On Saturday, April 16th I attended the Cosmix show at the Planetarium in downtown Bradenton. I drove 20 minutes to this planetarium with my friend Zach, really not sure of what we were going to go see nor had either of us ever been there. When we arrived we came to find out the Planetarium is actually a pretty cool place, they have several different models of skeletal structures from all different time periods, including a completely awesome mammoth that was at least 20 feet tall. This made me realize that I had never been to an actual museum where they had dinosaurs on display, and the nostalgia had risen in me, having been a fan of dinosaurs since I was a child. Anyways, on to the Cosmix show.
We arrived just on time and walked into the dim room, lit only by the ambient light provided by the projectors that were displaying the video, and sat down into the chairs that reclined much further than that of a normal chair. I was mostly expecting to see an actual planetarium show with the stars and planets displayed on the building's massive dome, and I was actually looking forward to it since I'd never been to one. I was surprised to find it was more of small film festival type thing that made me neither happy nor really disappointed as I'd never been to one of these either.
The first few videos weren't overly impressive since, I work at a music store and I know a lot of musicians that write much more technically merited electronic music than what was on display in the videos. Speaking of the first few videos they seemed kind of like windows 2000 screen savers with low polygon renders and low res texturing. But then came on, “Thread Theory” which was a some what boring visual experience made infinitely better by the way in which it was displayed on the big dome instead of on a normal flat monitor. What really made this one shine was the fact that all of the music was done by a live musician which I'm always a fan of, it wasn't the most technical of performances, but it was definitely a smooth sound that would fit in any ambient progressive listener's library.
A few of the other videos caught my attention as well, one of them by Trisha , I don't remember the name of the video, but her use of the screen's half spherical shape to signify the passing of mail across the different lines I thought was pretty creative and entertaining to watch as you recline back in your chair. Another one that stood out was PJ's, being one that seemingly creating an anmation by a series of time lapsed still image captures from an entire night and compiling them. Dr. Steiling's “Panorama” was one of the most interesting videos of the night, throughly enjoyed it all the way through and it's 50's vibe made me think of the game Bioshock in it's style. The final video of the night “Take the ride...” was a stand out for me, especially using the planetarium as a medium the video was almost entrancing as it's kaleidoscope pattern kept increasing it's speed more and more until it was almost unbearable to look at any longer and then it burst away and displayed a very fitting quote by Hunter S. Thompson.
All and all I thought it was a unique experience and I'm glad I went, I'm also intrigued to go again and see an normal planetarium event there as well.
-Dan
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Oryx and Crake
For literary speculation week, I decided to pick up Oryx and Crake, a novel by Margaret Atwood. This novel can be classified as and fit into a number of different genre's but I think post-apocalyptic science fiction probably fits it best. But, apparently the author herself has been said to label it as speculative fiction instead because it doesn't deal with “things that have not been invented yet.”
I noticed two main themes to Atwood's novel; the first being a distant future where earth's been effected by global warming to the point that coastal cities don't even exist, and it's impossible to live for any substantial amount of time outside in the sun. Most of the wealthier areas of the world are protected under places known as compounds, but there are places where the poor unprotected people live called the Pleeblands.
The second major theme has to do with the 3 central characters. The novel is mostly a single character driven novel in the form of Snowman, but most of the novels contents are contained with in his past where there are 3 main characters. In the past he is known as Jimmy, his “best” friend is Crake, and his lover (also Crake's) Oryx. The flashbacks seemed to take up most of the story's text, but almost everything in the novel is substantial, a lot of the beginning of Jimmy's story is a little boring but towards the end it's actually pretty interesting how Atwood connects things, like the game's creators being so much more than anyone ever expected in the beginning.
I found myself much more interested in Snowman's survival, the new world that was created by the catastrophic event, and Snowman's interaction with the utopian people the Crakers. It isn't as if anymore thought was put into it over the flashbacks, since it's all very well done, Atwood has fully realized her dystopian future world in almost every detail. But, it's rather a preference, considering I'm very much a fan of the barren post-apocalyptic tale that we see in all kinds of games, books, and movies in the current generation I really latched on to that part of the novel. It seems like a prevalent part of the flashback sequences was the really odd sexual references and pedophilia that I found kind of disturbing and made me not want to read them as much.
Overall I feel that it was an extremely inventive tale with its allusion to scientific advances and ideas of the present that are pushed into the future to be developed and eventually cause the fall of man. This is almost a cautionary tale of sorts ,but even if it's not viewed as that, there's no denying that it's a great piece of literature in all aspects. I was interested to see if a sequel had been written and apparently the author has released a novel called, The Year of the Flood, which isn't a direct sequel but has a lot of connections to Oryx and Crake; I'll probably give this one a shot when time permits.
-Dan
I noticed two main themes to Atwood's novel; the first being a distant future where earth's been effected by global warming to the point that coastal cities don't even exist, and it's impossible to live for any substantial amount of time outside in the sun. Most of the wealthier areas of the world are protected under places known as compounds, but there are places where the poor unprotected people live called the Pleeblands.
The second major theme has to do with the 3 central characters. The novel is mostly a single character driven novel in the form of Snowman, but most of the novels contents are contained with in his past where there are 3 main characters. In the past he is known as Jimmy, his “best” friend is Crake, and his lover (also Crake's) Oryx. The flashbacks seemed to take up most of the story's text, but almost everything in the novel is substantial, a lot of the beginning of Jimmy's story is a little boring but towards the end it's actually pretty interesting how Atwood connects things, like the game's creators being so much more than anyone ever expected in the beginning.
I found myself much more interested in Snowman's survival, the new world that was created by the catastrophic event, and Snowman's interaction with the utopian people the Crakers. It isn't as if anymore thought was put into it over the flashbacks, since it's all very well done, Atwood has fully realized her dystopian future world in almost every detail. But, it's rather a preference, considering I'm very much a fan of the barren post-apocalyptic tale that we see in all kinds of games, books, and movies in the current generation I really latched on to that part of the novel. It seems like a prevalent part of the flashback sequences was the really odd sexual references and pedophilia that I found kind of disturbing and made me not want to read them as much.
Overall I feel that it was an extremely inventive tale with its allusion to scientific advances and ideas of the present that are pushed into the future to be developed and eventually cause the fall of man. This is almost a cautionary tale of sorts ,but even if it's not viewed as that, there's no denying that it's a great piece of literature in all aspects. I was interested to see if a sequel had been written and apparently the author has released a novel called, The Year of the Flood, which isn't a direct sequel but has a lot of connections to Oryx and Crake; I'll probably give this one a shot when time permits.
-Dan
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Transmetropolitan
When I looked at the reading list this week I wasn't entirely intrigued by Snow Crash, though I'm sure it's a fine novel, but I was pleasantly surprised to find something written by Warren Ellis that I had never heard of. I've respected Ellis' work on comics such as Hellblazer, Planetary, and some of his shorter runs on a few Marvel comics like his Iron Man collaboration with Adi Granov, Extremis.
Transmetropolitan written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Darrick Robertson is a literary masterpiece that should be read by any fan of the cyberpunk genre wether you like comics or not. This graphic novel seems almost personal to Ellis and is probably the best writing that I've ever seen him produce, as he depicts this perfect blend of Fear and Loathing in an almost Blade Runner world. The art of Darrick Robertson, though not my favorite style, is absolutely perfect for the story in practically every way. Ellis and Robertson's immaculate effort defines the cyberpunk genre completely, really leaving nothing out.
The tattooed, loud mouthed, pill-popping journalist Spider Jerusalem is perfect and quite a compelling protagonist for this cyberpunk tale. In the genre, protagonists are often patterned on the idea of the lone hero fighting injustice, such as Robin Hood, Spider is no exception. Most of the time the protagonist in a cyberpunk tale is manipulated and placed in a situation where they have no choice but to do what they're being forced to do, just as Mr. Jerusalem is forced to move back into the city he loathes in order to fulfill his contract with a book company. Every column Spider writes he skillfully, through either physical means or entirely through his words, reveals the corrupt nature of whatever it is he feels is unjust. He's not the typical protagonist however, he's unsanitary, a drug user, and I don't think I've ever heard so much poor language out of a single individual, but he's oddly likable.
The world in Transmetropolitan has high tech conventions and ideas, but it's still portrayed in a grungy manner opposite to the very sleek and clean utopian nature of traditional science fiction. The city that Spider inhabits is beautifully illustrated by Robertson, showing the cluttered streets, alien prostitutes, and all sorts of humorous drug and porn advertisements. There are things that are super high tech such as machines that can manufacture just about anything, and then there are things that are still oddly grounded to the present. For instance, many of the buildings are basically what we have presently, which is realistically not how buildings I imagine would be engineered in the future, having all of the other advances that the inhabitants of Transmetropolitan enjoy.
I'm now about halfway through the series, even though we were only required to read the first graphic novel in the series and I just can't get enough of Transmetropolitan. Every time I'm done with a chapter I wanna immediately jump into the next and find out what kind of messed up political or social corruption Spider will violently and skillfully uncover and expose next.
- Dan
Transmetropolitan written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Darrick Robertson is a literary masterpiece that should be read by any fan of the cyberpunk genre wether you like comics or not. This graphic novel seems almost personal to Ellis and is probably the best writing that I've ever seen him produce, as he depicts this perfect blend of Fear and Loathing in an almost Blade Runner world. The art of Darrick Robertson, though not my favorite style, is absolutely perfect for the story in practically every way. Ellis and Robertson's immaculate effort defines the cyberpunk genre completely, really leaving nothing out.
The tattooed, loud mouthed, pill-popping journalist Spider Jerusalem is perfect and quite a compelling protagonist for this cyberpunk tale. In the genre, protagonists are often patterned on the idea of the lone hero fighting injustice, such as Robin Hood, Spider is no exception. Most of the time the protagonist in a cyberpunk tale is manipulated and placed in a situation where they have no choice but to do what they're being forced to do, just as Mr. Jerusalem is forced to move back into the city he loathes in order to fulfill his contract with a book company. Every column Spider writes he skillfully, through either physical means or entirely through his words, reveals the corrupt nature of whatever it is he feels is unjust. He's not the typical protagonist however, he's unsanitary, a drug user, and I don't think I've ever heard so much poor language out of a single individual, but he's oddly likable.
The world in Transmetropolitan has high tech conventions and ideas, but it's still portrayed in a grungy manner opposite to the very sleek and clean utopian nature of traditional science fiction. The city that Spider inhabits is beautifully illustrated by Robertson, showing the cluttered streets, alien prostitutes, and all sorts of humorous drug and porn advertisements. There are things that are super high tech such as machines that can manufacture just about anything, and then there are things that are still oddly grounded to the present. For instance, many of the buildings are basically what we have presently, which is realistically not how buildings I imagine would be engineered in the future, having all of the other advances that the inhabitants of Transmetropolitan enjoy.
I'm now about halfway through the series, even though we were only required to read the first graphic novel in the series and I just can't get enough of Transmetropolitan. Every time I'm done with a chapter I wanna immediately jump into the next and find out what kind of messed up political or social corruption Spider will violently and skillfully uncover and expose next.
- Dan
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Blood Child
Blood Child by Octavia Butler is an obvious novel about "Male Pregnancy" in a way. Alien symbiotic worms use human males as hosts for their children and live in a sort of society together.
1. Questions you have about the story you read:
1. Questions you have about the story you read:
- What is the relative age between all the humans, and why do they prefer living a terrible life with in a preserve only being able to live if they become hosts to these symbiotic aliens?
- I don't particularly have any other questions about the story, it seemed like a pretty straight forward short story about a child being fearful of the symbiotic alien, but in the end accepts it.
- I think the story is asking questions about the moral issue of some sort of race taking over the human race and using us as we use animals everyday.
- Also, is it okay to subject our bodies to something unnatural and seemingly horrifying just because that's what our previous generations of deemed unobjectionable.
- Seeing the author's picture, doesn't exactly arise any questions, but it seems odd as she appears to be a kind black woman to be coming up with weird science fiction ideas. These sorts of ideas are often presumed to be coming from some creepy single male that is left to his own devices.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Babel-17
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany is an interesting book to say the least. The novel uses a language as it's central point of focus, which seems pretty unique in the science fiction genre. Obviously I'm not saying that it's unheard of for a novel to be driven by an existing or made up language, since I've already pointed out that Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series is entirely based around the languages he forged; But in science fiction it's rarely taken into consideration.
Babel-17, once thought to be a code used by the enemy, is revealed as actually being an alien language with several interesting linguistic features. Apparently once one attains a grasp on Babel-17 it turns the user into an unwilling traitor, because the language alters the person's perception and even certain physical abilities rendering them incapable of unhindered thought. Delany's use of a language as a weapon of sorts, to me is extremely appealing and a fresh idea in science fiction, a genre (just like most any genre) that is exhausted with numerous novels that all share the same ideas.
The world in Babel-17 is really bizarre, but at the same-time oddly familiar to our own. Delany's use of body modifications and blatant references to sexual encounters were very progressive for the time in which the novel was written. The way they are portrayed are obviously fictional, but at the same time many of the things that Delany hints at are actually very much a reality in our own time. People in the present day are already obsessed with body modifications, such as tattoos and piercing, and it's not unbelievable to assume we will get to the point where human's will want modifications like the ones seen in Delany's novel.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would, because the world in Babel-17 is extremely fun and the language innovations are interesting. The main character, Rydra Wong isn't really that appealing to me, she's a poet and has definite skills in many human languages as well as a sense in decryption. But, all of her skills seem to have to do with languages and not much else which gives her a weak scholarly image. I think I would've enjoyed a more brave and classic hero that was still very intelligent and just as capable in the linguistics department as Wong. I did however enjoy a lot of Wong's the crew members so, that was a plus. The story is also seemingly a bit convoluted towards the end, when the story is reaching it's finale, but this isn't a major concern, as it still makes sense and doesn't detract from the novel as a whole.
Babel-17 is a well written and very original piece of science fiction... definitely worth reading if you're looking for a more contemporary edge (even though it was published in 1970) to the science fiction genre.
-Dan
Babel-17, once thought to be a code used by the enemy, is revealed as actually being an alien language with several interesting linguistic features. Apparently once one attains a grasp on Babel-17 it turns the user into an unwilling traitor, because the language alters the person's perception and even certain physical abilities rendering them incapable of unhindered thought. Delany's use of a language as a weapon of sorts, to me is extremely appealing and a fresh idea in science fiction, a genre (just like most any genre) that is exhausted with numerous novels that all share the same ideas.
The world in Babel-17 is really bizarre, but at the same-time oddly familiar to our own. Delany's use of body modifications and blatant references to sexual encounters were very progressive for the time in which the novel was written. The way they are portrayed are obviously fictional, but at the same time many of the things that Delany hints at are actually very much a reality in our own time. People in the present day are already obsessed with body modifications, such as tattoos and piercing, and it's not unbelievable to assume we will get to the point where human's will want modifications like the ones seen in Delany's novel.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would, because the world in Babel-17 is extremely fun and the language innovations are interesting. The main character, Rydra Wong isn't really that appealing to me, she's a poet and has definite skills in many human languages as well as a sense in decryption. But, all of her skills seem to have to do with languages and not much else which gives her a weak scholarly image. I think I would've enjoyed a more brave and classic hero that was still very intelligent and just as capable in the linguistics department as Wong. I did however enjoy a lot of Wong's the crew members so, that was a plus. The story is also seemingly a bit convoluted towards the end, when the story is reaching it's finale, but this isn't a major concern, as it still makes sense and doesn't detract from the novel as a whole.
Babel-17 is a well written and very original piece of science fiction... definitely worth reading if you're looking for a more contemporary edge (even though it was published in 1970) to the science fiction genre.
-Dan
Starship Troopers
This week I've finally read, Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein, a book that I've always desired to read, but never actually sat down and used the time, as I've now found I should have a long time ago. With Starship Troopers, Heinlein shows he isn't just a “hard science” fiction writer, but rather one more interested in military and general life, as well as politics. When I began to read the book, just as most people in our current generation, I had already been exposed to the movie and an animated television show when I was younger, both of which were almost entirely focused on the action between the infantry and bugs. Obviously these visual outlets are meant to feed the common person's desire to delve deeper into the technology and action aspects of Starship Troopers. In Heinlein's novel however, all of the actual fighting is more of a side note to the main plot, which displays the military life of a capsule trooper in the mobile infantry through the eyes of Jaun Rico.
As previously mentioned, Heinlein's novel isn't just science fiction, but it almost seems like a political essay. A size-able portion of the novel takes place in classrooms where Rico and other students engage in philosophical discussions with the teacher, whom in most cases seems almost like an outlet for Heinlein to speak his political beliefs directly through a character. Another interesting political point to the novel is the idea that suffrage is held exclusively for men and women who are willing to serve at least 2 years to the Federal Service. This is made possible by the fact that the Federation is a exclusively volunteer outfit and they're required to find a place for any person to signs up and wants to serve under the Federation. This undoubtedly led to the change in the United States' own military which was entirely a draft enlistment before Starship Troopers, which shows you how powerful of a writer Heinlein is.
Not only did Starship Troopers spark innovation in the United States' federal service but it also played a part in a number of different military concepts and innovations. Probably my favorite part about this novel is the Mobile Infantry's powered armor exoskeletons that powerfully upgraded the soldiers in practically every way. These exoskeletons have interestingly began real world research and development to give our infantry these same sorts of armor and abilities. Another notable innovation that I've noticed is the idea of using these entry capsules to drop the infantry where they need to be and then pull them out when the job is done. This is a tactic used in the military today, though not exactly in the same way, but I could definitely see the same convention employed if humans ever do move on to different planets and the technology is present.
Basically Starship Troopers was one of the essential science fiction novels that has gone so far as to change the way we live today and into the future. Heinlein's novel has affected much more than just that however, it's ideas and functions have been used over and over in science fiction novels and can even been seen today in many of the most popular video games such as Halo and Crysis or amazing viewers at the theater in movies like Iron-Man or The Matrix. Now I'm going to go continue working on my Starship Troopers book cover, be sure to check it out on my art blog when it's finished!
...AND here's a great technical death metal band with some nice science fiction keyboard textures and sampling, good bug fighting music!
The Faceless - All Dark Graves
-Dan
As previously mentioned, Heinlein's novel isn't just science fiction, but it almost seems like a political essay. A size-able portion of the novel takes place in classrooms where Rico and other students engage in philosophical discussions with the teacher, whom in most cases seems almost like an outlet for Heinlein to speak his political beliefs directly through a character. Another interesting political point to the novel is the idea that suffrage is held exclusively for men and women who are willing to serve at least 2 years to the Federal Service. This is made possible by the fact that the Federation is a exclusively volunteer outfit and they're required to find a place for any person to signs up and wants to serve under the Federation. This undoubtedly led to the change in the United States' own military which was entirely a draft enlistment before Starship Troopers, which shows you how powerful of a writer Heinlein is.
Not only did Starship Troopers spark innovation in the United States' federal service but it also played a part in a number of different military concepts and innovations. Probably my favorite part about this novel is the Mobile Infantry's powered armor exoskeletons that powerfully upgraded the soldiers in practically every way. These exoskeletons have interestingly began real world research and development to give our infantry these same sorts of armor and abilities. Another notable innovation that I've noticed is the idea of using these entry capsules to drop the infantry where they need to be and then pull them out when the job is done. This is a tactic used in the military today, though not exactly in the same way, but I could definitely see the same convention employed if humans ever do move on to different planets and the technology is present.
Basically Starship Troopers was one of the essential science fiction novels that has gone so far as to change the way we live today and into the future. Heinlein's novel has affected much more than just that however, it's ideas and functions have been used over and over in science fiction novels and can even been seen today in many of the most popular video games such as Halo and Crysis or amazing viewers at the theater in movies like Iron-Man or The Matrix. Now I'm going to go continue working on my Starship Troopers book cover, be sure to check it out on my art blog when it's finished!
...AND here's a great technical death metal band with some nice science fiction keyboard textures and sampling, good bug fighting music!
The Faceless - All Dark Graves
-Dan
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Warbreaker
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson is definitely a novel written by an author with Tolkien roots, but with a desire to forge new paths out of the fantasy mold. It's evident that many of the novel's conventions, such as the switch from a more traditional type of magic to something called BioChromatic Breath, are attempts to breathe new life (see what I did there?) into the genre.
Magic isn't the only thing that's altered in Sanderson's world either, there is a whole new world to explore with politics, religion, and even controllable zombie armies that play a big part in the overall plot of the story. That being said, not all of these ideas are fully realized and some of them are even too tediously explained. Too much time is used developing the cheesy, though well thought out magic system, and hardly any time is used fleshing out the political system and even some of the pivotal characters in the story are underdeveloped.
With all of the different games, movies, media, and even changes in how we live our lives it's obvious that author's such as Sanderson would step up and write a novel heavily influenced by everything around him/her. The inclusion of many of these new takes and additions are obviously the product of an author living in our current generation. Many of these changes turn out to be refreshing, such as the use of literal zombie armies to wage war and though the magic system is gimmicky, it is nice to see a different take on magic (Though I haven't come close to tiring of Tolkien). One thing about the writing that seemed a bit off is the dialogue of the characters was very much the vernacular of modern people, yet the world in the novel seemed more like a mix between medieval european and greek cultures. The speech could have been much more thought out just as some of the other characteristics of the world had been and this change would have brought a significant change to the reader's emersion into Warbreaker.
It's intriguing that the book is capable of being a mediocre stand alone piece of fiction, but definitely seems like it would work better as a set of books. This way a lot of this book's holes could be filled in, it would even be nice to see this done with a prequel first, and then followed by a sequel to Warbreaker. I know when I first started reading it, I thought I had skipped a book or something because right from the beginning you're thrown into a political struggle between two powers that you have no previous knowledge about.
Sanderson is obviously a skilled writer, much of the novel is pretty well written especially the action/fight sequences and most of the main characters aside from a few were pretty well developed. The book dragged on through probably eighty-five percent of the story with a few interesting parts, I seemed to like following LightSong's parts, but the end of the book was excellent with more action and plot bending than I knew what to do with. I've been told that this isn't the best example of his work so I'm thinking about reading some of his other novels. I'm interested to see where our current generation is taking the fantasy genre, but Warbreaker just had a few things that just didn't play to my personal tastes.
- Dan
Magic isn't the only thing that's altered in Sanderson's world either, there is a whole new world to explore with politics, religion, and even controllable zombie armies that play a big part in the overall plot of the story. That being said, not all of these ideas are fully realized and some of them are even too tediously explained. Too much time is used developing the cheesy, though well thought out magic system, and hardly any time is used fleshing out the political system and even some of the pivotal characters in the story are underdeveloped.
With all of the different games, movies, media, and even changes in how we live our lives it's obvious that author's such as Sanderson would step up and write a novel heavily influenced by everything around him/her. The inclusion of many of these new takes and additions are obviously the product of an author living in our current generation. Many of these changes turn out to be refreshing, such as the use of literal zombie armies to wage war and though the magic system is gimmicky, it is nice to see a different take on magic (Though I haven't come close to tiring of Tolkien). One thing about the writing that seemed a bit off is the dialogue of the characters was very much the vernacular of modern people, yet the world in the novel seemed more like a mix between medieval european and greek cultures. The speech could have been much more thought out just as some of the other characteristics of the world had been and this change would have brought a significant change to the reader's emersion into Warbreaker.
It's intriguing that the book is capable of being a mediocre stand alone piece of fiction, but definitely seems like it would work better as a set of books. This way a lot of this book's holes could be filled in, it would even be nice to see this done with a prequel first, and then followed by a sequel to Warbreaker. I know when I first started reading it, I thought I had skipped a book or something because right from the beginning you're thrown into a political struggle between two powers that you have no previous knowledge about.
Sanderson is obviously a skilled writer, much of the novel is pretty well written especially the action/fight sequences and most of the main characters aside from a few were pretty well developed. The book dragged on through probably eighty-five percent of the story with a few interesting parts, I seemed to like following LightSong's parts, but the end of the book was excellent with more action and plot bending than I knew what to do with. I've been told that this isn't the best example of his work so I'm thinking about reading some of his other novels. I'm interested to see where our current generation is taking the fantasy genre, but Warbreaker just had a few things that just didn't play to my personal tastes.
- Dan
Monday, February 28, 2011
Anansi Boys
The Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman, is quite an odd book. I have enjoyed some of Gaiman's other work including Sandman, but I never really found much of an attachment to this one in particular. I suppose this is the result of several different aspects. I didn't hate the book by any means, but I certainly wouldn't read it again, as it's merely an alright book as far as I'm concerned.
The book is not without it's good points and charms, most characters in the story are pretty well fleshed out and believable to the point where the reader will have an opinion of that person's personality entirely based on Gaiman's development through words. I, for instance, really hated Graham Coats, with a passion and that's exactly what the author intended. Also, the story was pretty imaginative, as I've never read or watched anything I would really call that similar in most aspects. Another enjoyable aspect of the story is that all of the characters seem to come from different aspects of the plot and then weave together in someway or another, and sometimes they exit and then happen to come back into the story at specific times making it pretty interesting to read. The imaginary world, though there is hardly any of it in this book which I'll complain about in a bit, is pretty interesting. My reasoning for not loving the book certainly doesn't stem from it being written poorly either. Gaiman, is definitely at the top of his craft in terms of writing. The story flows quite nicely and it's pretty easy to read with little confusion. I like how the book is serious at times, but at the same time not so serious and has little humorous parts and odd character quirks that will make the reader laugh to themselves while they're reading.
There aren't really any glaring things that make the book an alright one rather than an excellent one but, overall there is a reasoning for it. The story itself though interesting in how it connects the characters is pretty lacking other than that. Gaiman's story isn't hardly as grand or fantastic as I was expecting, the reader is basically just following Fat Charlie from one odd event to another as he tries to get his life back to normal, which is pretty boring in my opinion. The books world does seem pretty realistic most of the time which I realize is what Gaiman was going for, but the fantastical elements are way too mellowed down to where they don't even seem fantastic in comparison to the real world. There were characters I liked in the story but the main protagonist, Fat Charlie, I thought was terrible. He seemed really ignorant to everything in a dumb sort of way, and when something crazy happened around or to him, his reaction was almost as if it were normal, which it shouldn't be in comparison to his mundane office worker life. The idea of weak and boring gods with only the ability of persuasion wasn't very exciting to me either to be honest, even though I think it could be interesting if used in a less selfish and more extravagant way.
Overall, I guess though it was well written and had a sort of different approach, The Anansi Boys just wasn't to my cup of tea, it's hard to read a book where you don't even like the main character. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find that copy of Sandman...
-Dan
The book is not without it's good points and charms, most characters in the story are pretty well fleshed out and believable to the point where the reader will have an opinion of that person's personality entirely based on Gaiman's development through words. I, for instance, really hated Graham Coats, with a passion and that's exactly what the author intended. Also, the story was pretty imaginative, as I've never read or watched anything I would really call that similar in most aspects. Another enjoyable aspect of the story is that all of the characters seem to come from different aspects of the plot and then weave together in someway or another, and sometimes they exit and then happen to come back into the story at specific times making it pretty interesting to read. The imaginary world, though there is hardly any of it in this book which I'll complain about in a bit, is pretty interesting. My reasoning for not loving the book certainly doesn't stem from it being written poorly either. Gaiman, is definitely at the top of his craft in terms of writing. The story flows quite nicely and it's pretty easy to read with little confusion. I like how the book is serious at times, but at the same time not so serious and has little humorous parts and odd character quirks that will make the reader laugh to themselves while they're reading.
There aren't really any glaring things that make the book an alright one rather than an excellent one but, overall there is a reasoning for it. The story itself though interesting in how it connects the characters is pretty lacking other than that. Gaiman's story isn't hardly as grand or fantastic as I was expecting, the reader is basically just following Fat Charlie from one odd event to another as he tries to get his life back to normal, which is pretty boring in my opinion. The books world does seem pretty realistic most of the time which I realize is what Gaiman was going for, but the fantastical elements are way too mellowed down to where they don't even seem fantastic in comparison to the real world. There were characters I liked in the story but the main protagonist, Fat Charlie, I thought was terrible. He seemed really ignorant to everything in a dumb sort of way, and when something crazy happened around or to him, his reaction was almost as if it were normal, which it shouldn't be in comparison to his mundane office worker life. The idea of weak and boring gods with only the ability of persuasion wasn't very exciting to me either to be honest, even though I think it could be interesting if used in a less selfish and more extravagant way.
Overall, I guess though it was well written and had a sort of different approach, The Anansi Boys just wasn't to my cup of tea, it's hard to read a book where you don't even like the main character. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find that copy of Sandman...
-Dan
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Golden Compass
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman was a fantastic fantasy novel. The story started off a bit slow, using almost a third of the novel showing Lyra and Roger's journeys through out Oxford and Jordan College and at length explains the child rivalries and seemingly inconsequential activities that take place in Lyra's “normal” life; To the impatient reader this could be conceived as tiresome. But, actually in retrospect turns out to be a very fun literary device by the end of the novel. Pullman reveals several of Lyra's key character traits in this “Oxford” chapter, showing how she's very much a liar, rough, adventurous, and not really one for learning, unless it's to her particular interests. Most importantly, the beginning sets up the very strong bond between Lyra and Roger, which really comes in to play in this book's epic climax where Lord Asriel severs Roger's daemon, killing him and releasing the energy he needed to complete the opening to the parallel world in the sky.
The book, though it's published with children as a target, has quite an intricate plot with many twists and turns and some surprisingly violent and entertaining subject matter. Once the story picked up and got out of it's Oxford scene I was at the edge of my seat with every plot twist from the discovery of the “General Oblation Board” to the deception of Lord Asriel and the action packed battles between armored bears. Which brings me to my favorite character, Lorek Byrnison, is by far one of my favorite characters in a fantasy novel ever. Almost all of the story elements that are driven by Lorek or that he plays a main role in the segment were definitely the most enjoyable to read. His nobility and sense of righteousness later on in the story make him like-able and his brutal nature as an armored bear is very appealing to people that like action and fantasy, I mean what could be more completely amazing than a huge polar bear that can talk and is clad in rusty battle-worn armor. Undoubtedly my favorite scene is when, Lorek despite being seemingly outmatched, destroys Lofur Raknison in a bloody match, ripping his lower jaw off and slicing open his fur and devouring his heart, regaining his rightful throne.
Lyra wasn't one of my favorite fantasy main characters as she is basically just a small girl that isn't really the image of a hero in my mind, and is often times dependent on many of the other characters to help her in every point of her journey. She isn't without merit however, she has an interesting ability to be convincingly deceptive, a skill often times reserved for the villain. In addition to her sly talking abilities she is armed with a not so conventional tool as well, the alethiometer. She alone knows how to interpret it and by the end of the book she definitely knows how to use it well, taking advantage of it's ability to tell basically any truth, she whittles her way through several situations such as her imprisonment with Lofur.
Before reading The Golden Compass I had heard about it being anti-catholic or just anti-religious altogether and it was met with a lot of scorn especially after the movie came out. I honestly wasn't sure what it was really talking about until the end when most of the theory about dust and the parallel worlds are discussed at length between Lyra and Lord Asriel, and then I understood what it was they were talking about in a way. But, really it could be conceived as a novel about religion in ways, so I'm still unsure as to why it was met with so much disdain. Being agnostic, I don't particularly care if it's religious or not, just as long it's a still a great novel, and Pullman's novel is just that.
I'm glad I didn't give up on this novel as I almost did in the beginning Oxford chapters, because I really ended up enjoying the novel as a whole and appreciating the bountiful and subtle foreshadowing that riddled the beginning of the story by the time I got to suspenseful ending. In the end, the Pullman's novel really impressed me and just as reading The Hobbit last week made me want to read the Lord of the Rings, I'm now compelled to embark on a journey through the rest of the His Dark Materials trilogy.
-Dan
The book, though it's published with children as a target, has quite an intricate plot with many twists and turns and some surprisingly violent and entertaining subject matter. Once the story picked up and got out of it's Oxford scene I was at the edge of my seat with every plot twist from the discovery of the “General Oblation Board” to the deception of Lord Asriel and the action packed battles between armored bears. Which brings me to my favorite character, Lorek Byrnison, is by far one of my favorite characters in a fantasy novel ever. Almost all of the story elements that are driven by Lorek or that he plays a main role in the segment were definitely the most enjoyable to read. His nobility and sense of righteousness later on in the story make him like-able and his brutal nature as an armored bear is very appealing to people that like action and fantasy, I mean what could be more completely amazing than a huge polar bear that can talk and is clad in rusty battle-worn armor. Undoubtedly my favorite scene is when, Lorek despite being seemingly outmatched, destroys Lofur Raknison in a bloody match, ripping his lower jaw off and slicing open his fur and devouring his heart, regaining his rightful throne.
Lyra wasn't one of my favorite fantasy main characters as she is basically just a small girl that isn't really the image of a hero in my mind, and is often times dependent on many of the other characters to help her in every point of her journey. She isn't without merit however, she has an interesting ability to be convincingly deceptive, a skill often times reserved for the villain. In addition to her sly talking abilities she is armed with a not so conventional tool as well, the alethiometer. She alone knows how to interpret it and by the end of the book she definitely knows how to use it well, taking advantage of it's ability to tell basically any truth, she whittles her way through several situations such as her imprisonment with Lofur.
Before reading The Golden Compass I had heard about it being anti-catholic or just anti-religious altogether and it was met with a lot of scorn especially after the movie came out. I honestly wasn't sure what it was really talking about until the end when most of the theory about dust and the parallel worlds are discussed at length between Lyra and Lord Asriel, and then I understood what it was they were talking about in a way. But, really it could be conceived as a novel about religion in ways, so I'm still unsure as to why it was met with so much disdain. Being agnostic, I don't particularly care if it's religious or not, just as long it's a still a great novel, and Pullman's novel is just that.
I'm glad I didn't give up on this novel as I almost did in the beginning Oxford chapters, because I really ended up enjoying the novel as a whole and appreciating the bountiful and subtle foreshadowing that riddled the beginning of the story by the time I got to suspenseful ending. In the end, the Pullman's novel really impressed me and just as reading The Hobbit last week made me want to read the Lord of the Rings, I'm now compelled to embark on a journey through the rest of the His Dark Materials trilogy.
-Dan
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Hobbit
Finally! I've fulfilled my long awaited desire to read the fantasy classic, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I've always punished myself for having not read nearly any of the essential fantasy novels as I am a fan of the genre, but sadly have been deprived of much reading all together. The Hobbit is a great novel for anyone to read, wether they're a fan of the genre or not, I personally enjoyed it quite a bit.
I've never read The Lord of the Rings (though I intend to soon), but I am very much a fan of the movie adaptations by Peter Jackson. Probably the biggest difference I can see between the two is that Tolkien seemingly wrote The Hobbit as a children's book rather as an epic fantasy novel, which is obviously the category to which LOTR would fit. Being not just a normal children's piece, but rather a masterpiece of children's fiction in my mind and in the minds of many others, The Hobbit can be read by both children and adults and both will find an enriching and entertaining experience.
The Hobbit is often touted as being a prequel to LOTR, but I see them as a separate pieces that correlate in a few interesting ways, but neither is essential to the other. This is mainly because of the jump in genre from children's fiction in The Hobbit to epic fantasy in LOTR. It is interesting though, that both of Tolkien's tales are the definitive masterpieces of their own genre thus making them of the same importance, just in different ways entirely.
Though the similarities between the two aren't of real consequence or importance I did find many of them very enjoyable especially if you've read or seen LOTR before you read The Hobbit and you find yourself thinking: “That's where Bilbo got the coat of mithril and his trusty sword “Sting” that he handed over to Frodo after his move to Rivendale!” or “Here come the eagles to save Gandalf and the other “good” guys just in the nick of time!”
I found the story to be very inventive for it's time especially, as this is no doubt the source to which almost all fantasy derives. I found myself happily flipping the digital pages of my ePub document to read about Mr. Baggins and his dwarf companions, never getting bored of their adventure. The adventure is an extremely streamlined one and we find our protagonists never caught up by their obstacles for very long. I feel like this makes it for a more captivating read for children but this quality is not without it's downside.
The one thing that was a little lacking for my tastes was character development; Bilbo was a very fleshed out character, Tolkien cleverly and subtly informs the reader of every aspect of the hobbit's personality throughout the story, and how he changes from a regular timid unmotivated creature to a great burglar that learns to trust his instincts and lucky nature. Few other characters have even close to this amount of depth however, even the second most important character, Thorin, isn't really included that much until near the end of the novel. This fault certainly isn't a large one because it is obvious that it's purposely intended to be a concise tale, with not a lot of room for each character to have all of their back history and thoughts to be put on display. This is apparent in many scenes where Tolkien will push the story forward when a character leaves such as Gandalf, giving the reader a “you don't need to know where he's going, that's not part of this tale.”
All and all I think The Hobbit is not only a children's masterpiece, but also a great work of fiction. I was so inspired by this book actually, that I've begun doing several character concepts and environments based on Tolkien's introduction to Middle-Earth. I look forward exploring Tolkien's universe with the LOTR and possibly even The Silmarillion.
-Dan
... EPIC Fantasy metal... a must! Opposed to the Japanese metal from last week I'm actually a fan of the folk/fantasy metal genre, however cheesy it maybe! ENJOY~~!
Equilibrium - Blut Im Auge
I've never read The Lord of the Rings (though I intend to soon), but I am very much a fan of the movie adaptations by Peter Jackson. Probably the biggest difference I can see between the two is that Tolkien seemingly wrote The Hobbit as a children's book rather as an epic fantasy novel, which is obviously the category to which LOTR would fit. Being not just a normal children's piece, but rather a masterpiece of children's fiction in my mind and in the minds of many others, The Hobbit can be read by both children and adults and both will find an enriching and entertaining experience.
The Hobbit is often touted as being a prequel to LOTR, but I see them as a separate pieces that correlate in a few interesting ways, but neither is essential to the other. This is mainly because of the jump in genre from children's fiction in The Hobbit to epic fantasy in LOTR. It is interesting though, that both of Tolkien's tales are the definitive masterpieces of their own genre thus making them of the same importance, just in different ways entirely.
Though the similarities between the two aren't of real consequence or importance I did find many of them very enjoyable especially if you've read or seen LOTR before you read The Hobbit and you find yourself thinking: “That's where Bilbo got the coat of mithril and his trusty sword “Sting” that he handed over to Frodo after his move to Rivendale!” or “Here come the eagles to save Gandalf and the other “good” guys just in the nick of time!”
I found the story to be very inventive for it's time especially, as this is no doubt the source to which almost all fantasy derives. I found myself happily flipping the digital pages of my ePub document to read about Mr. Baggins and his dwarf companions, never getting bored of their adventure. The adventure is an extremely streamlined one and we find our protagonists never caught up by their obstacles for very long. I feel like this makes it for a more captivating read for children but this quality is not without it's downside.
The one thing that was a little lacking for my tastes was character development; Bilbo was a very fleshed out character, Tolkien cleverly and subtly informs the reader of every aspect of the hobbit's personality throughout the story, and how he changes from a regular timid unmotivated creature to a great burglar that learns to trust his instincts and lucky nature. Few other characters have even close to this amount of depth however, even the second most important character, Thorin, isn't really included that much until near the end of the novel. This fault certainly isn't a large one because it is obvious that it's purposely intended to be a concise tale, with not a lot of room for each character to have all of their back history and thoughts to be put on display. This is apparent in many scenes where Tolkien will push the story forward when a character leaves such as Gandalf, giving the reader a “you don't need to know where he's going, that's not part of this tale.”
All and all I think The Hobbit is not only a children's masterpiece, but also a great work of fiction. I was so inspired by this book actually, that I've begun doing several character concepts and environments based on Tolkien's introduction to Middle-Earth. I look forward exploring Tolkien's universe with the LOTR and possibly even The Silmarillion.
-Dan
... EPIC Fantasy metal... a must! Opposed to the Japanese metal from last week I'm actually a fan of the folk/fantasy metal genre, however cheesy it maybe! ENJOY~~!
Equilibrium - Blut Im Auge
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things
J-Horror is a relatively new genre of literature to me, previous to taking this class I was pretty ignorant to it's existence all together. Even in the movies I've been primarily in the dark, having not even seen the american remakes such as The Grudge, just because I didn't feel very interested at the time they were released.
I began reading A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami and it was pretty cool in the way the author describes things and really gives his characters a believability but, the plot was so abrupt and quick that I was getting overly confused at the time I tried to read it. So, I put the book down and decided to read Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things which was collected and translated by Lafcadio Hearn. I would like to eventually try reading A Wild Sheep Chase again when my mind isn't so attentive to other things because I do think it would be an interesting read.
On to the Kwaidan, the stories ranged from musicians singing to ghost, to corpse devouring former priests, to snow white feminine specters. Overall they were interesting to the point that I couldn't wait to hear the climax of each story and then hop right into the next one. Some of them felt a bit obvious in a way, but I presume that's because they're derived from century old mythology that always seems to have that feeling of simplicity to them. The first story in the Kwaidan, “The Story of Mimi-nashi Hoichi,” was probably my favorite of the bunch and was coincidentally the story we watched in film version at the beginning of class. I enjoyed the correlation between the original story and how it was adapted to the film, many of the phrases seemed to be directly ripped from the source material and put into the movie.
I also enjoyed the story of the “Jikininki” because I liked the idea of a selfish or greedy individual in life being morphed into a specter, cursed to seek out and eat the corpses of the recently deceased. The spirit does this not because they're evil, but because it's actually a punishment and the jikininki is disgusted by their condition and hate their abhorrent lust for decaying human flesh. Also interesting, is the fact that in this story and most other Japanese “ghost” stories the spirit is often given a human physical appearance and is perceived as such, leading to some interesting story devices. For instance in this story the main character priest actually comes across the jikininki first and is tricked into believing that he is a priest as well, but finds out later in conversation with the jikininki himself that he's actually a cursed specter.
These stories are interesting because they show how closely religion and ancestry is to the way the Japanese conduct their daily lives. As opposed to most other country's ghosts who are believed to hold an ill-will towards the living and literally haunt them. In Japan the “ghost stories” are intended to comfort and inspire their audience and to strengthen their social and religious ideas. Also, I feel that in manly it's supernatural and gothic tales the japanese seem to bring a sort of performance feeling to their writing and theatrical efforts much more so than most other countries that seem to go for more of a representational or believable quality. The stories are often perceived as strange when read by outside sources, but it isn't in reality because this quality is something that has been ingrained in Japanese society since the culture has existed and is more of a natural progression.
The Kwaidan has definitely opened up my mind to the differences in Japanese culture to our own and how it makes their writing and film much different, I look forward to exploring this genre more in the future because of it's unique approach.
Also, because I found it funny, Here's my Japanese Metal Pick!! I don't listen to anything japanese in terms of music, but I figured I'd give it a shot. Almost what I'd expect to hear from Japan... Pop+Metal, haha it's well done but definitely not my style.
Blood Stain Child - Freedom
I began reading A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami and it was pretty cool in the way the author describes things and really gives his characters a believability but, the plot was so abrupt and quick that I was getting overly confused at the time I tried to read it. So, I put the book down and decided to read Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things which was collected and translated by Lafcadio Hearn. I would like to eventually try reading A Wild Sheep Chase again when my mind isn't so attentive to other things because I do think it would be an interesting read.
On to the Kwaidan, the stories ranged from musicians singing to ghost, to corpse devouring former priests, to snow white feminine specters. Overall they were interesting to the point that I couldn't wait to hear the climax of each story and then hop right into the next one. Some of them felt a bit obvious in a way, but I presume that's because they're derived from century old mythology that always seems to have that feeling of simplicity to them. The first story in the Kwaidan, “The Story of Mimi-nashi Hoichi,” was probably my favorite of the bunch and was coincidentally the story we watched in film version at the beginning of class. I enjoyed the correlation between the original story and how it was adapted to the film, many of the phrases seemed to be directly ripped from the source material and put into the movie.
I also enjoyed the story of the “Jikininki” because I liked the idea of a selfish or greedy individual in life being morphed into a specter, cursed to seek out and eat the corpses of the recently deceased. The spirit does this not because they're evil, but because it's actually a punishment and the jikininki is disgusted by their condition and hate their abhorrent lust for decaying human flesh. Also interesting, is the fact that in this story and most other Japanese “ghost” stories the spirit is often given a human physical appearance and is perceived as such, leading to some interesting story devices. For instance in this story the main character priest actually comes across the jikininki first and is tricked into believing that he is a priest as well, but finds out later in conversation with the jikininki himself that he's actually a cursed specter.
These stories are interesting because they show how closely religion and ancestry is to the way the Japanese conduct their daily lives. As opposed to most other country's ghosts who are believed to hold an ill-will towards the living and literally haunt them. In Japan the “ghost stories” are intended to comfort and inspire their audience and to strengthen their social and religious ideas. Also, I feel that in manly it's supernatural and gothic tales the japanese seem to bring a sort of performance feeling to their writing and theatrical efforts much more so than most other countries that seem to go for more of a representational or believable quality. The stories are often perceived as strange when read by outside sources, but it isn't in reality because this quality is something that has been ingrained in Japanese society since the culture has existed and is more of a natural progression.
The Kwaidan has definitely opened up my mind to the differences in Japanese culture to our own and how it makes their writing and film much different, I look forward to exploring this genre more in the future because of it's unique approach.
Also, because I found it funny, Here's my Japanese Metal Pick!! I don't listen to anything japanese in terms of music, but I figured I'd give it a shot. Almost what I'd expect to hear from Japan... Pop+Metal, haha it's well done but definitely not my style.
Blood Stain Child - Freedom
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Interview with a Vampire
This was the week of the vampire, one that I wasn't so much looking forward to, because unlike almost all of the other genre's that we are to cover during the semester, the vampire genre isn't one I've ever been very fond of. Interview with a Vampire, by Anne Rice certainly didn't make me want to go out and buy a fake pair of sharp canines or a coffin to sleep in. Not only do I dislike vampires, but Rice's writing style (not that it wasn't written well) is definitely not one that could easily hold my attention. The story often felt to be dragging severely with large amounts of description when it wasn't even needed. Maybe if the book was about half as long it would be sufficient.
The more I think about it however, I don't really dislike the idea of a vampire. The thought of a ghoulish phantom that attacks people directly with the most primitive of weapons, their own teeth, draining their victims of so much blood that they become incapacitated and left to die, is definitely in a horror fan's appeal. I think what I don't like about vampires is that in novels and other forms of entertainment the idea is romanticized and taken from it's “monster” roots just as it is in Interview with a Vampire. In movies like Blade, Vampire Hunter D, or Underworld, the vampire(s) aren't really horrific monsters, but they certainly aren't romanticized either. They all hold true to the common characteristics of a fictional vampire, and turn it more into an action oriented gory show of blades and mutilation of humans and even other monsters. I feel that the vampire genre like many others is rather diverse and can appeal to all different types of people, but I feel because of it's romantic view on the otherworldly creature Interview is primarily written with the female reader in mind.
There are a few things that I did find interesting about Rice's novel however; I enjoyed how she described the vampires as being bone pale and possessing extremely smooth features tightly pulled over their facial structure to give them more of a ghastly appearance that they had to hide in the dimmest of lights when conversing with a normal person. In most vampire fiction, including the film adaptation of the book Interview with a Vampire, as long as it's night the normal humans have no suspicion that they're actually in the company of a vampire. I also liked the scene, though it was extremely short when Claudia and Louis run into the European vampire, who seems almost zombie-like with his brutish strength and nothing driving him but a crazed hunger for, in this case, blood. Lestat was a great character with an arrogant personality, due to his experience and expertise in all things vampire, which gave him the ability to be extremely manipulative. In Rice's novel vampires aren't harmed by the common garlic and cross weakness' that they're often thought to have, but the community is aware of the myth, which was pretty unique.
It wasn't a terrible book, but it certainly wasn't my favorite, romanticized vampires just aren't part of testosterone fueled interests, and I won't be reading any of the other books in The Vampire Chronicles, I'll just stick with Castlevania and Blade.
The more I think about it however, I don't really dislike the idea of a vampire. The thought of a ghoulish phantom that attacks people directly with the most primitive of weapons, their own teeth, draining their victims of so much blood that they become incapacitated and left to die, is definitely in a horror fan's appeal. I think what I don't like about vampires is that in novels and other forms of entertainment the idea is romanticized and taken from it's “monster” roots just as it is in Interview with a Vampire. In movies like Blade, Vampire Hunter D, or Underworld, the vampire(s) aren't really horrific monsters, but they certainly aren't romanticized either. They all hold true to the common characteristics of a fictional vampire, and turn it more into an action oriented gory show of blades and mutilation of humans and even other monsters. I feel that the vampire genre like many others is rather diverse and can appeal to all different types of people, but I feel because of it's romantic view on the otherworldly creature Interview is primarily written with the female reader in mind.
There are a few things that I did find interesting about Rice's novel however; I enjoyed how she described the vampires as being bone pale and possessing extremely smooth features tightly pulled over their facial structure to give them more of a ghastly appearance that they had to hide in the dimmest of lights when conversing with a normal person. In most vampire fiction, including the film adaptation of the book Interview with a Vampire, as long as it's night the normal humans have no suspicion that they're actually in the company of a vampire. I also liked the scene, though it was extremely short when Claudia and Louis run into the European vampire, who seems almost zombie-like with his brutish strength and nothing driving him but a crazed hunger for, in this case, blood. Lestat was a great character with an arrogant personality, due to his experience and expertise in all things vampire, which gave him the ability to be extremely manipulative. In Rice's novel vampires aren't harmed by the common garlic and cross weakness' that they're often thought to have, but the community is aware of the myth, which was pretty unique.
It wasn't a terrible book, but it certainly wasn't my favorite, romanticized vampires just aren't part of testosterone fueled interests, and I won't be reading any of the other books in The Vampire Chronicles, I'll just stick with Castlevania and Blade.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Monster Island
A novel written and released in a serialized series of blog posts originally in 2004 and then was later published in print in 2006. The story revolves around a former United Nations weapons inspector named Dekalb; who's daughter, Sarah is being held in Somalia by the Woman's Republic and their leader, Mama Halima. A key factor to the plot is Mama Halima's infliction with AIDs, which fortunately for Dekalb, requires her to have certain medication in order to continue to live. Dekalb being a former UN weapons inspector and resident of New York City is entrusted with a mission to NYC to find and recover AIDS medication for Mama Halima. The Republic is represented by several young female warriors, among them is one named Ayaan who plays a major role throughout Dekalb's mission. These young girls are bred specifically to fight for the Republic and they're willing to give up anything for their operation including their lives.
The story opens up with the feeling that it is basically your typical zombie piece, but quickly deviates from this illusion with the addition of Gary. Gary is a former medical student who theorizes that the undead are only “mindless” due to cerebral hypoxia, a lack of oxygen supply to the brain, which occurs when the subject “dies” and becomes reanimated. Using his theory and his access to medical supplies, Gary gets into a cold bath, presumably to keep the swelling down when his body dies, and attaches himself to a dialysis machine and respirator to keep his brain functioning while he's “dead” and the epidemic courses through his body. The inclusion of Gary is just the beginning of the story's deviation from a normal zombie survival story; As the story progresses you find that there are others like Gary that are in all ways dead aside from their brain and they all possess special powers that are accessible through a dark network of energy. I think this inclusion of dark energies and necromantic powers gives Monster Island almost a fantasy like feeling and puts horror into a sub genre in which to classify the novel. Also, different from most is the fact that even animals can become undead beings and they aren't specifically chasing after the cliché “brains” of origin, but rather they're trying to satisfy an unbearable hunger that is satisfied by any given thing with nutrients but they are more drawn to the golden “glow” of the living.
The differences in rules of the common zombie aren't the only things that give the author's, David Wellington's, novel a definite contrast from the rest. One of my favorite parts of the Monster Island is that it's written in a serialized fashion, making each chapter a more quickly resolved idea than the typical fiction novel. Wellington, does an excellent job of setting up each scene with adequate amounts of visual indications that never feel too overly descriptive or adversely underwhelming and bland. In addition, every other chapter is displayed in either the view of Dekalb or the antagonist, Gary, giving the reader two story lines to follow which often segregate and overlap each other several times in the story, a technique I'm a big fan of.
I'm very happy I took the time to read this novel thoroughly and I'm looking forward to reading Wellington's 2 other books in the series, I'm a big fan of the zombie genre in all forms of media. The subject of zombies gives in to our human nature because at one point zombies were human, and no one knows exactly what the course of action would be to dealing with them. Survival is always an interesting situation and one that reader's love to be entertained with so these are reasons to why I feel the zombie genre is so popular with the current generation, and really would a worldwide epidemic really be that inconceivable? No, I don't think it would...
-Dan
...And here's my corresponding metal pick of the week:
All Shall Perish - Herding the Brainwashed
The story opens up with the feeling that it is basically your typical zombie piece, but quickly deviates from this illusion with the addition of Gary. Gary is a former medical student who theorizes that the undead are only “mindless” due to cerebral hypoxia, a lack of oxygen supply to the brain, which occurs when the subject “dies” and becomes reanimated. Using his theory and his access to medical supplies, Gary gets into a cold bath, presumably to keep the swelling down when his body dies, and attaches himself to a dialysis machine and respirator to keep his brain functioning while he's “dead” and the epidemic courses through his body. The inclusion of Gary is just the beginning of the story's deviation from a normal zombie survival story; As the story progresses you find that there are others like Gary that are in all ways dead aside from their brain and they all possess special powers that are accessible through a dark network of energy. I think this inclusion of dark energies and necromantic powers gives Monster Island almost a fantasy like feeling and puts horror into a sub genre in which to classify the novel. Also, different from most is the fact that even animals can become undead beings and they aren't specifically chasing after the cliché “brains” of origin, but rather they're trying to satisfy an unbearable hunger that is satisfied by any given thing with nutrients but they are more drawn to the golden “glow” of the living.
The differences in rules of the common zombie aren't the only things that give the author's, David Wellington's, novel a definite contrast from the rest. One of my favorite parts of the Monster Island is that it's written in a serialized fashion, making each chapter a more quickly resolved idea than the typical fiction novel. Wellington, does an excellent job of setting up each scene with adequate amounts of visual indications that never feel too overly descriptive or adversely underwhelming and bland. In addition, every other chapter is displayed in either the view of Dekalb or the antagonist, Gary, giving the reader two story lines to follow which often segregate and overlap each other several times in the story, a technique I'm a big fan of.
I'm very happy I took the time to read this novel thoroughly and I'm looking forward to reading Wellington's 2 other books in the series, I'm a big fan of the zombie genre in all forms of media. The subject of zombies gives in to our human nature because at one point zombies were human, and no one knows exactly what the course of action would be to dealing with them. Survival is always an interesting situation and one that reader's love to be entertained with so these are reasons to why I feel the zombie genre is so popular with the current generation, and really would a worldwide epidemic really be that inconceivable? No, I don't think it would...
-Dan
...And here's my corresponding metal pick of the week:
All Shall Perish - Herding the Brainwashed
Friday, January 14, 2011
Frankenstein
Frankenstein is a book written in the early 1800's by a young Mary Shelley, and is often credited as being the first in it's horror or goth (both are often used as interchangeable terms) genre. It is obvious that Frankenstein does possess some of the characteristics that are commonly associated with gothic literature, this is mainly apparent as it's subject matter revolves around a hideous and abhorrent creature whose creator assumes that the “monster” is an evil spawn bent on the destruction of those around him.
In my opinion Frankenstein wouldn't be considered a gothic novel really but, I can definitely see how it would be credited with being the first, since all genres in any creative endeavor deviate and evolve from their source material, to the point where not many aspects are retained from the original.
The book is captured through a series of letters written by captain Robert Walton, who is on a dangerous mission headed for the North Pole. The captain's ship becomes trapped in the frigid north within seas of ice where Walton encounters another “man on a mission,” this man being Victor Frankenstein. The captain takes the cold riddled Victor on board to help him recuperate and this is where the story's plot unfolds as Frankenstein tells his “horrifying” tale.
Victor is possessed by a unyielding desire for mastery in the arts of alchemy, but after attending a university he is quickly informed that it's an honorable goal, but one that isn't realistic in his age of living. He begins his studies of chemistry and natural philosophy and eventually after years of research makes breakthrough discoveries. With the use of his knowledge he goes on a feverish pursuit to bring life to a being, but instead of re-animating a human, he creates a hulking mass (out of different pieces of dead human remains that he acquired) with multi-braced limbs and skin hardly stretched over it's features; he wanted to create something the world had not yet seen. Upon giving the creature life Victor immediately regrets his actions, as his mind was clouded by his desires, and he retreats leaving the newly born creature to it's own devices.
Throughout the story Shelley has you sympathize with both characters, but mostly Victor's creation I feel, even though his looks may be perceived as demonic in nature Victor was actually the evil one. Dr. Frankenstein through out the novel kept everything in secret knowing almost all of his actions were of selfish desires and in the end it came to “haunt” him, which is what he undeniably deserved.
When all is said and done, Frankenstein is a great novel and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, I'm looking forward to reading some more fiction in the genre.
-Dan
Oh and as a side-note, being a metal aficionado often times other art forms like illustration and books will remind me of songs that I like, Frankenstein reminded me of this... WARNING this is death metal so if you're not into that sort of thing, don't listen! :-D
The Black Dahlia Murder - A Selection Unnatural
In my opinion Frankenstein wouldn't be considered a gothic novel really but, I can definitely see how it would be credited with being the first, since all genres in any creative endeavor deviate and evolve from their source material, to the point where not many aspects are retained from the original.
The book is captured through a series of letters written by captain Robert Walton, who is on a dangerous mission headed for the North Pole. The captain's ship becomes trapped in the frigid north within seas of ice where Walton encounters another “man on a mission,” this man being Victor Frankenstein. The captain takes the cold riddled Victor on board to help him recuperate and this is where the story's plot unfolds as Frankenstein tells his “horrifying” tale.
Victor is possessed by a unyielding desire for mastery in the arts of alchemy, but after attending a university he is quickly informed that it's an honorable goal, but one that isn't realistic in his age of living. He begins his studies of chemistry and natural philosophy and eventually after years of research makes breakthrough discoveries. With the use of his knowledge he goes on a feverish pursuit to bring life to a being, but instead of re-animating a human, he creates a hulking mass (out of different pieces of dead human remains that he acquired) with multi-braced limbs and skin hardly stretched over it's features; he wanted to create something the world had not yet seen. Upon giving the creature life Victor immediately regrets his actions, as his mind was clouded by his desires, and he retreats leaving the newly born creature to it's own devices.
Throughout the story Shelley has you sympathize with both characters, but mostly Victor's creation I feel, even though his looks may be perceived as demonic in nature Victor was actually the evil one. Dr. Frankenstein through out the novel kept everything in secret knowing almost all of his actions were of selfish desires and in the end it came to “haunt” him, which is what he undeniably deserved.
When all is said and done, Frankenstein is a great novel and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, I'm looking forward to reading some more fiction in the genre.
-Dan
Oh and as a side-note, being a metal aficionado often times other art forms like illustration and books will remind me of songs that I like, Frankenstein reminded me of this... WARNING this is death metal so if you're not into that sort of thing, don't listen! :-D
The Black Dahlia Murder - A Selection Unnatural
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