8/26/2008

8/26/2008

josh: iain m banks. consider phlebas.
1. verdict: -
2. review:
  
  not really a book club pick, but we recommended banks, so he wanted to
  try it. this was probably his least favorite of the books he's read so
  far. too bad. might read another one of his books someday, but it'll
  be awhile.
brandon: geoffrey a landis. mars crossing.
1. verdict: (+)
2. review:
  
  sort of hard sci-fi by a nasa scientist. about a trip to mars that
  sort of goes badly. it's realistic and believable, which is relatively
  good. the downside is that the main plot only has 90 or 100 pages of
  content, and it's padded with lots of flashbacks and back-story, which
  isn't much good. brandon didn't care at all about any of the
  characters, literally can't even remember which few survived.
brandon: donald kingsbury. psychohistorical crisis.
1. verdict: +
2. review:
  
  set in the foundation universe, but doesn't refer to any foundation
  characters by name. set far in the future, so much has happened that
  basically people don't really know what has happened. psychohistory
  helps them understand and guide the future, but effectively both past
  and future have become equally statistical. in fact, this is one of
  his main points. the writer is a mathematician, so he has some
  mathematical as well as some historiographical points to make. the
  problem is a lot of things happen, its loose and the plot isn't very
  sharp, meandering around a lot. all in all, though, it's pretty
  sweet. recommended.
jen and adam: joe abercrombie. last argument of kings.
1. verdict: +++
2. review:
  
  what can they say that hasn't been said? "if you are in any doubt
  about whether to read these, if you are still on the fence at all, get
  off the fence. read these books." they love everything about this
  entire series, completely concurring with chris and chad. SO VERY
  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO RECOMMEND THESE ANY MORE
  HIGHLY.
chris: stephenie meyer. twilight / new moon.
1. verdict: (-)
2. review:
  
  very popular with teenage girls, all over every airport and
  everywhere, soon to be a major motion picture, yadda yadda. there's
  this girl, parents are divorced, blah blah, turns out there are some
  very beautiful students in her school, they turn out to be
  vampires. they're moral vampires (the writer is mormon as it turns
  out, and which explains a great many things about the books), so they
  don't feed on humans and so on. (brandon wonders whether this is
  related to the lds church's doctrine on homosexuality. good question.)
  anyway, lots of things happen. the writing isn't particularly good,
  very flat. "maybe i'm not that in touch with what middle school girls
  like, but this seems like when adults make kids movies: they think the
  kids aren't that sophisticated. i like to have more faith in middle
  school girls than to think that this is the ideal book for them."
  there are four books altogether, chris may or may not read the rest
  (he's currently just about a quarter of the way through the second
  book). counterpoint: brandon knows several grown women with
  post-graduate degrees who think these are just amazing. they agree
  that the writing and characterization are very flat, but they think it
  bottles something essential and exciting.
jen: portia da costa. the stranger.
1. verdict: -
2. review:
  
  technically read this for "romantica," but it's a cross-over. read
  this because it was recommended on "one of my dr who blogs." the male
  lead is based on the 8th doctor, but actually in no way is the book
  really connected with doctor who. the plot was as preposterous as any
  other porno, you can imagine where it goes. lots of sex, best friends
  turned lesbian lovers, blah blah blah. "i thought it sucked, and i've
  read better erotic fan fiction."
wisest wizard

adam has submitted that the lords of lore may wish to try playing the
game "wisest wizard." the proposition is noted and tabled for further
consideration.
that's all, folks.