once a spy

Keith Thomson is pretty new to the novel gig. Having written this book as his first novel, it looks like he's gone on since Once a Spy was published in 2010, to write two more, one of which is a follow-up to this one. He's also written at least one non-fiction book about pirates, which, according to Thomson's website, was published today, and is based--at least in part--on his own treasure hunting exploits. Thomson has also written scripts, does some painting, is interested in aircraft, was an editorial cartoonist for a paper out of New York, and played semi-pro baseball in France. So... busy guy.

I've read a fair amount of spy, and spy-type books, and this one comes at the genre from a whole different direction, which is refreshing. There were some things about this story that reminded me of the Chuck TV show. * And I'm a little surprised to hear that there is a sequel to this book, but I can imagine how that might be something the publisher might have been interested in, and the author did have a little wiggle room to continue the story.

Like a lot of good spy stories, there are a number of plot lines cranking along from the beginning, and it isn't always clear where and how the come together. Thomson did a good job of weaving those plot lines to leave us guessing. I'm going to keep my eye out for the follow-up.

 

* Chuck ran for 5 seasons on NBC beginning in 2007. Chuck was good, by the way, so check it out if you have the chance.

the martian

The Martian is Andy Weir's first book. Obviously this book made a big splash, especially when you consider that Weir self-published this book originally! Gives hope to all the struggling novelists out there, right? yeah, me too I saw the movie a few years ago, and it was good and I figured I'd read this at some point, and as it often happens, I run into a book like this at a book sale. This copy came from a library book sale, and looks like a British copy, which may have been purchased for a flight home perhaps?

I read another book by Weir a couple of years ago, which I recommended. I said then that I'd seen some murmurs on line about potentially making a movie based on that book. Haven't seen it yet, but who knows. The Martian as a book, is much more involved than the movie, as is typically the case. So seeing the movie a few years ago didn't prevent me from enjoying this book at all. Writing a novel with a single protagonist, who has no one to speak to, seems like a daunting challenge, but Weir does a good job of delivering this story in way that kept me engaged from beginning to end. I enjoyed this more than I expected to.

What I think holds this story together is the science, and the problem solving Weir's character Mark Watney has to continually do in order to stay alive. As I said to my wife, understanding modern science and technology, the ability to project forward where the technology might go, and then using fiction to test those technologies is a tactic that many great SF authors have used. Asimov and Stephenson are two authors that come to mind that do this.

Read this book.

futuristic violence & fancy suits

David Wong is the pen name of Jason Pargin, who until somewhat recently was an editor of Cracked.com. Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits is his 2015 novel, and introduction to Zoey Ashe, which will appear--or has, by now appeared--in some future novels... Yep, a quick look tells me that Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick came out in October 2020. And can only assume that more are on the way. It looks like Wong writes under his own name now, but because David Wong is the author of the book I read, I'll just stick to that for the duration of this little ditty.

According to his website, David Wong has been surprised by the response to his novel writing, which began with his 2009 John Dies at the End, which was made into a movie in 2012. Not so surprised that he couldn't crack out a sequel or two for that one as well. I heard about the John Dies movie, but I didn't see it, and I didn't know that it was based on a book at the time; at least not that I can recall. I wouldn't have recognized Wong's name on the cover of this book, which I picked up at a library book sale, but the publisher helpfully included the John Dies credit on the cover for me. thanks, advertising The title was catchy, the artwork (on the softcover edition I read) reminded my of this cover, and that story was pretty good. 

And the cat flying through the air? That's some hijinx right there! So I bit, and it worked out pretty good. I think it was a dollar

I got about halfway through this thing, when I said to my oldest that this book looked like a movie script to me, and if it was done right, could be The Fifth Element of this time. Here's why I say that: Sci Fi/Action/Comedy, with dashes of mystery and romance, and a pinch of kitsch. All in the face of world-annihilating evil. Its a tricky recipe for story-telling, and there aren't a lot that can pull it off. Need another example: Kung Fu Hustle. Watch that immediately if you haven't seen it.* Its missing the world-annihilating-level evil, its more of a home-town-annihilating evil, but its got all of the other boxes checked.

This book checked the boxes for me, too. I was reading this outside my normal reading time. I was skipping other things, like chores and feeding myself, to read this one. It probably could have been 50 pages shorter, tho I'm not sure what exactly I would have cut. I can tell you that one word showed up a few too many times in the text for my taste, but maybe that's just me. Zoey Ashe is a great character, and Wong obviously had fun writing her. I can see why he'd want to reprise her in some other stories. I guess we'll see how that goes.

 

* This command assumes you've already seen The Fifth Element. If you haven't, put your hamster down, and go do that now. Then watch Kung Fu Hustle. Then Read This Book.

ready player two

I didn't read Ready Player One, I saw the movie. I know, bad reader. <rolled newspaper to the snout> * I have, however, now recently read Ready Player Two, and it was pretty good. It was fast moving, funny, adventurous (in a what-I-assume-a-gamer-D&D-mash-up-in-the-future-would-be way) romantic, sweet, and slightly sickening around the edges. Ernest Cline is a few years younger than I am, so he was exposed to a lot of the same pop culture stuff I was, but I'm a little older and so missed al\ lot of the video game wave that came just as I went off to college while kids of his age were discovering video games outside the arcade, which is where I was most likely to play them. My dad did bring home a Pong console, with woodgrain contact paper on it, that we attached to our TV for tennis and racketball games. that was it tho

Cline has created a group of characters, that between them, have encyclopedic knowledge of of their areas of interest that would make any geek proud. It has always amazed me how so much minutia can be absorbed by a serious fan of something, when every outward sign would seem to indicate that they geek in question would be incapable of that knowledge. But that is what I think Cline's genius is; getting us to understand that the enthusiasts** in his stories aren't unlike us, or incapable, or in any way inferior to any of us who don't happen to know Gandalf's real name, all of Inigo Montoya's lines in The Princess Bride, Prince's songwriting credits for other artists, or the name of the first female protagonist video game.***

And like any good video game there were plenty of Easter eggs. Most of which, I probably missed, but go geeks! I had fun reading this, there were plenty of things for me to geek out on given the time period these future protagonists are looking back to (the last 40 years or so.) It went fast, and I would definitely read another one based on this read, but it looks like it took about 10 years to get this one done since the last, so we shouldn't hold our collective breath. Next question: will Spielberg make a movie of this one two? Maybe, I think is the answer. The first movie did really well so, my money is on yes.

* I know, relax, no one does that to dogs anymore; where you gonna find a newspaper?

**  yes, enthusiast = geek hey, are you reading ahead?

*** that's just good trivia, you'll have to figure that one out yourself.

termination shock

I will read whatever Neal Stephenson writes, and I'm typically not disappointed. Termination Shock however, was a little slow. I borrowed this book from the library, and I had it for 4 weeks and a day. maybe two days? That's not because I didn't read it, I did. I read a little everyday, but I wasn't absorbed, it didn't take over my life, I didn't spend hours on the couch after weekend breakfasts gobbling this one up. It was good... it just wasn't great.

After an exciting start, this really book got rolling at about page 100. You know; characters developed, stage pieces set, a few teasers floating out there to keep us interested, and I'm ready for that baseline to drop...

Page 300, and the baseline hasn't dropped.

Inspired by Moby Dick, you say? Maybe, that's a good guess. MD is pretty slow, after all. Written in time when folks had nothing better to do, and perhaps appreciated a long tale to stave off boredom. And maybe this is Stephenson's answer to that in our times, with COVID and folks having no place to go. But I'm not buying that. Melville's Pequod perhaps could hold the attention of his audience, but Stephenson's audience has the interwebs, and Netflix. And Candy Crush, or whatever.

A timely glimpse into our possible future? Yep. A well thought out story arc, based on real world problems and science/reality based solutions, as well as believable and appropriate reactions to said problems, and their proposed solutions, helping us to better understand how these news stories we hear about today may actually play out in our futures? Yep, yes, and right on. All that is there, as you'd expect from Neal Stephenson, as well as that well plotted story arc. Just... you know... not enough juice.

For me anyway.

I'm not recommending this one,* but this experience alone doesn't change my stance on Stephenson, he hasn't always knocked it out of the park. Read some of the other stuff. I'd start with Seveneves, and Snow Crash, and then perhaps Diamond Age. You can see all of the Stephenson books I've read (since this blog started) by going to The Books tab. You'll find 10 of his books listed there along with links to my reviews/comments. And if you look to the right, you'll also see that Snow Crash is enshrined in my list of 'great' reads.

* If you love Neal Stephenson and who doesn't you should go ahead and read this. Its a good story, the characters are great, and he's just so smart, its a pleasure to read his prose. Its just a little slow-paced.

museum of desire

A quick search of the books tab here at the blog confirms that I haven't read anything from Jonathan Kellerman in the recent past, and I don't recall ever reading anything by this guy, which may be a little odd given how prolific he has been. This book, The Museum of Desire, is the latest* in a long series of books about psychologist Alex Delaware. The Delaware series start in 1985, and the front matter lists 34 of them prior to this one. Kellerman also writes some nonfiction, children's books (which he has also illustrated) graphic novels, other novels outside the Alex Delaware universe, and has co-authored some books with his wife, Faye Kellerman, and his son, Jesse Kellerman. take a breath, bro

Not having read one of these before, I can't tell you if Dr. Delaware is normally involved in helping the police to solve murder cases, but that's the impression I have. And while I can imagine a series of crime procedural novels with the staying power to endure four decades, I can't really imagine Kellerman's success with this series is typically driven by how Dr. Delaware helps his patients come to grips with how they relate to their peers and the world around them, but who knows. 

Milo Sturgis is the hard working, pastry eating LA Detective that Delaware has hitched his wagon to for this ride into the realm of the bizarre. The crime they are investigating is a strange and twisted multiple murder. You can see right away why Sturgis would want to bring in his old friend the doctor to help him figure this one out. The story arc follows a series of starts and stops in the investigation, including some interesting false trails that seemed as tho they may have worked out. think I just described writing

There isn't a lot of glamour, and it seems clear that Kellerman is trying hard not to fall into the trap that television and movies have done with crime procedurals, by making up something flashy that real police work doesn't include, but again, who knows, I'm not a police detective. But there is lots of pounding the bricks, knocking on doors, and chipping away at the case to try and find leads. Kellerman keeps enough balls in the air to ensure the story doesn't suffer because of this. 

All-in-all, pretty solid, with a dash of outrageous.

* 'Latest' is probably wrong, as this was published in 2020. Kellerman pro'ly cracked out one or two more since then; lets see... Yep. Serpentine in '21, and City of the Dead, this year. really ought to do research ahead of time #editonthefly

march 2022

 

It's that time of year!!!!! It's March, baby! Let's DO THIS!

As all four of you know, I like to celebrate the end of winter each year with the incunabular illumination March calendar. We've all heard that March comes in like a LION and out like a LAMB, but there's a whole month in between there, that starts our very lion-like and slowly shifts toward lamb-like, and folks want to know what those incremental shifts are, so they can plan their day. They don't want to guess. Should I wear my duck boots? My down coat? My umbrella? My chair and whip?

Welp, wonder no longer. Or indeed, WONDER at its greatness. Gaze in awe at it's completeness. Revel in its splendor.

March 2022

March 1 - Lion: Of course. Its in like a lion, right?
March 2 - Tiger: Even bigger than lions,. Year of the Tiger this year.
March 3 - Bear: As Dorothy said/sang. 'Oh my!'
March 4 - Shark: the 'great white' is still with us. Hopefully, not as toothsome
March 5 - Wolf: Not Wolverine, just the basic red riding hood eating kind.
March 6 - Bull: No kidding. Watch the horns.
March 7 - Moose: Wet, swampy, big, and heavy.
March 8 - Eagle: I saw a bald eagle flying over the Mystic River in Medford last week!
March 9 - Scorpion: Doesn't look dangerous. May be hiding in your boot.
March 10 - Dingo: Looks like a dog... with friends... but not so friendly.
March 11 - Hawk: Swoops down on you.
March 12 - Lynx: Scrappy, wary, may sneak up on you.
March 13 - Bat: Watch the skies at night.
March 14 - Monkey: It'll cling onto you; watch the tail. HBD Coleen!
March 15 - Snake: The Ides of March. Eve was like: 'Seems like a good idea!'
March 16 - Ox: Its not all kisses and hugs, but it is reliable.
March 17 - Elephant: Huge, gray, goes on forever. Trunk at the front tho.
March 18 - Raven: Like Poe said.
March 19 - Stag: Also called a Hart, altho that typically refers to red deer.
March 20 - Crab: Hard, wet, pinching. First day of spring!
March 21 - Goat: Will eat anything. This one is tough, but on the small side.
March 22 - Horse: Hard working, handsome to look at.
March 23 - Pig: Its a sty out there.
March 24 - Dog: Lets play outside!
March 25 - Dolphin: Wet but Bright.
March 26 - Rooster: Up early, and some of the color is coming back.
March 27 - Turtle: There are water types and dirt types.
March 28 - Toad: They love the mud, but the grass is popping where the sun shines.
March 29 - Robin: They're out there, and so are the worms.
March 30 - Rabbit: Shrublands will be covered with winter fluff. HBD Kelton!
March 31 - Lamb: Warm, woolly, and delicious grilled.

liar's dictionary

This book was weeded from my local library, I assume because they had multiple copies when it first came out. This is the second book/first novel from British author Eley Williams, if I'm understanding the book jacket information correctly. 

'Dictionary' in the title gave me my first clue that this was going to be a book by a word nerd author, and I was right; Williams is definitely a word hound and this book is just busting with them. Obscure, archaic, quirky, and just plain made up words.

The Liar's Dictionary is a story told in parallel, both now and in the past, * and centers on the little known Swansby's New Encyclopaedic Dictionary; which has lexicographers chipping away at words and their varied meanings, and somewhat more importantly, what the words mean to them. But that's not all, there is a little of everything here: love, romance, obsession, intrigue, terrorism, tragedy, mystery, censorship... yeah, everything.

Williams even lets her characters run off with the narrative, spinning away into streams of consciousness, and free associative thought processes, laid bare. That tactic is (thankfully) rare, but it lends a sense of realism that almost echos one's own thoughts while reading. And its funny! In many places, I got a kick out how these characters dealt with the stresses of their complicated, and interwoven lives. This book isn't very big, but there is lot in here. I'll be looking for Eley Williams' next venture.

Read this book.

 

On an unrelated note, invasion of your neighbor, Ukraine, seems like a crummy way to celebrate Defender of the Fatherland Day, or Red Army Day, this February 23rd, Vlad.

* the parallel stories, told now and in the past, and tied together with mystery and modern sleuthing reminded me of my recent reading of The Lost Apothecary, and reading them so close was an interesting contrast. It makes me think that some kind kind of thematic reading series might be fun to work on at some point. Ideas? Leave a comment!

black swan green

Being a 13-year-old boy, isn't the greatest thing to be, but it isn't the worse either. I've had this book on my reading list for a while because Dave Mitchell wrote it, and I've liked everything that I've read written by him this far. I couldn't help thinking that this novel had to have some autobiographical information. I mean, how is it possible for a guy to write about the day-to-day of a 13-year-old boy in the first person without including some of his own inner dialog from that stage of his life. The book takes place mainly in 1982, and I bet Mitchell was about that age in '82.

I wondered if some of the fantastical that has appeared in many of Mitchell's other books would show up here, but after a while it became clear that this was a story about a boy.* Jason Taylor's life in a small town in the English countryside seems boring an uneventful to him, and most of his peers, but that is only the story on the surface. Mitchell takes us into the inner dialogs, hopes, and fears of a teen boy, and while we all know that the world will eventually become wider for him, what he knows now is the world he lives in, and Mitchell helps us to reconnect with those feelings we all had as kids.

Black Swan Green is sweet, tragic, exciting, violent and in some cases heartbreaking, but all from the point of view of Jason. Is this the best of David Mitchell's books? No. But was it entertaining, fun, and in in some places really funny? Yes. Teens can say anything, and they often do. Mitchell takes advantage of the recklessness of his teen characters to say things adults may filter out, and even when he doesn't say it out loud, Jason's inner dialog often fills in the blanks.

 

* The fantastic is not completely absent, but in the context of this book, it could be seen as the imaginings of an adolescence boy. Trust the internet and the nerds who live there to inform me that, like a lot of Mitchell's books, characters sometimes appear in the periphery of other books. That is apparently the case here as well, but I missed.