Link salad!

[tasyfa]

Because some form of salad seems necessary on a spectacularly sunny, warm day, and plus I've had most of these URLs open for days and days now and would like to unclutter my poor Firefox so I can find stuff I *haven't* read yet. *g*

An Excellent Adventure, an essay by Donnie Kay about the socio-political influences that have helped shape Green Day

Comments

John Ringo's Ghost series

[beni0404]

I've read these books (the first one on a dare, but then it was like a bad traffic accident ... simultaneously horrifying and compelling) and that reviewer was Right On. And you know, I've read op ed pieces by Ringo before, so I can't say I was terribly surprised by his politics, but what did surprise me was that he's actually a fairly good writer. Content aside, his books are very readable, apparently well-researched, and he knows how to get from A to B to C in a story. Don't get me wrong; there were definitely times that I felt an almost inescapable urge to track the man down and explain the error of his ways ... and then knock him to the ground and kick him in the groin. Hard. Repeatedly. At the same time, I've read too much kinkfic not to appreciate a guy who knows wankfantasy when he writes it -- and respect the guy who can admit it.

The best part of the series is that the main character is a true anti-hero; he's not a tragic figure who's been misunderstood, or a gentle man forced into horrifying scenarios and put to the test. He's an evil bastard who happens to have the skills, resources, and *just* enough principle to do some heroic things in the course of, well, being an evil bastard. Who I'd like to seen knocked down and kicked mercilessly in the groin by at least one of the women he exploits, but, well, the sequels are still coming. I can wait.

Oddly enough, I think there are fic readers out there who could appreciate the kinkfantasy elements (hardcore Snape fans come to mind).

Re: John Ringo's Ghost series

[tasyfa]

I hadn't thought about its probable appeal to the kinkfantasy fic readers but you're right. And the author's embracing that review openly has really intrigued me, too. Most would get their panties in a twist even if they could admit privately to the truth, but he put it all out there. This suggests to me that not only is it really wankfantasy, but he's considerably more self-aware about it and about the issues surrounding it than one could potentially assume from his writing, because he's separated himself from it emotionally.

ANYWAY, lol. I *am* interested in reading at least the first one sometime!

Re: John Ringo's Ghost series

[beni0404]

Oddly enough, since the first book in a series is usually the best, IMO #4 and #5 were actually the best books of the series -- great action, minimal evil-bastardliness. It's almost too bad that it makes sense to get the backstory first. Although the first one is definitely, er, memorable.

Okay, okay, enough. There are better books out there to obsess over, lol! Agnes and the Hitman, for instance. First "romance" type book that I've ever actually paid money for (hardcover, no less) *and* enjoyed re-readings equally. Damned funny stuff. I've never laughed harder through a sex scene.

But yeah, I agree, I've got a lot of respect for JR right now. He handled the whole thing well.