Red Country, a Review

Shy South is a foul-mouthed piece of barbed wire layered thick over a sandpapered-yet-beating heart.  Her life consists mostly of tending her farm, along with her step-dad (Lamb), her two siblings, and a ranch hand.  When she and Lamb return from a trip to town to find their farm burnt to the ground, the ranch hand hanged, and the children missing, Shy’s life changes.

Temple is a man of many professions, most recently employed as a lawyer to a gang of ruthless mercenaries.  Temple always takes the easy road in life, no matter the cost.  But the years of this taking the easy road are catching up with Temple, and sooner or later something will have to give.

Red Country is Joe Abercrombie’s sixth book in the world of The First Law.  Years have passed since the original trilogy.  The Union is ever growing, expanding to the prairies and empty lands of the Near Country and the Far Country.  Dark skinned Ghosts attack with the wind, quick and sneaky, eager to cut the ears off of trespassers on their lands.  Through this wild and untamed country Shy follows a trail, stopping at nothing to get back her brother and sister.

I find it interesting that Abercrombie, a master of trope subversion, falls back on a rather clichéd incident for Red Country.  A burning farm.  Kidnapped children.  This is nothing original to the Western genre.  Nevertheless, taking these tropes and placing them in the blurred fantasy world Abercrombie does yield some entertaining reading, albeit flawed.

It seems like many people enjoy Abercrombie’s gritty Realism feel.  I like that style to a degree, but this is not the predominant reason I like his books.  Indeed, this was what I rather disliked with Best Served Cold.  Abercrombie writes characters who are amoral and wretched, often portrayed with little-to-no redeeming qualities.  Altruism does not exist in his world.  Because of this, the reading is often heavy and bleak.  What I like about Abercombie’s world is his worldbuilding.  The history is mysterious and deep.  The magic is barely there, but enough to keep me intrigued.  I’m okay with shady characters, but I really connect with the worldbuilding.

Red Country is a Western and it’s a Fantasy.  I’ve been a fan of Westerns for a good portion of my life (at least through film).  I like the slow pacing of a Western, the simplicity of the plot, the landscapes and colors.  Red Country was slow (almost too slow, honestly) when it needed to be, but the action was intense whenever presented.  Abercrombie did a wonderful job of painting the untamed countryside.  He even did a great job blending this genre into his already developed universe.

So after all of this, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed with Red Country.  In some ways it was anticlimactic, as if Abercrombie matter-of-factly orchestrates events for these characters with little fanfare.  I was also somewhat underwhelmed with Shy.  It felt like she was reluctant to open up to even herself, and throughout her POV chapters I often felt as a viewer.  Temple, on the other hand, was engaging and much more interesting.

Despite some disappointment, I still very much enjoyed Red Country.  It improved upon the bleak, violence that Best Served Cold (my review here) offered.  It also had a more interesting plot than The Heroes (my review here), even if the action was less intense.  All in all, Joe Abercrombie knows how to craft an entertaining story.  More importantly, he knows how to keep me interested enough to read more of his works.  I can only hope to get a little more information about the Fantasy side of his universe with future books.  Give me some magic.  Just a little bit.  And stop making everything so bleak.  Red Country probably isn’t for everyone (especially people that despise Westerns), but it is a worthy addition to Abercrombie’s growing catalog.

The Heroes, a Review

What is a hero? This is the central question driving Joe Abercrombie's latest novel, The Heroes, and coming from such a dark & gritty writer, where convolution and betrayal are paramount, it's a darned good question. The North, "united" under Black Dow's banner, and the Union forces, under the direction of Marshall Kroy, have convened on a small plot of land to wage war. The focus point is a large hill spotted with ancient stones appropriately called The Heroes, named after long dead legends of the North. War is the opportune time to discover heroics, but the question is from whom will they come?

The Heroes is filled with various POV characters. We have Crunden Craw, an aged Named Man who's spent his life as a straight-edge and is known for doing the "right" thing, whatever that's supposed to mean. Prince Calder, the youngest son of the recently murdered King of the North, is a notorious coward and an even more notorious schemer, and it's only a matter of time before he tries to take Skarling's Chair from Black Dow. There's also Beck, a young lad just old enough to take a weapon and enlist, with visions of glory and earning a name for himself. As for the Union soldiers, we have the disgraced Bremer dan Gorst, dispatched to observe the war for the King, though the brute of a man wants nothing more than to earn back his former rank and glory. There's Corporal Tunny, famed for his lackluster life as a soldier and his uncanny ability to turn profit, and who has little desire to rise above his self-interests. Finally there's Finree dan Brock, the only female POV, and the daughter of Marshall Kroy. Finree is manipulative and ambitious, but her marriage to a treacherous noble's son currently stands in her way.

Abercrombie is known for presenting flawed characters with a few good traits in them, and he keeps this up with The Heroes. I personally found the Northmen much more interesting, especially Craw and Calder. It's as hard for the reader to pick a side as it is for those involved in the affair, and I'm not sure which side I wanted to win the battle. This, again, is a very Abercrombian thing to do. Present the sides and muddy them all grey. Ambiguity runs amok here.

The Heroes is Abercrombie's fifth novel, and while it's not necessary to have read the previous works, I think you'd be missing out on some behind-the-scenes things that are likely important to the world of The First Law. Still yet, one could easily enjoy this book for what it is, and that's a fierce battle waged over the course of three days. This condensed timeline works great for Abercrombie, I think, because the sprawling tale that was Best Served Cold seemed to struggle under too much time.

This book was hilarious and dark, violent and oddly beautiful, thought-provoking and entertaining. It's Abercrombie at his finest, and yet I didn't enjoy it as much as The First Law. Part of the problem was that I just didn't care that much about the Union troops. Gorst was annoying, Finree disappointing, and Tunny just didn't have enough time for him. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the North parts, especially whenever the Bloody Nine's name popped up. Even Shivers, who I grew to dislike over the course of Best Served Cold, was fascinating here. Really the only time I enjoyed the Union pieces were when Bayaz was involved, and this only because it left me wanting to know more about what was going on between the First of the Magi and Ishri.

Abercrombie is at the top of his game with The Heroes. The book is fluid and well written. The action scenes are exciting. The implications of the book's thesis question are questionable throughout. It's a standalone novel that leaves me curious to see what's going to happen in Abercrombie's next book. (I believe he mentioned something with a "Western" flair on his blog. Interesting.) If you've never read Joe Abercrombie, I'd recommend starting with The Blade Itself, but you could just as easily pick this one up. It's a bloody book, but you wouldn't read a book about war and not expect otherwise. Especially not from someone as twisted and dark as Abercrombie. Highly enjoyable.

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Supplemental Thoughts (CONTAINS SPOILERS)
1.  I genuinely wonder if Logen Ninefingers is still alive.  It's been 8 years since The First Law.  Part of me thinks the man has just settled down in some remote location in the North and has been living a life of ease ever since.  Or maybe he's chasing Ferro, though I'd find that hard to imagine.  Still, I suspect he's living.
2.  What is going on between Bayaz and the Gurkish?  Will we ever get to see this conflict played out?  I do not trust Bayaz, but I also don't trust the Gurkish, either.  Is there a good side here?  Considering Abercrombie, I'd say "it's complicated," or, possibly just "no."
3.  Shivers' killing blow to Dow in the circle was unexpected.  I expected Calder to win, but not like that.
4.  Wonder what the Snake of the Talins has been up to, and what's gonna happen in Styria come next book?  Recalling Bayaz' "cannon" thing, I expect we may see firearms/artillery, though not many.

The Problem With Trilogies? a Response

Blogger Kristopher Denby, of The Sound and Fury of Kristopher A. Denby, has recently posted his review on Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself.  In short, he didn't like the book, seeing it as just another overused copycat of Tolkien.  He muses,

"Seriously. What’s wrong with one book that tells an engrossing, solid, character driven story? Oh, right. Those other books are for world building. Setting up the environment, while introducing the audience to the various characters that will inevitably wander some lonely, barren part of a fantasy world on a quest for some holy trinket (sprechen sie ring?). If you’re lucky (not so in the case of The Blade Itself ) the author might get ‘round to telling you just exactly what these characters are going to be getting into in the other two books, and why you should even give one crap about them, their plight, or their silly quest. Unfortunately, by the time Abercrombie begins to explain some of these little details in The Blade Itself, I was too bored to really care one way or the other."

Now I’m all for personal opinions.  Not everyone is going to agree on whether or not a book or movie is good.  That’s understood.  Heck, that’s desired even.  But the part I’m concerned with is the problem with a story that spills outside the bounds of one book.  True, many SFF stories span multiple volumes, telling sprawling epics that take thousands of pages to complete.  The rare standalones, such as Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker or Elantris, are unheard of.

I think a problem people have with multiple-book series is that they don’t have the time to sit down and read them.  In our busy world, we have so many things to do, reading time is not a priority for most.  People get it when they can, but more often than not, reading is cast off until we have time for it.  Personally, I carry a book with me almost everywhere I go.  I read when I take the dogs out.  I read in the bathroom.  I read while my wife shops.  And every night before bed, I usually put in an hour or two.  Books have always been a part of my life, and I’ve always wanted to progress in the story whenever I could.

And therein is my problem with trilogies.  I don’t see a trilogy as three separate stories.  No, a trilogy is one long story spread out over three volumes.  While each individual piece will have its own sub-plot, these sub-plots alone don’t tell the story, only when they come together is everything made clear.  Think of STAR WARS.  A New Hope introduces the characters and the main plot: the Empire is bad, the Rebels need to overthrow it.  By the end of Episode IV, the Rebels had made a huge dent in the Empire, but had they overthrown it?  No.  Empire Strikes Back adds virtually nothing to the main plot (Empire still strong, Rebels still struggling), but it remains one of the strongest pieces of the trilogy, expounding on the Force and the characters more.  Finally, Return of the Jedi brings about closure to the plot, eliminating that pesky Palpatine and his evil side-kick Vader for good, ushering in a new era of peace and pie for everyone.

I read (and watch movies, etc.) for the story.  If the plot and characters are strong, and I can connect somehow, then I’ll usually progress until I’m finished with the story.  That means if it’s a trilogy, I’ll read three books.  I don’t feel right about making my opinion based only on part of a story.  That is why I struggle to give up a book if it’s not working for me, or why I find individual books within a series more difficult to review as opposed to the entire story. 

The same argument can also be made with short fiction.  Some people don’t like short stories because they’re not long enough (i.e. Mom).  They want a thick novel that devotes the right amount of time to character, setting, plot, and the like, and a short story is confined to only a few thousand words, scads less than needed.  You can go back and re-read the quote above and substitute short-story for “book” (and the same logic throughout) and you end up with something that points to our minimalistic, fast-paced society.

The point is, it doesn’t matter whether a story is 2000 or 200000 words, so long as it’s engrossing.  My recent delve in The Wheel of Time comes to mind.  I read The Eye of the World and thought it was merely okay.  Still, being only Book 1 of 13 or something, I pressed on with The Great Hunt.  And I could not finish.  The story is unresolved in my head, but it was not keeping me invested in it.  I felt bad giving up, but I had no desire to finish, either.

This brings me back to the beginning.  Not everyone will agree on whether or not a story is good.  I personally loved The Blade Itself (reviewed here), ranking it in my top favorite reads of last year.  It’s okay that Kristopher doesn’t like the book (who am I to say what people should like?), but I just feel like he’s not giving the story a chance by giving up after Book One.  There’s much more to be found, and I hope he picks up the last two books one of these days.

Best Served Cold, A Review (Spoiler Free)

It seems like I started reading Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold eons ago, but truthfully it’s only been a month or so.  The US version comes in at around 630 pages, making it a hefty tome to get through.  In addition to this, I’ve just not had as much reading time as I’d like lately, and something had to give.  Finally, and with relief, I finished the novel.

Best Served Cold is a ruthless tale, filled with cutthroat, unlikeable characters, including mercenaries, poisoners, killers, politicians, and a whole slew of others.  From the start we know the book is going to be a bloody ride, and Abercrombie lays the violence and deceit on thick.

Monza Murcatto, the Serpent of Talins, the Butcher of Caprile, should have died when she was thrown from the tower.  Instead she was broken, scarred, and maimed.  When she finally regains some of her health, she sets out on a quest of revenge.  Simply, she wants to kill the seven men responsible for her brother’s death and the attempt on her life.  She recruits a band of employees to help her with her many tasks.  Shivers, a Northman from the Union, has arrived in Styria optimistic and ready to be a better man.  Castor Morveer, the self-proclaimed greatest poisoner in the Circle of the World, and his assistant, Day.  Ex-prisoner Friendly, an autistic man with a thing for numbers.  Vitari, a former Practical for the Inquisition.  And the former head of the Thousand Swords, the famed mercenary Nicoma Cosca.  Together, the motley crew travels throughout Styria seeking Monza’s vengeance.

I knew this book would be bloody.  I knew it would be filled with gritty words and unpleasant scenes.  But I knew it would be good, too, or so I thought.  I suppose my anticipation was too high.  Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law trilogy was some of the finest SFF I’ve read in a while, excellent in blending an intriguing story with a masterful mixture of words.  Best Served Cold, sadly, lacked the fascinating tale. 

Perhaps one of the big problems was that the characters were all unrelatable to me.  Some may possess mercy and compassion, but none really show it.  The cast is full of murderers, thieves, and liars, and there’s not a heroic trait among the group of them.  All are either driven by their greed/need for money or their quest for vengeance.  And it’s hard to root for someone for 630 pages when you don’t really like or care much about any of them.

Furthermore, I feel that the story dried up.  The book is divided into subsections, each one in a different city of Styria, each one with a different person to be killed.  So while the book has plenty of surprising moments, it’s also quite repetitive and predictable, too.  Plot the kill and execute the plan.  Check.  Wash off the blood and repeat.

The book was not unenjoyable, but it was a completely different kind of read.   Abercrombie is still a master wordsmith and an excellent developer of character.  His choice of wording can evoke laughter (“…surprised like she’d found a turd in bed”) or introspection.  Each POV character thinks differently, and Abercrombie portrays all quite well.

Another thing I enjoyed from this book was the sense of realism in the tale.  Styria is dark and dangerous.  The Years of Blood have been long and taxing and the reader can feel this.  This realistic story still manages to maintain elements of fantasy and not seem trite.

Overall, the book had enough going in it for me to finish, but I think it definitely could have been shorter and things left out.  I enjoyed many parts and there were some characters that I did like on occasion, but no one was really a hero, either.  Another reason to read the book is that it relates to The First Law series, and some things happen here that will definitely affect the future of the Circle of the World.  Be warned, the book has some explicit sex scenes that easily could’ve been cut, some pretty brutal violence, and some heavy cussing from time to time.  If you can look past these faults and you care about what’s coming next from Abercrombie’s world, I can easily recommend that you read Best Served Cold.  If you’ve not read The First Law, I would skip this one for now.

My Reading List: 2009 Edition

It’s the time of the year where Top 10 lists and Favorite lists are popping up, and this is certainly true in the blogosphere. In many ways, this will look very similar to any other favorite list you may look at, but this is the only one that reflects my personal opinion.

I thought I read more books than I did during this past year. In total I’ve read 55 books, but there may be some that I have forgotten, as I didn’t start my list until halfway through the year. I did not include a few books in my stats (children’s books). If you’re interested in the complete breakdown of data and to see every book I’ve read this year, follow the link here. Otherwise, the data in this post may suffice for general perusal.

Data

Oldest Story: The Shadow Over Innsmouth, by H.P. Lovecraft, published in 1936
Number of Audio Books Read: 7
Number of Library Books Read: 33
Number of Read Books Published in 2009: 8
Number of Books Forsaken: 1 (Dan Simmons The Terror)
Number of Different Series: 15
Number of Different Series Finished: 6
Total Number of Books Provided by Publishers: 7
Most Popular Author: Brian Vaughan (Y: The Last Man series)
Most Popular Publisher Read: Vertigo

As you can tell, I’ve read quite a few graphic novels. I’m not really sure how to approach this method of storytelling. Graphic novels aren’t technically a genre, but a medium. So If I charted the technical genre breakdown it would look something like this. While I really enjoy graphic novels, are they on the same level as a traditional novel? Furthermore, how many reads do they count as, especially if they’re a collection of trade collections (I’m looking at you Absolute Sandman)? For me and for my data, I counted one book as having one cover and back, regardless of how many individual comics were inside.

Even this second graph isn’t without flaws. It’s too difficult to keep books restricted to one genre, as many of them cross several genres. Is Star Wars fantasy or sci-fi, or is it simply a genre by itself? Is an alternate history book with magic fantasy, historical fiction, or mystery? There are too many discrepancies with limiting myself to one genre, but I have tried to appropriate my reads the best way I could.

Favorites

Below are my favorite ten reads from the past year, with links to my reviews. They aren't really in order of my liking, as each one has its own merits and awesomeness. Some reviews are combined for the entire series (Mistborn, Sandman), while others are typical reviews. All are spoiler-free.

1. Mistborn: Hero of Ages, by Brandon Sanderson
2. Absolute Sandman Volume 4, by Neil Gaiman
3. Mistborn: The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson
4. The First Law: Last Argument of Kings, by Joe Abercrombie
5. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
6. The Book Thief, by Mark Zusak
7. Mistborn: Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson
8. The First Law: Before They Are Hanged, by Joe Abercrombie
9. The First Law: The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie
10. Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson

Out of these books listed, only one of them was actually published in 2009. While I’m sure there were a lot of new and exciting books released this past year, I spent much of the year reading older books and finishing college. I did want to read Best Served Cold, by Joe Abercrombie, but I didn’t get around to it. I also intended to read Bill Willingham’s Peter & Max, as well as Fables Volume 12, neither of which made it onto my reading pile this year. And I have Ken Scholes Lamentation (thanks Krista) to read, but no time for it, either. I started Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker just a few days ago, but I won’t have it done before the end of the year. Once again, to see all the books I read this year, follow this link to the Google Document.

Overall I felt that this was a great reading year for me. I discovered both Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie, two bright and shining voices for the world of fantasy. Mistborn was hands-down the most exciting fantasy book series I read, and I’ve found myself recommending it to many different people. I literally tore through the concluding volume of the series. And Abercormbie’s First Law books were fast-paced and terribly fun. Two books outside the typical genre—Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and The Book Thief—even made it onto my top ten favorite reads, and both of them were superb. I’m still excited about Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and I hope to see more from Susanna Clarke on this story. The Book Thief was definitely the most emotional, heartfelt story I read, and I likely will revisit those pages, too, one day.

For 2010 I’m looking forward to another good year of reading. I fully intend on reading through the Wheel of Time novels, hopefully getting caught up before Sanderson & Jordan’s next installment comes out. I hope The Wise Man’s Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss, comes out next year, as well as George R. R. Martin’s antepenultimate ASOIAF novel, A Dance With Dragons. Who knows, maybe Sanderson will release his new work, too, and my brain will explode. I hope to read some more steampunk books, and maybe find another alternate history or two, as well. I also plan on reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and hopefully a few other “Classics,” like 100 Years of Solitude, Crime & Punishment, and Alice in Wonderland. And there’s still Jim Butcher to get into… Sigh. Too many books to read.

Writing Wednesdays tomorrow. Another sort of year end conclusion post coming Thursday. Remember to visit your public library and to frequent local used bookstores. Just give ‘em a wink and tell ‘em I sent ya.

Harry Potter: The End of a Favorite Story

Verily, I just watched The Deathly Hallows sneak peak.  It brought up all those warm, wonderful fuzzy feelings that only Harry Potter can do.  I grew up with Harry, fell in love with his story, and reveled in every novel.  The magic was too captivating to not enjoy.  The story was too charming, too alluring, too mesmerizing.  I went to the midnight release party of Deathly Hallows.  Heck, we wound up buying two books, one for me and one for Keisha, just so we wouldn’t have to wait while the other one read.  I finished the last book either the day I got it or the next day.  I literally could not stop reading.

The truth is, the Harry Potter stories are some of the best stories I’ve ever read.  I often omit them from my “favorites” category, but I’m not sure why.  Human error, perhaps?  Rowling’s humor was fantastic, her mystery intriguing, and her characters absolutely loveable.  The books had everything you could ask for in a story: a villain you couldn’t help but hate and pity, a hero with a terrible burden of destiny, friends thicker and closer than brothers, and a world filled with magic.  Just thinking about them puts me in a nostalgic mood of the magic of the story and makes me want to reread them immediately.

I wonder if Rowling will be able to stay away from the Harry Potter world.  Will she write other novels with the familiar and beloved characters, or is she truly done?  When things end, especially things that have held me captivated from the get-go, things like Lost and Harry Potter, I feel mixed emotions.  I want the story to end, to have a resolution.  The dénouement is, after all, a very important part of the overall story, and without a conclusion then the story is pointless.  While the story ends, the bittersweet reality of “no more” sets in, which sometimes leads to despair, and other times to a “hallelujahamenandthankyouJesus.”

It’s just too complex.  Using the anthropomorphic metaphor of a story being likened to a human life, in the end it must ultimately die.  It’s a pitiful story when the end putters out and ends with a whimper.  When a writer grabs a deus ex machina and throws words out, the story suffers.  Or when a story goes on long enough that it grows stagnant, it ruins the beauty that once existed.  Harry Potter did not do this, and the ending was perfect, albeit tragic.

Overall, I really love the Harry Potter books.  I can see me and Keisha reading them to our kids, or bequeathing them to them to read.  The story will never get old, methinks.  I’m excited to watch the final installments of the Harry Potter films over the next two years, and I look forward to cherishing the story for years to come.

In an unrelated not, if you haven’t read the interview between Pat Rothfuss and Joe Abercrombie (available here), you really need to do it now.  I died laughing a few times.  In fact, using the Many Worlds Theory, I’m still dying and laughing, if you buy that stuff.  Of course, also using the Many Worlds Theory I never even read the interview…  Anyway, the general conversation was interesting, seeing how these two dudes think.

Side-Thoughts, or the Great Somnambulist Discovers Diesel

Happy Awesome Tuesday everybody.  It’s a great, grey and gloomy day, filled with rain and a hint of actual November temperature and gusts of wind.  I’m supremely exhausted.  I spent around 5 hours yesterday after work decorating for Christmas and cleaning up the house and stayed up until midnight or later reading STAR WARS: Deathtroopers.  Keisha stayed up until 5:30 doing school-work, so she’s probably even more exhausted.

NPR has collected and published a piece on the 50 Most Important Recordings of the Decade.  You can find the article, along with an 89 minute discussion on the results, here.  The full results are posted alphabetically below.

01. John Adams: On The Transmigration Of Souls
02. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
03. The Arcade Fire: Funeral
04. The Bad Plus: These Are The Vistas
05. Beyonce: Dangerously In Love
06. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago
07. Bright Eyes: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
08. Burial: Untrue
09. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: S/T
10. Kelly Clarkson: Breakaway
11. Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head
12. Danger Mouse: The Grey Album
13. Death Cab For Cutie: Transatlanticism
14. The Decemberists: The Crane Wife
15. Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP
16. The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
17. Osvaldo Golijov: La Pasión Segun San Marcos (Saint Mark's Passion)
18. Green Day: American Idiot
19. Iron And Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days
20. Jay-Z: The Blueprint
21. Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
22. Juanes: Fijate Bien
23. LCD Soundsystem: Sound Of Silver
24. Lil’ Wayne: Tha Carter III
25. Little Brother: The Listening
26. M.I.A.: Kala
27. Yo-Yo Ma: Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet
28. Mastodon: Leviathan
29. Jason Moran: Black Stars
30. OutKast: Stankonia
31. Brad Paisley: 5th Gear
32. Panda Bear: Person Pitch
33. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: Raising Sand
34. The Postal Service: Give Up
35. Radiohead: In Rainbows
36. Radiohead: Kid A
37. Shakira: Fijación Oral, Vol. 1
38. Sigur Ros: ( )
39. Britney Spears: In The Zone
40. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
41. The Strokes: Is This It
42. The Swell Season: Once Soundtrack
43. Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate: In The Heart Of The Moon
44. TV On The Radio: Return To Cookie Mountain
45. Various: Garden State Soundtrack
46. Various: O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack
47. Kanye West: The College Dropout
48. The White Stripes: White Blood Cells
49. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
50. Amy Winehouse: Back To Black

I like this list.  There are some that I disagree with, but many I find quite good.  I haven’t listened to the discussion yet, so maybe after that I’ll understand a bit more why certain albums were chosen.

Don’t you hate that feeling of having read an amazing book or watched an awesome movie and you don’t have anyone to talk about it with?  If you’ve not read Abercrombie’s First Law series, skip the next paragraph.  SPOILER ALERT!  LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS THOUGHTS BELOW.  YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.

Dave, since you’re to my knowledge the only one that’s read the full series, I really liked the ending of the novel.  It leaves the doors open for further adventures of the beloved heroes, but I’m not sure if Abercrombie plans to write any more dealing with these protagonists.  I liked how he left Logen’s fate up for interpretation, but I’m sure he made it.  I really would like to see resolution between Bayaz and the rest of the Magi.  I would like to see Bayaz taken down.  I was pleased with Jezal becoming King, though I’ve been expecting it since the end of book 1.  I want to know more about Ferro and what she does with herself.  I guess Abercrombie was driving the point that people don’t/rarely change, and this was a rather bleak outcome, but still enjoyable.  I felt Glokta wanted to change (Why do I do this?) but not enough to do anything about it.  I felt Logen really wanted to become a better man, but his desire to live superseded that.  (I want to learn more about the Bloody-Nine, too.  Does Logen go berserk and the Bloody-Nine take over, or is it somehow related to the Other Side?)  I think Jezal managed to change quite a bit, but not fully.  He was still a scared, weak man in the end, but I would be terrified of Bayaz’ fury, too.  All in all, a supremely fantastic tale.

THE END OF THE SPOILER SECTION.  I always get a hesitant pause when posting something like that, but I trust that you’ll obey the spoiler alerts.  If anybody feels like commenting on my comments from Last Argument, then please put a spoiler tag on your comment if you do so.

My NaNoWriMo progress hit a large standstill this past weekend, and will likely do the same thing again this weekend.  Still, I hope to continue to make a large chunk of the progress, but I don’t know if I’ll make the 50000 mark.  I found out yesterday that I am going to be going to a training course Thursday to try and get certified to become an Erosion Control Inspector.  I don’t really have much knowledge in this field and the training course recommends a prerequisite, but it’s not required.  So, I guess I’ll wing it and hope for the best.

Finally, John from Grasping For The Wind has created an interesting post on the worst endings in Sci-Fi and Fantasy.  You can find it here.  A few weeks back he also did a collection of best endings in SFF, which is available here.  I submitted for the best endings, but didn’t get around to it for the worst.  I probably would have nominated The Dark Tower series for worst endings, but that’s just me…

Remember, don’t count your chickens before they’ve grown razor sharp talons.

The First Law: Last Argument of Kings

Last Argument of Kings is the concluding volume of Joe Abercrombie’s breathtaking debut trilogy, The First Law. There’s not a whole lot of things that I can say in this review if I wish to remain truly spoiler-free, but I shall do my best, but I make no promises. You have to be realistic about these things.

It’s been two months since I read book two (reviewed here), and picking this book up felt like a meeting between old familiar friends. All those characters that I had grown to love were returned. Split between wars on both sides, the Union looks to be in quite a mess. Scores are settled amazingly. Loose ends are all tied up neatly. When the smoke clears and the dust settles and you finally finish the book, you’ll be left as speechless as I was. (Actually, I busted out laughing in disbelief, which led to “huh.”, which led to “wow".”)

Like with the previous novels, Last Argument of Kings is a novel about characters. You feel as if you’re inside the head of Logen Ninefingers as he contemplates what to do about a dire situation. You hurt with Jezal as he struggles with his day-to-day existence. You feel your neck crack and your eye leak with Glokta and wonder with him why he does it. The plot is chiefly character driven and the experience is perfect.

If you’ve read the first two books then you know that there is a lot going on in the Circle of the World. A lot of stuff you don’t understand, but you suspect Bayaz knows more than he’s telling. A lot of mystery and lies, and sorting the truth from fiction is a thrilling activity.

Over all, and to keep my mouth shut to remain spoiler-free, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The entire series was an absolute joy to read. The ruthlessness and brutality is reminiscent of GRRM, but at the same time different and unique. Everything reads realistic, and it’s easy to relate to most of the characters. I strongly urge you to pick up these books and read them. Enjoy them. Bask in their wonder. And when you finish, you’ll know that you’ve read something like you’ve never read before. The conclusion of Last Argument of Kings was a perfect fit to the series and I strongly recommend you try this series out.

And now, like with my review of Before They Are Hanged, I give you some of my favorite quotes.

"That's what war is. A lot of folk getting killed that don't deserve it." Dogman
"No, it ain't ever that simple. We all got our reasons. Good men and bad men. It's all a matter of where you stand."--Logen
Why do I do this?—Glokta

*An e-pal (David) gave me the last two books of this series. He mentioned that some books are just too good to set on the bookshelf and not share. I completely agree to that statement. Plus, his generosity was a refreshing breath of good, honest air in Internet Land. So, I now offer these final two books up to whoever would like them. It’d be strongly advised to have read The Blade Itself before diving into these. If you’d like them, just email me your name and shipping address and I’ll take care of the rest. From Dave to Me. From Me to you. Maybe when you read them you’ll pass them along, too. (If I get more than one email, then I’ll do some sort of random pick or something.)

Closing A Few Things and Introducing Another

I mentioned on Friday that I had a lot of things going on over the weekend. I’m sure you’ve all probably been dying to know the outcome and success rate of my weekend. So, without further ado, first I present the results.

1a. I got me another Xbox 360, actually at a much better deal than the first one. Actually, Wal*Mart had a one-day special on Saturday where you could buy a 360 for $199, but get a $100 gift card, which really made it like buying the 360 for $99. So I waited in line, from midnight until 8:00AM, to get the ole 360. Plenty o’ fun I had, tearing a huge dent out of The Last Argument of Kings and working a 3AM crossword puzzle.

1b. Now that I have a 360, I finally got around to starting a game I’ve owned but been unable to play. I’m talking about The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Made by the same folks that did Fallout 3, the game looks promising.

2. I went and watched a play called “Come Blow Your Horn.” I won’t review it, but it was incredibly enjoyable. The acting all around was fantastic, the theatre intimate, the set simple and perfect, and the lighting and sounds were excellent. In addition to this, the play itself was quite funny. There’s just something I love about watching live performances. All in all, a great and jolly time. There’s actually a 1963 film version of the play, starring Frank Sinatra, if’n your interested.

3. The Last Argument of Kings is blowing me away. I have around 200 pages or so left (I’ve read around 75%) and I can’t describe how awesome it’s been. To keep it simple (and to ease your curiosity, Dave), the last thing I read had to do with the House of the Maker. Wow. Holy wow awesome. I have my suspicions of how things are going to play out, but I’m expecting to be completely floored.

4. My NaNoWriMo word count is 10,572. By the end of the day it should be at 16,667, but I don’t see me making that mark. Hopefully I’ll have at least 13,000, but I make no promises.

And now for your educational purposes, and for an idea of what’s to come on tomorrow’s Writing Wednesday, I give you an offering from Wikipedia.

Epic: A long narrative poem in elevated stature presenting characters of high position in adventures forming an organic whole through their relation to a central heroic figure and through their development of episodes important to the history of a nation or race.

Epics have nine main characteristics:

1. Opens in media res.
2. The setting is vast, covering many nations, the world or the universe.
3. Begins with an invocation to a muse.
4. Starts with a statement of the theme.
5. The use of epithets.
6. Includes long lists.
7. Features long and formal speeches.
8. Shows divine intervention on human affairs.
9. "Star" heroes that embody the values of the civilization.

I started “The Absurdly Epic Tragedy of Oscambria” many weeks ago, and while I’m not yet finished with it, I have plenty to post for a while, too. I’ve been following and obeying these 9 rules, as well as a few other things. Tune in tomorrow to read the first installment. You know you want to.

End Results and Other Things

For those of you who follow and read this at the Blogger site, I have a question to pose. Does the new header to the blog look okay? Should I change the font color? I kind of like it, where it looks like the words are blending with the background, but I don't know for certain. For this, I would like your input.

Any of you that read yesterday's post know that I attempted an experiment last night. The Great Cheesecake Experiment, I'm happy to say, was a success. The journey was more time consuming than I had anticipated, taking around three hours from Start Time to Oven Removal Time. This means that the cheesecake came out of the oven around 8:20pm, and then it had to cool to room temperature, so another hour-and-a-half. Then it needed to be cooled in the fridge, so I didn't even get to eat any cheesecake last night. I did, however, lick the spoons, and I knew my cheesecake would be tasty.

This morning for breakfast I cut me a slice. The knife slid into something of a density that I was expecting, so that was my first sign that I succeeded. Pulling out the piece, everything looked rich and perfect. Really, I'm not bragging, but it was probably the most beautiful cheesecake I've ever seen, and perhaps one of the best tasting ones, too, and I've had many pieces of cheesecake in my life. Perhaps there was something about having made one myself that made me like it so much.

If you like cheesecake, you have a springform pan, and you can follow directions, you should definitely make one. (The recipe can be found in yesterday's post as a link. I followed the directions exactly, with the addition of wax paper on the bottom of the springform pan.) It's a dark chocolate cheesecake, rich and full, strong and sweet in flavor, smooth and gentle to the tongue. My patience of waiting until today to have a piece paid off, and I was rewarded with an explosion of flavor beyond my expectation. I was stunned to have made such a succulent desert.

So, without further ado, I present to you some pictures, created as a slideshow. Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. I couldn't find the camera, so I had to snap pictures using the video camera, which definitely doesn't have as good quality at picture taking. (If this slideshow doesn't work on Facebook, click here for a direct link to the album.)

Since I don't intend eating an entire cheesecake, I brought more than half of it in to work today. I guess it shall be weighed and judged.

Now, for another paragraph of character rambling, from Before They Are Hanged. Again, skip the paragraph if you've not read the book.

Jezal: Jezal has been an interesting character from the get-go. Starting out as a pompous noble son, there was little to like in him. Now, after going through all he has, there are traits that I really like seeing in the young lad. I think Jezal will return to try and woo Ardee, and I think that she'll admire Jezal and want him, too. I think that there is a possibility of Jezal becoming a leader, possibly even a seat on the Closed Council (or the King of the Union?), once he returns. This mostly stems from all the talks Bayaz gives on the importance of leadership thinking. Maybe the Magus was training Jezal for something important.

Well, friends, I hope you enjoyed looking at that cake. I assure you, it tastes much better than it looks, though it doesn't look too shabby, if I say so myself. Also, for those of you that don't read Dave's blog, you should go there and watch the video he's posted in his latest entry. Suffice it to say that you'll laugh very, very hard.

Song Lyric: "Broke into the old apartment. This is where we used to live."--Barenaked Ladies, The Old Apartment

The Great Cheesecake Experiment

It's Wednesday, and that means that Keisha's going to be at UofL until tomorrow night, leaving me alone with my long list of things to accomplish. Tonight, I've decided to watch some more Avatar and try my hand at baking a cheesecake.

I consider myself competent at cooking, though I have to admit that my wife is far superior to my feeble skills. However, I got it in my head that I wanted to make a cheesecake, so I looked for a recipe and found the perfect one: the Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Layered Cheesecake. I'm making it all from scratch, so it should be an eventful night for me and Stella.

Chocolate is perhaps one of Man's greatest inventions, especially dark chocolate. Sure, milk chocolate is great when mixed with nuts or peanut butter or something, but given the choice, dark chocolate is better in every way. The soothing-sweet-and-bitter creaminess of the dark is pure ecstasy to the tongue and addicting to the psyche.

I should acknowledge the significance of the day. Nine-nine-oh nine. It's been a year, a month, and a day since the last time something like this happened, but Nines are so much cooler than Eights. Today the entire remastered Beatles catalog is released, giving fans a chance to hear the albums how they were meant to be heard. Unfortunately, these cds are rather pricey, so I'll probably pass on them. Rock Band: The Beatles also comes out today, but I don't want to shell out money for Rock Band (I've grown rather tired of Guitar Hero as it is), so I'll pass. 9 comes out today, but I think I'll wait until the weekend and take Keisha to see it with me.

I'm currently trying to figure out the distance to use for my overland flow calculations. I understand the channel length parameter, but the overland flow is rather ambiguous here.

Now for a character discussion point from Before They Are Hanged. (This should be SPOILER-free, but the discourse in itself could be revealing, thus actually making it a SPOILER. If you've not read BTAH, I'd skip it.)

Quai: At first, I thought Quai was like the weak side-kick character, frail and untried. However, after many different descriptions of him throughout the journey in BTAH, I feel that there is something more to him. He looks with beady and mistrusting eyes, and is often silent and reclusive. I suspect he has doubts about his master and he wonders how much of what Bayaz is telling him is true. It will be exciting to read The Last Argument of Kings and see how he fares.

In case you're interested and unaware, you can sign up for an Amazon mailing list where they mail you their current music promotions, often titled 50 MP3 Albums for $5 Each. If you're okay with MP3s, then I recommend you check it out. The previous link will take you to the current offerings.

Wish me luck on the Great Cheesecake Experiment. I may have to take a picture and show it off, if I find it satisfactory. Remember, the US Open is on, and professional tennis is amazing.

The First Law: Before They Are Hanged

Before They Are Hanged is the second book in The First Law trilogy. Picking up on the heels of The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged is a fast-paced adventure taking place all across the Circle of the World. The book is split into three different factions: Bayaz, Logen, Ferro, Jezal, Longfoot, and Quai are journeying to the Edge of the World to obtain a dangerous relic; Gokta is dispatched south to investigate the disappearance of a Superior in a city filled with folks of questionable loyalties; West is deployed to the North, to fight and engage with Bethod's men; and Dogman, Threetrees, Grim, Dow, and Tul, the North's most bloody men (save, maybe, Ninefingers), are looking for ways to upset Bethod.

Yes, there are a lot of characters, but Abercrombie writes in such a way that you can feel each one's personality leaping off the page. You can feel West's regrets, his confusion. You can understand the animosity behind Ferro, the cock-sure noble attitude inside Jezal, and the compassionate ruthlessness that belongs to Logen.

Other than the breathtaking action scenes, the permeating mystery hanging on every page, and the magnitude of the quest, one of the best parts about Before They Are Hanged is the character development. As the rag-tag group with Bayaz makes their way Westward, Logen sets it in his mind to get everyone on the same side, namely instilling respect in Jezal and trust in Ferro. This process was immensely enjoyable and satisfying.

Like with The Blade Itself, by the end of the book I was left scratching my head, much like Glokta. The answers we get from Before They Are Hanged only lead to more questions. I have no idea where The Last Argument of Kings will take me. I feel like there are loose ends, like there are wrongs that need to be righted, like there is truth that needs to be revealed, but I don't have the slightest idea of how it's going to happen. That's part of the fun of this series. Abercrombie can throw a wrench in his characters, having them do something completely unexpected, and leaving the reader scratching his head from not seeing it coming.

Before They Are Hanged is filled with battles, bloodshed, treachery, and magic, with more than enough mystery to keep you reading well into the night. Hopefully with the end of the series more will be revealed and loyalties will be shown.

I can highly recommend this series if you want to read something with realistic characters that have realistic expectations, set in a world where there is more than a hint of supernatural activity and intrigue. Of course you wouldn't want to start with this book, as it is Book Two. Overall, Before They Are Hanged was a great and fun read, leaving me eager to see where things are headed and how it's all going to end with the characters that I've grown quite fond of.

And now, two of my favorite quotes from the book. (Don't worry, they're not revealing.)

"What? You got a crowd of friends back in the Badlands, all asking after you? Where did Ferro get to? The laughs all dried up since she went away."--Logen, to Ferro

"No one enjoys an elbow in the face while they sleep."

There will probably be a follow up post on this book, where I muse a bit on some of the characters. Stay tuned.

The First Law: The Blade Itself Review (spoiler free)

I finished reading The Blade Itself last night. The novel had a lot of hype and acclaim, and so I was expecting great things from it. Fortunately, I was not mislead, and I closed the book with a profound sense of excitement and curiosity.

The Blade Itself is the first book of The First Law trilogy. Written by UK author Joe Abercrombie, the book is a realistic, brutal and bloody look at the fantastic. The book starts with Logen Ninefingers fleeing from a group of Flatheads, and I was hooked from the get-go. Logen gets separated from his travelling group and each assumes the other died. He continues on his own. The next character introduced is Inquisitor Sand dan Glokta, a crippled torturer with a dark past. The torture scenes from this book are bloody, but deeply enjoyable. Glokta is charged with getting to the bottom of a conspiracy by any means he sees fit. Enter Bayaz, the First of the Magi. He's a name everyone in the Union knows, but he's a legend, not a real person. Or is he? Finally, Jezal dan Luthar is a Captain in the army, born of high and noble blood, and training for the annual Contest, dreaming of glory and honor.

There are more characters in the novel, making fun and entertaining chapters to read and reflect on. Dogman. Ferro. West. Too many to write on, but they all have a roll to play in the plot. By the end of the novel it almost feels like this book is just an introduction or prologue to what is to come.

Abercrombie hints at magic, but nothing too deep. He writes of the First Law and the Second Law. He talks about the Shanka and the Eaters, never fully describing them, which is unsettling and immensely entertaining.

The writing style reminds me of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. The use of profanity and vulgar words are frequent, but not over-the-top and do not detract from the story. Keeping the "magic" as a mystery is also like GRRM.

My favorite character is probably Glokta, but I'm equally intrigued by Logen. I can't wait to see where this story is going, especially for these two. Hopefully I'll get my copy of Before They Are Hanged soon. Overall, The Blade Itself is another reminder why the fantasy genre does not have to be boring and cliche. People like Joe Abercrombie, Pat Rothfuss, and Brandon Sanderson are breaking boundaries and re-defining the field. I can recommend this book easily to you, but be warned, it's brutal and will hook you in, kind of like the way a torturer's blade may pull your intestines out and have you screaming for more.