First bite of Sci-Fi

Aidan Moher has an interesting blog post on good introductory pieces to Science Fiction reading.

Made me think of my own introduction. It was fourth grade, the author was Asimov and the book was the Robots of Dawn; part of the Robot Series. I didn't understand a lot of the words, and I was too entranced to take the time to grab a dictionary, but it was good stuff. Dealing with a far flung future where humanity is confined to large cities within the construct of massive domes—a result of our pollution and haphazard use of the environment for too long. Spacer communities spring up in nearby space with an increasingly select and recluse community that comes to look upon their earthly forbearers as primitive and dirty. In this world a robot of incredible intelligence, fashioned into the likeness of its creator to exquisite detail is thrust and found in the middle of a murder mystery that draws in the main protagonist that has a distinct distaste for robots.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's that time of year again, which came all too fast.

Yet again. (Did someone else take control of time once I left highschool? Because its been zipping by ever since.)

I'd like to take a moment to talk about what I'm thankful for:

I'm thankful for my health, a loving, supportive family and especially my wife. She keeps me grounded while providing the sun that lights my sky.

I'm thankful for my crazy, goofy, super-energetic two year old daughter (soon to be three), that will one day rule the world. (Don't worry, we're teaching her how to share and play nice...and she's learning like a pro.)

And if you didn't see the tweet, I'm thankful for the child my wife and I are expecting next year. This will be our second and the thought of growing our family is a wondrous thing.

I'm also thankful for finally rediscovering writing and that, I think, I might actually be good at it--may it somehow fill that creative void that could never quite get filled with art alone.

So Happy Thanksgiving, to one and all...and for anyone outside of the U.S. I hope you are having a prosperous year with much bounty and happiness.

P.S. Yes, I'm passing this around a day early...I know, I know. But I figure no one's online tomorrow, so might as well speak my piece now, or I will just have to pretty much hold it. 'Course, maybe I'm wrong and everyone will have their iPhones out and handy at the dinner table, to a cacophany of dings and beeps as they surf the web and IM friends doing the same.

Hunkered down.

Man, this month, this year, and everything are just flying by. Thanksgiving is almost upon us, then shortly after that my daughter will be three. Three! Wowsers!

This week I'm busy on a secret project, that hopefully won't be secret pretty soon. I'm trying to get some time in on NaNoWriMo, and wondering what I should do with my epic fantasy novel. I'm waiting on feedback from my beta readers, and though I'm curious as to their progress (and many of them are very busy people) I'm hesitant to ask. I don't want to bother them while they're getting through my work. I figure it is just best to leave them alone and get it done on their terms so I get the most honest and REAL feedback I can.

But it has been a while and I'm antsy to know what they think, so we'll see...

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 1

Good review of the new movie on SF Signal, by Derek Johnson.

Here are my notes regarding his review and my take on the movie:

A fair and accurate review and I say this as one that has read the series twice over by now, though the last time I touched the books was a good year ago.

This note of yours is particualrly telling for my take on the film: "...they dramatize it poorly..."

Yes. The film is constantly pushing us from scene to scene so rapidly there is no pause for impact. Or by comparison it limps along slowly, trying to impart a feeling of desperation. For me it all comes back to a constant miss on the setup and execution to make moments that should be telling.

Like the scene where Mad-eye Moody dies. Didn't do a thing for me. The moment came, it left, and I was like, "So?" When I read the book, however, I was shocked.

Yes, the book is long, and yes a lot happens, so of course it will be hard to condense the book into a motion-length picture; but Lord of the Rings pulled it off, so why not Harry Potter? The only way I feel like I know what is going on in the frenzied blur is because I've read the books, and the only reason I care to sit through the duller moments is...because I've read the books.

The movie is not bad, in terms of film, it is pretty decent and features our favorite boy-turned-man-wizard, but it has a lot to live up to. (Yep. Sorry Rowling. It's all your fault)

The movie plays out more as a visual accompaniment to the books than a complete piece. Though many have read the books, a movie can't take that excuse, it needs to stand on its own.

*****
Did you see the movie? What did you think? My wife and I went with a friend to the midnight showing last night. We waited 4+ hours and we still had fun.

Book Review: Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

(This is a repost of my review that appeared on SF Signal recently - reposted here for posterity)

Hardcover: 1008 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (August 31, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0765326353
ISBN-13: 978-0765326355

Magnificent and magnormous! I know, that word isn’t real, but then neither is this book. It is full of make believe. Crammed to the hilt, really. That is both good and bad.

I love epic fantasy. I truly do. The Wheel of Time and Song of Ice and Fire are fantastic pieces. In my youth: the Belgariad, Mallorean, Riftwar Saga, The Foundation series and more were massive staples of literary enjoyment. The larger the series (and of course the books) the better. Brandon Sanderson’s new series: The Stormlight Archive promises to be HUGE. I’ve seen Sanderson grow in his writing and it certainly shows in this new piece of work. It does have its share of problems though.

First off, it’s 1008 pages long! That’s a lot to bite off in a first book, and worrisome for how long it may take to get through, but it read quickly (relative to its size) and I enjoyed almost all of it (except for the resulting neck pain from lugging it around each and every workday).

It starts with a view of the far past, where some truly epic foundation stones are set for a fascinating story in this alternate universe. Then you are pulled along on a grand journey that delivers.

Humanity lives in the strange world of Roshar where highstorms literally scour the landscape on a frequent basis, creating plant and animal life that is almost too hard to believe. Much of mankind is also strange: a myriad of races with a rainbow of skin, eye and hair colors. The distinct races and their different kingdoms are in fact too much. There is so much variety and such a large swathe of detail that the things that are most important occasionally get lost.

In this world, Stormlight is both an energy source for magically powered machines and a source of magic to be drawn upon. One of its most compelling uses is to power the Plate of powerful knights capable of astounding feats of strength and destruction. Despite the varied uses it is clear that few survive in this era that are true masters of the energies of Stormlight and there is more to come as Sanderson doles out the details of his magical creation.

Character is a strong point in this book, with some truly strong scenes of emotion and incredible trials. Like most epic fantasy, there’s a lot of them and three in particular: the thief, the lord and the surgeon-turned-soldier. Their conflicts are real, and they are complicated. Rarely do they make a decision that doesn’t have some sort of ramification. This gives great depth to the story and life. The world of Roshar has its problems and each of these characters are doing their part to try and make it a better place, each in their own ways. Each of them succeed as they fail, pushing themselves to their limit, ready to quit but persevering anyway.

One complaint, is an important reveal towards the end of the book. It is neither well set up or convincing in its reveal. I won’t say what it was only that it was irritating reading it. It is just one of those things that the writer forces upon the reader without ample reason and has the feel of a “darling” that needed to die (Writing Excuses reference). The perpetrator of this fallacy is both far too learned, and wise to make such a callous assumption. I can only hope there is a better reason in the next installment. But this is just one moment of annoyance amongst many of enjoyment. Many reveals in the book will have you reading with a jaw dropped halfway to the floor.

All in all, a worthy read for epic fantasy lovers that love expansive stories and huge books. There are moments of heart-wrenching emotion and edge-of-your-seat thrills. 4 stars!

I might, however, advise petitioning Tor for a wheeled version  to make toting it around easier, or you can always get the e-book version, I suppose...

What did you think?

Book Review: The Ninth Avatar, by Todd Newton

(This is a repost of my review that appeared on SF Signal recently - reposted here for posterity)

Paperback: 374 pages
Publisher: Trapdoor Books; 1ST edition (February 26, 2010)
ISBN-10: 098420704X
ISBN-13: 978-0984207046

Flying wizards, an army of the reanimated dead, a giant alabaster gargoyle, dragons, oh my! All of this should be lending itself to a great epic story of adventure, excitement and grand fantasy. But it all just comes off...awkward.

Yep, awkward, that was the word that kept popping to mind as I read; forcing myself through this story that I should have stopped before hitting triple-digit page numbers.

It starts off with an old, but promising, fantasy trope: evil army seeks global domination. We’ve seen it before, but a great setting and intriguing characters can still cut a swath of enjoyment. Here’s where, unfortunately, Newton’s first book didn’t deliver. The characters are thinly conceived and awkward. It’s rare when something feels natural and I’m left with the feeling that Newton wanted too big of a story; so he pushed his characters through it, changing them as he saw fit, whether it worked for their personality or not.

The main character, Starka, starts off decently. A backstory and interest are built and you expect great things to happen. You also expect her to seek out her beloved, missing twin, but thoughts of her dear brother quickly fall off the radar and Starka’s character begins to unravel. She is shown to have no firm ideas and no ability to defend herself. However, she consistently puts herself in harms way, where she is both no help and a liability; with those that know better doing little to dissuade her. This is forced drama and adds nothing. I could have appreciated her more if she had at least shown some common sense or intelligence, but she does neither.

One scene that sticks out painfully for me involves Starka wandering aimlessly in the midst of battle, finding a large cluster of darkly mysterious crystals.  Despite knowing nothing about them, in a world of magic and danger, she picks them up and lugs them around the battlefield—aimless, like she was strolling through the mall with a prize find. Why was she not hiding, fearful of the carrion soldiers, and worried about her comrades?

I have no idea.

Yes, her party is composed of powerful warriors that kick a lot of hiney, but there is far too much emphasis on how deadly the enemy soldiers are for them to be ignored. In fact, one problem about this book is that there is too much magic. Everyone has some power or ability and it kills the sense of suspense.

Behind the scenes, the world appears large and diverse, with thousands of years of history, talk of wizard wars, and more. Normally this would be a good thing, but it never comes across as vivid and compelling. It’s told as fluff in an attempt to make the world seem larger and more fantastic. The book would have been no worse without it, and perhaps better.

I wonder idly if the author was afflicted with World-Builder’s disease—a common ailment of the starting fantasy writer. I’ve been there, it can be hard to kick.

Ultimately, Mr. Newton bit off more than he could chew and I can only give this 1 star. At only 300-some pages, the dozens of characters, ship voyages, expansive travel, and multiple cities sucks out any life that could have been breathed in. There were many stories that could have been pulled from this book and made into a far superior piece than the combined hodgepodge.

I should note that I made it to page 200-something before I pulled the curtain. So, Mr. Newton, if you somehow pulled off the amazing and ended with something phenomenal...I missed it.

(P.S. Writing this review was agonizing. Todd Newton is a nice guy and worthy of following on twitter or his blog. Given time, I think that he may become an author of note. But, his first effort is not going to be THAT book.

I should also disclose that Newton bought me this book. [Aren’t I lovely for writing a bad review.] This made it difficult to write of my distaste. No matter his explicit blog post noting the benefits of bad reviews.)

Did you read it and what did you think?

Redefining

I've never really said what I'm going to do here. I just did a soft launch (shall we say) and wrote whatever I wanted (popped into my head). Likely that will still happen. It's the nature of blogging.

I just want to more-or-less officially put it down in writing, for anyone that saw this blog and wondered, "What's his deal?"

I'm a writer and an artist and I like to review books.

There!

*silence*

Ok, fine. I have that in the heading of my blog, so no big surprise. Why do I even bother with this post? Is it pure overkill?

Yes and no.

My tag line is only the barest of hints about my blog and I personally find it irritating when a blog is vague and undefined. I don't want to waste my time on a new blog unless there is a common vibe. I've seen many fellow bloggers without any About page, any tag line, mission statement or anything else that makes any attempt at defining what it is they do, like, etc. That's fine of course, but for me at least: I want to know. Yes, I'm nosey, but more accurately, I wonder: How can I truly relate to them, if I don't understand them?

With that said...

I love reading epic fantasy, and a variety of other sub-genre's in the fantasy and sci-fi realm. As a result I have a myriad of ideas and stories tumbling around in my noggin—most of which are trying desperately to escape. I started writing a long time ago, but I never took it seriously. (Strange how that happens to a lot of us.) But I love writing and reading, and finally decided to take the whole thing more seriously a couple years ago.

I'm doing some blogging on SF Signal as a contributor to get my name out there and the experience thus far has been invaluable.

For more (but not too much), I've simply created an About page (accessible here, or at the top of the page).

I also realize that if I talk too much about myself, I'll bore you all to tears and you will never, ever, come back when there is actually something worthy to talk about. I'm no celebrity, and until that day you really don't care what I'm eating for breakfast, or how dirty my car is (very). Ok, that last part makes no sense. A celeb would ALWAYS have a clean car...

Unless they had just crashed into someone.

Anyway...for the bloggers (and others) out there, how do you convey your purpose to others? Or do you bother?

SF Signal Recent book reviews

I forgot to mention on the blog about my two recent book reviews on SF Signal

Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson. First of the new Stormlight Archives (epic fantasy)

Ninth Avatar, by Todd Newton (epic fantasy)

Are you planning to read either one?

Book Review Index

I've created a Book Review Index of all of my book reviews to date: http://www.cliftonh.com/p/book-review-index.html

Now you can see where I stand, all on one page. Oh joy! The world really, really needed this...right?

Excuse the Mess...

Doing some construction around the blog, so it will be a mildly cluttered, changing mess for a while. I've been wanting to try Blogger's improved layout and implement some better graphics. Couldn't find a dedicated slot of time, so I decided I should stop waiting and just make some.

Some upcoming notes:
-I plan to finish and post soon to SF Signal a book review for Ninth Avatar, by Todd Newton and Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson. One was a hit and one was a miss. You'll see which was which if you can't already guess.
-I'm also in the midst of reading Old Man's War by John Scalzi, which I've heard much of and am enjoying thoroughly. His style in this book is interesting in that it gives very little description of the world, playing out the visuals through mostly dialogue. So far it works, though I do pine (somewhat) for more detail. It does read very fast though, which can be nice.

Are you writers out there partaking of NaNoWriMo? I want to and I think I know what story to tackle, but there's another project I promised myself to do first. Plus there's a little nephew on the way. Should be a busy month...