Book #20, movie, weekend
Book #20: Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
I'm starting to think Old Man's War was a fluke. That was one of my favorite books, but every Scalzi book I've read since then was worse than the one before it.
Yes, somehow Fuzzy Nation was somehow worse than Zoe's Tale. That's saying something.
The author called this a reboot of the 60s Fuzzy Nation book. While I did read the original when I was a kid, I don't remember it at all, so I can't compare the two... but even with that said, I suspect I'd like the original more.
Every single character (and element) in the book was a giant cliche. The main character was a loveable rogue. The love interest was a smart woman scientist. The corporation was of course evil. The bad cops were cliche goons. There were no surprises in the plot -- the corporation tried multiple times to kill the main character, and while the character didn't know it, it was obvious to the reader that of course the Evil Corporation was behind it.
On top of all that, the writing just wasn't all that good. The alien species, the Fuzzies, were never described. Every character that saw them commented on how cute they were, but the reader couldn't do anything but take their word on it. (This isn't new to this book. He rarely described alien species or characters in his other book.)
Another thing I disliked (though can't blame him for) was that I just couldn't feel much for a species called "Fuzzy". I know Scalzi needed to use the name because the original book did, but sheesh. If I met a new alien species, I sure do hope I could come up with a better name than that!
Movie: Speaking of disappointing things... I finally watched Ice Age 4. I really liked the early movies, but 4 was just plain bad. Add on top of that that it was filmed to be shown in 3D, so watching it on a normal screen meant that for seemingly no reason at all, we got close ups of noses and wood and whatever else might have been flying out of the screen in a movie theater.
Weekend: In my quest to Get The Hell Out Of The House And So Things, I had intended to go to the movies this weekend. For years I've been wanting to see Jurassic Park in the theater again. And finally it's back! ...in 3D. I'd rather see it in its original form, but I'll put up with 3D, so I made plans to go. Then I saw the ticket prices. Then I remembered why I haven't seen a movie in theaters for years. $13 to see a 2 hour movie at 11:30 AM (cheapest time) is just unreasonable. $16 in the evening. For one ticket! I'm not going to support that.
Other than that, it's been a quiet weekend. Quieter than I intended, but that happens sometimes.
I'm starting to think Old Man's War was a fluke. That was one of my favorite books, but every Scalzi book I've read since then was worse than the one before it.
Yes, somehow Fuzzy Nation was somehow worse than Zoe's Tale. That's saying something.
The author called this a reboot of the 60s Fuzzy Nation book. While I did read the original when I was a kid, I don't remember it at all, so I can't compare the two... but even with that said, I suspect I'd like the original more.
Every single character (and element) in the book was a giant cliche. The main character was a loveable rogue. The love interest was a smart woman scientist. The corporation was of course evil. The bad cops were cliche goons. There were no surprises in the plot -- the corporation tried multiple times to kill the main character, and while the character didn't know it, it was obvious to the reader that of course the Evil Corporation was behind it.
On top of all that, the writing just wasn't all that good. The alien species, the Fuzzies, were never described. Every character that saw them commented on how cute they were, but the reader couldn't do anything but take their word on it. (This isn't new to this book. He rarely described alien species or characters in his other book.)
Another thing I disliked (though can't blame him for) was that I just couldn't feel much for a species called "Fuzzy". I know Scalzi needed to use the name because the original book did, but sheesh. If I met a new alien species, I sure do hope I could come up with a better name than that!
Movie: Speaking of disappointing things... I finally watched Ice Age 4. I really liked the early movies, but 4 was just plain bad. Add on top of that that it was filmed to be shown in 3D, so watching it on a normal screen meant that for seemingly no reason at all, we got close ups of noses and wood and whatever else might have been flying out of the screen in a movie theater.
Weekend: In my quest to Get The Hell Out Of The House And So Things, I had intended to go to the movies this weekend. For years I've been wanting to see Jurassic Park in the theater again. And finally it's back! ...in 3D. I'd rather see it in its original form, but I'll put up with 3D, so I made plans to go. Then I saw the ticket prices. Then I remembered why I haven't seen a movie in theaters for years. $13 to see a 2 hour movie at 11:30 AM (cheapest time) is just unreasonable. $16 in the evening. For one ticket! I'm not going to support that.
Other than that, it's been a quiet weekend. Quieter than I intended, but that happens sometimes.