Review: Assassin's Fate

Assassin's Fate by Robin Hobb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can't be objective with this book.

Maybe with all the other books of the Realm of the Elderlings series I was able to measure and consider things carefully. I still think the best are the Liveship Traders books. They have a tight storyline, well divided among it's ensemble cast, where every character finds a satisfying ending, even when they don't get what they wanted.

The book that had made me cry most horribly was Fool's Fate. That was the book that made me utterly fall in love with Fitz and Beloved's relationship. I still remember the final scenes and all my favorite dialogues. I still hold it as an example of how to write a selfless character or deep-hearted love, even when it's unrequited.

At first I wasn't happy with the ending. I never liked Molly and Fitz together because of how troubled and sometimes even abusive the relationship was. On both sides. But I read those books when I was in college, sometimes during class when I should have been doing something else. Since then I have grown and matured and somehow it seems so probable and natural that Fitz might want something that isn't exactly what he needs. People don't always love the person who loves them most or best, but we can't control it. It is to the Fool's credit that he accepts this and let's Fitz live the life he wants, even if it's a boring life and a settled one. I cried about as much when the Fool left as I did when he died. Their parting left me bitter and melancholic.

But this book broke my heart.

I was expecting it. I had feared it. Bee was a protagonist now and we didn't absolutely need Fitz alive for the end. But I didn't think she would dare. If nothing else I'll take to heart Hobb's cold blood when killing characters. It wasn't a massacre the way Martin's deaths are, but she killed exactly who she needed to kill, no more, no less.

People say Kennitsson wasn't exactly necessary, but I felt for him and I was as angry and proud of his death as I was for Fitz and the Fool. I imagine Etta and Wintrow and Sorcor and the promise that Paragon Ludluck's life represented, somehow a life free of cruelty to bring light to his father's dark history, and I think only such a life would have been fair exchange for a dragon's rebirth.

There was nothing fair about how Fitz died.

I was furious. I read all night trying to get to the end of the book and prove that he couldn't really die like this, so painfully, so soon. I cried from 8 am to 11 am. I cried because Fitz deserved his rest and a clean death, to fall asleep by Molly's side and never wake up. Fitz deserved never to have to leave a child of his yet again.

But Fitz so rarely got what he deserved in life, why should he get it in death?

This was as tight a book in its own way as the Liveship ones were. The dying messenger was there so we could know how Fitz would die. Kennitsson was there so Paragon would live.

And the Fool was back, so that he and Fitz could be together in the stone wolf, the way they had never been when alive.

It was bitter and not satisfying. I felt a horrible dread to think that one could love someone so deeply and desire a life with them and know they would never be loved back and in the end have to settle for an ugly death and an eternity in the memory stone. But Fitz and Beloved's lives were never about living them, but about giving them away for a greater purpose.

I felt cheated and heartbroken and desolate... but I also felt vindicated. This book did not end with the hope and happiness of Fool's Fate, but it ended with a future. Bee's future and the world's future, both bought with the lives and suffering of two of the characters I have loved most in all my life.

I hope you hunt well Stone Wolf.

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Review: Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I grew up in the nineties, which means I was a huge Jurassic Park freak. I was the original dinokid. And I still love the movie like mad and watch it every time I get.

I'm not going to say the book was a disppointment because it actually wasn't. It was exciting and interesting and the dinosaur info was awesome! What I love about reading the book of a movie is how much more extra information you get on the setting and characters. I got that. But what I think was lacking in Crichton that Spielberg managed to do so wonderfully is likeability. Malcolm was among the funniest parts of the movie but here he just rambled on and on and seemed to be nothing more than a mouthpiece for Crichton's own views. And Jesus, was Lex annoying! I mean Tim was too in the movie but he was intentionally so and he had as a friend of mine said, "impeccable comedic timing".

I don't know if it's true but I had the distinct impression of reading about kids written by someone who didn't remember much of his childhood and wasn't all that used to hanging out with kids.

But it WAS exciting and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Crichton is an easy read. In fact he helped me get through Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, because even Malcolm couldn't compare to THOSE philosophical ramblings!

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Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have a weird relationship with Ray Bradbury; while I tend to really like his concepts and themes the actual writing always leaves me sort of dissatisfied and I mist admit a bit bored. I never did enjoy Farenheit 451. However, I enjoyed what little I read of Dandelion Wine and since this was another coming of age story I wanted to give it a go.

I've always loved stories about faustian deals and considering it was adapted by Disney, I had high hopes for it.

As always the themes and ideas are lovely, the setting out of the story and characters was delightful and excited. I loved the contrast between the two boys and loved the imagery used to describe Jim, half in light, half in shadow. But this is my problem with Bradbury, a lot of imagery and not enough action. There's so much philosophical rambling in this book that it ends up eating away at its suspense and excitement.

I hated how instead of having the children figure out the carnival themselves, Will's father ended up telling them everything in a huge info dump. I though it was a waste of good characters.

I also got very little sense of tension when dealing with the temptation supposedly presented to Will's father and Jim. I never felt like Will's father was in any danger of being seduced by the carnival and that seemed a bit of a let down after being privy to his fears of aging and his longing for boyhood.

But what I DO love is how utterly quotable Bradbury is. His screed on the autumn people is fantastic and the way the book ends with the idea that taking possession of the carousel and using it, even without the manipulative influence of Mr. Dark, could turn them into autumn people themselves. Now that's temptation right there!

All in all and in spite of its flaws I'm glad I read this book. It's a classic of faustian stories and its influence stretches all over. Finally I know where one of my favorite roleplaying games got the term "autumn people". Also, now I'm finally allowed to watch the Disney movie!

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Review: The Hellbound Heart

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of my favorite horror films ever was based on a short story by Clive Barker. So I was interested from the get go. Later I found out that not only had he directed the film Hellraiser but he had also written the novella it was based upon.

There's a simple elegance to his writing that goes so well with its grotesque elements. When I watched Hellraiser I loved how the horror elements were truly a backdrop for this story about the fatal attraction between Julia and Frank. There's a tendency in horror to exaggerate, to call everything a forbidden secret, an unnamable horro, to overuse the lovecraftian style of suggesting the monsters rather than just describing them.

I loved that Clive Barker described them, and that his descriptions weren't just a boring list of gross adjectives. The initial scene is unsettling, but what truly makes it unsettling is the very human attraction that Julia has for Frank. You get the scene introducing the Cenobites, you get this man, so desperate for sensation that he calls upon them and then all these details come into fruition when you realize this is the man Julia has fallen in love with, this is the sort of man who would have an affair with his brother's bride on the eve of their wedding and then discard her.

It's poignant and it's immediate.

Everything just sort of fell into place. Julia's desperation to escape her marriage so perfectly echoed Frank's desire for a different sort of sensation. And it made such a perfect sense that it was Kristy who escaped the nightmare because she did not want a re-awakening or an alternative to her routine, what she wanted was the man the the other two characters had continuously despised.

Everyone makes such a fuss over Pinhead and the other Cenobites, because they have such a striking looks, but really, what makes this story so great are the human relations in it.

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Review: The Wide Window

The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Now that's what I'm talking about! This book was just as good as the Bad Beginning. It had the action and the quirky writing and the funny side notes.

And what I like best is that the guardians keep changing in personalities. It's not all cartoon villains, not all of them harm through sheer meanness like Olaf; it was refreshing to see a character who did as much damage out of fear and self-centeredness as others do out of sadism.

And it was also nice to see the Baudelaires can step out of their rigid roles and do other things aside from inventing, reading and biting. It makes them seem more resourceful and clever and less naive than they've been in the other books.

But I must say I'm taking a break from the books. They are so easy to read and follow that I know I could plow through them all in a couple of months. I'm a bit concerned that the quirks and formulas might turn out to be too much after all.

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Review: The Reptile Room

The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As with the first book, I thought I would find the writing style obnoxious after the first few pages, but surprisingly I didn't. I even found a new exclamation I'm dying to try out, because who wouldn't love to cry "Nathaniel Hawthorne!" when hysterical? Somehow he managed to chose the perfect author name for swearing.

Quite honestly I think enjoying these books has a lot to do with being an English lit nerd. Though I have to admit I found this book a little less action-packed than the previous one, even when you count in all the snakes. It's a little harder to get excited about opening a suitcase than about foiling a fraudulent wedding.

What I did enjoy very much was all the dirt he heaped on traditional fairytales like little red riding hood and the boy who cried wolf. Don't get me wrong, I love fairy tales to death, but it was very refreshing to see a children's book that acknowledges that lying about stuff is a reality of life and sometimes useful. Funny formulas aside, these books are mature about handling children.

I also quite liked that the children's new guardian was neither horrible nor a moron. It's nice to shake thinks up a bit. Though it'd be even better if the author started recognizing whenever the Baudelaire's themselves are screwing up by telling Olaf their plans! For a bunch of clever orphans they sure seem naive about confronting the villain with useful information like how Monty tore up Olaf's ticket to Peru. Thanks for getting him killed kids!

I've got hope for them though, still got quite about 11 more books to go. Maybe they'll learn.

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Review: The Bad Beginning

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I devoured this book years ago in one sitting while waiting at the bookstore. The Series of Unfortunate Events books were everywhere then and their faux Victorian covers caught my attention.

When I started reading it I thought I was going to hate it. The tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top misery of the story, the constant use of the joke for explaining words... I love formulaic stories, I really do, but I thought this was just too much...

I ended up really liking it though. It didn't matter how artificial the author's devices seemed to be because when he needed to be genuine he was. The Baudelaires' sadness was genuine and Olaf was a genuinely scary villain. Their troubles are caused by the adults ignoring them and that is so often the cause of a child's tragedy.

I also found it inspiring how evocative the writing was. I loved the film of the books and thought that the almost timburtonesque look of it was perfect, mostly because it matched my impression of the story so well. And the author does this with very little description and a vague sense of era for the books. It's very economic, every little bit counts to create this atmosphere, the covers, the names of the characters reminding you of old-fashioned writers...

I only managed to snag the first book that time at the bookstore. I was still a poor high school student and had to be very careful with how I spent my pocket money. But this year I've made a commitment to finally reading all the Series of Unfortunate Events

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Review: The Shepherd's Crown

The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The afterward of this book says that Pratchett was not through with editing it when he died. I am sad to say that it shows.

I thought the climatic battle was rushed and that the stakes were not quite as high as other witches books have shown. I thought the trains and the King of the Elves were going to play an important part in the final showdown, but I felt they were there merely for show, somehow not really mattering. I felt cheated. I thought Geoffrey's calm-weaving would make an appearance as well, but his thunder got stolen by the old men of Lancre and their sheds? It didn't quite come together in the end.

The death of Nightshade was also a disappointment as was the handling of Tiffany killing three elves. These scenes were so well set up to teach lessons about witchcraft, about what other Pratchett novels have called the "soul and center" of witchcraft. The death of someone who was becoming good and Tiffany faltering in the moral standards that are so important for people who hold such a power.

I thought Letitia and especially Amber would come back, but Amber wasn't even mentioned and Letitia was almost a letdown.

And yet I loved the book. It was such a brave book, from someone who was facing the twilight of his life so bravely. Pratchett killed Granny Weatherwax to kickstart the plot, and it was masterful, setting the stage for a whole new era of witches. It was bold and it was sweet. And I was touched that this character of great struggles was given such a good death, because after what she and her maker have given us, there was no one who deserved it more.

Pratchett also introduced the idea of a male witch and made it make perfect sense. He left Tiffany as the leader of a new future. He bade his readers look to the horizon, to imagine what the next generation would look like, to think up the stories that would be told about them.

Somehow he left us in charge.

I came to Pratchett later than most. I haven't read Color of Magic or even Equal Rites. I came to Pratchett in many ways through the Tiffany Aching books and I loved them fiercely. A lot of what he wrote in them I have taken to heart in my own writing, wishing only to be able to write about responsibility and power and selfishness and difference between being good and being nice with the same ferocity he did.

I'm going to miss him, I'm going to miss Tiffany and I can't lie, I wish this wasn't over yet. Thank you Mr. Pratchett, wherever you are.

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