6/2/13

6/2/13

prelude

snacks. rhubarb crisp. so many little lords and ladies here.
jeff: the takeshi kovacs trilogy. richard k morgan.
1. verdict: ++
2. review:
  
  cyberpunk noir by richard morgan. like what. the first one is a detective
  story, it's in the future, humans are on other planets, but there's no
  ftl travel. but there's ftl communication, so that's cool. they keep people's
  personality constructs alive and move them from body to body, so that's cool.
  they can also email people around. so that's, you know, cool. it's a trilogy,
  though, and i'm kinda losing the plot here with the synopsis. sentient war
  machines, he teams up with the group. yeah, i'm losing it. anyway, he liked
  them. seems recommended?
unsoo and sort of half-assed jim: cloud atlas. david mitchell.
1. verdict: -
2. review:
  
  unsoo read part of cloud atlas for an inferior book club. hated it. evidently
  only one person in the club finished it. jim saw the movie and so also has
  opinions.
jim: on stranger tides. tim powers.
1. verdict: +
2. review:
  
  went on a bender an read four of these books in a row. he seems to have enjoyed
  them, but he also seems to be more or less done with tim powers for now.
  evidently tim powers is pretty into like very particular magic mechanics and
  adam dorfman is now immediately queueing up every one of these. NICE.
chad: many dimensions. charles williams.
1. verdict: meh. historical interest.
2. review:
  
  retro psychodrama from the 30s. "it was basically twin peaks set in 1931."
  "sounds good." "it was sorta good." chad seems very mixed on this one. moral
  dramas involving artifacts. "indiana jones with no action and way more
  moralizing." there are some seriously weird pyschedelic moments. similar vibe
  to arthur maedchen. interesting, the writing is pretty interesting, but the
  whole thing is definitely old-fashioned.
megan: the night circus. erin morgenstern.
1. verdict: +
2. review:
  
  circus only appears at night. the bowler hat is really important. two wizards
  have a bet, and hence: the NIGHT CIRCUS! the night circus is sort of a
  gladiator fight for these wizards' apprentices. she was into it for sure.
megan: saga. brian k vaughan and fiona staples.
1. verdict: +
2. review:
  
  graphic novel. a war between the horny people and winged people? i admit i'm
  losing it with this one a bit. the first one is out now, the second one is out
  soon. "it's got everything." adam's borrowing it.
paul: red country. joe abercrombie.
1. verdict: meh.
2. review:
  
  seems mildly positive on it. obviously abercrombie lays on the western vibe
  pretty thick, which is cheesy. but it does get better in the second half, when
  the action picks up.
nikko and adam: ghosts in the house, here comes jack frost and little wizard. kazuno kohara.
1. verdict: ++
2. review:
  
  these are picture books. editor's kinda calling bullshit on this. i mean,
  where's the limit, am i right? what's out of bounds any more? to be fair,
  the first one was ny times "best children's book of 2008". but still? really,
  i dunno about this? girl goes into a house and has to convert some ghosts or
  something, i can't tell if this is a missionary allegory or what this is.
  "the prose is very straightforward, maybe a little reminiscent of hemingway?"
  the third one is a romansbildung featuring a dragon.
chris: pre-chapterhouse dune. frank herbert.
1. verdict: +
2. review:
  
  audio books. he read them all before, he's gone through them again. he's into
  it. "no regrets."
adam: swamp thing. alan moore.
1. verdict:
2. review:
  
  more graphic novels. he got through two of the three books. and now he doesn't
  care anymore. tons of weird pointless dc crossovers. "you know what, i don't
  even think the artwork is that cool. i dunno. i'm sure it's great."
matt: empty space. m john harrison.
1. verdict: +++
2. review:
  
  so good. so very, very good. head and shoulders above. read it.
that's all, folks!