Let me start this by saying that Magician is one of my most reread books. When I think in my mind about how Epic Fantasy should be, this is the first book that appears in my mind. I have recommended this book to more people than I can count. And I still do.
Rides a Dread Legion is the latest in the books set in Mr. Feist's Midkemia setting. Of course, the truth is, that he only helped create the original setting, but since then he has gone on to flesh it out in detailed ways that few other fantasy authors can match. Thus far he has put out more than twenty books in that setting, in a series of trilogies to make it more accessible. He shares this tactic with Terry Brooks, who has written more than a dozen Shanara books (twenty if you include the recent bridge created between the Shanara books and the Knight of the Word series.) From a writer's perspective, this is a really good idea because it makes the setting more accessible to a new comer, and it also gives the writer much greater flexibility in determining plot, which characters to use etc, so it doesn't get stale.
Having said that, the trilogy before the last trilogy, "Talon of the Silver Hawk" felt damn close. It wasn't stale, but it had some elements that Feist has used before. A young boy has a tragic happenstance and then rises to his birthright. The series had a lot that saved it, including the highly unique Count of Monte Cristo element to it which Feist hadn't touched before, as well as the addition of very interesting characters such as the anti hero Count Olasko.
The last series saw the new addition of some fairly forgettable young characters but used PREVIOUS characters in highly interesting ways. The villains were also quite interesting, and the slow, almost glacial metaplot that ties all the series together moved forward as well.
According to Feist, this series is the second to last before the Riftwar saga is done. I presume that is tied to his own retirement, because thus far he has only done one series outside of Midkemia and that is Fairy Tale (which I liked but I can easily see not being popular with some). Then again, he has already written two 'sideways' trilogies which take place in other parts and times in the universe he has already created, and then there is that whole 'Hall of Worlds' stuff, so there is plenty of potential.
This new book starts of a bit slowly with some new Mary Sue elves, but since the Mary Sue elves are the BAD guys in this instance, they're pretty cool. You definitely want to beat the crap out of them, and things sure like they are going to go that way. There is also this whole inevitable demon hoard coming to (yet again) destroy all life in Midkemia. In some ways, Midkemia is the Dragon Ball Z of epic fantasy, with some giant even bigger, nastier thing coming to get you, but Feist has the advantage of having mentioned the bigger, nastier things coming, until in the final series it will be the biggest, nastiest thing of them all. After that, there are no more. And the last proposed title is called Magician: End, which is quite fitting.
Basically, I really liked this book, and I recommend it, but little of it will make sense if you don't at least read the trilogy right before it. It also has just enough ideas to make sense for just two books instead of a full out trilogy.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Movie: Charlie Bartlet
I read somewhere that for a decade and a half there was a vast void in the nineties where there were no teen movies like "Sixteen Candles", whereas in the last four or five years the genre has seen a resurgeance. I'm not sure, since I'm not a film history buff, but I have noticed that a lot of the teen movies in the last few years remind me a lot of the ones I grew up with in the 1980's. Charlie Bartlet is such a movie.
Charlie is not Ferris Beuler, but it is the kind of movie I can see someone growing up and loving with the amount that I love that movie. Charlie is not perfect, but for most of the movie he has a serene zen like confidence mixed with a shadowed insecurity beneath it that allows him to be admired and approachable at the same time. It is a comedy but it has a healthy dose of reality mixed into the whole thing.
It is difficult to give away much of the plot without spoiling it since the salient details are doled out wisely a bit at a time, but one can still learn a lot from the trailer and I'll use that as a template. Basically, the plot of the movie is about a teenager who is expelled from every school he is sent to and finally ends up in public high school. To fit in, he sells the psych meds his on call psychiatrist gives him. But the story really isn't about teen drug dealing. Its about identity, coming of age, and an understanding of how to forge your own role in society. In short, thematically, it is right up my ally.
And I liked it. I must say I'm not super enthusiastic about it. It isn't one of my five star netflix movies, but I still liked it a great deal, and would recommend that anyone see it at least once.
Charlie is not Ferris Beuler, but it is the kind of movie I can see someone growing up and loving with the amount that I love that movie. Charlie is not perfect, but for most of the movie he has a serene zen like confidence mixed with a shadowed insecurity beneath it that allows him to be admired and approachable at the same time. It is a comedy but it has a healthy dose of reality mixed into the whole thing.
It is difficult to give away much of the plot without spoiling it since the salient details are doled out wisely a bit at a time, but one can still learn a lot from the trailer and I'll use that as a template. Basically, the plot of the movie is about a teenager who is expelled from every school he is sent to and finally ends up in public high school. To fit in, he sells the psych meds his on call psychiatrist gives him. But the story really isn't about teen drug dealing. Its about identity, coming of age, and an understanding of how to forge your own role in society. In short, thematically, it is right up my ally.
And I liked it. I must say I'm not super enthusiastic about it. It isn't one of my five star netflix movies, but I still liked it a great deal, and would recommend that anyone see it at least once.
The Post American World by Farid Zacharia
I do not discuss politics on this blog. I've got another blog for that, the Codex Americana. But I must still talk a bit about geopolitical things when I review this book, because of the nature of its subject.
First of all, let me say that I like this book. And I highly recommend reading it. And as much as I liked "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman, I like this book more, because of the balanced viewpoint it creates. It is impossible to utterly predict the future, but I have long said that one of the great values of science fiction as a genre was because of the ways it could help us experiment with futures and their consequences.
Sure, we haven't met aliens, but we have played out the situations of what they might be like or what we might be like half a dozen times over. Conversely, the trends indicated in the Post American World are not set in stone, but they are practically granite in their pragmatic logic and patient analysis. Mr. Zacharia plays no favorites. He patiently analyizes, in one of the best ways I have yet read, why the West has been dominant in previous centuries, accepting the best of post modern scholars while at the same time dismissing many arguments that have been made for purposes of political correctness as an attempt at academic guilt routed apology.
He analyzes four of the major powers; two existing (Britian/EU, US) and two rising (India and China). He does not focus on Brazil and Russia as much, but the contrasts between India, the US, and China are fascinating. Reading this books helps paint a view of where we are headed in future times, and likely and intelligent strategies that the US can take to deal with it.
I think that the most valuable element he talks about in the book is the term "the rise of the rest" which is that America is not per se in a decline, but as the larger nations with inherent potential increase in GNP, the US's share of global power will shrink. He highlights the actual unique strengths in the US economy, particularly its vibrancy and its acceptance of immigrants as the true hope of its future. Of course, as an immigrant Mr. Zacharia is probably biased in favor of the US retaining skilled immigrants, but the truth is that he's right. More importantly, as someone who was born in India, lives in the US and who was chosen as the single US journalist to interview the president of China, he is someone who brings weight and seriousness to a discussion of great importance without being paranoid about China or India whilst diminishing the US to a rediculous stereotype.
In short, whether or not you agree with him, his viewpoint is a very insightful one and should be read by anyone who wants a greater understanding of where the world is heading in decades to come.
First of all, let me say that I like this book. And I highly recommend reading it. And as much as I liked "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman, I like this book more, because of the balanced viewpoint it creates. It is impossible to utterly predict the future, but I have long said that one of the great values of science fiction as a genre was because of the ways it could help us experiment with futures and their consequences.
Sure, we haven't met aliens, but we have played out the situations of what they might be like or what we might be like half a dozen times over. Conversely, the trends indicated in the Post American World are not set in stone, but they are practically granite in their pragmatic logic and patient analysis. Mr. Zacharia plays no favorites. He patiently analyizes, in one of the best ways I have yet read, why the West has been dominant in previous centuries, accepting the best of post modern scholars while at the same time dismissing many arguments that have been made for purposes of political correctness as an attempt at academic guilt routed apology.
He analyzes four of the major powers; two existing (Britian/EU, US) and two rising (India and China). He does not focus on Brazil and Russia as much, but the contrasts between India, the US, and China are fascinating. Reading this books helps paint a view of where we are headed in future times, and likely and intelligent strategies that the US can take to deal with it.
I think that the most valuable element he talks about in the book is the term "the rise of the rest" which is that America is not per se in a decline, but as the larger nations with inherent potential increase in GNP, the US's share of global power will shrink. He highlights the actual unique strengths in the US economy, particularly its vibrancy and its acceptance of immigrants as the true hope of its future. Of course, as an immigrant Mr. Zacharia is probably biased in favor of the US retaining skilled immigrants, but the truth is that he's right. More importantly, as someone who was born in India, lives in the US and who was chosen as the single US journalist to interview the president of China, he is someone who brings weight and seriousness to a discussion of great importance without being paranoid about China or India whilst diminishing the US to a rediculous stereotype.
In short, whether or not you agree with him, his viewpoint is a very insightful one and should be read by anyone who wants a greater understanding of where the world is heading in decades to come.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Movie: Drag Me To Hell
I liked this movie, but there were elements I did not like. As a general rule, I am not a fan of horror. I wrote an essay in college once, for one of my favorite two classes "Fantastic Literature" in which the assignment was to compare and contrast the Horror genre vs the Fantasy genre. As I researched the subject, I came to my own conclusions as to the difference. In Fantasy, there tends, by and large, to be a balance of supernatural forces, even if they seem on the outset to be vastly outnumbered. Whereas in most horror, the darker supernatural elements are the only one that exists, or if the lighter elements exist, they are cold, disappassionate and incredibly weak.
And that is still, beyond doubt, the truth in Drag Me to Hell.
The main reason we saw it was a firm desire to avoid Transformers: The Robot Testacles over the weekend, and because I'm a Sam Raimi fan. The female lead is strong and clever. In fact, generally speaking most of the characters avoided stale stereotypes, despite an easy temptation for the script writers to use them. It followed many tropes of the genre, while still taking things on from a fresh perspective. It also had just enough of "Evil Dead" to bring up nostalgic fun while at the same time incorporating the lessons that Raimi has learned in his film making since that time.
If you like Horror, you'll like Drag Me to Hell. If you like Sam Raimi, you'll like it too. I liked it, but certain elements, particularly the ending, were not enough to get me to change my mind and really like other horror movies.
And that is still, beyond doubt, the truth in Drag Me to Hell.
The main reason we saw it was a firm desire to avoid Transformers: The Robot Testacles over the weekend, and because I'm a Sam Raimi fan. The female lead is strong and clever. In fact, generally speaking most of the characters avoided stale stereotypes, despite an easy temptation for the script writers to use them. It followed many tropes of the genre, while still taking things on from a fresh perspective. It also had just enough of "Evil Dead" to bring up nostalgic fun while at the same time incorporating the lessons that Raimi has learned in his film making since that time.
If you like Horror, you'll like Drag Me to Hell. If you like Sam Raimi, you'll like it too. I liked it, but certain elements, particularly the ending, were not enough to get me to change my mind and really like other horror movies.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Movie: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The basic premise of the movie is that the editor of a high profile french magazine had 'locked in' symdrome from a stroke, causing total paralysis with the inability to move anything but his eyes. After a three week coma, he awoke, lucid and only able to communicate through blinking.
After initially despairing, he decides to use a book contract he had had prior to his stroke to write a book on his condition, explaining that while he was trapped, he could use his imagination and memory to take him to other places. His attitude towards life and all that is within it takes a dramatic U-turn. He reconnects with his children and on the whole becomes a better human being.
The movie is visually stunning. It is all the more stunning in that it is based on a true story, and seems to be remarkably faithful to the original (ie the real world.) The camera work is probably the most innovative thing about it, and you can see why it won an academy award.
After initially despairing, he decides to use a book contract he had had prior to his stroke to write a book on his condition, explaining that while he was trapped, he could use his imagination and memory to take him to other places. His attitude towards life and all that is within it takes a dramatic U-turn. He reconnects with his children and on the whole becomes a better human being.
The movie is visually stunning. It is all the more stunning in that it is based on a true story, and seems to be remarkably faithful to the original (ie the real world.) The camera work is probably the most innovative thing about it, and you can see why it won an academy award.
Turn Coat by Jim Butcher
This book was excellent. It is the twelth book in the Harry Dresden series. Without giving away the whole plot, I'll basically say that in the first book, Harry Dresden, Wizard for Hire, had a dark cloud over his head. If he screwed up, the Wizard Police, in the form of the Warden Morgan, would kill him.
Turn Coat begins with Morgan showing up at Harry's door seeking protection from the same Wizard Police. Harry has to solve the murder in a classic whodunit with supernatural elements. There is also a lot of intense action.
One begins to wonder if the plethora of supporting characters that Butcher has slowly been giving Harry are all going to be maimed, mauled, stolen or killed. Good fiction often involves the suffering of the primary character, and hitherto now Harry has suffered a great deal, but he has also steadily advanced in power and had a circle of friends he could rely on. At the same time, many of these allies are becoming tainted or harmed by his mere presence, such that he might not have an allies by the time the 20 book series is done.
Which, as I said, tends to make good fiction as long as it is done properly.
I also think that this book may represent the last of the books that follow the standard formula of "something horrible shows up to Chicago, Harry finds out about it, Harry ties to fix it, Harry gets not just one problem but four or five and somehow manages to come out on top with some consequences that last a few books." The title of the next book is "Changes" and I think that the stage is finally set for the ultimate conflict with The Black Council.
And I'm looking forward to it.
Turn Coat begins with Morgan showing up at Harry's door seeking protection from the same Wizard Police. Harry has to solve the murder in a classic whodunit with supernatural elements. There is also a lot of intense action.
One begins to wonder if the plethora of supporting characters that Butcher has slowly been giving Harry are all going to be maimed, mauled, stolen or killed. Good fiction often involves the suffering of the primary character, and hitherto now Harry has suffered a great deal, but he has also steadily advanced in power and had a circle of friends he could rely on. At the same time, many of these allies are becoming tainted or harmed by his mere presence, such that he might not have an allies by the time the 20 book series is done.
Which, as I said, tends to make good fiction as long as it is done properly.
I also think that this book may represent the last of the books that follow the standard formula of "something horrible shows up to Chicago, Harry finds out about it, Harry ties to fix it, Harry gets not just one problem but four or five and somehow manages to come out on top with some consequences that last a few books." The title of the next book is "Changes" and I think that the stage is finally set for the ultimate conflict with The Black Council.
And I'm looking forward to it.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Movie: Persepolis
I can see why this movie was nominated for an academy award, and quite frankly I think it would have beaten any other animated film I've seen in recent memory except Ratatouille and Wall-E....the first of which Persepolis had the misfortune of going up against in their first year. But just because it didn't win, does not in any way reduce from its excellence. It is still extremely worth watching in its own right.
The movie is basically about Marjane (a real person) and her complex (slightly fictionalized) relationship with her country. The first part of the film shows her as a little girl growing up during the 1979 Iranian revolution. It then shows the haunting conditions that the people lived in during the Iran-Iraq war. She then goes to live in Austria as an exile by her parents who are afraid her outspoken opinions will get her killed. Finally, it shows her returning to Iran after a period of homelessness, reuniting with her family but ultimately still having to leave because of the harsh conditions there.
It is a film about identity, about coming of age, and about larger questions of right and wrong. The film puts a human face on the oppression that the people suffer there, and shows that the Iranians are not by any means a monolithic culture of "Death to America" chanting lunatics.
In fact, as an American familiar with history, the most striking thing about this film was what was entirely absent (at least as I saw it.) There were no stinging barbs against America. There were generic criticisms against "the west" comparing and contrasting its strengths vs. that of her home land (ie for example they don't beat the crap out of you for not wearing a veil.) And if you knew your history, you could still see the shadows of it in the effects of the Shah and the Iran/Iraq war. You could also see it for the positive in the black market music tapes that everyone wanted to have. But it was hidden, and not blatant.
Sometimes, it isn't about you. "You" in this case being about America. This is a film about Marjane, her family and ultimately her relationship with her society and how to deal with it. And it is wonderful.
The movie is basically about Marjane (a real person) and her complex (slightly fictionalized) relationship with her country. The first part of the film shows her as a little girl growing up during the 1979 Iranian revolution. It then shows the haunting conditions that the people lived in during the Iran-Iraq war. She then goes to live in Austria as an exile by her parents who are afraid her outspoken opinions will get her killed. Finally, it shows her returning to Iran after a period of homelessness, reuniting with her family but ultimately still having to leave because of the harsh conditions there.
It is a film about identity, about coming of age, and about larger questions of right and wrong. The film puts a human face on the oppression that the people suffer there, and shows that the Iranians are not by any means a monolithic culture of "Death to America" chanting lunatics.
In fact, as an American familiar with history, the most striking thing about this film was what was entirely absent (at least as I saw it.) There were no stinging barbs against America. There were generic criticisms against "the west" comparing and contrasting its strengths vs. that of her home land (ie for example they don't beat the crap out of you for not wearing a veil.) And if you knew your history, you could still see the shadows of it in the effects of the Shah and the Iran/Iraq war. You could also see it for the positive in the black market music tapes that everyone wanted to have. But it was hidden, and not blatant.
Sometimes, it isn't about you. "You" in this case being about America. This is a film about Marjane, her family and ultimately her relationship with her society and how to deal with it. And it is wonderful.
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