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Don’t judge a book by its cover, but what about judging a trilogy by its first book? ‘Aurora’s End’ is a fantastic conclusion to the Aurora trilogy, but it’s a series I almost didn’t bother finishing due to my reaction to book 1.
For those who came in late, here’s my reviews of Book 1: ‘Aurora Rising’, and Book 2: ‘Aurora Burning’. Reading the rest of this review will make a lot more sense if you start with those. For those of you who are time poor, the tl:dr goes as follows:
Tl:dr Book 1 “meh”, Book 2 “better”
‘Aurora Rising’ just had too many character viewpoints and jumped around between them far too frequently. While the aim was probably to quickly establish the characters, it was very distracting. It also felt like too much time was spent on character building, and not enough on the world and overarching story, though your mileage may vary on that one.
‘Aurora Burning’ was a more enjoyable book. The characters grow, the plot advances and it was a lot more enjoyable, even though the story leans into familiar sci-fi devices.
Book 3 “fantastic and full of action”
Which brings us to ‘Aurora’s End’. It’s difficult to share much of the plot, without spoiling the earlier books. This is a fast paced book. While there’s growth and change in the novel’s heroes and villains, ‘Aurora’s End’ is mostly a series of action sequences involving a race to the final reckoning between Squad 312 and their enemies. If you enjoy psychic showdowns, daring escapes, hand to hand combat, massive scale space combat - all interspaced with team romance, then the Aurora trilogy is for you.
This isn’t a series where you should be planning to read a single book, so take my advice and just order the trilogy. Persevere with the perspective jumps in the first book and you’ll be rewarded with an engaging tale.
Bonus: for those who read my part 2 review in full, and who don’t mind spoilers, lets see how I went with my predictions
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In my review of ‘Aurora Burning’, I highlighted how the book drew on familiar sci-fi themes, with similarities to both Stark Trek: The Next Generation and Babylon 5. Based on this, I made some predictions for ‘Aurora's End’.
So how did I go?
Prediction 1: The Eshvaren will turn out to be a bit like the Vorlons, problematic in their own way.
I probably don’t get a pass on this. The Eshvaren aren't portrayed as negatively in ‘Aurora’s End’ as the Vorlons are in the later stages of their time in B5. In the latter, the younger races are actively working against the Vorlons. The Vorlons are no longer viewed as gods or guardians, but are instead told to “get the hell out of the galaxy”.
In contrast, there’s no equivalent confrontation in the Aurora trilogy. Instead, there’s simply a recognition the Eshvaren plan was wrong and there is a better alternative to the ending the war than through annihilation of the Ra’haam.
Which brings us to…
Prediction 2: Aurora’s protagonists find a solution that doesn't involve wiping out the Ra’haam.
I’m claiming full marks for this one. Aurora rejects the Eshvaren’s plans to use the planet-killer super weapon, and ultimately finds a way to save the galaxy and the Ra’haam.
Prediction 3: Time travel shenanigans, including sending a hero and a weapon into the past.
Mostly nailed this one too. It seemed obvious one of the protagonists was going to wind up in the past, and with B5 as a reference point, predictable they’d be a founder of the Aurora Academy. My mistake was thinking they would send a weapon back in time. Aurora’s ultimate solution didn’t involve preemptively defeating the Ra’Haam by force. The Eshvaren ship therefore didn't need to function as a weapon, only a way for Aurora to hold up and then safely make contact wth the Ra’haam.
Anyway, an enjoyable series. If you’ve read it, I’d be interested in you thoughts via a reblog.
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Time travel is complicated, and when you start interfering with anomalies to protect the timeline, what is the true timeline anyway?
Umbrella Academy: Dallas (UA:D) is the second story in the Umbrella Academy series. I read book one a while ago, but it wasn't until I went looking back through Tumblr that I realised just how long ago that was.
Given it was pre-pandemic when I read the first book, it's perhaps not a surprise it took a while to reconnect with all the characters.
Time travel shenanigans and family is complicated
For those who aren't familiar with the Umbrella Academy, they belong to the trope of 'dysfunctional heroes'. As I said in my post about the first book:
While the heroes of UA all have some sort of super power, they’re also very human in their failings and the ways in which they have been shaped by the abuse, trauma and stress of their lifestyle.
This is perhaps explored better in the Netflix series than the books, but even in the comic, it's there. The characters have a complicated relationship relationship with each other. Adopted as children and forced to work together as a crime-fighting family, the group dynamic is ... complicated.
'UA:D' involves a good dose of time travel shenanigans as our protagonists attempt to determine which which bad things to do for good reasons, and what well intentioned things could lead to disaster. Of course since this involves super heroes and super villains, they must do all this while facing the threat of multiple assassins.
Yep, it's a wild ride.
A comic lovers delight
If you like quirky characters and plot lines involving questionable morality , then 'UA:D' is probably something you'll enjoy. Whether you should buy the book versus watch the Netflix series though, will come down to whether you're prepared to pay a premium to hold a piece of art in your hand.
For me, it was a yes on both counts, so hopefully I can find the remaining books at a more affordable price.
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Ancient races, telepaths, planet-killer starships, a warrior caste cabal that refuses to accept the war is over and a cliffhanger ending that leaves our heroes at their lowest point. ‘Aurora Burning’ has all this. But as I’ll discuss, so did some popular 1990s sci-fi.
‘Aurora Burning’ is the second part of the ‘Aurora Cycle’ trilogy. Before reading further, you should read my comments on book 1 (‘Aurora Rising’) as this review builds on my previous post.
Advancing the plot & multiple viewpoints
One of my criticisms of ‘Aurora Rising’ is it was largely a novel devoted to developing the key characters, while only doing the mot basic set up for the major plot arc of the trilogy. ‘Aurora Burning’ continues to develop the characters, but the story arc is moved forward much more in book two. The big picture plot finally begins to unfold, as Squad 312 race across the galaxy seeking to acquire the ultimate weapon they need for the battle with the ancient enemy.
The ‘multiple viewpoints’ issue I complained of in my review of book one isn’t as much of a big deal here. In part this is because we’re more familiar with the characters. But it’s also made easier because for much of the book the characters are in different locations or solving problems that are unique to them.
My enjoyment of the story has definitely increased as a result of these two things being addressed. As such, the final book of the series is now next on my reading list. I’d also give the trilogy a higher recommendation than I did based on ‘Aurora Rising’ alone. Though that comes with the caveat that one probably has to read the entire trilogy for maximum enjoyment.
But there’s an elephant in the room that we need to address. One I hinted at in my previous post where I raised the issue of how many familiar sci-fi tropes the novel drew on.
Caution: Spoilers past this point.
Acknowledging the past, but a little too familiar in parts
I’m going to hypothesise the authors of the Aurora series are fans of 90’s sci-fi.
There’s numerous references to Star Trek. For example, we have ‘Picard6’ (a location), ‘The Janeway’ (a ship), and a race called the Rikerites. There’s also a scene (part of a training simulation) where the dialogue sounds a lot like Morpheus’ “do you think that’s air you’re breathing” speech from ‘The Matrix’.
The plot also involves a god-like race called the Eshvaren seeding the galaxy with beings created in their likeness. While this isn’t a unique idea, it’s another that appears in Star Trek:TNG S6E20 ‘The Chase’.
The beings from Trek created life in order to leave behind a legacy, while the Eshvaren seeded life across the galaxy in order to give rise to telepathic beings who would become the trigger for their super weapon and win the ancient war against the Ra’haam. In this regard, the Eshvaren are perhaps more like the Vorlons from Babylon 5. The Vorlon’s manipulated the DNA of younger races to create telepaths for their future war with ‘The Shadows’ . They also altered the DNA of younger races to ensure those aces would see a god-like vision if they ever saw a Vorlon outside its encounter suit.
Another similarity: The Warbreed Cabal in the ‘Aurora’ series are a group of Syldrathi warriors who refused to accept the peace treaty with the Terrans and who start a civil war. In this regard they’re a lot like the warrior caste in Babylon 5, who similarly initiate a civil war, in part because of their dissatisfaction with the decision to make peace with Earth. (Another example: Ronan in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, yet another warrior who refuses to accept a peace treaty.)
There’s probably more, but these are the most obvious ones that stand at at the moment.
Signs and Portents
Based on these similarities, I predict:
The Eshvaren turn out to be a bit like the Vorlons. Ancient race who portray themselves as the light/good but who end up being problematic in their own way.
Aurora finds some sort of resolution that doesn’t involve fulfilling the Eshvaren’s desire for her to wipe up the Ra’haam. In Babylon 5, the protagonists force a confrontation between the Vorlons and Shadows then tell them to ‘get the hell’ out of the galaxy and leave it to the younger races.
Time travel shenanigans. This has already been teased in ‘Aurora Burning’. The question is, will we see something akin to Babylon 5 ? (1) In B5 the enemy is defeated in the past by sending a weapon and hero to the past. Most likely this will take the form of at least one of our heroes time travelling and influencing the formation of the Aurora Legion. (2) ‘Babylon 5’ has “a Minbari not of Minbar” as a result of Sinclair travelling to the past and adopting the identity of Valenn. would not be surprised to see something similar involving a human and Syldrathi.
Anyway, I’ll leave the predictions here so I can actually get on with reading the final book. Let’s see in a few weeks how I actually fared with the predictions.
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Going really retro this week with some classic comic books. Robotech: Invid War is an early 90’s comic that expands on the stories of the original 80’s anime series.
I’ll just get this out of the way up front - I’m a fan of all things ‘mecha’ related. Movies, TV shows, books, comics, the lot. If it involves giant robots, especially in the classic japanese style, I’m down for it. Yes, that includes Pacific Rim in its various iterations. And maybe even ‘Atlantic Rim’ films when I’m in the mood for films so bad they’re entertaining.
Robotech is a classic example of that late 20th century period where American television networks aired Japanese anime recut and redubbed to fill early morning or late afternoon time slots. In the 1990s, these classics found their way to VHS cassette, then in the 2000s, anime lovers sought them out on DVD or torrent sites. Now they’ve made it to various streaming sites.
But nothing beats the thrill of finding original comics…
I was browsing through one of my favourite second hand bookstores when I stumbled across two bound volumes of Robotech comics. It's been a long time since I’d watched any of the series, but I immediately fell in love with these beautifully preserved volumes of original comics.
‘Robotech: Invid War’ tells the story of the fight against the Invid. The plot of the comics skips about a bit since it’s interwoven with the original animated series. Yes, every edition of the comic is in this collection, so there is a complete story. But the story for me was secondary to the joy of finding a classic 90’s anime/mecha comic and just soaking in the comic book style and artwork of that era. Oh - and the throwback 90’s advertising!
This collection of comics is both niche and unique. It’s something of a collector item, although something collected for the love of what it is rather than the monetary value. For that reason it’s not a book I can recommend you go out and buy since you’ll more likely need to buy the individual comics.
Rather, my recommendation is to keep on visiting and supporting those second hand books stores that still exist. Help keep them alive and thriving because you never quite know what treasures they might hold.
#robotech#invid war#bill spangler#fred perry#tim eldred#mecha#comics#anime#retro#80s#90s#bookbacklog#yearofreading
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Forget teenage fantasy heroines who fall in love at the drop of a glove and insist on complicating things with unnecessary love triangles. Lady Rosamund Hawkhurst is a thirty-something widower who is having none of that nonsense and just wants to survive her diplomatic mission and get home to her children.
‘Just Stab Me Now’ is a novel based on the ‘Fantasy Heroine’ YouTube series by Jill Bearup. It’s a metafiction in which we follow the story of Lady Rosamund Hawkhurst and her author - Caroline Lindley.
Caroline sets out to write a fantasy romance using all the classic tropes of the genre: the hot enemy, enemies to lovers, the hot childhood friend, the love triangle, the vulnerable heroine who constantly needs rescuing… Well, you get the idea.
But Rosamund is a sensible woman with a mind of her own, as are the other characters who populate this world. Caroline soon discovers that when you let your characters act in a manner that’s consistent with who they really are - you end up with a very different story to the cliched romance plot Caroline imgined.
‘Just Stab Me Now’ takes place across three dimensions. Firstly, there is the fantasy story involving Rosamund’s diplomatic mission to stop a war and protect her children. The second realm is Caroline’s life as a part-time author, juggling her writing with an unhappy job in IT. The third realm is the crossover between the fantasy and real world. At first this involves Caroline’s efforts to persuade her characters to act more like the genre tropes she had planned. But over time, Caroline’s relationship with her characters evolves, and they help each other find love and justice in their respective worlds.
Jill Bearup has written a fantasy romance that manages to be heartwarming, sincere and yet also employs her quirky humor to recreate the good natured fun of the original YouTube series. As an added bonus - there’s a well told and enjoyable adventure tale here too, along with the romance.
The only potential stumbling block for readers might be the changes in font and layout used to mark the transition between the fantasy-meta-real world. This took a while for me to get accustomed to, but eventually the layout didn’t really matter as the changes in tone and characters were enough to signal the change in setting.
At a time when I really needed a book to lift my spirits, ‘Just Stab Me Now’ absolutely delivered. If you’re looking for some light hearted fun to brighten up your week, head to your favorite online e-book or physical bok reseller to grab yourself a copy.
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Mysterious visions, a broody werewolf stalker, and a sexy Red Riding Hood? This is not the genre I usually go for, but it made for a novel experience.
A quick scroll through my previous book related posts will show just how far outside my usual reading ‘A Curse of Blood & Wolves’ truly is. Putting aside the pivot to hard sci-fi at the start of the year (I’m looking at you ‘Three Body trilogy’), my reading typically involves YA dystopia and sci-fi, graphic novels, fantasy humour (mainly Discworld books) and a selection of non-fiction books.
So why the wild pivot?
I’m trying to get back into creative writing.
If you’ve been on this Tumblr journey with me long enough, you might remember the ‘Hotel’ series of stories, as well as the phase where I was writing short pieces using photos of doors as the writing prompt.
There are days when I feel in the mood for writing something more spicy. For me, reading a greater variety of stuff, including books with some sexy elements, is part of how I want to prepare.
Which brings us to…
Werewolves and visions and mysterious things… Oh my
As I’ve learned from reading (listening) to this novel, it’s really all about the characters - building the tension between them, teasing amounts of release and then eventual culmination of their passion. Oh sure, there is a kind of plot going on here involving visions of the future, cross border werewolf raids and survival of the pack - but that’s not important right now.
The non-romantasy plot elements could probably have been covered in about a third of the book or less. After complaining about the slow progress of what I thought of as the actual story, Rainbow set me straight and explained that this genre doesnt work that way. Not only that, but without me telling her anything much about the characters, she correctly predicated there would be more than one book in the series, guessed there would be other werewolf brothers and that very little of what I considered to be the ‘story’ would actually be told. With that in mind I accepted my fate and just went along with Ruby and Rafe to see where their journey would take them.
So who is this book for?
This is a tricky book to judge because it’s a whole new genre for me. There’s dialogue and scenes that feel both cheesy and cliche, yet fit with the story and maybe are just part of the expected tropes for this genre.
If you think big broody werewolf guys are sexy, maybe this book is for you? If you’ve ever fantasised about being red riding hood being chased through the woods, maybe this book is for you? If you like sub-plots about a dryad who’s BFF with a playboy wolf and the unresolved tensions between them - maybe you’ll like bits of this book too? But if you want to know about the visions and an invading pack… well apparently we’re not finding out much about that storyline in this book.
Beyond that, I’m not sure I have much to add, so perhaps check out other reviews before you pick up a copy or invest several hours of reading or listening time into this book.
#A Curse of Blood and Wolves#melissa mcternan#romantasy#werewolf#slow burn#bookbacklog#yearofreading
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A book that answers all those random questions you didn't realize you actually wanted an answer to.
'What If?' is the book that attempts to give serious scientific answer to absurd hypothetical questions. Questions like:
"What would happen if you made a periodic table out of cube-shaped bricks, where each brick was made of the corresponding element?'
Or
" What place on Earth would allow you to free-fall the longest by jumping off it? What about using a squirrel suit?"
Munroe researches these questions with an intent to answer as accurately as possible, while recognising simplifying assumptions will always be needed. That's especially so for questions that have their origins in fiction, like asking 'how much force power can Yoda output?'.
Each question is typically answered in around a half dozen pages or so. Since there's no intricate plot details to try and remember (I'm looking at you Three-Body series!), its a great coffee-table or bedside book to just pick up and read for a few minutes, then pick up again in a few days time.
If you're looking for some entertaining light reading to keep on hand, or a gift for that geeked out friend, this might be the book you're looking for.
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“I don’t have much to say except a warning. Life reached an evolutionary milestone when it climbed onto land from the ocean, but those first fish that climbed onto land ceased to be fish. Similarly, when humans truly enter space and are freed from the Earth, they cease to be human. So, to all of you I say this: When you think about heading into outer space without looking back, please reconsider. The cost you must pay is far greater than you could imagine. " - Cixon Liu, Deaths End
‘Death’s End’ is the conclusion to the ‘Remembrance Of Earth’s Past / Three Body’ trilogy by Cixin Liu. The series is a sci-fi epic in both the time frame of the series and the content it seeks to cover. The original book covers a period of more than fifty years of Earth’s history, while the second book covers hundreds of years. As for the third, well I’ll just call it a timeframe that the human mind struggles to comprehend.
If you haven’t read my comments on the previous two books, you can find them here:
‘The Three Body Problem’
‘The Dark Forest’
In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I’ll keep the plot very high level.
In the early 21st century, humanity is faced with a threat from an incredibly advanced alien race. During this crisis area, a multitude of unique ideas are explored to try and prepare for the inevitable day when this threat must be faced. The novel explores the difficult choices society and individuals must make in the crisis era, and the ramifications of those choices in the years that follow.
More of the good stuff, more of the same challenges
As I’ve noted in the previous reviews, this series sits in the ‘hard sci-fi’ genre. There’s an emphasis on making the science elements of the world building both plausible and consistent. Some elements of the story are still quite fantastical. As a reader you’re willing to go along with them though because you’ve been on this journey with Cixin Liu long enough to just accept Clarke’s third law “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Where the first book spends a lot of time on scientific puzzles, ‘The Dark Forest’ and ‘Death’s End’ lean heavily into philosophy, politics and cosmic sociology. If you can push through the long winded speeches and set-ups for key events, it’s an amazing experience. Even more so if you’re able to decipher some of the clues laid out through the novel
‘Death’s End’ though comes with some of the same challenges as the earlier books - long monologues and info dumps. But these are magnified by a sense that some don’t advance the overall plot.
The conclusion to the novel may not be to everyone’s liking. I’ve seen people argue it should have wrapped sooner (after the most climatic event in the novel), while others take the view that the conclusion was rushed and could have explored the post-climax events more fully. My personal take is the conclusion was the inevitable compromise between a shockingly abrupt ending, … or writing a conclusion that could almost have become a novella by itself.
Who is this book for?
For casual readers and those who tend to go “eh” when it comes to sci-fi, this probably isn’t the series for you.
On the other hand, this is definitely one for lovers of hard sci-fi. The trilogy is a vehicle for exploring some fascinating and at times confronting themes. It’s worth the investment of your time if you enjoy sci-fi based around detailed world building and big ideas.
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An epic sci-fi story of four men tasked with an impossible mission - surprise an omnipresent enemy centuries in the future.
‘The Dark Forest’ picks up in the aftermath of ‘The Three Body Problem’. Spanning a period of more than 200 years, this is another story that falls firmly into the hard-core sci-fi genre. This book tells a complete story in itself, and can be enjoyed without reading 'Three Body'. That said, I enjoyed ‘The Three Body Problem’ ,and you’ll get more from ‘The Dark Forest’ if you know a bit more of the back story. If you don't read the book in full, I'd suggest at least reading its Wiki entry.
| You can also read my post on ‘The Three Body Problem’ here. |
In the interest of avoiding potential spoilers, for ‘The Three Body Problem’ I’ve skipped my normal summary and will leave it you to to Google the book blurb if you’re interested.
The strengths and limitations of ‘The Dark Forest’ are similar to the first book. It’s an amazing story spanning hundreds of years, packed with scientific speculation and philosophical debate. Again, one of the chief protagonists is trained as a scientist.
Like ‘Three Body’, this book can be heavy going in places. All those discussions of scientific theory and philosophy add to the word count, as do the speeches by political officer Zhang Beihai.
It’s also not surprising that a story which jumps forward in time so frequently has to engage in big information dumps to fill in the gaps. Sometimes these are handled well, and as a reader you’re sufficiently wrapped up in the story that it flows. But there are places where it felt less elegant. For example, when citizens of a future date narrate the events of an era to the protagonist.
There is arguably still some glorification of authoritarianism in this book. Based on the first few hundred pages, I’d formed a fairly negative view on this. But by the end I’d come to the conclusion things were more nuanced than I first thought. As the reader, like many of the characters in the story, it felt like I had been deceived as part of a bigger ruse.
This book may have broader appeal than ‘Three Body’ as it's a bigger story that takes in more time and space. - a true space epic. If you enjoy hard sci-fi and are prepared to push through some lengthy passages, you’ll be rewarded. The book also has something to offer for those interested in the psychology and philosophy of war. For everyone else, you have been warned.
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2023 - Getting back into reading
After a quiet few years due to the pandemic, 2023 was the year I got back into reading.
One of my habits that took a hit during the pandemic was reading. As I explained earlier this year, this was due to a few factors. In short, pre-pandemic most of my reading was done while commuting, and I've never returned to the office full time. I replaced commuting time with other activities that were now an option (exercise, sleep, family time, gaming) and didn't carve out any dedicated time for reading.
For 2023, I wanted to do better. But wanting something isn't enough. As I learned from 'Atomic Habits', you need to build new routines and behaviours. So I set myself goals to read at least three times a week, and made sure I always had easy access to books to read.
And the result...
Nineteen books (including audiobooks) 'read' in 2023. That's more than double the number of books I read in the prior three years, and on par with my best years prior to the pandemic. Even stripping out the audiobooks and graphics novels, I still beat my pre-COVID goal of reading the equivalent of one actual book per month.
So here's my reading for 2023.
Fiction & Novels
Aurora's End - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Dr Who: City of Death - Douglas Adams / James Goss
Equal Rites - Terry Pratchet
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Mortal Engines - Phillip Reeve
Mortal Engines: Predators Gold - Phillip Reeve
Graphic Novel & Comics
Seven Years of Highly Defective People - Scott Adams
The Umbrella Academy: Dallas - Gerard Wray & Gabriel Ba
Hellblazer: Original Sins - multiple contributors
The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman
Non-Fiction (inc. biographies)
Atomic Habits - James Clear (Audiobook)
How Charts Lie - Alberto Cairo
Never Split the Difference - Chris Voss (Audiobook)
Turns out I'm Fine - Judith Lucy
Bhutan to Blacktown - Om Dhungel
Interconnected Realities - Leslie Shannon
2062: The World that AI Made - Toby Walsh
Atlas of the Heart - Brene Brown
The Hidden Tools of Comedy - Steve Kaplan (Audiobook)
What did I read in previous years?
Previous Reading Lists
2022 - getting back to books (4 books)
2021 - Another year of not reading much (2 books)
2020 - A year of not much reading (3 books)
2019 #bookbacklog
2018 #bookbacklog
2017 #bookbacklog
2016 #bookbacklog
2015 #bookbacklog
2014 year of reading
2013 year of reading
2012 year of reading
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Get set for more adventures involving giant mobile cities, airship battles and psychologically unstable cyborgs. Oh, and a kind of love triangle just to break up the action.
'Predator's Gold' is the second book in the (original) 'Mortal Engines' series. [Read my post on the first book here]. Two years after the events of the previous book, Tom and Hester are attacked by the 'Green Storm', a faction of the Anti-Traction League. To escape, they take refuge aboard the traction city 'Anchorage'. Once a thriving centre of trade, it's now a ghost town, struggling through the arctic cold.
Stranded aboard Anchorage, Tom and Hester are faced with new mysteries. Why did the Green Storm attack them? Why is Anchorage in such disrepair? Is America still a radioactive wasteland or has it renewed itself as a green land of hope? And why do things keep going missing in Anchorage? Adding to the challenges for our protagonists, 'Predators Gold' also throws in a love triangle of sorts.
As I observed in relation to 'Mortal Engines', if you're a fan of dystopian novels and open to a book intended for a younger audience, this might be a quick series you'll enjoy. Look for it in your library or second hand book store if you don't want to pay full price for such a quick read.
Note: While this post was in January 2024, I finished the book in 2023, so counted it in my 2023 list.
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Writing good comedy isn't necessarily about being able to write 'something funny', as Steve Kaplan explains in this book.
As regular readers will know, I've taken up listening to audiobooks on my intercity drives. Rather than my usual fare of self improvement or business books, 'The Hidden Tools of Comedy' is an exploration of something completely different - writing comedy.
The book is based Kaplan's experience teaching comedy workshops to writers, directors and actors. It includes a discussion of the history and theory of comedy, as well as practical tools for helping comedy writers to improve their scripts and books.
The book uses case studies to demonstrate what does and doesn't work in comedy writing. Scenes from 'Big' and 'Groundhog Day' are frequently held up as examples of good writing, while the bad writing examples were typically from movies I'd never heard of.
One of the key concepts that underpins the book is what Kaplan refers to as '"the comedy equation".
The Comedy Equation: An ordinary guy or gal struggling against insurmountable odds without many of the required skills and tools with which to win yet never giving up hope.
Writing a comedy has never been on my to-do list. However the comedy equation, and the other tools Kaplan explores, have given me a new perspective on the comedy. It still may not be something I write myself, but it's given me a way to better understand why some scenes work, and some scenes (or whole movies) are a bad cringe from beginning to end.
I'd recommend this book for writers, or anyone interested in the how and why of what makes comedy work.
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It’s a city eat city world out there. But what happens when something threatens to upset the balance of the world order?
‘Mortal Engines’ is set in a dystopian future where giant ‘traction cities’ roam the wastelands attacking and consuming smaller cities and towns. Aboard the great predator city ‘London’, apprentice historian Tom is about to have his world turned upside down. After Tom foils an assassination attempt on the life of the chief historian, he finds himself separated from his home and unsure who he can trust. Things only get worse as he uncovers a plot involving ancient technology and the devastation of the ‘Sixty Minutes War’.
This book seems to be aimed at younger teens. As such, it simplifies the themes it touches on such as class, social Darwinism, and the risk of technology falling into the wrong hands. If you’ve studied any of these topics at a level beyond junior high, be warned. You may find yourself going “but what about…” at some point, due to the way some of these things are dealt with.
Reeve’s worldbuilding is centered around creating an environment for adventure. At times, that requires some hefty suspension of disbelief. (Which I go into a bit more in the spoilers section). However the underlying story is enjoyable and well paced. If you let yourself ride with the characters, you can look past some of the inconsistencies of the world.
As a book aimed at a teen audience, this may not be for everyone. But if you’re willing to just kick back and enjoy adventures in a different dystopian world, then ‘Mortal Engines’ is an easy read.
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Some aspects of the world building that didn't seem to make a lot of sense...
‘Mortal Engines’ has a fun, but impossible premise. Giant ‘traction cities’ are an awesome visual concept. Before I read this book, I assumed they were powered by some fantastical, futuristic energy source. But in the book it seems at least some of the engines are fuelled by burning stuff - mainly smaller cities. So straight up you need to accept that while giant steam powered cities are cool, they require a massive suspension of disbelief.
The tactics of city combat, especially in the early part of the novel, also require a certain suspension of disbelief. Chasing down and eating smaller cities is cool. But cities are huge and presumably hard to manoeuvre. They are essentially a giant mobile base, making them perhaps analogous to a battleship or aircraft carrier. Had the combat been modelled more closely around naval warfare, I think it would have made the world more believable. It would also have made some of the events later in the book (blowing up the enemy airships, anti-balloon rockets) make more sense.
Finally - the engineers and scientists have managed to somehow reverse engineer some super advanced cyborg tech and a death ray - but all manner of simpler military technologies that would help them (fixed wing aircraft? artillery? radar? ) seem to have been missed.
None of these really stopped me enjoying the novel, but I think it would have been better had the tech been a bit more thought through.
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‘Atlas of the Heart’ is a strong contender for my favorite book this year. Having a richer language for describing emotions is better for everyone, and storytellers will especially benefit from being able to draw on the book’s descriptive dictionary of emotions.
If you’ve been following my Tumblr for a while, you’ll know I dip into self-improvement books from time to time. I’ve probably picked up more books in this genre in the last few year due to a combination of factors. Part of it has just been that I’ve been reading (physically and audiobooks) a LOT more this year. But it’s also been a deliberate choice as I try to improve my life in the wake of the pandemic and a busy couple of years since.
Already this year I’ve read ‘Never Split The Difference’ and ‘Atomic Habits’, with another couple of books in the pipeline. ‘Atomic Habits’ has definitely had a positive impact on my life, and in practical terms it may turn out to be the one that has the greatest impact this year. But ‘Atlas of the Heart’ just seemed to strike a chord at the point I picked it up.
Exploring the breadth and depth of emotions
‘Atlas’ explores eighty-seven human emotions and experiences based on research carried out during the author’s extensive career. While Brene describes the book as an atlas, you could also look at it as an emotional dictionary - a place to go when you need to better understand what a word means, or when you need a richer vocabulary to describe the world you’re experiencing.
I think part of what made ‘Atlas’ so appealing to me is that it skillfully combines research and storytelling. This is not just one person’s personal hot-take on humanity. Rather, it reflects the intellectual and academic journey that Brene Brown has been on, including acknowledging where her opinions have changed over time. This research is then combined with storytelling and examples, personal and from others, that brings the research to life.
Personal reflections
‘Atlas’ is a good complement to some of the other books I’ve read recently. ‘Never Split the Difference’ is a book that offers its own take on how to negotiate more effectively. But the type of negotiation it describes requires understanding how people work at an emotional level. So to that end, ‘Atlas’ is a good complement.
On a personal level, I’m now trying to be more reflective when I’m feeling something. Although it’s impossible to remember all the emotions in the book, I think it’s still valuable to take a moment, pause, and reflect on whether there is a richer way to describe how I’m feeling at a particular point in time.
A book for everyone - yes, really!
As regular readers will know, I usually close out these sort of posts by suggesting who might enjoy or benefit from a particular book. So who would I recommend this book to? Well… everyone.
If you’re a writer, I think this would be a great tool to inspire richer characters by identifying and more accurately describing their emotions. But everyone can benefit from having their own emotional atlas, more ways to describe their own feelings and a better understanding of others.
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Back to where it all began with some classic 1980's cyberpunk. 'Neuromancer' is a great example of how even when an author gets the specifics of future technology 'wrong', the experiences of the world they create can still be plausible and incredibly compelling.
'Neuromancer' is one of those books that's been on my 'to read' list for many years. but I've just never got around to reading. I even bought the book about eighteen months ago, though at the time not for myself, but for Menow Jnr. [ He needed some sci-fi as inspiration/reference for a writing project he had. In the end he went with 'Dune' and some Asimov.] So when I was looking for something new to read without spending any more money, a trip to Menow Jn'rs bookshelf proved quite productive.
A cyberspace heist?
The plot of 'Neuromancer' centres on Henry Case, a drug-addicted hacker who finds himself recruited for a secretive cyberattack on a major corporation. As one would expect for a heist themed story, Case is joined in this endeavour by a misfit gang. This includes the cybernetically enhanced assassin 'Molly', a disembodied hacker consciousness 'McCoy', 'Riviera' - an illusionist who can manipulate peoples minds, and 'Armitage' - the secretive recruiter. As the gang is slowly assembled and prepare for the mission, one is left wondering just what exactly the ultimate goal is, especially as the true backer of the heist is revealed.
'Neuromancer's cultural influence
'Neuromancer' is one of those books that at times feels very familiar. I'd put this down to the influence it's had on the genre. It's author, William Gibson, coined the term 'Cyberspace' in an earlier work, and also gave the world the concept of 'the matrix' before the movie of the same name. Anyone who has played the 'Cyberpunk 2077' game will also feel right at home in the world of 'Neuromancer'. It turns out even one of the artificial intelligences in another book I read (Mage Against the Machine') was named after a character from the book.
Ideas that age better than tech
'Neuromancer' was written at a time when personal computers were only just starting to make their way into people's homes, and the public version of the Internet was in its infancy. Nearly forty years on, its not surprising that some of the specific technology feels dated.
But in other ways, the book remains prophetic.
The 'metaverse' may no longer be generating the hype it was a few years ago, but 'the matrix / cyberspace' in which Case operates is essentially a dystopian version of the interconnected realities being promoted today. So while the specific technology of Neuromancer at times feels like it belongs in an alternate timeline, this doesn't matter because Case's experiences with cyberspace, virtual and AI, still feel both plausible and compelling.
So who is this book for?
If you love sci-fi, cyberpunk or dystopia - this should be on your reading list. Don't make my mistake of waiting so long to track it down, because I think you're going to enjoy so many other books/movies/TV in this genre even more after reading it.
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When you play with dark magic, you never quite know what you’re to get. Summoning beings from another realm is a risky business, and while capturing Dream might sound safer than capturing Death, it’s still a bad idea.
‘The Sandman’ is another example of a comic picked up at a book fair based on reputation alone. I’d heard about it before, and was intrigued by the trailer for the Netflix series. So when I saw it at the book fair, I added it to my backlog of comics and books to be read.
And I’m glad I did.
‘The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes ’ collects the first eight comics of The Sandman series. It introduces us to the principal character, Dream (a.k.a. Morpheus), and follows his quest to restore his power by recovering the mystical artifacts that were stolen from him while imprisoned on earth.
‘The Sandman’ has horror elements, but I found it less dark than ‘Constantine: Hellblazer’, which I also recently read. While some chapters of ‘The Sandman’ lean into brutal horror, it didn't feel as overwhelming as Constantine. I’d put this down to the way it draws on other elements - mythology, the dream world, even at times a kind of perverse playfulness. For me, this made 'The Sandman' a more enjoyable story overall.
So who will enjoy this comic?
‘The Sandman’ arguably has broader appeal than Constantine. There are moments of violence and horror, but they’re not as overwhelming as in Constantine. Instead, the comic plays with a broader range of themes and styles. If you enjoy fantasy themes interwoven with mythology, and a predictable but entertaining quest, then Sandman might appeal.
#the sandman#preludes and nocturnes#neil gaiman#sam kieth#mike dringenberg#malcolm jones III#fantasy#comic#horror#bookbacklog#yearofreading
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