Reading List 2009: # 23 - 34
Jul. 27th, 2009 02:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedibuttercupI guess I haven't done one of these since I finished reading the Dresden Files again in April; sorry. Not that I've read much since then, by my usual standards. What with everything else going on, my pageturn quota has kind of fallen by the wayside-- I'll still break the minimum 52 books this year, but I won't make last year's eighty, and definitely not 2007's one hundred, that's for sure.
So, 12 books since my last update: four Star Trek books, two graphic novel tie-is, two other media tie-in books, one romance novel, two space opera, and one-- regency/parody/mashup? Bit of a lightweight mixed bag, but still a few good enough to deserve a kiss to the cover when I'd turned the last page. (Old joke.)
23. Star Trek by Alan Dean Foster. Paperback, 274pp. Novelization. At least, so it purports to be. I understand that ADF must have had his hands on a much earlier script when writing this than what actually made the screen, but so much of it is wrong, both dialogue and action, that it's painful to read, especially if you've seen the movie as many times as I have. And that's not even taking into account the fact that every single one of his characters' internal voices sound the same, and thus, not at all like the characters' actual voices. Very jarring. I cribbed a couple of tiny background details from it (ex.: the fact that Kirk speaks Orion Prime) and pretty much blocked the rest of it from my mind.
24. Star Trek: Countdown TPB by J.J. Abrams. Graphic novel, 98pp. Tie-in. Much, much more interesting than the novelization, though it doesn't pretend to explain the science behind the "galaxy-threatening supernova" any more than the movie did. At least it gets the sequence of events a little clearer, and gives us glimpses at the TNG crew! I kind of like the positions most of them were in; if it resembles the current novel-track in that 'verse at all, I may have to start reading there again (I stopped paying attention back in the mid-nineties).
25. Enterprise by Vonda N. McIntyre. Paperback, 371pp. Reread. Having just watched reboot!Kirk's first voyage as Captain of the Enterprise, I wanted to reread the old version's pro-fanfic version of same. A bit more of an unsure Kirk than in TOS, and a bit rockier interaction with his crew; wasn't this one of the influences the writers of the new movie cited? I can totally see that. I could have done without the tacked-on romantic elements, but otherwise, it was just as fun a read as I remembered from my teen years, with some memorable imagery.
26. Prime Directive by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Steevens. Paperback, 404pp. Reread. After rereading Enterprise, I had to reread this one; it was always my favorite of the "big novels" (one of the few left unnumbered back when they were still numbering almost all of the Trek books). Mostly, because of the awesome characterization, and not just of the main cast; the Tellarites in the opening segment are very memorable, as are the Orion pirates. But it's the bits from Kirk's POV that are my absolute favorite. Especially the scene where he smokes a job as temp cargo-handler-- and why.
27. Pretty Woman by Fern Michaels. Hardback, 329pp. I was lent this one by my mother, and instructed to read it on the Roadtrip, as it's all about a woman who woke up one day, decided she didn't like her life, and (among other changes) lost about sixty pounds over the course of a year. It's a fairly light mainstream romance, where even the scum husband she spends most of the book dumping and becoming increasingly frightened of as he gets all creepy and retaliatory comes to his senses by the end, moves on, and is forgiven. It was fun, if predictable; I liked the bits with her best friend, and struggling to get on the new diet/exercise plan; and though the new boyfriend had some weird characterization aspects (especially the tree possessed by his dead wife's ghost) the romantic storyline was okay. Not a rereader, though.
28. The Pandora Principle by Carolyn Clowes. Paperback, 273pp. TOS # 49. Reread. Not my favorite Trek novel ever, mostly because Kirk spends most of the action barricaded off from everyone else-- and it's set during his awkward Admiral years between TMP and TWK. I like my Kirk brilliant and fully engaged with his job, not situationally helpless and unnecessarily angsty. The Spock and Saavik portions of the storyline, though, I've always enjoyed; her background fascinates, and I'm going to get at least one fic out of it for reboot!verse.
29. Transformers: The Veiled Threat by Alan Dean Foster. Paperback, 281pp. Tell me why I picked up another movie tie-in by ADF, again? Oh, right: while the Transformers movie-verse is definitely problematic, I'm kind of in love with it anyway, so. *sigh* As a stand-alone novel, this book fails really hard. It doesn't come to any kind of a point; it's all an obvious lead-in for the events of the movie, and doesn't really illuminate anything, just connects together several battles between Autobot and Decepticon forces and their allies. The bits with Major Lennox and the other teams out of Diego Garcia, though, did at least keep my attention, in that I cared about what happened to them; so at least there's that. If I ever do write in this 'verse, there's a scientific OC or two from this book that I might actually be tempted to include.
30. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen by Alan Dean Foster. Paperback, 323pp. Well. Out of the five ADF tie-ins I've read recently, at least one of them had to be decent, right? This was the one. Maybe he had a firmer script to write from than with Trek, I don't know; but I don't recall liking the last Transformers novelization he did either, so. Anyway. I did like this one; it seemed more evenly written, and a few things were explained to do with Optimus' condition (stasis-lock, not true death) and the effects of Sam's interaction with the Matrix that totally did not get included in the movie, but filled in some gaps that really bothered me. And that's what novelizations are supposed to do, right?
31. When The Tide Rises by David Drake. Paperback, 486pp. 6th of the RCN series. More Leary and Mundy action! Mundy's-- and Tovera's, especially Tovera's-- characterizations are getting a little worn by this point, but the space opera politics-and-battle action continues to interest, as do the ancient-civilization mystery threading through the background and the continued development of Daniel's career. Looking forward to Book 7.
32. Time of Your Life by Joss Whedon, Karl Moline and Jeff Loeb. Graphic novel, 136pp. B:tVS s8:v4. Okay, what the hell was that? I continue to reject this "canon" and substitute my own, thanks very much; all of the characters except Xander and maybe Dawn come off poorly even compared to their Season 7 selves. I did like seeing a glimpse of Melaka Fray again, but what her storyline actually has to do with anything other than mind-tripping Buffy (and the readers), I couldn't make out; and the finishing issue with the Season 1 daydreams was a nice nostalgic interlude but even more pointless. How many volumes is this "season" supposed to run, anyway?
33. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. Paperback, 317pp. Uh. How to review this one? *giggles* Objectively-- the "co-writer" is not quite up to Austen's standards, and the editor should be whipped, as I caught at least three errors (one obvious missing word and two slips into present tense) that never should have made it to print. The, er, added sexual elements and bloodthirstiness caught me a little off-guard, too. Overall, though, read with the parodic slant in mind? This book was awesome, and hilarious, and included just enough world-building to make me actually tempted to write fic about Lady Catherine and her zombie-killing ninja career. *grin* I wonder if Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters will be as much fun?
34. Kris Longknife: Intrepid by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 344pp. 6th of the Kris Longknife series. I normally don't jump headlong into the middle of a series, but I was lent this one by Dad, who proclaimed it Good. As my book tastes overlap more with his than any other member of my family, especially in the space opera and epic fantasy areas, I took him at his word; and lo, he was right. This was one of the cover-kissers. Not especially unique as these things go-- there are obvious resemblances to other popular space-opera heroines and universes-- but I was engaged by the characters and invested in the action without any prior knowledge of the 'verse, so. I'll have to keep an eye out for the rest of these.
Next up: I'm ashamed to say I bought a new Star Trek novel (Star Trek Academy: Collision Course) the other day, the first time I'd bought one (aside from the STXI novelization) in more than a decade. Next thing you know, I'll be attending conventions again. *sigh* Resistance really is futile.
~
So, 12 books since my last update: four Star Trek books, two graphic novel tie-is, two other media tie-in books, one romance novel, two space opera, and one-- regency/parody/mashup? Bit of a lightweight mixed bag, but still a few good enough to deserve a kiss to the cover when I'd turned the last page. (Old joke.)
23. Star Trek by Alan Dean Foster. Paperback, 274pp. Novelization. At least, so it purports to be. I understand that ADF must have had his hands on a much earlier script when writing this than what actually made the screen, but so much of it is wrong, both dialogue and action, that it's painful to read, especially if you've seen the movie as many times as I have. And that's not even taking into account the fact that every single one of his characters' internal voices sound the same, and thus, not at all like the characters' actual voices. Very jarring. I cribbed a couple of tiny background details from it (ex.: the fact that Kirk speaks Orion Prime) and pretty much blocked the rest of it from my mind.
24. Star Trek: Countdown TPB by J.J. Abrams. Graphic novel, 98pp. Tie-in. Much, much more interesting than the novelization, though it doesn't pretend to explain the science behind the "galaxy-threatening supernova" any more than the movie did. At least it gets the sequence of events a little clearer, and gives us glimpses at the TNG crew! I kind of like the positions most of them were in; if it resembles the current novel-track in that 'verse at all, I may have to start reading there again (I stopped paying attention back in the mid-nineties).
25. Enterprise by Vonda N. McIntyre. Paperback, 371pp. Reread. Having just watched reboot!Kirk's first voyage as Captain of the Enterprise, I wanted to reread the old version's pro-fanfic version of same. A bit more of an unsure Kirk than in TOS, and a bit rockier interaction with his crew; wasn't this one of the influences the writers of the new movie cited? I can totally see that. I could have done without the tacked-on romantic elements, but otherwise, it was just as fun a read as I remembered from my teen years, with some memorable imagery.
26. Prime Directive by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Steevens. Paperback, 404pp. Reread. After rereading Enterprise, I had to reread this one; it was always my favorite of the "big novels" (one of the few left unnumbered back when they were still numbering almost all of the Trek books). Mostly, because of the awesome characterization, and not just of the main cast; the Tellarites in the opening segment are very memorable, as are the Orion pirates. But it's the bits from Kirk's POV that are my absolute favorite. Especially the scene where he smokes a job as temp cargo-handler-- and why.
27. Pretty Woman by Fern Michaels. Hardback, 329pp. I was lent this one by my mother, and instructed to read it on the Roadtrip, as it's all about a woman who woke up one day, decided she didn't like her life, and (among other changes) lost about sixty pounds over the course of a year. It's a fairly light mainstream romance, where even the scum husband she spends most of the book dumping and becoming increasingly frightened of as he gets all creepy and retaliatory comes to his senses by the end, moves on, and is forgiven. It was fun, if predictable; I liked the bits with her best friend, and struggling to get on the new diet/exercise plan; and though the new boyfriend had some weird characterization aspects (especially the tree possessed by his dead wife's ghost) the romantic storyline was okay. Not a rereader, though.
28. The Pandora Principle by Carolyn Clowes. Paperback, 273pp. TOS # 49. Reread. Not my favorite Trek novel ever, mostly because Kirk spends most of the action barricaded off from everyone else-- and it's set during his awkward Admiral years between TMP and TWK. I like my Kirk brilliant and fully engaged with his job, not situationally helpless and unnecessarily angsty. The Spock and Saavik portions of the storyline, though, I've always enjoyed; her background fascinates, and I'm going to get at least one fic out of it for reboot!verse.
29. Transformers: The Veiled Threat by Alan Dean Foster. Paperback, 281pp. Tell me why I picked up another movie tie-in by ADF, again? Oh, right: while the Transformers movie-verse is definitely problematic, I'm kind of in love with it anyway, so. *sigh* As a stand-alone novel, this book fails really hard. It doesn't come to any kind of a point; it's all an obvious lead-in for the events of the movie, and doesn't really illuminate anything, just connects together several battles between Autobot and Decepticon forces and their allies. The bits with Major Lennox and the other teams out of Diego Garcia, though, did at least keep my attention, in that I cared about what happened to them; so at least there's that. If I ever do write in this 'verse, there's a scientific OC or two from this book that I might actually be tempted to include.
30. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen by Alan Dean Foster. Paperback, 323pp. Well. Out of the five ADF tie-ins I've read recently, at least one of them had to be decent, right? This was the one. Maybe he had a firmer script to write from than with Trek, I don't know; but I don't recall liking the last Transformers novelization he did either, so. Anyway. I did like this one; it seemed more evenly written, and a few things were explained to do with Optimus' condition (stasis-lock, not true death) and the effects of Sam's interaction with the Matrix that totally did not get included in the movie, but filled in some gaps that really bothered me. And that's what novelizations are supposed to do, right?
31. When The Tide Rises by David Drake. Paperback, 486pp. 6th of the RCN series. More Leary and Mundy action! Mundy's-- and Tovera's, especially Tovera's-- characterizations are getting a little worn by this point, but the space opera politics-and-battle action continues to interest, as do the ancient-civilization mystery threading through the background and the continued development of Daniel's career. Looking forward to Book 7.
32. Time of Your Life by Joss Whedon, Karl Moline and Jeff Loeb. Graphic novel, 136pp. B:tVS s8:v4. Okay, what the hell was that? I continue to reject this "canon" and substitute my own, thanks very much; all of the characters except Xander and maybe Dawn come off poorly even compared to their Season 7 selves. I did like seeing a glimpse of Melaka Fray again, but what her storyline actually has to do with anything other than mind-tripping Buffy (and the readers), I couldn't make out; and the finishing issue with the Season 1 daydreams was a nice nostalgic interlude but even more pointless. How many volumes is this "season" supposed to run, anyway?
33. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. Paperback, 317pp. Uh. How to review this one? *giggles* Objectively-- the "co-writer" is not quite up to Austen's standards, and the editor should be whipped, as I caught at least three errors (one obvious missing word and two slips into present tense) that never should have made it to print. The, er, added sexual elements and bloodthirstiness caught me a little off-guard, too. Overall, though, read with the parodic slant in mind? This book was awesome, and hilarious, and included just enough world-building to make me actually tempted to write fic about Lady Catherine and her zombie-killing ninja career. *grin* I wonder if Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters will be as much fun?
34. Kris Longknife: Intrepid by Mike Shepherd. Paperback, 344pp. 6th of the Kris Longknife series. I normally don't jump headlong into the middle of a series, but I was lent this one by Dad, who proclaimed it Good. As my book tastes overlap more with his than any other member of my family, especially in the space opera and epic fantasy areas, I took him at his word; and lo, he was right. This was one of the cover-kissers. Not especially unique as these things go-- there are obvious resemblances to other popular space-opera heroines and universes-- but I was engaged by the characters and invested in the action without any prior knowledge of the 'verse, so. I'll have to keep an eye out for the rest of these.
Next up: I'm ashamed to say I bought a new Star Trek novel (Star Trek Academy: Collision Course) the other day, the first time I'd bought one (aside from the STXI novelization) in more than a decade. Next thing you know, I'll be attending conventions again. *sigh* Resistance really is futile.
~
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 11:15 am (UTC)And the Kris Longknife books are excellent. Ditto the Leary and Mundy books (though the wogs stuff cause me to grit my teeth each and every book). Tried the Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan Saga?
no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 09:41 pm (UTC)Seriously? *sigh* What about the Angel ones, have you read any of those? I haven't picked any of the volumes up yet, as they only come in hardcover at our local Borders, which I find a bit ridiculous.
> And the Kris Longknife books are excellent. Ditto the Leary and Mundy books (though the wogs stuff cause me to grit my teeth each and every book). Tried the Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan Saga?
Cool, I'll definitely have to collect the Kris Longknife books. I think Drake tries too hard to adhere to the O'Brien-esque amosphere of the RCN series, sometimes; some things are a lot easier to accept in early-nineteenth-century wet navy sailors than far-future spacers. And I have indeed started the Vorkosigan saga, though I'm not very far yet; I've been trying to collect them in timeline order, and the bookstores haven't been cooperating. =)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 12:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 09:44 pm (UTC)Oh, LOL, I remember that part! I laughed, trying to picture it, and imagine how Austen's original cast would react to that interpretation of 'fingering'.
Alan Dean Foster ... improved from his first works so long ago; still, he has a way to go, I think.
Date: 2009-07-27 06:07 pm (UTC)Re: Alan Dean Foster ... improved from his first works so long ago; still, he has a way to go, I thi
Date: 2009-07-27 09:46 pm (UTC)I bought and read every TOS novel up through #83 or so, when I went off to college and hadn't the spare time or money to keep collecting. There were a few real gems among them, like these; but most of them I held on to only for completeness' sake. =) I hope to get back round to my favorites within the year, though; it's been awhile since I took that particular stroll down memory lane.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 07:06 pm (UTC)Now that you remind me, I believe that Drake needs to shake up his Cinnabar series a bit. Perhaps offing Tovera would be one way to do that. There's not too much more he can do with her character at this point. My memories are getting a bit dim, so I want to re-read all the books in the series before I devour the new one.
P.S. I missed Nu-Trek at the theater after all, so I'll have to wait until it comes out on DVD.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 09:52 pm (UTC)There are still a handful of theaters out there showing nuTrek; I'm waiting for the local dinner theater to get it to go again with some friends, but it hasn't gone to second-run status yet, it's still out in the local Regal Cinemas on one screen.
Drake did kind of vaguely imply in Book 6 that Tovera may be kind of sort of gaining a moral compass after hanging around Mundy, but considering how he keeps hammering home how bleak and detached from humanity Mundy feels all the time, that's not very inspiring!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 09:19 pm (UTC)My college town has one 8 screen megaplex and a college theater that shows second runs, although that won't start up until Fall Semester. I used to sometimes drive an hour to Savannah to catch movies I missed, but I'm just too darned lazy these days :)
Hopefully Darke will give Mundy something to be happier about or at least something new to be angsty about :) I like the fact that Leary is talking to his sister. Maybe some kind of break-through with his father will happen too.
Do you watch "In Plain Sight" on the USA channel? The relationship between the two leads (both Witness Protection Marshals for the Justice Department) gives me a kind of Mundy-Leary vibe, although the guy does seem to have a thing for his partner and the girl is much more sarcastic than Drake ever lets his characters get.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-30 03:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 06:35 am (UTC)Hope you enjoy if you do decide to check it out :)
http://www.usanetwork.com/fullepisodes/
http://www.hulu.com/search?query=In+Plain+Sight
P.S. I've given up on live tv too, but my DVR is a godsend for letting me keep up with shows I like.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 04:20 am (UTC)I was in my friends' bookstore this afternoon, checking out the Star Trek novels; I haven't bought a new one in years, but I can feel myself sliding..
I never was a fan of Alan Dean Foster's writing, so I'm avoiding the novelization.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 04:23 pm (UTC)I'll have to put Diane Duane's books on my reread list. It's been so long since I reread any of the old numbered ones, I'm having trouble remembering which I liked; though I do know "How Much for Just the Planet?" is going on the list. =)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 08:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 04:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 02:40 am (UTC)I bought the novelization and the audiobook and was looking forward to listening to Quinto. ADF's writing is so bad even Quinto couldn't rescue the audiobook.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 04:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-04 01:26 am (UTC)Okay, to the point.
I was reading your reading list and started thinking of keeping one on my own journal. (*mutters to self* I sound insane.) So, in the interest of not making myself sound any crazier, could I perhaps borrow the idea, and the format, and keep one of my own.
Please and thank you.
*looks up* Yes, just chalk it up to obsessive compulsiveness and . . . . *sigh*
no subject
Date: 2009-08-04 01:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-04 02:04 am (UTC)