Category: Fiction Page 26 of 317

The AItheist by Michael J. Svigel: Do Apostles Preach to Electric Sheep?

The AItheistThe AItheist

by Michael J. Svigel

DETAILS:
Publication Date: May 7, 2023
Format: eBook
Length: 121 pg.
Read Date: December 31, 2023

“Do you miss him?”

“Him?”

“God.”

“Hmmm.” I folded my hands on my chest, closed my eyes. “I guess I miss the idea of God. The one I imagined existed until that idea let me down. The God of the happy Psalms, of the wise Proverbs, of the gentle Jesus. That idea was worth living for. But the bipolar God who waffles between good and bad, helpful and harmful, reasonable and absurd—that God I could do without. And I have.”

What’s The AItheist About?

Ramy Ray has created the world’s biggest and best AI, YAR. YAR runs electric cars all over the world, government infrastructures, corporate networks, etc., etc., etc. You name it, YAR is the culmination of pretty much every SF utopian dream. The jury is still out on whether YAR is truly sentient, but YAR thinks “he” is.

But something’s changed lately—YAR is using more and more of “his” resources to investigate world religions, with an increasing focus on Christianity. Very few, outside of Ray’s company, have noticed the lags, the downtime, and service problems. But they’re getting worse, and it won’t be long before actual problems ensue—and someone notices.

So Ray comes to Dr. Michael Berg, who not that long ago published a book that made headlines. Berg had been a renowned theologian (as much as an orthodox theologian can be in our cultural moment), Berg’s headlines came from renouncing the Christian Faith and publishing a book talking about his apostasy and his critiques of Christianity.

Ray wants two things—one, for Berg to figure out why YAR is so focused on these issues, ideas, and thoughts right now, and two, to get “him” to stop focusing on it and get back to work.

So, what did I think about The AItheist?

I don’t know that this storyline could’ve coped with being longer—but I think the book (and Svigel’s arguments) needed more space to breathe and develop. The sessions between the two should’ve been longer, getting into a little more depth on the issues. A couple of additional conversations between YAR and Berg might have helped. Maybe some “selections” from Berg’s book that YAR could’ve critiqued or examined, or a conversation or three between Berg and a former colleague in between sessions with YAR. It’s a tricky balancing act to be sure—Svigel is going for a quick read, something to provoke thought, not to answer every question–but I think by doing so he goes for too quick and provokes more than he gives resources to follow up with.

Berg’s emotions were hard to swallow—particularly his big emotional moment toward the end. It was overwrought, over the top, and completely took me out of the moment. I generally thought I could’ve done a slightly better job of articulating his problems with the Faith (also, the God he described as “an idea worth living for” isn’t a God I recognize, and made me wonder about Berg’s qualifications as a theologian). But he’s supposed to be a foil for YAR, and he functions well enough as that.

That said–I liked the concept of the book. I thought YAR, his concerns, his approach—and what sparked all of it—were well-conceived and well-executed, and the reveal was well done. All of that was spot-on, and my only complaint is that we didn’t quite as much of it as we should’ve. It feels strange in 2024 saying I sympathized and believed the AI more than the human, but that’s where we are.

I do recommend this read, with several caveats. You may end up with more questions than you started with—which could actually be a good thing. You might want some answers that are a little less blithe than you’re provided. That’s a good thing, too. But you’ll likely enjoy the book and having questions you want answers to is generally a net positive (assuming you go digging for those answers).

It’s a quick and generally pleasing read. It’s worth your time.


3 Stars

Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

Death in the Dark Woods by Annelise Ryan: If It Weren’t for You Meddling Bookseller and Your Stupid Dog…

Death in the Dark WoodsDeath in the Dark Woods

by Annelise Ryan

DETAILS:
Series: A Monster Hunter Mystery, #2
Publisher: Berkley Books
Publication Date: December 12, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 321 pg.
Read Date: January 24-25, 2023
Buy from Bookshop.org Support Indie Bookstores

What’s Death in the Dark Woods About?

Chief Jon Flanders has another possible cryptid for Bookseller/Cryptozoologist Morgan Carter to look into. It’s not his case, but he’s serving as the go-between for a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Warden. There’ve been a couple of killings in her jurisdiction that she’d like Morgan to look into—and is willing to pay her out of pocket to do so.

Charlie Aberdeen isn’t even the head of the investigations, but she has a vested interest in the outcome. The official cause of death for both men (a bow hunter and a recreational fisherman) is a bear attack, but a witness account and some of the evidence don’t match that. Particularly the wounds. But Charlie’s the only one willing to say anything along the lines of “Bigfoot.” The existence of this particular creature is a known interest of Charlie’s—and local LEOs will send anything along those lines to her.

Morgan, naturally, jumps at the opportunity—no matter how long of a shot it is to find the elusive cryptid, she’s got to take it. Her loyal dog, Newt, jumps at it, too—because he jumps at anything she does.

Not surprisingly, some of the locals aren’t crazy about her meddling—a Sherriff’s Deputy seems particularly hostile (okay, “is” there’s no seeming to it)—but some insist they’ve seen something that could be a Bigfoot themselves. Others just think it’s a pipedream and are mildly amused that Charlie and Morgan are wasting their time. There’s another cryptozoologist sniffing around, too—Morgan’s run into him and his spurious methods before—he’s more interested in making money off of locals than he is in finding anything.

Be Careful

Don’t read the Author’s Note at the back before you finish the book—it’ll spoil things. I occasionally do that—I don’t know why, but I like seeing what an author mentions in their Note or Acknowledgements, so I start there (or take a peak while reading). Man, am I glad I didn’t do that this time.

(but also, maybe bury that information in the second paragraph or later?)

So, what did I think about Death in the Dark Woods?

This was a fun little adventure and a natural next step from A Death in Door County. A hunt for a Bigfoot/Sasquatch-type creature is a bit more familiar in North America than a Lake Monster, but that doesn’t mean it’s tired out. In many ways, Morgan’s hunt reminded me of Gideon Oliver’s in The Dark Place—but I enjoyed the way this one wrapped up much more.

Another thing I want to draw attention to is the relationship between Jon and Morgan—Ryan’s doing a nice job of letting the inevitable relationship grow slowly, and even stumble a bit. It’s really well done.

The narrative and some of the dialogue could be done a bit better—occasionally clunky is the best way to put it. It’s never enough to make me want to do anything other than roll my eyes and push on, but it could be easily made better.

Still, like its predecessor, Death in the Dark Woods is a pleasant diversion with some characters you could want to spend more time with. Which is all I’m looking for in a cozy-adjacent murder mystery. I’ll be back for more.


3 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 45: Implications by R. T. Slaywood: Maybe I’m the Problem…

The Ballad of BonadukeThe Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 45: Implications

by R.T. Slaywood

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #45
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: January 25, 2023

The Story So Far…

A drunken Michael Bonaduke decides to use a grift (with maybe some sort of magic/magic-like “help”) to win on a scratch-off lottery ticket so he has money to buy more to drink. He pulls off whatever he did, gets his money and some booze and stumbles off into the darkness to drink himself into oblivion so he can start again the next day. He’s hit by dark memories (probably what’s driving him to the drinking) of fire, pleading, and screaming. There’s going to be a price to pay for his grift, and he’s trying to be ready.

He’s abducted by some representatives of a mysterious group who subject him to a test—if he passes, everything will be explained to him (and hopefully the reader, too). He passes—and is brought somewhere for answers, or maybe training, or maybe another test. Time will tell (or things are going to get really annoying). Answers aren’t quick to come—but the mysteries and questions keep piling up.

Things get hairy and Bonaduke leaves and finds himself back in the neighborhood he started from. He takes refuge in a homeless encampment shortly before a police raid. He’s apprehended and finds himself an interrogation room and shortly escapes after using his grift (but with results he didn’t quite intend). He finds himself by a group of squatters who seem to have strapped a woman to a chair for reasons that can’t be good. He attempts to rescue her before he even realizes what he’s doing, and seems to have succeeded—well, the two of them got away from the group anyway—breathing but bruised. They make their way to a fast-food taco joint and Bonaduke really needs to refuel to keep going. He tries, but fails to get food because he keeps passing out. Thankfully, the clerk is the same guy from the liquor store and he both recognizes him and gives him first aid. The woman (Zero) wakes up and shows some abilities of her on as she helps them escape from her captors who’ve tracked her down. One thing leads to another—Zero and Bonaduke’s magics don’t mix well (at least until they understand what each other can do?), and they end up in a video-game race against the squatters in a tricked-out version of Eric (the clerk’s) car. Note, I said video-game race, not a video-game-style race. They’re actually in one. When dumped back into reality, he’s surrounded by bruised and broken bodies (of people and cars). And then he gets into a supernatural fight and survives…just.

Or maybe not. But he gets better. And then his new…friends? Acquaintances? People who keep popping up in his life?…start explaining exactly what’s going on to him while they set up a new HQ and try to teach him about his abilities (and everyone tries to understand them).

What’s Implications About?

Bonaduke and Alan are wandering around the Northern Occult Expo looking for ways to test his abilities to get a better understanding of how they work. There’s some interesting back and forth with a couple of exhibitors, and we see how Om makes some money. Then Bonaduke does something that his associates don’t apprehend–we’ll have to wait to see if he explains it to them.

So, what did I think about Implications?

Insert default complaint about grammar and spelling. It’d be great to know Slaywood was trying to say and compare it to what he actually communicated.

He’s also back to that game where he’s trying to be coy and mysterious–but all that comes across to me is obfuscation.

Here’s me hoping the next episode is better.


2 Stars

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett: I Can See Me Becoming a Slavering Fan of This Stuff…

Guards! Guards!Guards! Guards!

by Terry Pratchett

DETAILS:
Series: Discworld, #8; City Watch, #1
Publisher: Harper 
Publication Date: April 30, 2013
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Length: 403
Read Date: December 15-21, 2023
Buy from Bookshop.org Support Indie Bookstores

It’s a metaphor of human bloody existence, a dragon. And if that wasn’t bad enough, it’s also a bloody great hot flying thing.

What’s Guards! Guards! About?

We start with a motley bunch of people who have been recruited by a mysterious figure to summon a dragon from another world—they don’t know this initially, but the purpose is to take over the city of Ankh-Morpork for less-than-benevolent reasons.

Meanwhile, a tall and naive young man is informed by his father that he’s not who he’s always thought he was. In fact, he’s been brought up by another species. Carrot had spent his whole life believing he was a dwarf like everyone he lived among, rather than a human. “It’s a terrible thing to be nearly sixteen and the wrong species.” Carrot has a hard time accepting this truth but does what his father tells him. He sets off for the city to become a member of the City Watch and will send his wages to his family. It’s impossible (for me, at least) to read Carrot and not think of Buddy the Elf. I don’t know if Ferrell and Favreau had this book in mind when they worked out the character—but they could’ve.

Like Buddy, Carrot doesn’t understand the human world and its nuances. He’s very literal, he’s a hard worker, doesn’t know how to be dishonest, and sees the world in black and white. So he goes about the business of the Watch like that—he’s a one-man anti-crime crusade. Arresting people the rest of the watch doesn’t have the energy to pursue—and those they’ve been told by the city leadership to leave alone.

His presence shakes up the Watch and awakens a sense of duty in them. So when they start finding traces of the dragon—and a corpse or two, this lethargic group gathers itself together and tries to save the city from the dragon, those behind it, and those who can’t be bothered to care.

And a whole bunch of other things transpire, are said, and whatnot. But that’s enough to get you started.

More Than Jokes

“Down there,” he said, “are people who will follow any dragon, worship any god, ignore any iniquity. All out of a kind of humdrum, everyday badness. Not the really high, creative loathesomeness of the great sinners, but a sort of mass-produced darkness of the soul. Sin, you might say, without a trace of originality. They accept evil not because they say yes, but because they don’t say no. I’m sorry if this offends you,”

All good novelists will work in things that have nothing to do with the characters (directly), their development, or the plot to their books. Some sort of commentary on the world, an observation about humanity or a portion of it, etc. If you ask me, the more comedic novelists are better at it than others—it’s probably that spoonful of sugar thing. That could just be my preference, I admit.

Some of the better moments in this book—at least some of the best sentences—come from moments like the above quotation. There’s some cheap cynicism to be found in these lines—but there’s some well-earned cynicism, too, in Pratchett’s ideas about government, the people led by that government, and so on. But there’s some great stuff on love and hope to be found in here, too. Pratchett’s cup is half-full at least as often as it’s half-empty.

The one-liners; the satire of Fantasy tropes, humanity in general; and the overall comedy of his world might be what he’s known for—but at least here (and likely in general), Pratchett’s observations of and commentaries on humanity are just as noteworthy.

The Library/Librarian

The truth is that even big collections of ordinary books distort space, as can readily be proved by anyone who has been around a really old-fashioned secondhand bookshop, one that looks as though they were designed by M. Escher on a bad day and has more stairways than storeys and those rows of shelves which end in little doors that are surely too small for a full-sized human to enter. The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read.

I don’t have the time to write the essay I want to write about the Librarian, the Library, what the Librarian did to save the day, and so on. But I really wish I did (besides, I’m pretty sure someone else has—several someone elses). It’s not the—or a—main focus of the novel, but it really could be. Instead, I’ll just note that the Librarian was a highlight for me, and I hope we get a lot more of him in the future.

So, what did I think about Guards! Guards!?

“I mean, [the dragon] wouldn’t want us to go around killing its own kind, would it?”

“Well, sir, people do, sir,” said the guard sulkily.

“Ah, well,” said the captain. “That’s different.” He tapped the side of his helmet meaningfully. “That’s ’cos we’re intelligent.”

One of the things I like to ask when thinking of a comedic novel is, would it hold up if you took the jokes out and played it straight? It’s hard to answer that for Guards! Guards! because of the satirical and ridiculous aspects of the novel. But…on the whole, yeah…it’d work. Thankfully, it’s not a question we really need to spend too much time on because it’s so funny that you don’t notice parts of the story/plot/characters that might not work—and with the comedy this book is so successful it doesn’t matter.

It took very little time for me to get invested in the story—maybe not the characters (as much as I enjoyed watching Carrot fumble through his new life), but the story and the storytelling carried me until the point that I started to see the various members of the City Watch as anything other than comedy delivery systems (although that’s primarily what they were). I was entertained throughout, so much so that I didn’t really spend much time thinking about comparing this to other Pratchett books or other Fantasy comedies I’ve read—I just wanted to have fun with this. Maybe I’ll do the other stuff with later reads.

My journey to this book—and to giving Pratchett another chance—is pretty well documented. It’s not that I disliked The Color of Magic or The Light Fantastic, but I didn’t get the fuss over Pratchett after reading them. After reading Guards! Guards!? I think I get it. After reading less than a third of Guards! Guards!, I was pretty sure I got it, actually. I’m so relieved…I wondered what was wrong with me that I missed what everyone else saw in his work. There’s this great combination of jokes, situational/character-based comedy, a skewed way of depicting the world that’s honest and true while capturing the absurdities—and wonder—of the world. Pratchett respects the reader enough to not have to spell everything he’s doing out for us, but not so much that he will avoid slapstick or bodily humor.

I’m sold. If you haven’t gotten around to trying this mega-series (and surely there are like 5 of you reading this who haven’t), stick your foot in. If you’re unsure where to start, here’s a great place.

I’ll be back for more soon.


4 1/2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown: We All Know Books are Magical, but Some Books Really Are Magic

The Book of DoorsThe Book of Doors

by Gareth Brown

DETAILS:
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Publication Date: February 13, 2024
Format: eARC
Length: 416
Read Date: January 10-16, 2024
Buy from Bookshop.org Support Indie Bookstores

What’s The Book of Doors About?

Cassie Andrews grew up in the Northwest and had what you’d call a typical, nice life (with a little tragedy, because we all do). She grew up, had one big adventure, and then settled into New York City, and is having a typical life—with enough fun and love to keep going, but nothing exciting happens to her. Then one day a regular customer that she’d befriended dies and leaves a book for her. It’s a lovely little book, so she takes it home with her.

She quickly discovers that this isn’t any ordinary book—in fact, it’s called “The Book of Doors” and the inscription inside it tells her that every door is any door. An odd thing to say, but she discovers that it means she can open and step through any door with the book in her hand. Cassie and her roommate Izzy have some fun with the book, before Izzy starts to worry about the cost of this magic.

Cassie’s undeterred, however, and keeps experimenting. It’s not too long before a man called The Librarian (by some) finds them—warning Cassie that she’s in danger because of this book. There are many “special books” like the Book of Doors (not all as powerful), and there are those who want to add her book to their collection and will stop at nothing to get it. As these people are equipped with their own special, magical books—the things they can do are pretty remarkable.

Can Cassie stay ahead of these people—or off of their radar entirely? Can she use her book to help the Librarian keep his collection of books safe from a mysterious woman determined to possess them all?

Time Travel

This is more of a Fantasy kind of Time Travel than a Hard Sci Fi Time Travel. That’s really not a profound observation on my part, come to think of it—everything these books do is described as magical. So a lot of your typical rules when it comes to Time Travel are thrown out. You’re not going to get a butterfly effect here, or see what happens if you go back and keep your dad and mom from going to the Enchantment Under the Sea dance together. It’s more along the lines of what the Wyld Stallyns did (at least in the first movie, I can’t speak to the others).

I mention this just so you know what you’re getting into—I have friends who take a very purist approach to Time Travel, and want scientific explanations for everything (hopefully with a good amount of theorizing). They will probably not appreciate this book for that. On the other hand—I have friends who get tired of that kind of thing—they’ll have a lot of fun with Brown’s take. There are probably more people who won’t care, and will just have fun with the wibbly wobbly of it all.

The Rest of the Magic

There are many more books than The Book of Doors running around (more than we’re told specifically about), and all of them have applications you wouldn’t immediately think about. What the Book of Illusion can do by someone who knows what they’re doing? Awesome. The Book of Luck is pretty much what the tin says. The Book of Despair…it’s worse than you think, at least when used by someone who knows what they’re doing (and who should never be allowed to use it).

I’m tempted to keep listing the books, but that would get boring for you and me. The great thing about Brown’s magic system is the wide diversity of magical abilities and the way they’re used. I don’t know how much time he spent coming up with the ideas behind them, or if he just had a handful and then created a new book when he wrote himself into a corner—but either way, a good deal of ingenuity is displayed here, and I want to see more of it. (honestly, I assume he did a thorough job of coming up with the books beforehand, but I just like the idea of him getting to the point where says…”I need a Book of Antigravity so Cassie can float away from a thrown knife.”*)

* Not anything that actually appears in the book.

Quibbles

It’s not a perfect book. Few are, so this isn’t about me listing off reasons to avoid this book. I just want to be thorough as I talk about it.

First off, the book (particularly in the beginning) relies too much on the POV characters looking at reflections of themselves. This is a pretty common thing—some would call it a cliche (particularly as a woman character describes some of her physical attributes)—and the first time that someone did it, I rolled my eyes and moved on. But then it happened again, quickly after that, while it was still echoing in my ear. And then again. And it became a thing I paid too much attention to because it happened so much. If mirrors and reflections had become very important to the magic or plot as a whole—I might have spent a paragraph or two lauding this. But it didn’t. It just distracted and kind of annoyed me.

The “Big Bad” doesn’t have a name. She’s simply, “the woman.” If she was a character who showed up in other places, and we were supposed to figure out which of female characters she was—that’d be one thing. But there’s never a doubt about that, she’s simply “the woman.” She doesn’t even get a nickname like “She Who Must Not Be Named” or even “The Big Bad.” Surely, at some point, the subculture surrounding these special books would’ve started referring to her as something along those lines. A name, a title (like The Bookseller did), something whispered in the shadows. Not just “the woman.”

There are probably other flaws in the book—undoubtedly there are*—but these are the only two that jumped out at me (and kept doing so). In the end—both were easily overcome by the weight of all the good-to-great things about it. But I was irked enough that I had to talk about them a bit.

* Just before I hit “Publish,” I remembered a chapter focused on “the woman” that made me briefly consider stopping entirely. I am so glad that I persevered, and it wasn’t that difficult to.

Now, let’s get back to the good stuff. I probably won’t think about these issues again myself, when I think back on this book, I’m only going to think of what I say next.

So, what did I think about The Book of Doors?

If you took Peng Shepherd’s The Cartographers and merged it with Robin Sloan’s Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, you’d get something sort of like this. The secret subculture that arose around these special books—subcultures, really—made me think of these books, as well as the devotion to something that’s increasingly archaic—a typeface, paper maps, antique books, etc. There is great power, as well as great affection, in these artifacts of a former age. Sure, they’re not magical or mystical like Shepherd, Sloane, or Brown say. But these novels resonate for the same/similar reasons, these things call to us.

Setting aside all the magic and plot and character—just focusing on what The Book of Doors says about books in general, is pretty special. This aspect alone is going to speak to a lot of readers (most people who’d call themselves “readers,” in fact.). And you could spend time just flipping through those parts of the book.

On the whole, this novel was a slow burn for me—I was instantly drawn to the idea behind the books, I liked Cassie, and the way that Brown showed her reacting to the book. But then once we got into the story about “the woman” and the Librarian, my interest waned a lot. I’m not sure it should’ve, and many will likely have a different reaction, but it did. But as I kept reading, I got more and more invested and my inner-critic shut up because he was as interested in what was going to happen next as the rest of me was.

By the time you figure out what Brown’s end-game was—and Cassie’s, too—it’s so satisfying to see it all play out. It’s really a very tidy book and everything means something. But it’s not just the plot that works so well, all the emotional beats are so well-executed that you will be tempted to go back through Brown’s non-existent backlist to see where he figured out to write them so effectively.

If you like the idea of a kind of magic you’ve not seen before, magical time travel (among other things), an off-the-radar subculture devoted to this magic (or at least the idea behind it), and a quiet bookseller finding her inner strength and perseverance in the face of evil—you’re going to want to check out The Book of Doors. I strongly recommend you do.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from William Morrow & Company via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.


4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 44: Bound in Darkness by R. T. Slaywood: What Did You Say?

The Ballad of BonadukeThe Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 44: Bound in Darkness

by R.T. Slaywood

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #44
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: January 19, 2023

“You should probably explain what the æthocite is and why it’s important.” Om said.

“I was getting there.” Alan said.

“Doubt it.” I said.

Zero chuckled.

“I really was.” Alan said.

“Just keep going.” Om said.

The Story So Far…

A drunken Michael Bonaduke decides to use a grift (with maybe some sort of magic/magic-like “help”) to win on a scratch-off lottery ticket so he has money to buy more to drink. He pulls off whatever he did, gets his money and some booze and stumbles off into the darkness to drink himself into oblivion so he can start again the next day. He’s hit by dark memories (probably what’s driving him to the drinking) of fire, pleading, and screaming. There’s going to be a price to pay for his grift, and he’s trying to be ready.

He’s abducted by some representatives of a mysterious group who subject him to a test—if he passes, everything will be explained to him (and hopefully the reader, too). He passes—and is brought somewhere for answers, or maybe training, or maybe another test. Time will tell (or things are going to get really annoying). Answers aren’t quick to come—but the mysteries and questions keep piling up.

Things get hairy and Bonaduke leaves and finds himself back in the neighborhood he started from. He takes refuge in a homeless encampment shortly before a police raid. He’s apprehended and finds himself an interrogation room and shortly escapes after using his grift (but with results he didn’t quite intend). He finds himself by a group of squatters who seem to have strapped a woman to a chair for reasons that can’t be good. He attempts to rescue her before he even realizes what he’s doing, and seems to have succeeded—well, the two of them got away from the group anyway—breathing but bruised. They make their way to a fast-food taco joint and Bonaduke really needs to refuel to keep going. He tries, but fails to get food because he keeps passing out. Thankfully, the clerk is the same guy from the liquor store and he both recognizes him and gives him first aid. The woman (Zero) wakes up and shows some abilities of her on as she helps them escape from her captors who’ve tracked her down. One thing leads to another—Zero and Bonaduke’s magics don’t mix well (at least until they understand what each other can do?), and they end up in a video-game race against the squatters in a tricked-out version of Eric (the clerk’s) car. Note, I said video-game race, not a video-game-style race. They’re actually in one. When dumped back into reality, he’s surrounded by bruised and broken bodies (of people and cars). And then he gets into a supernatural fight and survives…just.

Or maybe not. But he gets better. And then his new…friends? Acquaintances? People who keep popping up in his life?…start explaining exactly what’s going on to him while they set up a new HQ.

What’s Bound in Darkness About?

Bonaduke is drying out–not necessarily by his own choice. He’s getting the messed up dreams that come from an alcohol-starved brain and years of truama, and wakes to another day without drink. It’s a great advertisement against alcoholism (not that there are many pro-alcoholism advertisments). Then Zero, Om, Alan, and he have a planning meeting–an Alan drops a pretty big bomb for the readers. And it’s news to some of this colleagues, too.

So, what did I think about Bound in Darkness?

With the last episode, I said “A couple more dialogue tags would’ve been helpful here.” As the above quotation shows, Slaywood isn’t always guilty of that.

Dream sequences don’t do much for me, but this dangled some interesting threads. But it’s Alan’s discussion at the end of the episode that made me sit up and take notice–and need to know more. I’m not sure I’ve ever been as curious to click the “Next Expisode” button as I am now.


3 Stars

Opening Lines: Hacker by Duncan MacMaster

Head & Shoulders used to tell us that, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That’s true for wearing dark shirts, and it’s especially true for books. Sometimes the characters will hook the reader, sometimes the premise, sometimes it’s just knowing the author—but nothing beats a great opening for getting a reader to commit.

I will not start this story at the moment I found an eyeball floating in my Coke.

from Hacker by Duncan MacMaster
Hacker Cover
Hard to top this. You have to keep going, right?

Opening Lines Logo

America Fantastica (Audibook) by Tim O’Brien, Oliver Wyman (Narrator): Nothing Fantastic…or Worth Bothering With

America FantasticaAmerica Fantastica

by Tim O’Brien, Oliver Wyman (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Publisher: HarperAudio
Publication Date: October 24, 2023
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 13 hrs., 39 min. 
Read Date: January 9-16, 2024
Buy from Bookshop.org Support Indie Bookstores

How Does the Publisher Describe America Fantasica?

HarperCollins.com says:

At 11:34 a.m. one Saturday in August 2019, Boyd Halverson strode into Community National Bank in Northern California.

“How much is on hand, would you say?” he asked the teller. “I’ll want it all.”

“You’re robbing me?”

He revealed a Temptation .38 Special.

The teller, a diminutive redhead named Angie Bing, collected eighty-one thousand dollars.

Boyd stuffed the cash into a paper grocery bag.

“I’m sorry about this,” he said, “but I’ll have to ask you to take a ride with me.”

So begins the adventure of Boyd Halverson—star journalist turned notorious online disinformation troll turned JCPenney manager—and his irrepressible hostage, Angie Bing. Haunted by his past and weary of his present, Boyd has one goal before the authorities catch up with him: settle a score with the man who destroyed his life. By Monday the pair reach Mexico; by winter, they are in a lakefront mansion in Minnesota. On their trail are hitmen, jealous lovers, ex-cons, an heiress, a billionaire shipping tycoon, a three-tour veteran of Iraq, and the ghosts of Boyd’s past. Everyone, it seems, except the police.

In the tradition of Jonathan Swift and Mark Twain, America Fantastica delivers a biting, witty, and entertaining story about the causes and costs of outlandish fantasy, while also marking the triumphant return of an essential voice in American letters. And at the heart of the novel, amid a teeming cast of characters, readers will delight in the tug-of-war between two memorable and iconic human beings—the exuberant savior-of-souls Angie Bing and the penitent but compulsive liar Boyd Halverson. Just as Tim O’Brien’s modern classic, The Things They Carried, so brilliantly reflected the unromantic truth of war, America Fantastica puts a mirror to a nation and a time that has become dangerously unmoored from truth and greedy for delusion.

How Was the Narration?

It was fine—any problems I had with the book weren’t on Wyman’s side. He didn’t work too hard on making each character stand out from the others with a distinct voice so that in each scene you knew immediately who was talking, but this isn’t the kind of book that lends itself to that. Also, the book didn’t become hard to follow because of that—nor did individual scenes. That’s all I really care about (as much as I might enjoy very distinct characters when the narrator does that).

The one heavily accented character’s accent didn’t sound quite right to my ears, but I’m not precisely sure what their accent should’ve sounded like. And…well, in context, I’m not sure their accent should’ve sounded right.

Basically, Wyman did well enough, and I’d easily listen to something else he narrated.

So, what did I think about America Fantastica?

I’m going to sound a little self-contradictory here. I think I missed most of the point of this book/narrative, and O’Brien was as subtle as a pallet of bricks.

There are intercalary chapters/sections (I’d have to see the print version to know for sure) describing the spread of “mythomania” across the nation like an infection (to be followed by COVID). And this is very clearly what the book is supposed to be about—contemporary America’s hunger for lies, half-truths, alternative facts, myths, whatever you want to call it. I’m not disinclined to argue with this as a whole—I just found these portions wanting. I’m not sure what it was I didn’t respond to here–lack of nuance and a feeling that O’Brien was trying to be too clever, come close, but really I just can’t put my finger on it.

Then there’s the narrative—narratives. I didn’t connect with any of them for very long (if ever). I kept going because many of them seemed to be on the verge of paying off, or at least giving me something to sink my teeth into. If I didn’t know this was a satirical novel from the description, I wouldn’t have picked up on it. I’m not really sure I get everything that was being satired (and really don’t care). The best way I can describe the storylines was that someone took a bunch of discarded ideas from disparate Elmore Leonard novels and mashed them together, whether they fit or not, and without Leonard’s skill/craft—then threw COVID into it at the end.

O’Brien had some very clever ideas, some nice writing, and a good line here and there. But the ideas didn’t pay off, the writing went nowhere, and the good lines weren’t worth the effort to get to them.

Maybe this was the right book at the wrong time for me and if I’d read/listened to it a few months ago—or a few months from now—I’d be recommending it, maybe even raving about it. But I listened to it now, so that’s what we’re stuck with. So the me of “now” says that it was an endurance race for me. A determined effort for me to understand why I should like this. A reminder that the sunk cost fallacy is something that I’m very susceptible to.

I’m more than prepared for people to come along and tell me why I should’ve appreciated this. But I can’t recommend this to anyone, and I would recommend you look elsewhere for a good commentary on the U.S.


2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

Warriorborn by Jim Butcher: Butcher Serves Up Quite the Appetizer Before The Olympian Affair

WarriorbornWarriorborn

by Jim Butcher

DETAILS:
Series: The Cinder Spires, #1.5
Publisher: Podium Publishing Ulc
Publication Date: September 19, 2023
Format: eBook
Length: 146 pg.
Read Date: November 11, 2023
Buy from Bookshop.org Support Indie Bookstores

What’s Warriorborn About?

A little time has passed since we met our heroes—training was completed, people have new jobs, promotions were given, the threat of war looms larger, and so on. The status quo, in short, is in flux and everyone’s trying to settle in before things get really messed up.

The mysterious and deadly Warriorborn, Benedict Sorellin-Lancaster, has been promoted to lieutenant—as one example. And, as you can guess from this novella’s title, we will be focused on him. The Spirearch is sending him on a mission to retrieve certain documents that the Spirearch seems to have misplaced at a colony that’s gone radio silent. As backup, Benedict is assigned three other Warriorborn for this mission—deadly criminals put away by Benedict, who will earn freedom in return for their help here. Not exactly a merry band, but they should be enough to tackle most threats they encounter.

But what they find when they arrive at Dependence isn’t what anyone figured, and “most” quite definitely doesn’t mean “all.”

The Development of the Series

There are a couple of notable things about this novella—first of all, we get a great look into the Warriorborn as a whole, not just what we learned about Benedict in The Aeronaut’s Windlass. The Warriorborn was one of the most intriguing concepts from that book, so getting to learn more about them was a treat. That right there is enough to justify the purchase price.

But even better is the little updates we get about many of the primary characters, setting the stage for where they’ll be in The Olympian Affair. I was already eager to dive in—seeing these flashes of their future, and the way that the war is progressing just makes me want to tear into The Olympian Affair.

So, what did I think about Warriorborn?

This was a fast-moving thrill ride. Yeah, there’s some character development and exploration of some of what makes the various characters (particularly the new ones) tick. Butcher knows how to write action—if you’ve read anything by him, you know this. Throw in some clever dialogue, and that’s enough to satisfy me.

The threat that they discover once they get to Dependence is as creepy as you want. The world of The Cinder Spires isn’t a kind world, and it’s hard for humanity (and felinity) in more than one way, as we’re learning now. But as long as there are people like Benedict and the crew of Predator, maybe there’s hope.

Despite this being a bridge between Books 1 and 2 of the series, this wouldn’t make a bad jumping on point—if you like this quick taste of this world, you’ll want to go see how Benedict and the rest got to this point just as much as you’re going to want to see what happens to them next.

In a podcast interview, Butcher described this as “an apology novella,” due to how long it took to get the second book of the series completed. In the eyes of this fan, apology accepted.


3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 43: Missing Things by R. T. Slaywood: A New Home

I’ve got to get more regular in reading/posting these again. I started late, but I’m now 42 behind. Cool number, but…ack.


The Ballad of BonadukeThe Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 43: Missing Things

by R.T. Slaywood

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #43
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: January 12, 2023

The Story So Far…

A drunken Michael Bonaduke decides to use a grift (with maybe some sort of magic/magic-like “help”) to win on a scratch-off lottery ticket so he has money to buy more to drink. He pulls off whatever he did, gets his money and some booze and stumbles off into the darkness to drink himself into oblivion so he can start again the next day. He’s hit by dark memories (probably what’s driving him to the drinking) of fire, pleading, and screaming. There’s going to be a price to pay for his grift, and he’s trying to be ready.

He’s abducted by some representatives of a mysterious group who subject him to a test—if he passes, everything will be explained to him (and hopefully the reader, too). He passes—and is brought somewhere for answers, or maybe training, or maybe another test. Time will tell (or things are going to get really annoying). Answers aren’t quick to come—but the mysteries and questions keep piling up.

Things get hairy and Bonaduke leaves and finds himself back in the neighborhood he started from. He takes refuge in a homeless encampment shortly before a police raid. He’s apprehended and finds himself an interrogation room and shortly escapes after using his grift (but with results he didn’t quite intend). He finds himself by a group of squatters who seem to have strapped a woman to a chair for reasons that can’t be good. He attempts to rescue her before he even realizes what he’s doing, and seems to have succeeded—well, the two of them got away from the group anyway—breathing but bruised. They make their way to a fast-food taco joint and Bonaduke really needs to refuel to keep going. He tries, but fails to get food because he keeps passing out. Thankfully, the clerk is the same guy from the liquor store and he both recognizes him and gives him first aid. The woman (Zero) wakes up and shows some abilities of her on as she helps them escape from her captors who’ve tracked her down. One thing leads to another—Zero and Bonaduke’s magics don’t mix well (at least until they understand what each other can do?), and they end up in a video-game race against the squatters in a tricked-out version of Eric (the clerk’s) car. Note, I said video-game race, not a video-game-style race. They’re actually in one. When dumped back into reality, he’s surrounded by bruised and broken bodies (of people and cars). And then he gets into a supernatural fight and survives…just.

Or maybe not. But he gets better. And then his new…friends? Acquaintances? People who keep popping up in his life?…start explaining exactly what’s going on to him.

What’s Missing Things About?

So they go back to the trash at the park to see where he stashed his coat to retrieve his license and whatnot. I’m unclear how much time has passed since he did that, but it seems unlikely that the trash hadn’t been picked up yet. But hey, roll with it.

His house key is missing—and it looks like someone took it while leaving money and his wallet behind. How’s that for a puzzle? Bonaduke’s the only one who seems to care, but it’s eating at him.

Then they go visit the new crashpad for the group and Zero and Bonaduke bicker a bit.

So, what did I think about Missing Things?

Could we all try having a conversation and stop assuming everyone knows and understands things? Seriously. After the last couple of episodes where people were talking and explaining things—you know, like functional adults. We’re back to people not communicating, making assumptions, and then flying off the handle when assumptions clash. It happens to all of us from time to time, but these people seem to make it a lifestyle and it’s hard to put up with.

A couple more dialogue tags would’ve been helpful here. I don’t like to have to re-read a conversation to figure out who’s talking, much less who said what.

Wow. I sound like a grouch here. But there’s nothing much to talk about here. The title for this episode is apt—there’s Bonaduke’s missing key, and then everyone missing context/understanding of what’s happening.

It was bound to happen, but I’m disappointed that we’ve sunk so low from the last couple of episodes.


3 Stars

Page 26 of 317

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén