I first read this book in high school. At the time it was the best book I had ever read. Donaldson's language is lush and complex. Covenant is a great protagonist. He is deeply troubled, capable of atrocities, and is self-loathing. Yet, he finds the courage to struggle against despair.
The Land is a rich and original world full of creatures and magic unlike the standard fantasy fare. The supporting cast of characters are as complex as Covenant himself. The Lords are full of self-doubt, the Giants long for home, the Bloodgaurd have given up their humanity for an absolute Oath they cannot help but break.
The only one dimensional character is Lord Foul. That Foul is one dimensional does not matter because Foul is more of a force than a character. The action of the book evolves from the struggles of the characters against their own weakness.
Even 20 years after first reading it (and an English Lit. degree), this book is still in the top 5 books I've read.
Nov 28, 2009
Nov 25, 2009
Manifold: Time
This book has some interesting ideas, but lacks for good characters. I liked how Baxter played with the idea of time being a stream and that the the future can reach back to change itself. I also like the ideas about how to get to space by making short trips to resource rich near earth objects and then spread from there and so on. The idea of creating more mind by creating a bigger bang is also sort of cool. The characters all sort of sucked. I felt the most for Emma because I could understand her motivation. I also like Malefant because his obsession was well drawn. The rest of the characters were blah. The book dragged on too long and had too many side plots. In fact, the plots were manifold. The manifold nature was cute, but made for a poor novel. Any one of the three story lines would have made a good novel, but all three was too much.
The scary children story has a rich history. Done properly, the Blue children's saga could have been poignant. The Tybee's were a perfect entry into that world. The way the father adored his child served as an eloquent counter point to the how the rest of the world viewed them. The world packing them away in concentration camps would have made logical sense without the Carter prediction or Malefant's visions from the future.
The Malefant story with it Carter prediction and the crazy blue circle could have been a great story of societal decline in the face of knowing the future. Flash Forward did a good job of it. There is plenty of material.
The story of the squid expanding into the galaxy had plenty of room to run. I could imagine a tale of eventual warfare between humans and the alien race they created. A little bit a Battlestar Galatica.
Any one of the three would have worked with the upstream time story. It all could have blossomed into a better way to make black holes.
Instead, they all muddle each other up and became a third of the book any one could have been separately.
The scary children story has a rich history. Done properly, the Blue children's saga could have been poignant. The Tybee's were a perfect entry into that world. The way the father adored his child served as an eloquent counter point to the how the rest of the world viewed them. The world packing them away in concentration camps would have made logical sense without the Carter prediction or Malefant's visions from the future.
The Malefant story with it Carter prediction and the crazy blue circle could have been a great story of societal decline in the face of knowing the future. Flash Forward did a good job of it. There is plenty of material.
The story of the squid expanding into the galaxy had plenty of room to run. I could imagine a tale of eventual warfare between humans and the alien race they created. A little bit a Battlestar Galatica.
Any one of the three would have worked with the upstream time story. It all could have blossomed into a better way to make black holes.
Instead, they all muddle each other up and became a third of the book any one could have been separately.
Nov 8, 2009
Makers by C. Doctorow
I just finished reading Makers, the latest from Cory Doctorow. I had previously read Eastern Standard Tribe and enjoyed it immensely, so I had big hopes for Makers. Sadly, I was disappointed. It is not a terrible novel, but it gets dragged down by the anchor of its messages.
Doctorow clearly has a lot to say about the worth of making things, open source, community, the dangers of engineering our bodies, over-consumption, and the evilness of corporations that he tries to cram it all into a buddy story about two misfit hackers trying to make good things. They make good works and eventually start a movement. When the movement threatens the fortunes of the status quo, the status quo tries to destroy them, eventually co-ops them, and then after along period of darkness they relearn the joy of hacking.
If you cut out a few steps, the contrived period of darkness, the ridiculous run up to the buy out, the fatkins, the perfunctory Yoko, and the bits of marital trouble, you have the makings of a good story. With it all, the story is a dogs breakfast. The characters and the plot wobbles under the weight of it all.
Even with all the extra weight, the book was still decent until the Epilogue. It was plausible that Lester would be miserable working for a huge company and that the fatkins modifications would end badly. But what becomes of Perry does not make sense given his actions and thought throughout the novel. He would never end up as a wandering factory worker. He is too much of an organizer and a home body.
The book needed an editor with a sharp knife and the will to use it.
Doctorow clearly has a lot to say about the worth of making things, open source, community, the dangers of engineering our bodies, over-consumption, and the evilness of corporations that he tries to cram it all into a buddy story about two misfit hackers trying to make good things. They make good works and eventually start a movement. When the movement threatens the fortunes of the status quo, the status quo tries to destroy them, eventually co-ops them, and then after along period of darkness they relearn the joy of hacking.
If you cut out a few steps, the contrived period of darkness, the ridiculous run up to the buy out, the fatkins, the perfunctory Yoko, and the bits of marital trouble, you have the makings of a good story. With it all, the story is a dogs breakfast. The characters and the plot wobbles under the weight of it all.
Even with all the extra weight, the book was still decent until the Epilogue. It was plausible that Lester would be miserable working for a huge company and that the fatkins modifications would end badly. But what becomes of Perry does not make sense given his actions and thought throughout the novel. He would never end up as a wandering factory worker. He is too much of an organizer and a home body.
The book needed an editor with a sharp knife and the will to use it.
E-Book Reading
I've been reading e-books since I got my first Palm IIIx. The small screen was less than ideal. I never used the Palm as a primary reading platform, but it was a convenient secondary reading platform. I could read when waiting in the doctors office or during those surreptitious free moments.
Since I was unwilling to pay for books to read on the tiny screen, I was limited to what I could find for free. To my pleasant surprise there were a ton of classic books available from a multitude of sources.
I used the Palm, and then a Clie, for several years. Once the Clie finally died I moved to a Pocket PC for a year, but that never worked an e-book platform. (In fact it was so clunky it didn't really work for much of anything.) Then I went for a while with out any pocket computing device and no e-book reading.
I was intrigued by the Sony eReaders. The big problem was the price.... I couldn't justify spending the money, when I would still need to pay full price for books. I also couldn't see the eReader replacing my love of actual books.
When I got my iPhone, I started getting interested in e-books again. There were several e-book readers available for the phone and I tried a number of them. The screen, while small, was pretty good for reading. The apps all handled the basics, but I finally settled on Stanza. It had the most sensible set of features and an integrated means of downloading books. It offers access to many free books as well as some pay libraries.
I was still unwilling to pay for books to read on the tiny screen. The iPhone screen creates a much better reading experience than the Palm or the Clie did. It is still too small to work as a primary reading platform, but it is exceptional for those quick stolen moments when I can read a little.
When the Kindle burst onto the scene, I was marginally intrigued. The big screen was the real draw. I thought the wireless book purchasing idea was interesting. However, it was too expensive and the price of the books was too high. I also didn't like that fact that I could not touch the device before purchasing.
This summer Sony revamped its eReader line. The one that caught my eye the most was the Pocket Edition. The $200 price was right and the smaller size made it very portable. The other thing that made the Sony line interesting was their move to using ePub and their ability to use books from public libraries.
I spent some time at the Sony store playing with the Sony readers. The Touch Edition's screen was not as crisp as the Pocket Edition. The Touch Edition's touch was not so responsive. I could, however, see either being a great primary reading platform. The ability to get books from multiple sources, including the public library, makes them the most open of the top readers. One other nice thing about the Sony eReaders is the availability of covers that include built in night lights that actually light the screen.
Since I was unwilling to pay for books to read on the tiny screen, I was limited to what I could find for free. To my pleasant surprise there were a ton of classic books available from a multitude of sources.
I used the Palm, and then a Clie, for several years. Once the Clie finally died I moved to a Pocket PC for a year, but that never worked an e-book platform. (In fact it was so clunky it didn't really work for much of anything.) Then I went for a while with out any pocket computing device and no e-book reading.
I was intrigued by the Sony eReaders. The big problem was the price.... I couldn't justify spending the money, when I would still need to pay full price for books. I also couldn't see the eReader replacing my love of actual books.
When I got my iPhone, I started getting interested in e-books again. There were several e-book readers available for the phone and I tried a number of them. The screen, while small, was pretty good for reading. The apps all handled the basics, but I finally settled on Stanza. It had the most sensible set of features and an integrated means of downloading books. It offers access to many free books as well as some pay libraries.
I was still unwilling to pay for books to read on the tiny screen. The iPhone screen creates a much better reading experience than the Palm or the Clie did. It is still too small to work as a primary reading platform, but it is exceptional for those quick stolen moments when I can read a little.
When the Kindle burst onto the scene, I was marginally intrigued. The big screen was the real draw. I thought the wireless book purchasing idea was interesting. However, it was too expensive and the price of the books was too high. I also didn't like that fact that I could not touch the device before purchasing.
This summer Sony revamped its eReader line. The one that caught my eye the most was the Pocket Edition. The $200 price was right and the smaller size made it very portable. The other thing that made the Sony line interesting was their move to using ePub and their ability to use books from public libraries.
I spent some time at the Sony store playing with the Sony readers. The Touch Edition's screen was not as crisp as the Pocket Edition. The Touch Edition's touch was not so responsive. I could, however, see either being a great primary reading platform. The ability to get books from multiple sources, including the public library, makes them the most open of the top readers. One other nice thing about the Sony eReaders is the availability of covers that include built in night lights that actually light the screen.
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