I was a bit concerned, upon picking this up, that it would be dry--a book set on Mars, written by a scientist. It looked like it might be Hard SF of the sort that sacrifices character and readability to the Idea. My fears were unjustified.
Mars Underground is set on Mars in 2031. I found this a little jarring, actually, because that wasn't far enough in the future for the sort of changes the novel depicts. The Mars colonies were originally set up as a joint scientific project between the US and Russia, but now Mars is just a growing land of commercialism and opportunity for ambitious young people.
A wily old retired scientist named Alwyn Stafford drives out alone into the unexplored Martian desert, and disappears. An extensive search is mounted, and Stafford's young friend Carter Jahns is called into the search effort. Carter is a bureaucrat, very bright but also a bit naive. He is frantic at the thought of his friend being lost in the desert, dying as his air runs out, and he spends days poring over satellite images to try to pick up the trail. He finds traces but, hindered by a base commander who seems to be dragging his feet, can't get out there as promptly as he'd like. When they find Stafford's dune buggy, it is empty.
This is not a satisfactory answer for Carter, who wants to know what happened to Stafford. He's bright and determined and decides to dig deeper. For some reason he drags along his friend, Philippe, the colony's artist in residence, and Annie, a newly-arrived reporter who seems to be willing to sleep her way into a big scoop. I was never really clear on the purpose of having Philippe and Annie along, except as a way to create tension. Annie favors first Philippe, then Carter, with her sexual favors; and then gets mad, lectures them about sexual freedom, and calls them sexist pigs when they are confused by her actions. Can you tell I didn't have much use for Annie?
The beginning half of Mars Underground was actually fairly engaging. Alas, in the second half it ran off the rails. In fact, it ran off the rails, plunged over a cliff, and burst into flames.
Cater's digging leads them to the remote South Polar base, where they are taken captive by an evil, deranged bureaucrat who is determined that the news of their amazing discovery under the Martian ice not be released until they've had time to study it further. The cad! He says that they need a couple more weeks to study it before news can be released. Annie becomes enraged and starts ranting about freedom of the press and how information needs to be free. They fume a good deal about the stupidity of governments and how they mess up nice, earnest scientific discourse, and the rest of the book is spent trying to find ways to get the news out sooner.
I am tired of books by scientists in which bureaucrats are stupid, evil, and putting the world at risk through their stupidity and general evilness. In fact, it was tiring the first time. Every time I see it, it's just more annoying. The prologue and epilogue were really unnecessary to the story, and the whole thing could have been shorter and better without the annoying love triangle. I am being so harsh on this book, in part, because it started well and I am disappointed that it turned out so badly. But really, yuck.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Murder to Go by Emma Lathen
I got this book for 50 cents at a library book sale last spring.
I like the mysteries of Emma Lathen. They feature John Putnam Thatcher, a very reserved and dignified banker, who works for the Sloan Guaranty Trust, a very reserved and dignified bank. As a banker, Thatcher interacts with businesses who have loans from the Sloan. Someone always ends up dead, and the police often speak to Thatcher, who is a keen and disinterested observer.
In Murder to Go, a franchise business called Chicken Tonight is growing quickly and looking to diversify by buying an insurance company. The management of Chicken Tonight are bright, their product is popular, and it looks like a good credit risk. It all comes tumbling down around them, though, when a bevy of people across the Northeast come down with food poisoning--and all of them ate Chicken Mexicana from Chicken Tonight.
The health department quickly realizes that this is not ordinary food poisoning--the Chicken Mexicana had been tampered with. And all of the adulterated food was delivered on the same day be the same delivery truck. It's a race to find the disgruntled former employee they believe is responsible before the franchise holders--and the corporation itself--are driven into bankruptcy.
This may not seem like an original plot, but Murder to Go was written in the 1960s, before the Tylenol scare. The solution, as always, is more about business than personal grudges. And Thatcher quietly thinks his way through the case and sees that justice is done. Murder to Go is a quick, fun read. As is usual with Lathen mysteries, I enjoyed it.
I like the mysteries of Emma Lathen. They feature John Putnam Thatcher, a very reserved and dignified banker, who works for the Sloan Guaranty Trust, a very reserved and dignified bank. As a banker, Thatcher interacts with businesses who have loans from the Sloan. Someone always ends up dead, and the police often speak to Thatcher, who is a keen and disinterested observer.
In Murder to Go, a franchise business called Chicken Tonight is growing quickly and looking to diversify by buying an insurance company. The management of Chicken Tonight are bright, their product is popular, and it looks like a good credit risk. It all comes tumbling down around them, though, when a bevy of people across the Northeast come down with food poisoning--and all of them ate Chicken Mexicana from Chicken Tonight.
The health department quickly realizes that this is not ordinary food poisoning--the Chicken Mexicana had been tampered with. And all of the adulterated food was delivered on the same day be the same delivery truck. It's a race to find the disgruntled former employee they believe is responsible before the franchise holders--and the corporation itself--are driven into bankruptcy.
This may not seem like an original plot, but Murder to Go was written in the 1960s, before the Tylenol scare. The solution, as always, is more about business than personal grudges. And Thatcher quietly thinks his way through the case and sees that justice is done. Murder to Go is a quick, fun read. As is usual with Lathen mysteries, I enjoyed it.
Monday, August 25, 2008
The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe
I picked up The Calling in the new items shelf at the library. It was shelved under general fiction instead of mystery, where it probably belongs. On the other hand, it's not a great mystery, so perhaps general fiction is the better place for it.
The Calling is a suspense novel with a serial killer. The protagonist is Hazel Micallef, a 61-year-old, divorced, alcoholic, pain-pill -popping detective in a small town in Ontario. An elderly lady with terminal cancer is killed, but the method of death makes it clear it wasn't a normal or random act of violence. Then another body turns up in another small town to the east, a young man with severe MS. Hazel and her officers conclude, reluctantly, that there is a serial killer, but her superior in Toronto doesn't believe her. She also thinks that if the case is publicized the killer will know they're onto him, so she decides to act alone, conducting a nationwide investigation out of her little police department, without sharing information with any other police departments. They also can't be bothered with doing things properly, so her officers cut corners, intimidate witnesses, walk off with evidence--all because finding the guy is more important than doing the job well. Naturally, this being a suspense novel rather than a real mystery, it all ends with Hazel and the killer having a showdown in a little shack out in the woods. Yech.
The Calling was quick and fairly enjoyable. The writing was smooth and competent. But was it good? Nope. Not at all. But then, I prefer mysteries over suspense novels.
The Calling is a suspense novel with a serial killer. The protagonist is Hazel Micallef, a 61-year-old, divorced, alcoholic, pain-pill -popping detective in a small town in Ontario. An elderly lady with terminal cancer is killed, but the method of death makes it clear it wasn't a normal or random act of violence. Then another body turns up in another small town to the east, a young man with severe MS. Hazel and her officers conclude, reluctantly, that there is a serial killer, but her superior in Toronto doesn't believe her. She also thinks that if the case is publicized the killer will know they're onto him, so she decides to act alone, conducting a nationwide investigation out of her little police department, without sharing information with any other police departments. They also can't be bothered with doing things properly, so her officers cut corners, intimidate witnesses, walk off with evidence--all because finding the guy is more important than doing the job well. Naturally, this being a suspense novel rather than a real mystery, it all ends with Hazel and the killer having a showdown in a little shack out in the woods. Yech.
The Calling was quick and fairly enjoyable. The writing was smooth and competent. But was it good? Nope. Not at all. But then, I prefer mysteries over suspense novels.
I'm probably jaded...
but I watched some of the Olympics closing ceremonies last night, and didn't find it particularly interesting. In fact, I found it more interesting to think about how they went about coordinating the event than I found the finished product. Apparently I'm a tough audience.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Memory by Philippe Grimbert
Memory begins with the narrator--Grimbert himself--explaining that, though an only child, he always knew he had a brother. A sickly, weak child, he seems preoccupied with his parents' good health. Both are slim, tanned, athletic, and attractive; and he senses that his father always looks at him with disappointment. They lead quiet lives, working in their athletic wear shop and working out at the health club and in the little gym they've built in their apartment. A quiet, small family of three, except that Grimbert always knew he had a brother.
Memory is novella in which Grimbert has apparently fictionalized his own discovery of his family's history. I do not know how many of the details are those of his family and how many are fabricated, but his fictional self learns, as a teenager, that his family is actually Jewish, and that the war years were much harder than they would ever admit to him. He learns of the family members who died in during the war and who were never mentioned again--including his older brother. And he comes to better understand the silence and burden of guilt that his parents carry around with them every day. In the end, he does what he can to ensure that the dead are not forever forgotten.
Memory reminds me a bit of Gotz and Meyer--they are both short European novels about a character who is pondering the death of family members in the Holocaust. Memory is more absorbing and less unpleasant than Gotz and Meyer. I found Memory a thoughtful and worthwhile read.
Memory is novella in which Grimbert has apparently fictionalized his own discovery of his family's history. I do not know how many of the details are those of his family and how many are fabricated, but his fictional self learns, as a teenager, that his family is actually Jewish, and that the war years were much harder than they would ever admit to him. He learns of the family members who died in during the war and who were never mentioned again--including his older brother. And he comes to better understand the silence and burden of guilt that his parents carry around with them every day. In the end, he does what he can to ensure that the dead are not forever forgotten.
Memory reminds me a bit of Gotz and Meyer--they are both short European novels about a character who is pondering the death of family members in the Holocaust. Memory is more absorbing and less unpleasant than Gotz and Meyer. I found Memory a thoughtful and worthwhile read.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Paths Not Taken by Simon R. Green
Paths Not Taken is the fifth novel featuring John Taylor, private eye and badass in The Nightside, an alternate version of London where it's always three in the morning and the streets are filled with supernatural creatures and many dangers. I almost didn't read this one because I didn't much like how the last one (Hex & the City) turned out. But I was at the bookstore looking for reading material on my trip, and nothing much was leaping out at me, so I decided to try it out.
Warning: spoilers ahead:
In Hex and the City, Taylor discovers that his mother was Lilith, Adam's first wife, who originally created the Nightside. I've blocked most of it from my memory, but he also apparently discovers that she's not happy with the place and intends to destroy it. Taylor has been catching flashes of a possible future in which Nightside has been laid to waste, most of his friends are dead, and they all hate him. He is determined to prevent that from happening.
Paths Not Taken begins with a new client walking into Taylor's office: a mild-mannered executive from London who has been transported to Nightside against his will, and versions of him from alternate time lines are all trying to kill him because they don't like the way their life turned out, and blame him. Doesn't really make sense, but it gets the action rolling. They wind up at the Nightside office of the company where the client works, and find that the branch manager is trying to tempt the employee over to the dark side because he'd be a good evil guy. There's a flurry of action, and the bad executive is magically transformed into a good guy, who apologizes and sets everything right. Did I mention it doesn't make much sense?
That case taken care of, Taylor decides to go back to the very beginning of Nightside, so that he can watch his mother create it and maybe figure out a way to defeat her. I was never really convinced that this was the obvious or logical course of action, but that's what Taylor decides to do. So he and Suzie Shooter and Tommy Oblivion talk Father Time into transporting them back 2,000 years, except that something goes wrong and they end up in a different time. Then they have a series of encounters that follow this general template:
Encounteree: Who are you? You don't belong here.
Taylor: Step aside. We're really badass. You don't want to mess with us.
Encounteree: You don't belong here. I'm going to attack you.
Taylor, after wiping the floor with them: I told you we were badasses.
Taylor does some really bad things, because he's convinced that his mission is more important than anything else, ever. And he is growing ever more powerful, until at the end he sucks a bunch of strength out of Lilith herself, right after she created the city. At the end of the novel he had returned to his time, and was preparing to raise an army to fight against her.
Did I like it? Nope. Will I read the next one? Hell, no. In fact, honestly, the only one in the series I thought was good was Nightingale's Lament. I keep reading in hope that Green will return to form. I'm probably wasting my time. However I understand that the latest returns to the private eye/mystery format, so I may try that one before entirely giving up on the series.
Warning: spoilers ahead:
In Hex and the City, Taylor discovers that his mother was Lilith, Adam's first wife, who originally created the Nightside. I've blocked most of it from my memory, but he also apparently discovers that she's not happy with the place and intends to destroy it. Taylor has been catching flashes of a possible future in which Nightside has been laid to waste, most of his friends are dead, and they all hate him. He is determined to prevent that from happening.
Paths Not Taken begins with a new client walking into Taylor's office: a mild-mannered executive from London who has been transported to Nightside against his will, and versions of him from alternate time lines are all trying to kill him because they don't like the way their life turned out, and blame him. Doesn't really make sense, but it gets the action rolling. They wind up at the Nightside office of the company where the client works, and find that the branch manager is trying to tempt the employee over to the dark side because he'd be a good evil guy. There's a flurry of action, and the bad executive is magically transformed into a good guy, who apologizes and sets everything right. Did I mention it doesn't make much sense?
That case taken care of, Taylor decides to go back to the very beginning of Nightside, so that he can watch his mother create it and maybe figure out a way to defeat her. I was never really convinced that this was the obvious or logical course of action, but that's what Taylor decides to do. So he and Suzie Shooter and Tommy Oblivion talk Father Time into transporting them back 2,000 years, except that something goes wrong and they end up in a different time. Then they have a series of encounters that follow this general template:
Encounteree: Who are you? You don't belong here.
Taylor: Step aside. We're really badass. You don't want to mess with us.
Encounteree: You don't belong here. I'm going to attack you.
Taylor, after wiping the floor with them: I told you we were badasses.
Taylor does some really bad things, because he's convinced that his mission is more important than anything else, ever. And he is growing ever more powerful, until at the end he sucks a bunch of strength out of Lilith herself, right after she created the city. At the end of the novel he had returned to his time, and was preparing to raise an army to fight against her.
Did I like it? Nope. Will I read the next one? Hell, no. In fact, honestly, the only one in the series I thought was good was Nightingale's Lament. I keep reading in hope that Green will return to form. I'm probably wasting my time. However I understand that the latest returns to the private eye/mystery format, so I may try that one before entirely giving up on the series.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Star Well by Alexei Panshin
I bought Star Well from a used book dealer at Worldcon.
It takes place on an asteroid named Star Well, which is basically a hotel and casino and a travel hub where travelers can switch from one ship to another. Not surprisingly Star Well is run by organized crime, who run crooked gaming upstairs and a smuggling operation downstairs.
Our protagonist is Anthony Villiers, a well-dressed young nobleman who kicks around the galaxy on an allowance from his father. Villiers is a charming and intelligent man, and doesn't hesitate to let people know how clever he is. He is on Star Well, charging the most expensive suite on credit and waiting for his friend, Torve, to arrive, hopefully with his latest allowance check. Alas, when Torve arrives, he is not bearing the money Villiers desperately needs. They now need to find a way to get off Star Well without paying the bill, so that they may go to the planet where his money should be waiting for him.
Star Well is a funny book. Villiers is clever and observant; Torve is a giant furry alien that looks like a frog and makes obscure pronouncements; and there is also a pair of schoolgirls with foolish romantic ideas of adventure. It's not an aggressive, belly-laugh sort of book; it's a subtle, clever sort of amusement. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and now will have to try to track down the other volumes.
It takes place on an asteroid named Star Well, which is basically a hotel and casino and a travel hub where travelers can switch from one ship to another. Not surprisingly Star Well is run by organized crime, who run crooked gaming upstairs and a smuggling operation downstairs.
Our protagonist is Anthony Villiers, a well-dressed young nobleman who kicks around the galaxy on an allowance from his father. Villiers is a charming and intelligent man, and doesn't hesitate to let people know how clever he is. He is on Star Well, charging the most expensive suite on credit and waiting for his friend, Torve, to arrive, hopefully with his latest allowance check. Alas, when Torve arrives, he is not bearing the money Villiers desperately needs. They now need to find a way to get off Star Well without paying the bill, so that they may go to the planet where his money should be waiting for him.
Star Well is a funny book. Villiers is clever and observant; Torve is a giant furry alien that looks like a frog and makes obscure pronouncements; and there is also a pair of schoolgirls with foolish romantic ideas of adventure. It's not an aggressive, belly-laugh sort of book; it's a subtle, clever sort of amusement. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and now will have to try to track down the other volumes.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Mount Evans
When my cousin asked if we'd like to go up into the mountains, we jumped at the chance. Because we didn't want to miss the convention entirely, we selected a destination that was relatively close to Denver: Mount Evans. Mount Evans is over 14,000 feet high, and you can drive most of the way up. It's also not too far from Denver, which made it a perfect half-day trip.
Many people bike up the mountain. They are tougher, and better climbers than I.
Scenery on the way up Mount Evans
From the top, looking down at the observatory. We were in a cloud, so the scenery from the top was limited. Nevertheless, it was was really cool--literally as well as figuratively, as it was about 40 degrees up there.
A pika.
Some of the scenery near Summit Lake. The vistas were amazing in every direction, though. I wish I could have taken panoramic photos. It's possible to park here and hike the rest of the way up the mountain.
I've been to the mountains many times over the years, but this was the best experience I've had. It was neat to get out and climb to the top, to scramble around on the rocks, to look down. And it was also neat to be out in 40 degree weather in August. This was my favorite part of the whole trip, by far.
Many people bike up the mountain. They are tougher, and better climbers than I.
Scenery on the way up Mount Evans
From the top, looking down at the observatory. We were in a cloud, so the scenery from the top was limited. Nevertheless, it was was really cool--literally as well as figuratively, as it was about 40 degrees up there.
A pika.
Some of the scenery near Summit Lake. The vistas were amazing in every direction, though. I wish I could have taken panoramic photos. It's possible to park here and hike the rest of the way up the mountain.
I've been to the mountains many times over the years, but this was the best experience I've had. It was neat to get out and climb to the top, to scramble around on the rocks, to look down. And it was also neat to be out in 40 degree weather in August. This was my favorite part of the whole trip, by far.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Miscellaneous Denver
Union Station
It is amazingly untouched--it was spared awful updates, thank goodness. The old wooden doors were not replaced with steel; the old wooden benches were not replaced with plastic. It is like stepping back in time, and was a lot neater inside than I had expected.
The Rotunda at the Colorado State Capitol
The rose window and oran in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
Denver Botanic Gardens
The Denver Botanic Gardens were the one planned bit of sightseeing I expected to do while in Denver. I've been to Denver many, many times before, but I wasn't able to spend as much time here as I would have liked the last time I was here. Also, Kristin is a gardener, so it seemed an obvious thing for us to do.
The Japanese Garden
The Kitchen Garden
A really big cool plant in the rose garden
The Japanese Garden
The Kitchen Garden
A really big cool plant in the rose garden
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Back from Denver
I've just returned from Worldcon in Denver. The trip was fun and exhausting and not at all what I was expecting. I thought that I would spend most of my time at the convention, with one afternoon sightseeing and one dinner with relatives in Denver. Instead, I spent most of the time sightseeing, two dinners with family, and spent very little time at the convention.
Did I enjoy Worldcon? Well, parts of it. But I'm not sure I can really comment on the overall content of the con, because I spent a lot less time at it than I expected to. The highlight of the con was actually the meeting of knitters from Ravelry and Livejournal:
It was a lot of fun to sit down with fellow knitters (and a few crocheters) and work and chat.
The Hugos had some pleasant suprises and a few disappointments (I really thought Stross had a shot at it this year--but I voted for him, and history has shown that my tastes do not closely align with the rest of the Hugo voters, so he was probably doomed from the start), but the ceremony went on too long. I attended a few panels, some of which were good and some of which were not. For some reason I just wasn't sleeping well, so I'm probably grumpy because I'm tired. I will follow up with a few posts about the highlights of my trip over the next few days.
Did I enjoy Worldcon? Well, parts of it. But I'm not sure I can really comment on the overall content of the con, because I spent a lot less time at it than I expected to. The highlight of the con was actually the meeting of knitters from Ravelry and Livejournal:
It was a lot of fun to sit down with fellow knitters (and a few crocheters) and work and chat.
The Hugos had some pleasant suprises and a few disappointments (I really thought Stross had a shot at it this year--but I voted for him, and history has shown that my tastes do not closely align with the rest of the Hugo voters, so he was probably doomed from the start), but the ceremony went on too long. I attended a few panels, some of which were good and some of which were not. For some reason I just wasn't sleeping well, so I'm probably grumpy because I'm tired. I will follow up with a few posts about the highlights of my trip over the next few days.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Anathem, at length
In July I made a brief post with my reaction to Anathem and promised more later. Here we are. Warning, potential spoilers ahead:
Anathem is Neal Stephenson's latest novel, due out in September. It is set on an Earth-like planet called Arbre. Arbre has a technological society not terribly different from our own. They also have monasteries filled with the avout, who are sort of cloistered scholar-monks who spend their days in thought and philosophical debate. Though most of them are not religious, their lifestyle still reminded me strongly of Benedictine monks. There is a timelessness about the avout, both because of the stark simplicity of their existence and because they take the long view of things--their monasteries, known as concents, have remained largely unchanged for thousands of years, while cities and governments rise and fall around them.
The narrator is Fra Erasmus, known as Raz to his friends. He respects and studies with an older Fra known as Orolo, who is an astronomer. When the observatory is shut down and Orolo leaves the concent, Erasmus becomes obsessed with learning what is going on. He and his friends set about discovering what Orolo might have found. They spend a good deal of time meeting and discussing and trying not to get in trouble with the authorities of the concent. The first section of the book felt rather like a school story to me.
But outside events reach even into their cloistered lives, as members of the concent are drafted into the service of the saecular powers. In time, Erasmus and his friends are all recruited, and he begins a long journey of discovery across the planet as he determines to find Orolo.
Anathem is a really deep and fascinating read, though admittedly my attention wandered during some of the philosophical discussions. I'm not entirely sure why Stephenson chose as his main character a 19 year old who is definitely not the brightest in his class. It could have been a much shorter book if the protagonist had been a bit more knowledgeable to begin with. Also, Raz is probably the most boring character in the book. His friends and companions are mostly more interesting than he, and the older Fras are much more interesting, especially the ancient and mysterious Fra Jad. I would have been very interested to know what he was thinking, but of course he was supposed to be cryptic and mysterious.
The ending was a bit abrupt. As I was reading the book I noted that I was nearly to the end and they seemed to be in a really tight spot, and I feared that Anathem might be an incomplete story. However, there is an ending, it just came about very quickly. It was not really unsatisfying, but the speed of the resolution seemed out of proportion with the long and detailed buildup to that point.
I would also note that this is a 900 page novel filled with philosophical discussions of such matters as how one can be certain that one's senses are giving the brain an accurate representation of the world. It's a fascinating book, but not a quick or easy read. I really enjoyed Anathem, but could easily imagine myself getting impatient and giving up if I had been in the wrong mood when I tried it. Highly recommended for patient readers.
Anathem is Neal Stephenson's latest novel, due out in September. It is set on an Earth-like planet called Arbre. Arbre has a technological society not terribly different from our own. They also have monasteries filled with the avout, who are sort of cloistered scholar-monks who spend their days in thought and philosophical debate. Though most of them are not religious, their lifestyle still reminded me strongly of Benedictine monks. There is a timelessness about the avout, both because of the stark simplicity of their existence and because they take the long view of things--their monasteries, known as concents, have remained largely unchanged for thousands of years, while cities and governments rise and fall around them.
The narrator is Fra Erasmus, known as Raz to his friends. He respects and studies with an older Fra known as Orolo, who is an astronomer. When the observatory is shut down and Orolo leaves the concent, Erasmus becomes obsessed with learning what is going on. He and his friends set about discovering what Orolo might have found. They spend a good deal of time meeting and discussing and trying not to get in trouble with the authorities of the concent. The first section of the book felt rather like a school story to me.
But outside events reach even into their cloistered lives, as members of the concent are drafted into the service of the saecular powers. In time, Erasmus and his friends are all recruited, and he begins a long journey of discovery across the planet as he determines to find Orolo.
Anathem is a really deep and fascinating read, though admittedly my attention wandered during some of the philosophical discussions. I'm not entirely sure why Stephenson chose as his main character a 19 year old who is definitely not the brightest in his class. It could have been a much shorter book if the protagonist had been a bit more knowledgeable to begin with. Also, Raz is probably the most boring character in the book. His friends and companions are mostly more interesting than he, and the older Fras are much more interesting, especially the ancient and mysterious Fra Jad. I would have been very interested to know what he was thinking, but of course he was supposed to be cryptic and mysterious.
The ending was a bit abrupt. As I was reading the book I noted that I was nearly to the end and they seemed to be in a really tight spot, and I feared that Anathem might be an incomplete story. However, there is an ending, it just came about very quickly. It was not really unsatisfying, but the speed of the resolution seemed out of proportion with the long and detailed buildup to that point.
I would also note that this is a 900 page novel filled with philosophical discussions of such matters as how one can be certain that one's senses are giving the brain an accurate representation of the world. It's a fascinating book, but not a quick or easy read. I really enjoyed Anathem, but could easily imagine myself getting impatient and giving up if I had been in the wrong mood when I tried it. Highly recommended for patient readers.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Night Watch is a tale of the supernatural and the struggle between good and evil. It is set in Moscow, and the protagonist, Anton, works for the Night Watch. Ironically, the Night Watch are, usually, on the side of good, while the Day Watch work for evil. The two sides, both filled with Others who possess supernatural powers, live in a state of uneasy truce. Magic and supernatural creatures are regulated to keep the peace and maintain a balance between good and evil, and the Watches watch for violations of the rules.
Night Watch is a Russian novel, so of course the Night Watch are not good by the usual US concept of the word. They are working, generally, toward the greater good, but this is a world painted in shades of gray, and all of the characters are, to some degree, corrupt and manipulative. It is viewed that turning to good or evil is mostly a matter of chance, depending on the person's mood at the time they are found and recruited as Others. Anton's superiors are trying to win the larger war, good triumphing over evil, and they are willing to do great harm if it leads to greater good in the long run. These attempts aren't always successful, such as the Russian Revolution.
Anton is a third-level magician who has little experience at field work. He is relatively less experienced and less powerful than most of his coworkers. Nevertheless, he gets involved in some important operations, beginning with hunting down an illegal vampire. I didn't especially care for Anton--he's not very competent, he's too emotional, and he is easily manipulated, both by his superiors and the opposition. Night Watch consists of three novellas in which Anton gets swept into events far beyond his understanding, and he mostly doesn't mess up too badly. He's still an idiot, though.
There is always the problem, with translated novels, in knowing how good the translation is. There were things that didn't quite make sense to me, and I'm not sure if it was a translation problem, or if Lukyanenko just wrote scenes that didn't make sense. There may also be the problem of cultural differences, as well. But there were a few places that just didn't quite work. For instance, in the first novella, Anton's boss reams him out for screwing up, and then as they discuss the events his boss tells him that he did the right thing and did well. Um? Am I missing something? And in the third novella, Anton decides to get drunk, and one of his coworkers chides him for drinking cognac instead of vodka, which is the proper way to get drunk. Anton's response: "I was wrong. Thanks for the help." Again, just a bit jarring to me. Who cares if he gets drunk on cognac or vodka? And why is he apologizing? Am I missing something? There were a lot of those little moments that didn't quite work and made me wonder if I was missing something, or if the book was missing something.
Nevertheless, it was darker and more complex than your average supernatural fantasy novel, and I found it an absorbing and interesting read. Recommended.
Night Watch is a Russian novel, so of course the Night Watch are not good by the usual US concept of the word. They are working, generally, toward the greater good, but this is a world painted in shades of gray, and all of the characters are, to some degree, corrupt and manipulative. It is viewed that turning to good or evil is mostly a matter of chance, depending on the person's mood at the time they are found and recruited as Others. Anton's superiors are trying to win the larger war, good triumphing over evil, and they are willing to do great harm if it leads to greater good in the long run. These attempts aren't always successful, such as the Russian Revolution.
Anton is a third-level magician who has little experience at field work. He is relatively less experienced and less powerful than most of his coworkers. Nevertheless, he gets involved in some important operations, beginning with hunting down an illegal vampire. I didn't especially care for Anton--he's not very competent, he's too emotional, and he is easily manipulated, both by his superiors and the opposition. Night Watch consists of three novellas in which Anton gets swept into events far beyond his understanding, and he mostly doesn't mess up too badly. He's still an idiot, though.
There is always the problem, with translated novels, in knowing how good the translation is. There were things that didn't quite make sense to me, and I'm not sure if it was a translation problem, or if Lukyanenko just wrote scenes that didn't make sense. There may also be the problem of cultural differences, as well. But there were a few places that just didn't quite work. For instance, in the first novella, Anton's boss reams him out for screwing up, and then as they discuss the events his boss tells him that he did the right thing and did well. Um? Am I missing something? And in the third novella, Anton decides to get drunk, and one of his coworkers chides him for drinking cognac instead of vodka, which is the proper way to get drunk. Anton's response: "I was wrong. Thanks for the help." Again, just a bit jarring to me. Who cares if he gets drunk on cognac or vodka? And why is he apologizing? Am I missing something? There were a lot of those little moments that didn't quite work and made me wonder if I was missing something, or if the book was missing something.
Nevertheless, it was darker and more complex than your average supernatural fantasy novel, and I found it an absorbing and interesting read. Recommended.
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