The Thrawn Trilogy

So I was in the mood for some Sci-Fi, and Robby said that Timothy Zahn's Star Wars books were some of the best out there, so I figured I'd give them a shot. I chose to read Zahn's first series, which is known as The Thrawn Trilogy after the central antagonist. The specific books are Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. I wasn't disappointed. They were fun to read, and gave me a pleasant glimpse into the wonderfully imaginative world of Star Wars. What's best, these books were written in the early nineties, before George Lucas had come along and ruined everything! I'm pretty sure they were written for eighth graders, but I had fun reading them all the same.

The series takes place five years after the events of Return of the Jedi and shows the fledgling New Republic taking shape and trying to survive. At the same time the Galactic Empire is in decline, until Grand Admiral Thrawn shows up. Thrawn is a really hardcore guy who is equal parts Sherlock Holmes and Robert E. Lee. He's a brilliant military strategist who studies the art of his enemies in an attempt to understand their psychology and thus predict they actions in battle. Even though he's the antagonist I couldn't help but be impressed by Thrawn's abilities. Aside from Thrawn himself there are only a few new characters worth mentioning. With Han Solo now a straight-edged republic citizen we need a new smuggler, so we get Talon Kaarde. He's our classic semi-brilliant smuggler with a heart of gold, and he serves as a nice foil for Thrawn. He's very loyal, very intelligent, and does what he thinks is right. He's on nobody's side but his own, but he's a cool guy and I really liked his character. Then we've got Mara Jade, who I was familiar with before even reading the books. She's a major part of the Star Wars expanded universe, so anyone with serious nerd cred should have at least heard the name. She works for Kaarde, and she has a major beef with Luke Skywalker and wants to kill him. That's all you need to know for now.

The plot of the three books is simple: Save the republic, stop Thrawn, stay alive. I really enjoyed the formula for the first two books, but by the third it was getting a bit old. I still liked the third book, but I thought it felt a bit labored in comparison to the others. One other complaint I had was that these books leaned too heavily on the films for source material. It seems that every character had to say one of their famous lines every now and then, particularly Han Solo. I got really tired of Zahn aping material from the films in order to breed familiarity. He's a pretty capable writer and obviously has a good grasp of the characters, so I think it's a tragic demonstration of a lack of self-confidence that he felt the need to borrow so much material. 

Is this series great literature? No. But it certainly is enjoyable. If you're a fan of Star Wars and need to get a fix while waiting for the highly anticipated J.J. Abrams/Disney films to come along give these a read. Each book is fairly short, and they progress rapidly. Plus there's plenty of satisfying Jedi stuff and cool lightsaber action. 

Score:7.5/10

Read this book if: You're a Star Wars fan who needs a break from serious literature.

Don't read this book if: You find Star Wars juvenile, or consider yourself above reading books written for teenagers (which is silly, since all the best books are written for teenagers). Also if you're so doggedly committed to the Star Wars film canon that you cannot permit any reinterpretations of the characters.

Killing Floor

So remember that fairly terrible Tom Cruise move that came out a while ago, Jack Reacher? Yeah...so, this is the first book in the series that inspired that lousy movie! The truth is that I actually really liked that movie. I was particularly interested in the character of Jack Reacher, who is a recently retired military policeman who specialized in homicide investigations for the army. He's a dogged investigator with his own sense of justice and morality, and now that he's out of the army he's traveling around 'Murica with nothing. No phone, no backpack, no driver's license. He just gets money from Western Union every now and then and wears a pair of clothes until they're dirty then buys another pair at a thrift store. Reacher's liberated lifestyle is fascinating, and I enjoyed briefly taking part in this fantasy of freedom.

The plot and characters of this book are completely irrelevant. Basically Reacher shows up in a small town completely by chance, and then gets drawn into a murder investigation when he (spoiler alert) gets accused of/framed for murder. He then proceeds to kick butt, take names, and try to clear himself so he can go on with his merry life. Naturally the plot thickens several times, there are twists and turns, and that's all I'm going to say. 

The characters are pretty flat and unsurprising. The sinister people stay sinister, the cool people stay cool, and nobody gets developed very well except Jack himself and possibly some guy at a barbershop. 

Now if the plot and characters are predictable, the writing itself is just downright awful. This is honestly one of the most poorly written books I've ever read. The language was clunky and ugly, the descriptions were vague and inconsistent, and the tone was repetitive and dull. My favorite line from the whole book demonstrate the echelon of writing in which this book falls. Jack is on a stakeout in a borrowed Bentley (of course), and he realizes his car stands out a bit. He muses to himself "It was about as distinctive as the most distinctive thing you could ever think of." Wow! That's quality writing if I've ever seen it! What a great simile! I love it when people compare an abstract concept with itself in a bid for clarity! Seriously, this writing is bad. Consider yourself warned.

But you know what? None of that stuff matters. I didn't care that the writing sucked, or that the plot was predictable, or that the characters were flat. This is just a fun book to read. It's a page turner in every sense of the word. It's the book equivalent of a J.J. Abrams movie: at it's core it really sucks, but it's fun enough to distract you from the fact for a while. I read this book quickly and frankly loved it the whole way through. It's flaws made me laugh, while it's story kept me entertained. Ultimately that's what books like this should do, so I deem it a success and give it my seal of approval. If you liked the movie or find the concept intriguing go ahead and give this book a shot. There're about a billion Jack Reacher books by Lee Child, but I hear the first one is the best.

Score: 7/10

Read this book if: You want to shut off your brain and have some fun. It's like watching a movie, but you'll look sophisticated while doing it!

Don't read this book if: You have even the slightest compunction about reading a book that is, in every measurable way, terrible and stupid.

Anne of Green Gables

There are books that have such a prominent place in public perception that it's almost impossible to approach them without preconceptions. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery is one such book. I grew up watching the movie as my mom would iron clothes, hearing references in movies like You've Got Mail, and generally thinking it was a book for girls. I was wrong. It may be a book about a girl, but this is definitely a book for everyone.

Anne of Green Gables tells the story of Anne Shirley, an orphan girl living in Nova Scotia who is accidentally adopted by the stern old maid Marilla Cuthbert and her shy brother Matthew. The events of the story are largely simple ones--going  to a concert, attending school, having tea with the pastor's wife--yet these events are lent a sense of significance through the gentle evolution of the characters, as well as through Anne's highly evolved taste for dramatics. Every character in this book is a delight. Montgomery presents the reader with characters who seem a bit extreme initially, but eventually soften and take the shape realistic lovable people. Seeing this change in the characters is a real joy, and it's reminiscent of the way we learn to love people as we get to know them better.

Of all the characters to watch take shape, Anne is the most interesting and entertaining. She's a highly imaginative, highly literate girl with an infinite capacity for drama and fantasy. Often these traits get her into trouble, but mostly they just make everyone around her smile. Anne is like an irrepressible ray of sunshine. Her elastic personality is extremely entertaining, and I loved watching her moods swing rapidly from pole to pole at the slightest provocation. Her language is hilarious, and her relationship with books and writing is fascinating.

I finished reading this book several months ago, so I'm afraid I'm a bit short on the details presently. However, I can remember my general impression from the book: delight. I absolutely loved reading Anne of Green Gables. I found the characters to be wonderful, the writing pleasant, and the messages about family, friendship, imagination, and learning to be profound and moving. I smiled, I almost cried, and I laughed frequently. This book may not be the most significant piece of literature ever written, but it's certainly a fine read. There's not a thing I'd change about it. If you've never read it, I urge you to do so as soon as possible!

Score: 10/10 Perfect!!!

Read this book if: You want to be absolutely delighted from start to finish with the hijinks of one of the most interesting young girls to ever grace a page, or if you want a moving story about the power of love and the nature of family.

Don't read this book if: You want to stay miserable forever and lead a life without joy!

Howl's Moving Castle

I like Anime. I'm particularly a fan of the works of Miyazaki (as I think most Americans who claim in interest in Anime are). The first Miyazaki film I ever saw was Howl's Moving Castle, and it wasn't until a couple months ago that I learned it was based on a book. Eventually I found a copy and decided to give it a read, and on the whole I found it to be pretty good. The plot is very close to the film at first, then it departs in a lot of crucial ways. It's close enough to still be enjoyable, and different enough to keep you guessing if you've seen the movie.
The  book, like the movie, is about a girl named Sophie who has a curse placed on her that turns her into an old woman. She then falls into the company of the wizard Howl, and his personal fire demon Calcifer. They have various adventures together battling witches and breaking spells, and it's all very mysterious and magical and exciting. I won't say  much more, because I don't want to venture into spoiler territory, and honestly there's just not much else to say.
The characters were pretty good. I really liked Calcifer, but I found both Howl and Sophie to be kind of annoying a lot of the time. I've heard a lot of people saying that by the time they finished the book they were absolutely in love with Howl, but I thought he was still pretty weird by the end. I guess that's just personal taste. The plot itself seemed to wander a bit before finding itself, and I felt the resolution happened to quickly and wasn't as satisfying as I would have liked.
Overall this book is decent, but by no means life-altering. It's a quick, fun read, and a worthy use of your time if you like fantasy novels, or if you're just a fan of the film and want to explore the source material. For anyone else this is a book that you can either take or leave, and it probably won't affect your life too much either way.
Score:7/10
Read this book if: You like the film, like fantasy novels, or are just looking for a fun and quick distraction.
Don't read this book if: You are on the prowl for some deep lit to brood over for a while.

P.S. I think the film is quite a bit better than the book.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

I'm really pleased I read this book before Gabriel Garcia Marquez passed away. He was a Nobel Prize-winning author, and most consider this work to be his finest. Marquez was a Colombian who wrote in an interesting genre known as magical realism, in which everyday events are interspersed with the wondrous and strange, yet it all is treated as perfectly normal. This blurry line between fantasy and reality lends a dreamlike quality to magical realism, and allows authors to explore diverse themes without being bound down by traditional literary conventions.
One Hundred Years of Solitude recounts the history of the founding, rise, and fall of a small town called Macondo, as seen through the eyes of the Buendia family. The book spans a hundred years and five generations, and within its pages Marquez has captured every facet of human life. There is  birth, death, joy, sorrow, victory, defeat, and always the persistent equalizing force of time. I was hugely impressed by the breadth of the novel, but also by its depth. Although Marquez covers a lot of ground, there are still characters who are well-developed and human, despite being fantastic and exaggerated at the same time.
All in all I found I enjoyed this book from a literary perspective, though I would never call it a page-turner. It was a bit tough to get through, but it was a rewarding read. I believe that with great literature you can feel some part of your soul being enlarged as you read. This is one of those books. I didn't always understand it, and I still have many questions about it, but I can feel  its weight and merit within me even if I didn't get everything I should have out of the book. This is an amazing literary achievement, and if you're in the mood for something that somehow manages to be both light and heavy at the same time, you'll probably find One Hundred Years of Solitude to be a fulfilling read.

Score:9/10
Read this book if: You are a true lover of great literature and are willing to slog through a few boring parts in order to feel like a deeper and more interesting person.
Don't read this book if: You have difficulty suspending disbelief when reading, or you prefer a book with a few strong central characters and a powerful plot that drives the story. The breadth of this book requires many plots and an enormous (and confusing) cast of characters.

Peril at End House

Ever so often I just get in the mood to read a good mystery. The only problem is that in my mind mystery books are a lot more...mysterious...than they are in real life. This probably comes from my misspent youth as a mystery video game lover. Still, I managed to power through this little Agatha Christie novel without too much boredom. It's about some woman who has had several attempts on her life, so Hercule Poirot wades into battle in order to keep her alive. It's your standard mystery story: everyone is lying, everyone is suspicious, and in the end it was...well, I won't spoil it for you. Like all mysteries, though, it tries to keep you guessing. Honestly, I kind of had it figured out (in a rough way at least, nothing too specific) by about a third of the way in. The problem with mystery books is that you can't ask questions. It's an investigation on rails, which is frustrating since you can't "investigate" they way you'd like. When I got to the end of the book I couldn't help thinking "I could have solved that way faster." So it was okay. Not great, but not bad. If you want to read a mystery book you could certainly do worse. Still, I think you'd be just as well served by watching the BBC version of the story starring David Suchet. I thought it was just as good as the book, but took a lot less time. Sooner or later I'll just have to face the music and accept that even the best mystery novel pales in comparison with a good mystery game, such as the Tex Murphy adventures. Hey, what a coincidence! Tesla Effect comes out tomorrow! Try it if you want the mystery experience with a bit more control!

Unfortunately no mystery novel
can compete with this!

Score:7/10
Read this book if: You like Agatha Christie and the predictably unpredictable twist endings common to the style.
Don't read this book if: You can play a Tex Murphy game instead.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Here's a nice little nibble of a review for you. About three months back I read The League of Extraordinary Gentleman by Alan Moore. It's a fun graphic novel, but not as good as The Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen. The art was excellent, the story was sufficiently compelling, and the writing was fun. It just didn't grab me at any deep level. It was entertainment only, which is sad, because it was so beautifully drawn. Here's the real crux of the book: I've already forgotten most of the plot. Still, it was good, and if you're a fan of Alan Moore's other work you'll probably enjoy it.

Score:8/10
Read this book if: You want to look at pretty pictures while being moderately entertained.
Don't read this book if: Compelling artwork isn't enough to keep you hooked.