The Manual of Aeronautics by Scott Westerfeld and Keith Thompson

Posted by melydia on March 26, 2013 No comment

The Manual of Aeronautics by Scott Westerfeld and Keith Thompson: The alternate-WWI, steampunk world of Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath required a surprising amount of pre-work, describing all the technology and creatures and uniforms so the illustrations of the novels would match Westerfeld’s vision. This book contains a small sampling of those designs, from detailed floor plans of airships to Latin names for fabricated beasties to portraits of some of our favorite characters. It was a very fast read, but I loved the full color drawings. The pictures really helped bring the books to life, and this slim volume only enhances that experience. Recommended for fans of the series, but not until after you’ve finished reading it.

Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie, Jr.

Posted by melydia on March 22, 2013 No comment

Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie Jr.: If you like navel gazing, then have I got the book for you. Our narrator is living on an island (presumably somewhere in the Caribbean), obsessing over the woman he loves. He also talks a bit about his father who died of cancer, the idea of machines becoming sentient, and then more about the woman he loves and their often violent relationship. In between he does a whole hell of a lot of drinking and driving and fighting and moping. And, to be perfectly honest, it’s just not all that interesting. The plot doesn’t show up until about two thirds of the way through, and even that is disappointing in how little it affects the narrator. He doesn’t change in any meaningful way. The sentient machines bit is pointless and apparently unrelated to much of anything; the description of his father’s illness is painful and also not clearly related to the story of the woman he loves. Which, given the sheer volume of pages dedicated to her, I would assume is the main point of the story. But I don’t know. I do know that there was a whole lot of paper wasted in the printing of this thing, as each “chapter” is extremely short, most well under a single page. Replacing these page breaks with double line breaks would probably cut the page count by more than a third. In short, I’m sure there are plenty of people who would genuinely enjoy this book, but I found it pointless overall, something I would not have finished except for the dwindling hope that eventually the author would have something to say to make it all worth it, a story to tell or even a poignant bit of description. But alas, no.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Mah Birfday

Posted by melydia on March 19, 2013 No comment

Today is my birthday, and so I’ve decided not to review any books today, or post much of anything about anything. Instead, here are some other things to keep you occupied for a while:

Uglies: Shay’s Story by Scott Westerfeld, Devin Grayson, and Steven Cummings

Posted by melydia on March 15, 2013 No comment

Uglies: Shay’s Story by Scott Westerfeld, Devin Grayson, and Steven Cummings: This is the graphic novel of Uglies from Shay’s point of view. It’s something you probably don’t want to read until you’ve finished the series, but I suppose it technically doesn’t spoil the other books. The story itself is fine. They don’t dwell too much on the parts you see from Tally’s point of view, so it is mostly fresh material. My issue with it was the art. Everyone looks the same. I get that the Uglies aren’t supposed to actually be ugly, but they look identical to the Pretties, the Specials, the Smokies, everybody. You don’t even get much change pre- and post-surgery for the same characters. I get that it’s difficult to include the sort of subtle details described in the book, but it got to the point where the Ugly nicknames didn’t even make any sense. I like the idea of a graphic adaptation of Westerfeld’s work, but this just didn’t work out very well.

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Posted by melydia on March 12, 2013 1 comment

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (unabridged audiobook read by David Timson; 4.5 hrs on 4 discs): This second novel of Holmes’s adventures is a tale of stolen treasure, betrayal, and of course murder. Holmes is his usual self, driving the police absolutely mad with just how right he is all the time. One of the things that most captivates me about Sherlock Holmes’s detective work is that it all takes place before the advent of fingerprinting. There are so many inferences he would never need to make today if he could show who touched what. Anyway, back to the story. The plot was pleasantly complex. Watson’s romance was adorable. My favorite part, though, was when the pair found themselves on the wrong trail and suddenly burst into laughter. While I certainly enjoy witnessing Holmes’s amazing (and often unlikely) feats of deduction and inference, its his friendship with Watson that truly makes the stories come alive.

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

Posted by melydia on March 8, 2013 No comment

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen (unabridged audiobook read by Chad Lowe; 6.5 hrs on discs): Roy has just moved to Florida, where he is endlessly bullied by the local thug, Dana. One day he sees some kid running barefooted outside during school hours and it sparks his interest. Young adult literature has a number of archetypes associated with it, and two of them are presented here: the “ordinary main character meets weird new kid and has life transformed” story and the “ordinary main character fights corporate baddies for important cause” story. And there’s a kid who makes fart noises. It’s a cute tale, funny in parts and heartwarming in others, but extraordinarily predictable overall. Still, this is definitely the sort of story I’d encourage kids to read. I may have heard the lessons about being different or standing up for what you believe in many times before, but that doesn’t make them less valid. And who doesn’t love owls?

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

Posted by melydia on March 5, 2013 No comment

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran (unabridged audiobook read by Paul Sparer; 1.5 hrs on 2 discs): This is an interesting piece of philosophy, well worth a couple rereads. Basically this prophet comes to town, and the people of the town ask him all kinds of questions, and he answers them. There’s some good advice about infusing your every action with love and stuff like that, and some confusing advice that may be encouraging nudity and/or anarchy. Like I said, it’s worth multiple reads. And it’s short enough that rereading is no burden. A good choice if you’re in the mood to ponder the Big Issues.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

Posted by melydia on March 1, 2013 No comment

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld (unabridged audiobook read by Alan Cumming; 10.5 hrs on 9 discs): This final installment of the Leviathan trilogy had me on the edge of my seat pretty much the entire time. If Deryn’s secret wasn’t on the verge of being discovered then Alek was in danger or the engines were smoking or some other calamity. This part of our story takes us from Siberia to Japan to the USA, introducing a number of memorable new characters and visiting old friends along the way. And Bovril the perspicacious loris was endlessly adorable. There were far more historical figures this time around, making Westerfeld’s “what actually happened” epilogue even more interesting. You know, I don’t really care for steampunk or alternate histories or books about war – fictional or otherwise – but I really, really loved this trilogy. I loved the characters, how you’re never quite sure who knows what or whom to trust. I loved the technology, the mix of science and fantasy involved in these genetically engineered critters. I loved the story, the adventures, the romance, the suspense. And the ending was quite satisfying, which is saying a lot considering how many loose ends were flapping about prior to it. Highly recommended.

A note on the audio: Cumming is a master of a wide variety of accents – American, German, Scottish, and numerous forms of English – but Russian, alas, is not one of them. It was a little painful listening to his Russian characters. But that’s a pretty small complaint, considering he remained simply fantastic for the rest of the book. It’s also worth noticing that since I was listening to this in my car, I did attempt to make up excuses to drive places.

The Ghosts of Nagasaki by Daniel Clausen

Posted by melydia on February 26, 2013 1 comment

The Ghosts of Nagasaki by Daniel Clausen: Bottom line up front: I have absolutely no idea what this book is about. The American narrator currently works in Tokyo as some kind of business analyst, having originally moved to the country as an English teacher in Nagasaki. The story regularly shifts between present day, where the narrator is writing his memoirs, and the memoirs themselves, but everything is written in present tense, making it tough to tell what happens when. There’s a chatty Welshman, some ghosts who may or may not actually be real people, a few cats, some persecuted Christians, a missing heart, and a whole lot of introspection. This isn’t a bad book, but it is a very difficult one to follow. I imagine there’s quite a bit of symbolism I missed. In short, this book is extremely literary, the sort I would imagine being dissected by college students in essays. If that’s your cup of tea, you’ll enjoy this one, but if you’re just looking for a straightforward piece of storytelling, you might want to give this one a miss.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Burning Time by J.G. Faherty

Posted by melydia on February 22, 2013 No comment

The Burning Time by J.G. Faherty: If you like cheesy horror movies, this is the novel for you. Two strangers arrive in a small town more or less at the same time, and between them they turn it completely upside down. One worships Lovecraftian gods like Cthulu, while the other has spent his life fighting against them. As the Bad Guy’s influence grows, the temperature rises and the townspeople get violent all over the place. If you like senseless gore – sometimes humorous, sometimes just disturbing – well, this book certainly has plenty of it. The plot itself doesn’t go anywhere new, and the love interest bit feels completely forced, but all in all it’s a decent little horror tale.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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