on a bike, travel light)
But I personally believe that this interest in the dead comes from the teens, tweens, and young adults coming to terms with the impending onset of adulthood. The job, the suit, just being another number in a vast land of numbers. Being afraid to become just another number of the horde of schedule driven adults. These fantasies give them a place to escape to, where they are free from societal rules and the expectations of those around them. It also serves as a proving ground, testing their mettle against a seemingly impossible task and proving themselves as individuals. It used to be fantasy novels and Dungeons and Dragons, now the current generations seems to have grasped this
Any one of these would serve for the seeming omnipresence of zombies in our lives. But, personally, on of the more interesting issues that these scenarios bring up involves loved ones, children. When someone you care about has been turned into a flesh hungry creature, would you have the courage to strike out?

To me the social issues are far more interesting and poignant. For instance the recent trailer for the game Dead Island that has been going around has sparked a lot of controversy and tears.
Watch the trailer
A family being torn apart literally and metaphorically, a father being turned upon by his daughter, while a mother watches. These dredge up emotions and a lot of serious questions. Either way it's a beautiful piece of work.

I found Monster Island to be an interesting piece of work, with a bit of a unique twist, but in the end I really couldn't get into it as much as I could, say, World War Z. Mostly due to the way it was written being so short and limiting.

It's Frankunshteen! Not Frankenstein!

The monster erroneously labeled by the public as Frankenstein. This is not my first encounter with this story, from Young Frankenstein to the story of the Golem, I've seen many adaptations of this story. All of them share the same common elements, the theme of hubris, seeking a place to belong, vengeance. While I find the story to be entertaining, it never really tickled my interest or intellect. Unfortunately I don't have much else to say on this book.

Horror Conventions

Dark Castle
Thunderstorm
Mysterious Music
Secret Passageways
Germany
Monsters
Hunchback Servants
Mad Doctors/Scientists
Experiment Gone Wrong
Body Horror