booktastic

Somehow in the course of the first ten days of the year I have finished not one, not two, but four books. This is not because I have become an astoundingly voracious reader with the beginning of ‘09 - but because I had quite a few books already under way on January 1st. (Shh, don’t tell).

Well, that and the fact that two of the books were rather insubstantial. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus was only a hundred-something pages, and big print at that.

The Salmon of Doubt was not as insubstantial as that - technically speaking. It was about the length of a regular book. However, I found the description of the book (implying that it was the last Dirk Gently novel) entirely misleading: the majority of the book is made up of bits and snips, articles, forwards, introductions and the like, all written by Douglas Adams. There are exactly four chapters of the lost Dirk Gently novel, leaving us with a tantalizing non-ending while the story is still substantially and confusingly underway. Following the chapters are a brief summary of the planned book by Adams; a summary which gave us more details about how the story went but not how things finished up. So while I did enjoy those four chapters (they reminded me of what fun I had reading the first two Dirk Gently books, and made me sad that there won’t be any new adventures) - it was more tantalizing than anything else.

Incidentally, who else thinks that the cover of the book pictured here (describing this as “Hitchhiking the galaxy one last time”) is extremely misleading as well??

All and all, I would not advise Adams fans to go out of their way to pick this book up. Maybe, if you want to read a prolongued tribute to Douglas Adams, are interested in his non-fiction work and aren’t bothered by incomplete stories, you could look it up… but if you want a new complete Dirk Gently novel (or are misled by the cover into thinking that this is a last Hitchhiker novel) you can totally give it a miss. — Mrs. Hall

I mentioned yesterday that Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite “straight Sci-Fi” authors. I use the term “straight Sci-Fi” to distinguish from the kind of Sci-Fi that Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett create: you know, humorous Sci-Fi. Mr. Card sticks to the serious, with the funny cracks very few and far in between. Since humor is one of the main things I used to look for in my reading, an author would have to be very good at other things (creativity, originality, dialogue, scenarios) to attract my attention.

Orson Scott Card’s writing has all of those things.

The first book of Mr. Card’s that I ever encountered was his book Wyrms. This is one of his earliest novels, I believe, if not his first. My encounter with this book was seeing it left on the coffee table when my mother checked it out from the library when I was about eleven. I didn’t read it at the time because it was in the “grown up” Sci-Fi section, and I was still steering clear of that and keeping to children’s and YA books.

A couple years later I had abruptly decided I was grown up (thirteen year olds will do that, you know) and was browsing the adult Sci-Fi section when I came across Wyrms again. It looked promisingly lurid (one had different priorities as a teenager), so I picked it up and read it.

I am not sure, in retrospect, that I should have been reading that book. Yes, it was about a girl about my age - but, really, it was not age appropriate reading. Certain scenes from that book remain with me vividly to this day. The flesh of a man’s hand slipping off like a glove…

No, I’m not crediting Orson Scott Card with my screwed-up subconscious (I reserve that credit for Stephen King). However, I am crediting him with creating a magnificently vivid, complicated, compelling story in that book. Absolutely not for children, of course - that particular book is riddled with sexuality and graphic violence, as I recall - but still an excellent read. I picked up a copy the other day and discovered that the first few pages of the book drew me in immediately. That’s a mark of good writing - when you flip it open idly, and find yourself not wanting to put it down.

Since then, Orson Scott has made an even bigger name for himself by writing the “Ender” series. Now, I had never heard of the Ender books until I was in my twenties and one of my boyfriends recommended the first book, Ender’s Game, to me. I vaguely recalled Orson Scott Card from my previous experience, so I figured it would at least be entertaining - if somewhat lurid - and read the thing.

What I discovered was not just YA fiction, not just Sci-Fi - and was definitely not lurid. Ender’s Game, I can confidently say, is a classic.

I’m not easily impressed with Sci-Fi, so don’t think that I’m praising it lightly. For me to use the term “classic” - it has to meet some strong criteria. It must have compelling characters, a believable situation, must be readable by a larger audience than just Sci-Fi geeks, and a story that transcends the time period that the book was written in and manages to resonate for years - decades - to come.

Ender’s Game does that.

I predict that this will be considered one of the classics of genre, if not one of the classic books of the generation: it kind of is already. It has more or less transcended the genre and is often carried in the “straight” fiction area of bookstores, and in both YA and adult.

Orson Scott Card has written sequels; there are the direct sequels, Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide, and also books about side characters, beginning with Ender’s Shadow (considered the fifth in the series, but really starting a series in itself). The direct sequels are worth reading if you liked Ender’s Game although not quite as compelling. The Shadow books went a bit further than I was interested in going: the only one I finished was the first, Ender’s Shadow, which was more or less Ender’s Game but told from a character who stood three feet to the side.

But I’m getting off the point, which is that whether or not you like Sci-Fi, if you like good reading, you could (and should) read Ender’s Game. It is a superb novel.

Now, for Sci-Fi and Fantasy buffs, there are several other series that you may want to check out; notably, the Alvin Maker books and the Homecoming series. The Alvin Maker books are a fantasy series that take place in an alternate version of the United States (think cowboys with magic); and the Homecoming series is about a group of people who live on a foreign planet who come to the conclusion that people used to live somewhere else (another planet) and want to get back there. I have only picked up the Alvin Maker books, but I read the entire Homecoming series while I was in college.

(Let me sidetrack a little bit to mention that Orson Scott Card is a Mormon. If that concerns you, don’t worry; he’s not slipping Mormons into everything he writes. In fact, there are all kinds of religions in there - even ones that directly contradict Mormonism [such as Catholicism, for instance] and are still presented favorably. However, I was rather surprised when, after reading the Homecoming series, on a random afternoon I picked up a copy of The Book of Mormon and started reading it… and found the opening story almost was almost identical to the scenary in Memory of Earth. There’s nothing really wrong with that, I suppose: I mean, people incorporate Biblical and mythic stories into their writing all the time… And it must be said - not casting aspursions on Mormons, you understand - The Book of Mormon makes decent Sci-Fi/Fantasy reading.)

I’m not saying that all Orson Scott Card’s books are classics. After reading the whole Homecoming series, they kind of began to blend into each other and I could see the patterns in his writing and characters and scenarios he likes to re-use. (I am particularly perplexed by the repeated theme of narrowly-avoided sibling incest). And, honestly, the reason I’ve never read the Alvin Maker series is that I’ve just never been able to get into it. I’ve picked up Seventh Son two or three times and got as far as chapter three, but always wound up putting it aside.

However, I’ve never read an author whose entire cannon of books has been classic (with the possible exception of Harper Lee). I love the books of E.F. Benson, but there are a few of his that I like more than others. I liked the Hitchhiker “Trilogy”, but I was never fond of the fourth book in it. In short, Orson Scott Card is like all other authors, in that some of his books are simply better than others.

However - unlike all other authors - some of his books exceed simply being “better” and enter into the realm of classic. I highly recommend Memory of Earth, Wyrms, and (for the writers amongst us) his very entertaining non-fiction work How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy.

And I INSIST that you read Ender’s Game. You’ll be glad you did. –Mrs. Hall

Well, on this day after the election, there are probably many things on your mind. I was going to discuss, in a post-election way, some thoughts by my favorite straight Sci-Fi author, Orson Scott Card, on the election and journalism…

However, something else has come to pass in the literature world. Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Congo and many others, has just died.

This is probably a bad point to mention that I’ve never actually read a Michael Crichton novel - but it’s very true. I’ve seen plenty of movies based on his novels (some of better quality than others) but I haven’t picked a book up. This is in spite of the fact I was actually recommended to the book Andromeda Strain by my Mother and Jurassic Park by my Father… and, indeed, in spite of the fact that I have owned copies of both of those books at different points in my life.

But regardless of my actual lack of experience of his written work, I’ve experienced film adaptations of his work (as have we all). It would not be exaggerating to say that Michael Crichton had a huge impact on Sci-Fi and fantasy during the past two decades.

In honor of this author’s passing, I’ve resolved to read one of his books. I haven’t decided which one yet, but there you have it. In the meantime, let’s all pause and take a moment to remember the guy who made Dinosaurs cool again. – Mrs. Hall 

I’ve just had one of those days where you have a couple things you want to do - but you can’t decide which one to work on, because working on one makes you feel guilty for ignoring the other - so you spend all day going from project to project, without completing any of the things you really wanted to work on.

For instance, I was supposed to write or read today, it being my second-to-last day off. I couldn’t decide which one to focus on. So instead, I went to Mass, did the dishes, tidied, prepared New Zealand Jaime’s Christmas package, messed about with facebook, watched Mystery Science Theatre 3000, read the news, and so on. Granted, I did need to do all of those things… except facebook and MST3K…

I’ve had Mystery Science Theater 3000 on the brain lately, so I think I’ll recommend you a book related to that: The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Episode Guide. Now, obviously, you’re not going to get a lot out of this book if you haven’t seen the show first, so you really need to go out and get a couple episodes of that. (For more on this show, check out my other blog Moviephile).

Once you’ve seen a couple episodes (Manos: The Hands of Fate and Space Mutiny are particularly good ones) - come back and pick up a copy of this book. It’s a good guide to the series. Also, the entries on the individual films were actually written by the cast and are, therefore, hilarious. The main thing wrong with this book is that it is incomplete; the series went on for another four or so seasons after this was published.

More on this later, no doubt. I’ve got to go and not read or write for a while until Mr. Hall gets home.  — Mrs. Hall

I started The Beekeeper’s Apprentice last night and so far I’m enjoying it. I was a little concerned at first about the heroine of the book… I was afraid things might go in that “men are stupid, women are smart!” area, but so far things are looking good. I’m intrigued enough to keep going.

This isn’t the first non-Conan-Doyle Sherlock book I’ve read. A few others have crossed my purview: the ones that spring to mind immediately are those by Nicholas Meyer, such as The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. (Nicholas Meyer, incidentally, was also the director and writer of the film Time After Time, which is about H.G. Wells traveling through time to the sleazy 1970’s.) I read those books years ago when I was a teen and very into Sherlockiana, and I was somewhat disgusted with them.

As I recall, things just got goofy. The book started out all right, but eventually Holmes and Watson were immortal and travelling through time and such - and I just didn’t buy it. (Not that I have a problem with Sci-Fi, obviously! But I didn’t read the book for Sci-Fi: I read because I wanted a Sherlock Holmes mystery.) Holmes was not acting like Holmes - by the end of the book (this one or one of Meyers’s others, I don’t remember) I was just like, “I don’t even care about these characters anymore. This is not Holmes and Watson.” I may be doing Nicholas Meyer a disservice; after all, as I said, I haven’t read the books since I was a teen, and perhaps I judged harshly. All I know is that at the time I was very displeased.

So far, I think I’m safe with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. We shall see.

All this talk of Victorian Era folks travelling through time reminded me of this new movement I heard about recently: Steampunk. Have you heard about this? It’s most bizarre, but I kind of like it. It’s a “subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction” -  a mix of Victoriana and sci-fi, or slightly pre-Industrial era and fantasy - I’m having trouble defining it, but I really like its look. As a style, it’s very interesting: I really, really like this  computer redesigned in Steampunk fashion. It takes all the flair of the Victorian Era (you know, all the delicacy and crafstmanship in ordinary objects which we used to have before Frank Lloyd Wright killed beauty) and mixing it with the technology of today.

The only part I don’t like is that some people are starting to call Steampunk a “lifestyle”; that’s taking it just a bit too far. It gets kind of poseurish at that point. Let’s just call it a style, folks, and enjoy it for what it is. — Mrs. Hall