Bookish Thoughts

Miles Errant  opens with this novella about Miles breaking out of a POW camp. It's one of the shorter stories set in this universe, but it still manages to pack a punch. Bujold takes Vonngeut's advice to start as close to the ending as possible, so we open with Miles getting tossed into prison. There's no background about how he got there, which means that he knows a lot more than the reader. But it doesn't feel that way. Miles sets about trying to organize the prisoners, and it isn't until 2/3 of the way through the story that the why falls into place, revealed right as the action starts. It's always fun to watch Miles puzzle his way through problems. He has a fantastic brain and a silver tongue, and those are literally his only assets in the prison. Even his clothes are stolen in the first few pages. But he's as resourceful and manipulative as ever, and it doesn't take him long to organize the prisoners. Placing himself in charge, of course. The re...

The seventh book of the  Wheel of Time  series is where many people agree that the series takes a dive in quality. Although I think it's less that anything changes significantly and more that people get tired of how stagnant the books are becoming. Nearly nothing happens in this book. Jordan still has serious issues writing female characters and romantic relationships. The world is continuing to be expanded on, and the rules of the magic system are slowly (so slowly) becoming more clear. But this is also a step down in terms of length. We go from a few 1000 page books in a row to one that's only 850 pages (and the next is less than 700!). Combine that with my brilliant idea to read  A Tale of Two Cities  right before this book, and I positively flew through it. I think you have to reach a sort of zen state to get through this series. There are a lot of side plots, a lot of world building, a lot of descriptions of clothing. Rather than just hating certain characte...

The third volume of Hawkeye backs up a bit to redo the last few pages of the last issue, which was largely free of dialogue, as it was shown from the point of view of Hawkeye's dog, Lucky. In the opening pages we get to see the argument between the two Hawkeyes, which ends with Kate Bishop storming out and continuing to storm all the way to LA, where he life promptly disintegrates. This volume collects the issues that chronicle Kate's time in LA, looking for a place to live and a job, battling her nemesis Madame Masque, and uncovering some truly horrific secrets. Watching her find her feet as she has to work for money for the first time in her life is a lot of fun. She makes some cool friends along the way, acquires a cat, and continually pisses off a detective. In the end, she heads back to New York to pull Clint Barton out of a tangle he likely doesn't know he's in. She's smarter and faster and more determined. The next volume is the conclusion to this comic r...

I read this book in high school, and unlike so many other people I actually did all of my assigned reading in school. I decided to re-read it because I didn't remember a thing about it. What's weird is that I definitely remember reading this book. It was the first time I was allowed to read one of my grandfather's fancy books, so I took great care of it. I distinctly remember sitting in an auto shop, reading this for hours, while my first car got its first oil change (the first one I gave it anyway). I remember talking about the symbolism and taking quizzes. But aside from the knitting lady and the opening and closing lines, I couldn't tell you a thing about the plot or characters or anything. Having re-read it, I think it's mostly because Dickens uses so many words. He repeats himself, goes off on tangents and comes back to the point within a single sentence. His descriptions are flowery. And while he sometimes sets the scene in an incredibly powerful way, more...

Moving Pictures  has never been my favorite  Discworld  book. Far from it really. I tend to file this with the earlier books that never seem to live up to the later ones. This isn't fair.  Moving Pictures  is actually a really solid book. There's an intricate plot that brings together a wealth of characters, an incredible critique of Hollywood, tons of thematic meat, an excellent twist ending and final fight that both plays into and subverts a bunch of action movie tropes, and the beginnings of some threads and characters that will soon become part of the fabric of this world. It's just that I'm not terribly interested in the subject matter. I'm not sure why. I'm an avid consumer of pop culture, and I like everything this book has to say about exploitation and obsession. It just wasn't written for me. It was written for people who live and work in Hollywood. Who are interested in the whole business of making movies, as well as the history of cinematography...

In the fourth volume, Saga finally jumps forward a little. Which is good. If this is going to be the story of Hazel's entire life, then we need some time to pass. Otherwise it will last forever. Hazel has gone from newborn to toddler. Her parents have found a safe haven of sorts, and her mom is working while her dad takes care of her. He's chafing at having to stay hidden. Ilana is chafing at her job. And everything begins to fall apart all over again. There's a lot of plot threads in this story, which means there's a lot to keep track of. But Vaughan handles it well, keeping most of the focus on the central family. I barely even realized that the bounty hunters and Lying Cat were missing until they showed up in the final issue. And in the meantime, the plot threads are starting to intersect in new and interesting ways. I'm really excited for Prince Robot IV to be basically switching sides in his quest for his kidnapped son. It's hard to really talk about ...

I feel like I've been hearing about this book for my entire life, so I was surprised to discover that it was published in 2004, after I'd graduated high school. It, and Jodi Picoult, are things I've always written off as something I clearly wouldn't be interested in. Chick lit, tear jerkers, books that I (foolishly) turned my nose up at. Then I found out what this book was about, and I knew that I had to read it as soon as possible. When two-year-old Kate is diagnosed with Leukemia, her parents opt to have another child, one who has been genetically engineered to be the perfect donor match for their sick daughter. Fast forward and 13-year-old Anna, having spent her entire life in and out of hospitals with her sister providing blood and bone marrow and whatever else she needs, has reached her limit. Kate needs a kidney that may or may not save her life and Anna doesn't want to undergo the risky and invasive procedure. So she sues her parents for medical emancipat...

Labyrinth  is a Vorkosigan novella included in the  Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem  volume of the saga. These novellas and short stories are the reason I tracked down the omnibus editions. They aren't sold separately and it's hard to find them in print. Since the Vorkosigan Saga is episodic, rather than one continuous story, they aren't necessary for following the plot. But they add some nice flavor. This one in particular fits in thematically with  Cetaganda  and  Ethan of Athos . All three stories are about the consequences of genetic manipulation, though  Labyrinth  brings it to the individual level. Miles is on a mission with the Dandarii Free Mercenaries with Captain Bel Thorne - a hermaphrodite from Beta. They are ostensibly looking for a new weapons contract, but along the way they plan to smuggle a geneticist away from the arms dealer. Along the way they come across a Quaddie - a woman who was designed for zero-gee life. She has four arms in...

Ethan of Athos  was first published in 1985, which means it's probably not fair to draw comparisons to the Mens' Rights Activists. That wasn't even a movement when this story was written. Bujold was simply considering one possible outcome of divorcing childbirth from womb through the invention of a uterine replicator. She was flipping the old "world of women" trope on it's head and digging into prejudices. But a planet full of men who are terrified of women, convinced that they're the root of all sin, becomes hilarious in the context of current politics. It was probably unintentional. I still laughed my way through the first two chapters of this book. The story follows Ethan, an obstetrician on Athos, a peaceful society of men. It was founded some 200 years previously by some men who wanted to leave women behind, bringing with them ovaries for use in creating future generations through in vitro fertilization and uterine replicators. But now the ovaries a...

The thing I love most about Ms. Marvel is that it takes a very common story and does it really well. There's nothing that unique about the bones of this arc. It's a fairly classic hero's journey mixed up with with a coming of age story. We've seen it time and time again. But this story hits each beat perfectly, and all the little details get a chance to really shine. The second volume is comprised of a 2-issue arc and a 4-issue arc, which are connected by the main bad guy. The Inventor is revealed at the end of the first volume, and now it's time for Kamala Khan to take him down. Along the way she meets up with Wolverine. When she's not fangirling all over him, she's busy saving both his ass and hers. Then the Inhumans send her a teleporting dog to help her out and she gets busy inspiring everyone to team up and take out the Inventor. She goes from wanting to do it herself, to realizing she can't and building a team to help her. The arc is starting t...

To paraphrase a local librarian,  Americanah  is about love, race, and hair. It's the most succinct, accurate description of the book I've encountered, though it still leaves out quite a bit. Most description focus on the plot, when this novel has much more to do with the themes it explores than with the characters or what happens to them. The plot is more of a frame for Adichie to hang her ideas on than the point of this book. The book mostly focuses on Ifemelu, her childhood in Nigeria, young adulthood in America, and eventual return to Nigeria. It also follows her high school boyfriend, Obinze, as he travels to and is ultimately deported from London. Circling them are a wealth of friends and family members, each struggling with life and race in their own ways. The book is peppered with Ifemelu's blog posts, her musings on race in America as seen from an outsider. Americanah  is dense without being inaccessible. There's a lot going on here. A lot of ideas about gr...

It only took a few pages of this book to remind me how much I like Lois McMaster Bujold and her Vorkosigan saga. She has created a fantastic world, filled with any number of interesting technologies, governments, and cultures. She has a wonderfully interesting protagonist in Miles and surrounds with gems like Ivan and Mia Maz. She blends all of her components into amazing, engaging, and interesting stories. And she does it all in less than 300 pages. Don't get me wrong. I love a good epic. I wouldn't be reading  Wheel of Time  if I didn't. But sometimes it's nice to have a plot-driven story that wraps up quickly. Cetaganda  puts Miles and his cousin in the middle of a convoluted plot of murder and treason. While attending the funeral services for the Empress of the neighboring empire, Cetaganda, Miles is framed for theft and murder. He begins to race against the clock, trying to clear his name and find the real culprit before he's ensnared fully. This involves l...

Aliens! Physics! Deep and difficult questions about whether humanity is inherently evil! I have to admit that I was wary going in to  The Three-Body Problem . It was a best-seller in China in 2009 and was just translated to English last year. I've heard a lot of people express difficulties about it. The language is stilted and the story seems to jump and focus on strange things. Some of that is cultural differences, others may be put down to translation. The point is that despite the great reputation of the book, I had some pretty low expectations. So I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Yes, it does jump around a lot. There's a game that seems to come out of nowhere and initially put me in mind of Neal Stephenson's  Snow Crash , which I found difficult. The aliens are weird and you have to seriously suspend your disbelief to accept them. But the science side of things was awesome, and I absolutely loved one of the main characters, Ye Wenjie. It's ...