Reading List Update: # 23 - 27

[jedibuttercup]

I've only read five books in the last three months. That's-- Well, it's a good thing I was way ahead for the year last time I did one of these posts, because I was hoping to equal last year's 100-book quota, and that'll be difficult now.

Chalk it up to severe depression, I suppose, and its attendant lack of motivation for all things. (Like writing. Still. I'm fighting it, guys, but I'm just not there yet).

23. Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday by Alan Dean Foster. Paperback, 286pp. I picked this up because Transformers 2007 fandom was big and pretty and distracting when I needed a distraction, and I kept seeing references in fandom to this "prequel", and I thought, hey, quasi-official fanfic, why not? And while it wasn't brilliantly written, it wasn't bad, either. It fleshed out the history of Sector 7, and included more actual Autobot and Decepticon action than the movie did. It also gave me Ideas for a Terminator/TF2007 crossover that I doubt will ever get written. But readers who didn't get much out of the movie would probably be bored to tears.

24. Transformers by Alan Dean Foster. Paperback, 291pp. Yeah, so I picked this one up because I'd grabbed the prequel. I should have remembered that I tend to hate novelizations. They're never accurate, for one thing, because the writer's usually working from a version of the script several revisions earlier than what actually ended up on screen. Also, unless the writer's especially brilliant, there's an obvious sense of trying to color between the lines, to stay within the boundaries given; any elaboration of the text (such as internal character motivations) tends to be extremely shallow and unsatisfying. I actually disliked this one a lot more than I disliked the Serenity novelization, and that's saying something. Even scene descriptions fall flat. It totally fails to capture any of the wonder or humor I felt watching the film.

25. Child of a Dead God by Barb & J.C. Hendee. Hardback, 407pp. 6th of Noble Dead series. I read the first five books in February; it was still on my mind enough that I wanted to know what happened next, hardback or no. And-- I wasn't disappointed. This series doesn't seem like it should work, if you consider it on base elements: half-vampire and half-elf stumble upon a voyage of discovery about their respective heritages with Fae dog in tow and wind up (a) falling in love and (b) entangled in an epic Quest to stop an Apocalyptic Plot. But this is one of those cases where the authors breathe vibrant life into what would otherwise be a stew of cliches, and make it work. The characters are complex and three-dimensional, and for every stage of their journey conquered, another step is revealed-- in a way that arises naturally from all that has gone before, but isn't entirely predictable, either. I'll be looking forward to the next one.

26. Small Favor by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 420pp. 10th of the Dresden Files. It's been a month since I read this, but even at the time, I knew I'd have to reread it to get the full impact-- which I intend to, later in the year. From what I remember-- Butcher followed his usual method of grabbing up the loose ends of several plot threads from earlier in the series, weaving them into an unpredictable and action-packed plot, and leaving several new threads dangling at the end for later resolution. I hesitate to spoil further as it's not out in paperback yet, but the events of this book will have serious repercussions for the future, and not just for Harry himself. Seriously, my jaw dropped more than once, and a couple of the developments have me biting my nails already for the next installment.

27. H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian. Hardback, 379pp. 3rd of the Aubrey-Maturin series. These books are so hard to summarize; there's no way I could possibly capture the immense spirit of the story, or the flavor of the language, in a couple of sentences. They're difficult to get into, but once really started, also hard to put down. Stephen's side-job as a spy is the initial impetus for the action in this book, but it's only one element in a grand, absorbing sea adventure. Politics, romance, torture and rescue, exploration, battles and derring do; loss and triumph and fascinating snapshots of foreign cultures as seen through an antiquated lens. It all ends with Jack resecuring his fortune and reputation and winning his girl; Stephen, alas, isn't quite so lucky.

Next up: I found book #2 of the Lt. Leary series. Maybe that'll hold my interest.
~

Comments

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

I haven't read it in more than a decade because I've lost track of my copy, but I do think its very good. Card moved into a hotel near the S.C. set of the movie and watched dailies and the character bios he came up with were given to the three main actors as a backstory tool. Card gives us some idea what the NTIs (Non-Terrestrial Intelligences) are thinking and doing throughout the course of the book and also fills in a few semi-plot holes in script.