Books Read in January, 2022
2022. The new year. Another year to see what my reading for the year will be like.
Thus, as is my standard usage of my blog space at or near the beginning of the month, I present the listing of my January, 2022 reads.
*****
Books Read in January, 2022
Midnight, Water City by Chris McKinney
Thraxas at the Races by Martin Scott (r)
The Bard's Blade by Brian D. Anderson
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (r)
Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer: The Artistry, Joy, and Career of Storytelling by J. Michael Stracynski
December, 2021 Reader's Digest
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (r)
Paleocene #1-3 (Comics)
*****
And that was the start of my reading for 2022. This was a pretty good month of reads, with a good mix of new reads and re-reads, and a bit of something to scratch my tastes in various forms of speculative literature. This month was an average month of reading for me, but to be honest, it was about the quality of the reads rather than the quantity. Regardless, my bookcases are still stacked with a pretty large To Read Queue (TRQ). The books I enjoyed the most were:
Midnight, Water City by Chris McKinney
Welcome to Water City: A world of seascrapers, floating prisons, organ farms, and murder. Year 2142: Earth is forty years past a near-collision with the asteroid Sessho-seki. Akira Kimura, the scientist responsible for eliminating the threat, has reached heights of celebrity approaching deification. But now, Akira feels her safety is under threat, so after years without contact, she reaches out to her former head of security, who has since become a police detective. When he arrives at her deep-sea home and finds Akira methodically dismembered, this detective will risk everything - his career, his family, even his own life - to delve back into his shared past with Akira to find her killer. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a fan of cyberpunk by any stretch of the imagination and don't tend to read much of it, if any, at all. However, Midnight, Water City attracted my attention as it's a neo-noir police procedural in the setting of an almost cinematic backdrop of future Hawaii, 2142 AD, and in some ways has the feel of Ridley Scott's Bladerunner. In the author's vision of the world, society has drastically changed with the advent of progressive technology, but some things never change - there remain vast disparities in wealth. The rich live in luxury under the ocean in seascrapers or on top skyscrapers, while the Less Thans dwell in habitats in the packed cities or possibly escape to the floatburbs. Holographic ads invade everyone's space. Age has been expanded by the usage of AMP hibernation chambers. Cell phones have been made obsolete by iEs, that everyone seems to carry and records their entire life, as well as provide communication. There are pharmaceutical advancements with "pills" for everything, even the changing of skin colour. Flying cars are present for the privileged. Amongst the trappings of this future society exists an anti-hero detective, who much like Sergio Leone's Man With No Name, remains unnamed. Our intrepid, 80-year-old police detective is also a man of few words, gruff, eccentric, but with an unorthodox sense of justice that frequently involves killing or at least violence. He is highly flawed, eccentric, and morally compromised. Without going into a lot of detail about the story and its background, the action and intrigue in this novel starts immediately as the detective is summoned by his oldest and dearest friend and previous employer, Akira Kimura, a renowned scientist, who has reached near deification after she saved the world forty years ago. She asks him to offer his services to her once again and moonlight as security for her, fearing her life is in danger, and trusting only him. In the past, he was head of her security, which at the time he provided with lethal force. Needless to say, when the detective arrives at Akira's luxurious abode at Volcano Vista, located some 177 atmospheres below sea level in the world's largest seascraper, he finds Akira has been killed in a horrific manner. What makes the detective interesting as well is that while he has colour blindness, he is also endowed with synaesthesia. He can almost smell murder (the smell of ambergris), which also floats in strands of green, while death is always accompanied by clouds of red (both red and green are perceived differently in those that are colour blind). These afflictions have served him well, both in war and solving murders as a detective. Needless to say, author McKinney weaves a complex and twisted path with multiple unexpected reveals and plenty of twists as the detective plunges into a non-sanctioned investigation of Akira's murder. He will stop at nothing, endangering his career, his marriage (his fourth) and his life. There are plenty of fascinating, some more so than others, characters surrounding the unnamed detective as he investigates Akira Kimura's murder, but the problem with the book is that none of the characters were overly convincing as characters to this reader, though they each have distinct personalities and motivations that become clear as the novel goes on. The protagonist as an older, life questioning detective that has been done in the genre before, but his synaesthesia makes the character quite unique, but due to the novel being from the protagonist's point of view, it comes across as almost magical in nature. The book gives the reader not one, but two, villains who border on the almost super-villain stereotype, and whose motives are almost completely incomprehensible. The prose of this novel are adequate to the job, and McKinney's writing evokes the genre quite well, heightened by the novel told exclusively from the perspective of the unnamed detective protagonist. This gives the novel a feel and style of its own, both in terms of the noir and hardboiled detective style, but there is an immersive world building that flows effortlessly throughout its pages. The real strength of this novel is the multiple themes that are relevant in our world today - climate change, class distinctions, and humanity's price to be paid for technological progress. The novel is, ultimately, a disturbing, cautionary tale. Make no mistake, however, for Midnight, Water City (which may or may not be the first book in a trilogy) is both a thrilling neo-noir procedural and a stunning exploration of research, class, climate change, the cult of personality, and the dark sacrifices that one is willing to make in the name of progress. Regardless of whether the sub-genre of science fiction is the reader's type, this is a book that I can recommend for those who like well-written science fiction mysteries.
The Bard's Blade by Brian D. Anderson
The first book in The Sorcerer's Song series. Mariyah enjoys a simple life in Vylari, a land magically sealed off from the outside world, where fear and hatred are all but unknown. There, she's a renowned wine maker and her betrothed, Lem, is a musician of rare talent. Their destiny has never been in question. Whatever life brings, they will face it together. But destiny has a way of choosing its own path. Then a stranger crosses the wards into Vylari for the first time in centuries, bringing a dark prophecy that forces Lem and Mariyah down separate paths. How far will they have to go to stop a rising darkness and save their home? And how much of themselves will they have to give up along the way? The first book in a series, though I'm not sure about when the second book is coming out, The Bard's Blade is an intriguing tale that breaks with some of the clichés of the standard fantasy tale. First of all, instead of a farm boy in a peaceful setting, the story involves two characters, Mariyah, the daughter of a renowned winemaker (and one herself) and her betrothed, Lem, a musician of rare talent, who are fighting for love and going on a quest to save their homeland, Vylari, and all those closest to them. Vylari is literally a magic-induced land of tranquil life, but the arrival of a stranger through the wards around Vylari proves that all is not well, and hence the quest. The journeys undertaken by Lem and Mariyah, independently by the way, are full of peril, drama, and moral choices that have lasting consequences on both protagonists, made very apparent at the close of this first book. For me, there are several things about this novel that stuck out in my mind. First of all, the plot of this story gets going very quickly, even for a 430-page book, though the initial setting was developed very little. While the reader learns about Vylari, their home, though not a good deal about it, the two protagonists (and the reader) know absolutely nothing about the world outside Vylari, other than what they've been taught and told. There is just soooooo much world-building to do on the part of the author, and as a reader I liked this and it definitely hooked me on the story by the end of the first chapter. The second thing that I liked about the novel is that it reads very easily and comfortably. It's often difficult for authors to make a book read easily, yet also instill that all-important sense of intrigue and suspense, but author Anderson does a very good job of this. Effectively, the plot begins by the start of the second chapter, and since it really only concerns three characters (Lem, Mariyah, and their friend and Lem's mentor, Shemi, though he's not really a central character per sé as the story is told through the eyes of Lem and Mariyah), the reader gets invested in them from the beginning of the tale. The third thing I found striking about the book was the author's writing and the language used. While the author's words read simply and easily, as I noted above, it is purposeful and intentional all the way through. From the dialogue to the descriptions and the scenes of world-building, the words just seem to fit and flow together in a tapestry that made me just ride along and enjoy the tapestry. The descriptions of the world outside Vylari, from the point of view of Lem and Mariyah, offer a vision of author Anderson's world that have an energy to them and this swept me up during my reading of the book. Finally, there are the moral dilemmas faced by Lem and Mariyah. The story posed so many situations where the two characters (and even Shemi) had to choose from an assortment of bad choices when it came to their decisions and making those decisions that I was at times surprised and shocked at their choices. However, author Anderson made these situations and the choices that had to be made come very naturally (almost organically) within the story, and this rendered every situation somewhat dire in the emotional context as possible. That said, my attitudes and perceptions about Mariyah and Lem changed as the novel went on, not necessarily for the better, but at least I understand where the two characters are coming from in each context. This also made me wonder what comes next in the second volume. The story has some very nice musical scenes (that I can't say I've seen a lot of in recent books that I've read, but most of those don't tend to feature musician/bard characters, so...), but I do have one (sort of) gripe about the book. The story skips over periods of time, during which we are told that Lem and Mariyah have both learned new skills and abilities. I would have liked to have seen them learning and struggling with these new skills and abilities, notably Lem, but also Mariyah to some extent as well. Still, with the book clocking in at 430 pages I guess something had to be skipped. :) When it comes down to it, The Bard's Blade was an unexpectedly lovely book to read, very approachable for all readers (not just those who are fantasy afficionados), with engaging characters and realistic moral dilemmas that the characters must face. This is a tale of doing what it takes to accomplish ones goals, and a tale of loss, regret and love. I highly recommend this book.
Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer: The Artistry, Joy, and Career of Storytelling by J. Michael Stracynski
In the words of novelist Harlan Ellison, "The trick is not becoming a writer. The trick is staying a writer." Years before J. Michael Stracynski created hit shows like Babylon 5 and Sense8, or wrote the Academy Award-nominated Changeling, he knew he wanted to be a writer, But he didn't know how to start a career as a writer, and he was a long way from figuring out how to stay one. Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer is the kind of guide this New York Times bestselling author wishes he'd had: a comprehensive handbook filled with personalised tips and techniques that cannot be found in any other book about writing. Straczynski culls from his more than 30 years of experience writing for film, television, books, and comics to offer writers - at any stage of their careers - a book of honest, insightful, and often humourous wisdom on what it means to be, and stay, a writer. Included are topics such as: What fledgling writers need to know to improve and sell their work - and avoid wasting valuable time; Tips for experienced writers who want to get to the next level; Staying disciplined when writing is your day job; Why writers should never wait for inspiration; Story-planning strategies that don't kill your spontaneity; Expert techniques for effective, memorable world-building; How to get an agent and survive the writer's journey in more personal relationships; Revising and editing with precision; When and how to reinvent yourself as an artist. Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer offers Straczynski's unique, tried-and-true methodologies that will help storytellers sharpen their work so that it's polished and ready for publication. Part toolbox and part survival guide, this book will be an indispensable resource throughout your entire writing career, offering fresh and practical insights every step of the way. Okay, right off the bat I'm going to say that I am not a professional writer, nor do I aspire to be one these days. That said, I dabble with writing, doing so for a variety of purposes (such as these mini book reviews that I write, as well as roleplaying stuff, and the short fiction and novelettes that I've written over the years). However, I picked up this book because I had read JMS's other works about writing and found some of the material and tips and tricks of the trade from those books very useful to the writing that I do. Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer is another toolbox full of good tips, advice, and practical examples of what it says on the tin. However, this is not a textbook, lists of advice or notes on how to write, and Straczynski is critical of such limited, almost mechanical, methods of learning to write. This criticism of other texts, workshops and writing classes is useful, but it is not definitive. Some of these features of the world a "becoming writer" inhabits could well be useful, but where this book helps is in deciding their value though describing the shortcomings of various learning modes. However, I believe that there are alternatives that require consideration - but have no intention of discussing that subject or making suggestions here. For me, several sections and chapters of this book stand out. The concepts about characterisation are marvellous. The ideas about using scenes, in books, television, or films, effectively is quite lovely as well. The advice to remain current, to forego traditional planning of a text, to reject the old notions that underlie some books on writing were cases argued both well and quite powerfully. Straczynski not only made sense, but takes the reader through some fascinating proposals and history to demonstrate how a process might work well in past situations, but be unnecessary or problematic under new circumstances. Where there are injunctions about what to do and how to do it, there is an abundance of material to help the writer achieve the aims of this book - become a writer, write, and remain a writer. This is a book where advice and entertainment are mixed and combined to make an enjoyable, as well as instructive, read. I took away a few good lessons from this book for my own writing and amateur works. So I recommend this book for both aspiring writers and those who are making a living as writers as well.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (r)
The first book in the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry. Though Harry's first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it's his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined. Okay, I have a confession to make: While I have read the first two Harry Potter books in the (somewhat dim, at least to me) past, I've never read the series' third book and onward. So I decided to read the series from the beginning (again), as I'm wanting to read light-hearted and fun books again, in part due to my health circumstances and also due to the pandemic we are living/being crushed under. With that said, I've decided to keep this review brief, as to be honest, there's not a lot to be said about the Harry Potter series of books that hasn't been said before. I have to say that I honestly enjoyed re-reading this first book in the series. It's a fun, somewhat spectacular romp with funny, courageous and endearing characters (and a few that aren't, of course!) that you can't help but like. However, when you throw in talking chess pieces, a singing (sorting) hat, a giant three-headed dog named Fluffy!, a giant with a dragon fetish, a wizard sport called Quidditch, a master wizard who's just a bit crazy, mail carrying owls, goblins running the Wizarding world bank, unicorns, centaurs!, trolls, and all manner of other stuff that I've forgotten... well, what can you say? The sensa wonda is definitely there. And then there are the three main protagonists. There's Harry Potter, a child born of wizards who were killed by You-Know-Who, who starts by sleeping in a closet and ends up being a hero; Harry is kind to those that deserve it, fearless when it counts the most, and wonderfully intelligent. Then there's Ron Weasley, the boy with little money and wearing and using a lot of second-hand wizard stuff, but who has an abundance of family and loyalty to his friends that more than makes up for it. And last but certainly not least, Hermione Granger, the young wizard born of Muggle (non-wizardy) parents who starts off as very prim, proper and uptight, but who soon becomes a close friend. These characters are very loveable, though not necessarily so at the beginning, but when one throws in the various other characters, from the teachers at Hogwarts to the Dursleys who "raised" Harry, to the various other students, including Harry's rival and foe Malfoy, this is very much a novel of characters, people, motivations, and less about the magic (though that does play an important role as well). When it comes down to it, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a wonderful book that starts off a series that became legendary and has legions of fans around the world. It's a well-written book, full of elegant (and sometimes fittingly, not-so-elegant) prose, and features an array of characters and locations that are fascinating in their own right. The descriptions of various magical phenomena, not to mention locations, when Harry first encounters them with his Muggle world perceptions, is a joy to read and gives the reader (at least me) that sense of wonder that I remember getting from some of the classic children's books that I read when I was a little boy. And something else I'll add here: the book was just as enjoyable reading this time around, if perhaps not more so, since a) I haven't read it since first came out; and b) there's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world right now, and a positive, happy distraction was needed. Do I have to say it? I highly recommend this book! :)
Overall, I managed to read 6 novels, 0 RPGs and RPG products, 1 magazine, 3 comics, and 0 graphic novels in January. Since this is the start of the year, it brings the year total in 2022 to a set of numbers that look like this: 6 books, 0 RPGs and RPG products, 1 magazine, 3 comics, and 0 graphic novels.
Anyway, thoughts and comments are always welcome. :)
Thus, as is my standard usage of my blog space at or near the beginning of the month, I present the listing of my January, 2022 reads.
*****
Books Read in January, 2022
Midnight, Water City by Chris McKinney
Thraxas at the Races by Martin Scott (r)
The Bard's Blade by Brian D. Anderson
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (r)
Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer: The Artistry, Joy, and Career of Storytelling by J. Michael Stracynski
December, 2021 Reader's Digest
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (r)
Paleocene #1-3 (Comics)
*****
And that was the start of my reading for 2022. This was a pretty good month of reads, with a good mix of new reads and re-reads, and a bit of something to scratch my tastes in various forms of speculative literature. This month was an average month of reading for me, but to be honest, it was about the quality of the reads rather than the quantity. Regardless, my bookcases are still stacked with a pretty large To Read Queue (TRQ). The books I enjoyed the most were:
Midnight, Water City by Chris McKinney
Welcome to Water City: A world of seascrapers, floating prisons, organ farms, and murder. Year 2142: Earth is forty years past a near-collision with the asteroid Sessho-seki. Akira Kimura, the scientist responsible for eliminating the threat, has reached heights of celebrity approaching deification. But now, Akira feels her safety is under threat, so after years without contact, she reaches out to her former head of security, who has since become a police detective. When he arrives at her deep-sea home and finds Akira methodically dismembered, this detective will risk everything - his career, his family, even his own life - to delve back into his shared past with Akira to find her killer. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a fan of cyberpunk by any stretch of the imagination and don't tend to read much of it, if any, at all. However, Midnight, Water City attracted my attention as it's a neo-noir police procedural in the setting of an almost cinematic backdrop of future Hawaii, 2142 AD, and in some ways has the feel of Ridley Scott's Bladerunner. In the author's vision of the world, society has drastically changed with the advent of progressive technology, but some things never change - there remain vast disparities in wealth. The rich live in luxury under the ocean in seascrapers or on top skyscrapers, while the Less Thans dwell in habitats in the packed cities or possibly escape to the floatburbs. Holographic ads invade everyone's space. Age has been expanded by the usage of AMP hibernation chambers. Cell phones have been made obsolete by iEs, that everyone seems to carry and records their entire life, as well as provide communication. There are pharmaceutical advancements with "pills" for everything, even the changing of skin colour. Flying cars are present for the privileged. Amongst the trappings of this future society exists an anti-hero detective, who much like Sergio Leone's Man With No Name, remains unnamed. Our intrepid, 80-year-old police detective is also a man of few words, gruff, eccentric, but with an unorthodox sense of justice that frequently involves killing or at least violence. He is highly flawed, eccentric, and morally compromised. Without going into a lot of detail about the story and its background, the action and intrigue in this novel starts immediately as the detective is summoned by his oldest and dearest friend and previous employer, Akira Kimura, a renowned scientist, who has reached near deification after she saved the world forty years ago. She asks him to offer his services to her once again and moonlight as security for her, fearing her life is in danger, and trusting only him. In the past, he was head of her security, which at the time he provided with lethal force. Needless to say, when the detective arrives at Akira's luxurious abode at Volcano Vista, located some 177 atmospheres below sea level in the world's largest seascraper, he finds Akira has been killed in a horrific manner. What makes the detective interesting as well is that while he has colour blindness, he is also endowed with synaesthesia. He can almost smell murder (the smell of ambergris), which also floats in strands of green, while death is always accompanied by clouds of red (both red and green are perceived differently in those that are colour blind). These afflictions have served him well, both in war and solving murders as a detective. Needless to say, author McKinney weaves a complex and twisted path with multiple unexpected reveals and plenty of twists as the detective plunges into a non-sanctioned investigation of Akira's murder. He will stop at nothing, endangering his career, his marriage (his fourth) and his life. There are plenty of fascinating, some more so than others, characters surrounding the unnamed detective as he investigates Akira Kimura's murder, but the problem with the book is that none of the characters were overly convincing as characters to this reader, though they each have distinct personalities and motivations that become clear as the novel goes on. The protagonist as an older, life questioning detective that has been done in the genre before, but his synaesthesia makes the character quite unique, but due to the novel being from the protagonist's point of view, it comes across as almost magical in nature. The book gives the reader not one, but two, villains who border on the almost super-villain stereotype, and whose motives are almost completely incomprehensible. The prose of this novel are adequate to the job, and McKinney's writing evokes the genre quite well, heightened by the novel told exclusively from the perspective of the unnamed detective protagonist. This gives the novel a feel and style of its own, both in terms of the noir and hardboiled detective style, but there is an immersive world building that flows effortlessly throughout its pages. The real strength of this novel is the multiple themes that are relevant in our world today - climate change, class distinctions, and humanity's price to be paid for technological progress. The novel is, ultimately, a disturbing, cautionary tale. Make no mistake, however, for Midnight, Water City (which may or may not be the first book in a trilogy) is both a thrilling neo-noir procedural and a stunning exploration of research, class, climate change, the cult of personality, and the dark sacrifices that one is willing to make in the name of progress. Regardless of whether the sub-genre of science fiction is the reader's type, this is a book that I can recommend for those who like well-written science fiction mysteries.
The Bard's Blade by Brian D. Anderson
The first book in The Sorcerer's Song series. Mariyah enjoys a simple life in Vylari, a land magically sealed off from the outside world, where fear and hatred are all but unknown. There, she's a renowned wine maker and her betrothed, Lem, is a musician of rare talent. Their destiny has never been in question. Whatever life brings, they will face it together. But destiny has a way of choosing its own path. Then a stranger crosses the wards into Vylari for the first time in centuries, bringing a dark prophecy that forces Lem and Mariyah down separate paths. How far will they have to go to stop a rising darkness and save their home? And how much of themselves will they have to give up along the way? The first book in a series, though I'm not sure about when the second book is coming out, The Bard's Blade is an intriguing tale that breaks with some of the clichés of the standard fantasy tale. First of all, instead of a farm boy in a peaceful setting, the story involves two characters, Mariyah, the daughter of a renowned winemaker (and one herself) and her betrothed, Lem, a musician of rare talent, who are fighting for love and going on a quest to save their homeland, Vylari, and all those closest to them. Vylari is literally a magic-induced land of tranquil life, but the arrival of a stranger through the wards around Vylari proves that all is not well, and hence the quest. The journeys undertaken by Lem and Mariyah, independently by the way, are full of peril, drama, and moral choices that have lasting consequences on both protagonists, made very apparent at the close of this first book. For me, there are several things about this novel that stuck out in my mind. First of all, the plot of this story gets going very quickly, even for a 430-page book, though the initial setting was developed very little. While the reader learns about Vylari, their home, though not a good deal about it, the two protagonists (and the reader) know absolutely nothing about the world outside Vylari, other than what they've been taught and told. There is just soooooo much world-building to do on the part of the author, and as a reader I liked this and it definitely hooked me on the story by the end of the first chapter. The second thing that I liked about the novel is that it reads very easily and comfortably. It's often difficult for authors to make a book read easily, yet also instill that all-important sense of intrigue and suspense, but author Anderson does a very good job of this. Effectively, the plot begins by the start of the second chapter, and since it really only concerns three characters (Lem, Mariyah, and their friend and Lem's mentor, Shemi, though he's not really a central character per sé as the story is told through the eyes of Lem and Mariyah), the reader gets invested in them from the beginning of the tale. The third thing I found striking about the book was the author's writing and the language used. While the author's words read simply and easily, as I noted above, it is purposeful and intentional all the way through. From the dialogue to the descriptions and the scenes of world-building, the words just seem to fit and flow together in a tapestry that made me just ride along and enjoy the tapestry. The descriptions of the world outside Vylari, from the point of view of Lem and Mariyah, offer a vision of author Anderson's world that have an energy to them and this swept me up during my reading of the book. Finally, there are the moral dilemmas faced by Lem and Mariyah. The story posed so many situations where the two characters (and even Shemi) had to choose from an assortment of bad choices when it came to their decisions and making those decisions that I was at times surprised and shocked at their choices. However, author Anderson made these situations and the choices that had to be made come very naturally (almost organically) within the story, and this rendered every situation somewhat dire in the emotional context as possible. That said, my attitudes and perceptions about Mariyah and Lem changed as the novel went on, not necessarily for the better, but at least I understand where the two characters are coming from in each context. This also made me wonder what comes next in the second volume. The story has some very nice musical scenes (that I can't say I've seen a lot of in recent books that I've read, but most of those don't tend to feature musician/bard characters, so...), but I do have one (sort of) gripe about the book. The story skips over periods of time, during which we are told that Lem and Mariyah have both learned new skills and abilities. I would have liked to have seen them learning and struggling with these new skills and abilities, notably Lem, but also Mariyah to some extent as well. Still, with the book clocking in at 430 pages I guess something had to be skipped. :) When it comes down to it, The Bard's Blade was an unexpectedly lovely book to read, very approachable for all readers (not just those who are fantasy afficionados), with engaging characters and realistic moral dilemmas that the characters must face. This is a tale of doing what it takes to accomplish ones goals, and a tale of loss, regret and love. I highly recommend this book.
Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer: The Artistry, Joy, and Career of Storytelling by J. Michael Stracynski
In the words of novelist Harlan Ellison, "The trick is not becoming a writer. The trick is staying a writer." Years before J. Michael Stracynski created hit shows like Babylon 5 and Sense8, or wrote the Academy Award-nominated Changeling, he knew he wanted to be a writer, But he didn't know how to start a career as a writer, and he was a long way from figuring out how to stay one. Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer is the kind of guide this New York Times bestselling author wishes he'd had: a comprehensive handbook filled with personalised tips and techniques that cannot be found in any other book about writing. Straczynski culls from his more than 30 years of experience writing for film, television, books, and comics to offer writers - at any stage of their careers - a book of honest, insightful, and often humourous wisdom on what it means to be, and stay, a writer. Included are topics such as: What fledgling writers need to know to improve and sell their work - and avoid wasting valuable time; Tips for experienced writers who want to get to the next level; Staying disciplined when writing is your day job; Why writers should never wait for inspiration; Story-planning strategies that don't kill your spontaneity; Expert techniques for effective, memorable world-building; How to get an agent and survive the writer's journey in more personal relationships; Revising and editing with precision; When and how to reinvent yourself as an artist. Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer offers Straczynski's unique, tried-and-true methodologies that will help storytellers sharpen their work so that it's polished and ready for publication. Part toolbox and part survival guide, this book will be an indispensable resource throughout your entire writing career, offering fresh and practical insights every step of the way. Okay, right off the bat I'm going to say that I am not a professional writer, nor do I aspire to be one these days. That said, I dabble with writing, doing so for a variety of purposes (such as these mini book reviews that I write, as well as roleplaying stuff, and the short fiction and novelettes that I've written over the years). However, I picked up this book because I had read JMS's other works about writing and found some of the material and tips and tricks of the trade from those books very useful to the writing that I do. Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer is another toolbox full of good tips, advice, and practical examples of what it says on the tin. However, this is not a textbook, lists of advice or notes on how to write, and Straczynski is critical of such limited, almost mechanical, methods of learning to write. This criticism of other texts, workshops and writing classes is useful, but it is not definitive. Some of these features of the world a "becoming writer" inhabits could well be useful, but where this book helps is in deciding their value though describing the shortcomings of various learning modes. However, I believe that there are alternatives that require consideration - but have no intention of discussing that subject or making suggestions here. For me, several sections and chapters of this book stand out. The concepts about characterisation are marvellous. The ideas about using scenes, in books, television, or films, effectively is quite lovely as well. The advice to remain current, to forego traditional planning of a text, to reject the old notions that underlie some books on writing were cases argued both well and quite powerfully. Straczynski not only made sense, but takes the reader through some fascinating proposals and history to demonstrate how a process might work well in past situations, but be unnecessary or problematic under new circumstances. Where there are injunctions about what to do and how to do it, there is an abundance of material to help the writer achieve the aims of this book - become a writer, write, and remain a writer. This is a book where advice and entertainment are mixed and combined to make an enjoyable, as well as instructive, read. I took away a few good lessons from this book for my own writing and amateur works. So I recommend this book for both aspiring writers and those who are making a living as writers as well.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (r)
The first book in the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry. Though Harry's first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it's his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined. Okay, I have a confession to make: While I have read the first two Harry Potter books in the (somewhat dim, at least to me) past, I've never read the series' third book and onward. So I decided to read the series from the beginning (again), as I'm wanting to read light-hearted and fun books again, in part due to my health circumstances and also due to the pandemic we are living/being crushed under. With that said, I've decided to keep this review brief, as to be honest, there's not a lot to be said about the Harry Potter series of books that hasn't been said before. I have to say that I honestly enjoyed re-reading this first book in the series. It's a fun, somewhat spectacular romp with funny, courageous and endearing characters (and a few that aren't, of course!) that you can't help but like. However, when you throw in talking chess pieces, a singing (sorting) hat, a giant three-headed dog named Fluffy!, a giant with a dragon fetish, a wizard sport called Quidditch, a master wizard who's just a bit crazy, mail carrying owls, goblins running the Wizarding world bank, unicorns, centaurs!, trolls, and all manner of other stuff that I've forgotten... well, what can you say? The sensa wonda is definitely there. And then there are the three main protagonists. There's Harry Potter, a child born of wizards who were killed by You-Know-Who, who starts by sleeping in a closet and ends up being a hero; Harry is kind to those that deserve it, fearless when it counts the most, and wonderfully intelligent. Then there's Ron Weasley, the boy with little money and wearing and using a lot of second-hand wizard stuff, but who has an abundance of family and loyalty to his friends that more than makes up for it. And last but certainly not least, Hermione Granger, the young wizard born of Muggle (non-wizardy) parents who starts off as very prim, proper and uptight, but who soon becomes a close friend. These characters are very loveable, though not necessarily so at the beginning, but when one throws in the various other characters, from the teachers at Hogwarts to the Dursleys who "raised" Harry, to the various other students, including Harry's rival and foe Malfoy, this is very much a novel of characters, people, motivations, and less about the magic (though that does play an important role as well). When it comes down to it, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a wonderful book that starts off a series that became legendary and has legions of fans around the world. It's a well-written book, full of elegant (and sometimes fittingly, not-so-elegant) prose, and features an array of characters and locations that are fascinating in their own right. The descriptions of various magical phenomena, not to mention locations, when Harry first encounters them with his Muggle world perceptions, is a joy to read and gives the reader (at least me) that sense of wonder that I remember getting from some of the classic children's books that I read when I was a little boy. And something else I'll add here: the book was just as enjoyable reading this time around, if perhaps not more so, since a) I haven't read it since first came out; and b) there's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world right now, and a positive, happy distraction was needed. Do I have to say it? I highly recommend this book! :)
Overall, I managed to read 6 novels, 0 RPGs and RPG products, 1 magazine, 3 comics, and 0 graphic novels in January. Since this is the start of the year, it brings the year total in 2022 to a set of numbers that look like this: 6 books, 0 RPGs and RPG products, 1 magazine, 3 comics, and 0 graphic novels.
Anyway, thoughts and comments are always welcome. :)