|
I'm going to say this - I love Star Trek in all media. But this month -
I'm taking a break for just a little while. There are plenty of other things
in the box and I want to go out exploring a bit - you know, like the guys on that
show with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.
So here we go . . .
- The Best of Fantasy and Science Fiction Ninth Edition:
This collection of short stories is supposedly the best of Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine
from the year 1958 (since it was released in 1959). The insides boast a Who's
Who of science fiction authors. Robert A. Heinlein. Alfred Bester. Theodore
Sturgeon. Some of the stories are memorable: I particularly enjoyed The
Soulmate. Heinlein's inclusion 'Hey All You Zombies..' somehow seemed like the
Robert Heinlein of 1958 parodying the Robert Heinlein of 1978. If anyone could
pull that off, it's him. It also includes a story that, since it was forced on
me about 8 times growing up in special education classes and I have kind of
grown sick of it - Flowers for Algernon. It's a good read the first time through
but after four or five readings it wears on you. Especially with my AD/HD, I'm
in a similar boat. Only I don't stop being smart without my pills, I just can't
focus my brains hard enough to do what I want to do. I reject the idea that a
longer life as a mental invalid is preferable to a shortened life span of high
mental acuity. In spite of what Socrates and Woody Allen have said: the
examined life is not unlivable. It's the only life worth living. The Pact is
basically the story of Faust in reverse and is very funny. This book in an
antique I'm glad a now former friend found it for me.
- The Myths of Greece and Rome by H.A. Guerber:
This is a book almost every literature, mythology or Latin major from it's first
publication in 1929 to the present has owned and very few have ever read from cover
to cover. It is a very useful book to those with an interest in Greco-Roman mythology.
It covers everything from the origins all the way to founding of Rome. The problem I had
with it is in the presentation, which is one I have with many scholarly works on
mythology. Myths are not some dust covered old relics to stick in a textbook
so all you smartypantses with your ugly coats with big brown patches on the
sleeves can reference them in your works and sound like poets. Myths are
property of the people. They are best treated like living things. They grow,
they thrive, they die and like the mythological hero in the stories themselves,
they are reborn. They live by reinterpretation and retelling. The Odyssey
is every bit as magical when told by Ethan and Joel Cohen in 'Oh Brother, Where
Art Thou?' as it was when it was told by Homer. Seeing them condensed to mere
rote retellings and summaries makes me feel like I'm looking at the mummified
corpse of something wonderful. The analysis of myth section is overly
simplistic. That weakness can be attributed to the fact that the books were
published in 1929, a good twenty years before Joseph Campbell's mythology
redefining book 'The Hero of a Thousand Faces' and only a few years after some
of the published works of Karl Jung. In fact, only one thing still bugs me
about Greek mythology: Whatsherface wouldn't sleep with Zeus when he
looked like a human being but when he turned into a swan, that turned her on?
What the hell was wrong with the Ancient Greeks?
- Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett:
There really isn't much need for more of a
review. I mean come on- Terry Pratchett. If you looked 'humanist fantasy'
up in the dictionary it would have his picture there. The man is an
international treasure. I know, I know, this is (technically) a Young Adult
Fantasy novel. However one thing you can say about Pratchett's work is that it
never seems like he's writing for children. Either that or his adult books are
written to be appreciated by the child in us all. Though the answer is
probably something else entirely. The only thing keeping this from really
feeling like a Discworld book is the absence of Death. I don't mean death
the event. There are at least a few that take place off page. I capitalized the
'D' because I meant Death the person. His absence, while hardly noticed until
I got to the end, felt weird. They let Nanny Ogg, an old woman with a mind so
dirty she makes Betty White look like June Cleaver, into a kids book but a kind
and gentle soul like Death isn't allowed to come and play? Reeks of a double
standard. Kids can vaguely learn how life begins but not how it ends? This
has probably the most realistic portrayal of an older sibling I've ever seen.
Though maybe that's just because that's how I've always thought my sister
thought about me. As is true with most Discworld books, this is actually
commenting on modern society, in this case sibling rivalry and the odd mix of the
will of the people and the powers that be. Again, like most Pratchett's work
it is a fairy tale in the Chesterton tradition. It's more than real because it
shows us witches can be beaten. Discworld is top notch fantasy and this one
was really good for a laugh.
- Abadazad - The Road to Inconceivable by Dematteis and Ploog:
Okay, I know I swore off reviewing graphic novels but with this series, I found a nifty way to
circumvent that decision. The inside cover says it is a graphic novel but with
the bulk of the book being text it is really two thirds illustrated novella and
one third graphic novel. Either way it all I can say is: WOW! While written
with older children in mind, it is a captivating story of the way we wish our
siblings were before puberty. Though it is also filled with love, loss, grief,
fear, joy and all those other things one expects from an adult fantasy novel.
It's also a wondrous bed time story for older children and a quite funny at
times. The little snippets of the books within the books show some charming
homages to the works of L. Frank Baum and J.M. Barrie. Then there is the art
which matches the tone of the story perfectly. Almost as if Ploog drew the
pictures and asked Dematteis to carve a story out around them. I've been a fan
of Ploog's artwork since I first encountered it about eighteen years ago. Seeing
it full painted is breathtaking. A delightful read, pure and simple.
- Abadazad- The Dream Thief by Dematteis and Ploog:
The second (and sadly)
last volume of Abadazad was as good, if not better, than the original. The
character of Kate changes and grows a bit as she discovers what she truly
believes. Unlike in the first book where she mainly reacts to things-- here we
see her taking action. They may not be the right actions but they make for an
interesting story. With each gain she makes, there is another loss. It may
not seem fair but that's how it should be. DeMatteis pulls no punches with
this story which makes it such a shame that Hyperion books didn't see this
project through to a conclusion. I want to know if Kate ever beats the Lanky
Man. Does she free her brother Matt? Is her future in glass a maybe or a will
be future? I want to know and I'm annoyed that I probably never will.
- Bagambo Snuff Box by Kurt Vonnegut:
Kurt Vonnegut has an unusual talent-
somehow no matter how strange and bizarre his science fiction and fantasy
stories might be, they all seem less absurd than his tales of domestic life.
Both types of stories are featured in this collection of his pre- Slaughterhouse
Five fame short stories, but most of these are of the domestic life stories.
(Most of his early science fiction work was in the other short fiction anthology
'Welcome to the Monkey House'.) Each story contains the signature wit, humor
and insight into human nature that Vonnegut is known for. However, there is a
certain sameness to many of the stories. All the George M. Helmholtz stories
are basically interchangeable and rely on the same basic gimmick. The book
starts off really strong with Thanasphere and slowly winds itself down. Though
it briefly sparks back to life with 'A Present for Big Saint Nick' which is
hilarious. The only short story I felt bored with was 'The Cruise of the Jolly
Roger' which seemed like Vonnegut attempting to spoof Hemingway. Unlike his
ribbing on Ayn Rand in Harrison Burgeon, this one comes off a little too
sentimental and doesn't quite work for me.
|
