Space Opera and the New Frontier: The Stars of My Destination by Alfred Bester

Space Opera and the New Frontier: The Stars of My Destination by Alfred Bester

            First off, had I known that this was just Count Of Monte Cristo in space, I may have been more prepared for the story. As is I wasn’t expecting such an old fashioned revenge story hiding within a galactic epic. Some truly excellent cultures are created through the course of the story and one of the most villainous and despicable “protagonists” is formed from a simple catastrophe. The story highlights the exceptional life of the initially unexceptional Gully Foyle, an unambitious crewman of a space freighter. When his ship is damaged and the rest of the crew killed in an attack, he barely survives, marooned in space. Just when he is about to be saved, his rescuers abandon him and leave him to die. For this act, he vows to kill the ship which abandoned him, the evil “Vorga.” In his quest fro revenge he uncovers conspiracies revolving around the strange material known as PyrEand. Foyle must educate and train himself to counter it. Driven by revenge Foyle transforms himself from an unambitious brute to a refined and driven individual capable of changing the galaxy.

            The story is worth reading but with a few parameters: First, Foyle is not a good guy. Even at the end of the novel, he is still a selfish and conflicted individual. He is however and extremely developed and interesting character to follow and he does do good things occasionally. Second: the books pacing is entirely bizarre. Things can happen in rapid succession or slow to a crawl. The worst however is the tendency to jump (almost like a jaunte) between time and places with very little information in between jumps leaving the reader a little disconcerted. Finally, the cultures and worlds are introduced and established quite well. Then they are discarded without a backwards glance or any more impact on the story. They serve only to get the story from one point to the next and are then discarded.

            I don’t know if I can recommend The Stars Of My Destination. I like the cultures established but they are trashed too quickly. The Protaganist is likewise and unlikable and brutish man driven by the wrong reasons to do the wrong things. If you like stories like The Prince Of Thornes or the classic Count of Monte Cristo, then give it a try. Otherwise I do not recommend.

Contemporary Urban Fantasy: Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Contemporary Urban Fantasy: Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

            Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors of all time. He has mastered the art of world building in the fantasy genre. Throughout his books he has created several different and unique worlds with their own systems of magic/technology. From Allomancy (pushing and pulling using different metals), to Stormlight (a magic electricity that lets you distort reality by changing gravity), to the manipulation of Bio Chroma in Warbreaker, each world has a unique form of supernatural ability that affects how each society is structured and functions. In Warbreaker, the more breaths (life energy/laten magical ability each person is born with) the wealthier you are perceived to be. The increase in the number of breaths helps increase your perception and allows you to distinguish between slightly different shades of color. A painting may appear a red plain to someone with one or two breaths, but the painting would be a beautiful portrait to someone with enough breaths. This ability also allows them to “awaken” objects to complete simple tasks. Ropes can be empowered to grab things of their own volition or clothes empowered and hardened to take impacts. This costs breaths that cannot be regained but allow for someone to preform amazing feats.

The story itself revolves around two sisters, who are opposites, being thrust into roles that, at first glance, would suit the other. Soon however each realizes an aptitude and talent for their task and the book ends with the sisters having reversed roles and characteristics. The change occurs over the course of the novel quite well though one feels more forced than the other. In addition you have Vasher who is a fairly standard character type and Lightsong the Bold, a Deity who doesn’t believe he is divine. While Vasher is standard, Lightsong is a pure joy. He is ridiculous and lovably respectable all at once. You will enjoy any chapter with him and (*SPOILER*) his death is one of the saddest yet best in any of the many books I have read. He is a treat to read about.

In the end I cannot recommend this book any more highly. It has conspiracies, magic, humor and some great characters and world design. If you have never read Brandon Sanderson, this is the perfect place to start.

Heroic Journey: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Heroic Journey: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

I think that J.R.R Tolkien is way too hyped. Both his main stories, The Hobbit, and, The Lord of the Rings, and almost the same story. In Each, vertically challenged individuals walk to a mountain, giant eagles save the day, and then they walk home to write a book about their adventures.

I am of course joking about these too epic legacies of genre defining storytelling, and will seek to explain in simple words why The Hobbit is an excellent story well worth reading. (I would cover the Lord Of The Rings as well, but lack a copy on me and would probably just end up fan-girling over the contents anyway.) The Hobbit is a children’s book first and foremost. The tale can get grim and sad, but the tone and focus is always more upbeat and meandering. This truly is a book that is meant to be read out loud. The writing style puts you in the mind of a grandfather leaning back in his chair weaving together a tale to his grandkids. The way the story digresses on certain points and wanders down unnecessary paths before snapping back to the action really captures the feeling.

The story itself captures the various aspects of the journey well and really details the evolution of Bilbo’s character from nervous wreck longing for home, to stalwart friend and wise ally. One of the things I like most about the story is that there is so little fighting actually shown or experienced. Unlike the films or other “adventure” stories, Bilbo uses stealth and quick thinking to outwit his foes, whether a quick escape for him and his companions from the elven stronghold or it’s a battle of words with Gollum in a dark cave, Bilbo does best with his words and wits, not his sword. He also strives for peace and compromise, giving the Arkenstone to Bard to force the dwarves to trade with the men for peace. This is why it’s a great kids book. The protagonist is bold but even-tempered, courageous but witty, and above all trusts his friends and needs them as much as they need him. Other adventure stories emphasize violence and independence in their lead characters. Simple put, Bilbo will probably lose a fight with anyone competent. That is why he is a great hero.

Finally, The Hobbit, was a new and defining moment for the genre of fantasy. It added epic world building and new classic races. Orcs or Elves became staples of the series. Huge conflicts and political dealings came into being. It also popularized a new fantasy away from witches, Knights and Arthurian legends.

The Hobbit and its big brother Lord Of The Rings, may be responsible for setting the new standard for what is generic fantasy, but at the time, they weren’t generic fantasy the same way Star Wars wasn’t generic Sci-Fi. Both have defined their genres for generations to come. I cannot recommend reading The Hobbit to your kids enough. It will draw you closer together and you might just enjoy yourself as well.

The New Weird: Lovecraft collection

The New Weird: Lovecraft collection (Dunwich Horror, Call of Cthulhu, Innsmouth Incident, The Terrible Old Man, Herbert West:Reanimator, At The Mountains of Madness, The Horror at Red Hook)

            From my readings of various H.P. Lovecraft stories I came to realize that Lovecraft’s unique diction is at the same time a staple of his style, and one of the main reason’s he is not a more read author. While I understand that in his time his word choice and writing style wasn’t as out of place, they are still one of the hardest aspects of his work to get around. I must admit that several stories I simply couldn’t understand due to the complexity of his sentence structure and his word choice. However, once you have braved his vernacular and waded into the real meat of his works, you may find yourself absorbed by the compelling world, twisted plot, and very human characters. His tales tend to caution those pushing into the unknown; not because it is bad or against god, or for some other reason, but because we will only discover more of the unknown. His works really emphasize that questions answered only lead to more questions. Coming at an age of scientific discovery and exploration, Lovecraft simply imaged what discovers and horrors could await us. His characters all tend to be fairly privileged or at least well to do, and many are scientists or explores. They react in normal ways and they are hardly what we would call heroes. As they face more and more cosmic horror they lose their sanity and become more unpredictable and unhinged. They really do feel like people, though they are all young adult white males with a bit of money. All in all the strange nature of the horror the protagonist face and the compelling characterization lends to a fun and, most importantly, weird experience that I cannot recommend enough.

             

Asian Horror-Vengeful Spirits: Chinese Ghost Stories

Asian Horror-Vengeful Spirits: Chinese Ghost Stories

            The Short Stories I read for class this week where a collection of Ghost stories that, according to my western upbringing, were incorrect in their use of ghosts.  To me a ghost is a reflection of a soul/part of a soul that is bound to wonder earth for a reason or a purpose. For the most part they can be combated or at least driven off/put to rest. They aren’t necessarily malevolent but they have a purpose for returning. In Asian Culture however, the ghost seems more like a demon or wild animal that occupies a certain area or trail, preying on whoever crosses their path. They have no greater goal than just scaring or inconveniencing travelers. For example in one story, our protagonist is a well to do young man who falls in love with a perfect woman. After spending weeks sneaking out to see her, his father catches him and demands to know who he is seeing. After the “hero” tells his father his father becomes pale and tells him that the woman he is seeing has been dead and that he has been dating a ghost. So they move to another town and the young man lives his life unmolested by anything other than fond memories and a vase he got from her. He isn’t haunted further, and there is no further report on the ghost….. So why do we care? If the ghost isn’t going to do anything to haunt or scare the guy, why should we be worried? If the ghosts don’t posses any sort of power or influence, what is the point in making them supernatural, spectral beings?

I cant recommend the Chinese Ghost stories for anything more than cultural perspective as they aren’t in anyway engaging.