An experiment
Well, we'll see how long this lasts, but I've always thought it might be interesting to keep a reading log... and I've been reading quite a bit of new stuff lately. (I go through phases of Reading and Not Reading.)
Devil in the Sky by Greg Cox and John Gregory Betancourt (Deep Space Nine tie-in)
Summary: Baby Hortas run amuck on Deep Space Nine while Team Kira+Bashir tries to retrieve mommy Horta from a Cardassian mining colony... yeah. Set during S2.
Reaction: Bad. Really quite bad - I've liked Greg Cox's Marvel tie-in stuff, and the one thing I've seen co-written by John Gregory Betancourt, but this was... well, bad. Everybody seemed like caricatures of themselves, the plot was terribly obvious (and derivative), and the pacing stank. Foreshadowing is one thing, but when I can predict every minor plot twist half a book in advance, that's bad writing.
(Also featured several really terrible bits of POV whiplash, in the form of limited-third scenes that would suddenly throw in a bit of external description of the POV character not phrased like they'd think of themselves. *headshake* I didn't used to notice this stuff, you know - having all y'all excellent writers on my flist is affecting my reading! *g*)
Invasion: Time's Enemy by L.A. Graf (Deep Space Nine tie-in)
Summary: Very complicated timey-wimey novel involving a duplicate Defiant from 5,000 years ago. Set during S4.
Reaction: You know, I have this thing where if I start a book before bed I don't stop... but it's usually safe to take a peek! ;-) Not this time. I flipped through just far enough to find Odo's first appearance (snarking at Quark, who is whining at Kira, who is substituting for Sisko, who's on Earth looking at said duplicate Defiant) and, well, didn't stop squeeing till I finished the book at three in the morning. :-)
L.A. Graf has/have been one/some of my favorite tie-in novelists anyway, ever since I ran across their TOS "Janus Gate" trilogy a few years ago (it's a pseudonym for a writing team, hence my confused plurals); they're really good at timey-wimey hardish sci-fi, characterization (best tie-in Bones McCoy EVAR *nodnod*), convincing aliens, and interesting plot and foreshadowing. I read Time's Enemy right after Devil in the Sky, and it was like "Okay, now THIS is how you do everything right that was done wrong before". :D It's, if you'll forgive the expression, fascinating. ;-)
(Also they completely ignore the issue of Odo In Wuv by the simple expedient of doing all Odo/Kira scenes from Kira POV. Which works beautifully to show the Kira+Odo friendship and simultaneously remind the reader how alien Odo really is - which doesn't always come across onscreen.)
Short version? This one went straight onto the list of "books to buy when I have money". Which is not a long list; I'm generally satisfied to use the library. :-)
Blackout / All Clear by Connie Willis (duology)
Summary: Time-travelling historians from 2060 are trapped in World War II England. There is timey-wimeyness, Shakespeare-quoting, heroism, and philosophical musing.
Reaction: It's loooong. Took me all day (maybe twelve hours) to read, and I can finish a Pratchett in four; it's two books, each the size of a one-volume LOTR. By the end, I was slogging. But it is good, especially if you're not burdened with my "gotta finish it" mentality.
I enjoyed "To Say Nothing of the Dog" (same author, same 'verse, 1888) more, because that was a romp. This is not a romp. This is a srs bsnss piece, but it does well with what it sets out to do. Also some of the supporting characters are pretty darn awesome and/or adorable.
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Summary: First in the "John Carter of Mars" series. Random guy goes to Mars (through completely handwaved means) and has adventures.
Reaction: Er. Um. You can really tell it was written in the very early 20th century - I had to skip back and forth between this and "Blackout" in order to get through the heavy-handed casual racism in the setup chapters. (This is the first Burroughs novel I've tried, so... yeah, I was a bit unprepared.) Once he gets into the actual character stuff and action sequences, though, I can see why he was such a popular writer: he's very good. Dejah Thoris doesn't come across as a wimp, even though she doesn't actually do anything, and Tars Tarkas ROCKS. :D
(I am told there's a movie in the works with Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkas. This makes me very happy.)
Also, it's really fascinating to see the ways in which this book probably influenced a lot of later portrayals of Martians. *icon* ;-) I doubt I'll get around to the rest of the series for a while, but I don't feel I wasted my time reading this one.
Han Solo at Stars' End by Brian Daley (Star Wars tie-in)
This was a re-read, but whatever.
Summary: Pre-"A New Hope", Han and Chewie get involved with a small group trying to free some people from a sort of concentration camp, and Chewie is captured, so of course Han has to go rescue him. Adventures ensue.
Reaction: Dang, I love this goofy series. It's not part of the official SW EU - it was written before George Lucas decided he wanted 100% control over the timeline, I guess - but A.C. Crispin, in one of her nicer moments, did re-canonify it by interspersing her own official Han+Chewie trilogy with these.
My favorite part of everything Star Wars is the wonderful Han/Chewie/Falcon relationship (I have an incurable love of road-trippin', of buddy stories, and of rockin' feminine vehicles, and this is all of the above IN SPAAACE), and that's what this book is about. So naturally, I love it. Plus, there are awesome aliens (the feline lady and her little boy in this one, the adorkable skip-tracer in the next one, and the one-man orchestra guy in the final one spring to mind), and my favorite droids ever.
(Sorry, C-3PO and R2-D2. You do rock, especially when Threepio is tap-dancing with Muppets (starts at 6:29). But nobody beats Bollux (the obsolete labor droid with a deadpan sense of humor) and Blue Max (the little blue hacker with a vaguely '80s-juvenile-delinquent style) for sheer robotic awesomeness. IMO.)
Devil in the Sky by Greg Cox and John Gregory Betancourt (Deep Space Nine tie-in)
Summary: Baby Hortas run amuck on Deep Space Nine while Team Kira+Bashir tries to retrieve mommy Horta from a Cardassian mining colony... yeah. Set during S2.
Reaction: Bad. Really quite bad - I've liked Greg Cox's Marvel tie-in stuff, and the one thing I've seen co-written by John Gregory Betancourt, but this was... well, bad. Everybody seemed like caricatures of themselves, the plot was terribly obvious (and derivative), and the pacing stank. Foreshadowing is one thing, but when I can predict every minor plot twist half a book in advance, that's bad writing.
(Also featured several really terrible bits of POV whiplash, in the form of limited-third scenes that would suddenly throw in a bit of external description of the POV character not phrased like they'd think of themselves. *headshake* I didn't used to notice this stuff, you know - having all y'all excellent writers on my flist is affecting my reading! *g*)
Invasion: Time's Enemy by L.A. Graf (Deep Space Nine tie-in)
Summary: Very complicated timey-wimey novel involving a duplicate Defiant from 5,000 years ago. Set during S4.
Reaction: You know, I have this thing where if I start a book before bed I don't stop... but it's usually safe to take a peek! ;-) Not this time. I flipped through just far enough to find Odo's first appearance (snarking at Quark, who is whining at Kira, who is substituting for Sisko, who's on Earth looking at said duplicate Defiant) and, well, didn't stop squeeing till I finished the book at three in the morning. :-)
L.A. Graf has/have been one/some of my favorite tie-in novelists anyway, ever since I ran across their TOS "Janus Gate" trilogy a few years ago (it's a pseudonym for a writing team, hence my confused plurals); they're really good at timey-wimey hardish sci-fi, characterization (best tie-in Bones McCoy EVAR *nodnod*), convincing aliens, and interesting plot and foreshadowing. I read Time's Enemy right after Devil in the Sky, and it was like "Okay, now THIS is how you do everything right that was done wrong before". :D It's, if you'll forgive the expression, fascinating. ;-)
(Also they completely ignore the issue of Odo In Wuv by the simple expedient of doing all Odo/Kira scenes from Kira POV. Which works beautifully to show the Kira+Odo friendship and simultaneously remind the reader how alien Odo really is - which doesn't always come across onscreen.)
Short version? This one went straight onto the list of "books to buy when I have money". Which is not a long list; I'm generally satisfied to use the library. :-)
Blackout / All Clear by Connie Willis (duology)
Summary: Time-travelling historians from 2060 are trapped in World War II England. There is timey-wimeyness, Shakespeare-quoting, heroism, and philosophical musing.
Reaction: It's loooong. Took me all day (maybe twelve hours) to read, and I can finish a Pratchett in four; it's two books, each the size of a one-volume LOTR. By the end, I was slogging. But it is good, especially if you're not burdened with my "gotta finish it" mentality.
I enjoyed "To Say Nothing of the Dog" (same author, same 'verse, 1888) more, because that was a romp. This is not a romp. This is a srs bsnss piece, but it does well with what it sets out to do. Also some of the supporting characters are pretty darn awesome and/or adorable.
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Summary: First in the "John Carter of Mars" series. Random guy goes to Mars (through completely handwaved means) and has adventures.
Reaction: Er. Um. You can really tell it was written in the very early 20th century - I had to skip back and forth between this and "Blackout" in order to get through the heavy-handed casual racism in the setup chapters. (This is the first Burroughs novel I've tried, so... yeah, I was a bit unprepared.) Once he gets into the actual character stuff and action sequences, though, I can see why he was such a popular writer: he's very good. Dejah Thoris doesn't come across as a wimp, even though she doesn't actually do anything, and Tars Tarkas ROCKS. :D
(I am told there's a movie in the works with Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkas. This makes me very happy.)
Also, it's really fascinating to see the ways in which this book probably influenced a lot of later portrayals of Martians. *icon* ;-) I doubt I'll get around to the rest of the series for a while, but I don't feel I wasted my time reading this one.
Han Solo at Stars' End by Brian Daley (Star Wars tie-in)
This was a re-read, but whatever.
Summary: Pre-"A New Hope", Han and Chewie get involved with a small group trying to free some people from a sort of concentration camp, and Chewie is captured, so of course Han has to go rescue him. Adventures ensue.
Reaction: Dang, I love this goofy series. It's not part of the official SW EU - it was written before George Lucas decided he wanted 100% control over the timeline, I guess - but A.C. Crispin, in one of her nicer moments, did re-canonify it by interspersing her own official Han+Chewie trilogy with these.
My favorite part of everything Star Wars is the wonderful Han/Chewie/Falcon relationship (I have an incurable love of road-trippin', of buddy stories, and of rockin' feminine vehicles, and this is all of the above IN SPAAACE), and that's what this book is about. So naturally, I love it. Plus, there are awesome aliens (the feline lady and her little boy in this one, the adorkable skip-tracer in the next one, and the one-man orchestra guy in the final one spring to mind), and my favorite droids ever.
(Sorry, C-3PO and R2-D2. You do rock, especially when Threepio is tap-dancing with Muppets (starts at 6:29). But nobody beats Bollux (the obsolete labor droid with a deadpan sense of humor) and Blue Max (the little blue hacker with a vaguely '80s-juvenile-delinquent style) for sheer robotic awesomeness. IMO.)