Friday, May 28, 2021

Menace of the Monster (British Library Science Fiction Classics) ★★★✬☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Menace of the Monster
Series: British Library Science Fiction Classics
Editor: Mike Ashley
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 266
Words: 98.5K






Synopsis:


From Isfdb.org


The War of the Worlds (abridgement) • (1920) • short story by H. G. Wells

The Cloud Men • (1911) • short fiction by Owen Oliver

The Dragon of St. Pauls • (1899) • short fiction by Reginald Bacchus and C. Ranger Gull

De Profundis • (1914) • short fiction by Coutts Brisbane

Dagon • (1919) • short story by H. P. Lovecraft

In Amundsen's Tent • (1928) • novelette by John Martin Leahy

King Kong • (1933) • short story by Draycot M. Dell and Edgar Wallace

The Monster from Nowhere • (1939) • short story by Nelson S. Bond

Discord in Scarlet • [Space Beagle] • (1939) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt

Monster • (1950) • short story by John Christopher

Resident Physician • [Sector General] • (1961) • novelette by James White

Personal Monster • (1955) • short story by Idris Seabright

Alien Invasion • (1954) • short story by Marcia Kamien

The Witness • (1951) • novelette by Eric Frank Russell




My Thoughts:


I went into this knowing that Ashley was going to blab before each story. Thankfully, there was a LOT less sociocultural BS than in the previous book. He actually talked about the stories and authors as stories and authors instead of as representative of this or that modern idea. I didn't want to stuff a sock down his throat and choke him to death so that was quite the improvement from last time :-)


With that being said, the stories here weren't quite as engaging, hence the 3.5star rating. The War of the Worlds abridgement was just too short. It did make me want to seek out the full version though, so that's something. King Kong was a short story based on the screen play and man, did it feel like it. I'll take Jackson's Director's Cut of the movie any day. I'd read several others of these throughout the years so that familiarity helped ease me along.


Overall, this series is exposing me to authors that have disappeared or fallen out of the knowledge of even the SF community and it is very interesting to read such things. I like the short story format, as I'm not getting bogged down because an author can't shut the feth up. I didn't even realize how much I am starting to hate modern authors because of their bleeding wordiness until I started reading more short stories and the distillation of an idea instead of an expansion of the idea. As much as I loved Sanderson when he started, I'm not sure I can read much more by him. And don't get me started on jackasses like Gwynne who think they're somebody and have the right to pen tomes as newbie authors.


To end, this one went MUCH better even while some of the stories weren't as good. I hope things can stay at this level.


★★★✬☆




Wednesday, May 26, 2021

The Man Who Forgot Christmas ★★★☆☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Man Who Forgot Christmas
Series: ----------
Author: Max Brand
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Western
Pages: 83
Words: 22K







Synopsis:


Two men break out of prison. One of them, a thief, rightly belongs there. The other, falsely accused of murder, doesn't. They hold up a coach and steal money from the man who setup the murderer. The thief is shot and they barely make it to a house. The daughter of the house falls in love with the murderer and the thief falls in love with her.


The local sheriff knows the murderer, as he helped arrest him. But he also knows the charges were false. The thief, in a paroxysm of anger and jealousy, sends an anonymous note to another sheriff claiming the murderer is the one who did the hold up and stole the money. The thief has a change of heart on Christmas day and goes out in a blaze of gunfire with the sheriffs, taking all the blame on his shoulders so his friend can live happily ever after with the girl.




My Thoughts:


I think it is safe to say that Max Brand has a thing for love triangles that are doomed before they even start. What sets these apart from the love triangles in modern urban fantasy is that these are not female wish fulfillment but the grim fulfillment of male dominance. Much like the Rock'em Sock'em Robots, Brand's love triangles are not about lust and fuzzy feelings but duty and kickass men duking it out until only one is left standing. We're talking pure, distilled testosterone folks.


The title is taken from the thief forgetting that the day he gives his life for his friend is Christmas Day. He gets a stocking and it has some things that he remembers from his childhood and makes him change his mind and thus the book ends the way it does. It was actually pretty schmaltzy and filled with “the spirit of Christmas”. I could almost hear the Muppets singing in the background, sigh. I've never understood why people write about generic “christmas” when the very name tells you the reason for its being.


I don't know how far along I am in this “Works of Max Brand” collection but while it's better than nothing, I can say that Max Brand is not a western author that I'll seek out more of when I done. Where's my Indians and Cowboys and the Wild West? I want scalps and outlaws and sixguns. While a few of Brands books have had those, like Crossroads, that doesn't seem to be the majority. Oh, I just checked and I'm only 22% done with this collection. So Brand has a lot of space to improve my opinion of him.


★★★☆☆




Monday, May 24, 2021

Lord Peter Views the Body (Lord Peter Wimsey #5) ★★★✬☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Lord Peter Views the Body
Series: Lord Peter Wimsey #5
Author: Dorothy Sayers
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 235
Words: 94K







Synopsis:


From Wikipedia


The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers

Members of London's "Egotists' Club" are telling stories of odd things that happened to them, when one of the member's guests, a cinema actor named Varden, relates that he was invited to model for a wealthy sculptor, Eric Loder, and spent several months at Loder's New York mansion. A few years later, after the war, Loder invited Varden back to New York, and Varden noticed that Loder's mistress, Maria Moranno, had disappeared, though a life-size gilded sculpture of her now occupied the living room. One night, Varden was wakened by a "funny-looking man" wearing a monocle, who told him his life was in danger. For explanation, the man smashed the arm of the "statue" with a fireplace poker, and Varden saw a human arm bone beneath the gold plating. Varden fled the house immediately, though to this day he is not certain whether he really did narrowly escape death or whether someone played an elaborate practical joke on him.


Then the "funny-looking man" - Wimsey, also a member of the club - appears and explains the mystery: while Wimsey himself was a guest in Loder's mansion, a small night-time accident led to him occupying a sofa in the living room, where he observed Loder entering a secret chamber. Entering the chamber himself, Wimsey found an apparatus for electroplating and diagrams drawn by Loder, revealing his plans to kill Varden and encase him in a gilded statue. After further investigation, Wimsey concluded that Loder killed Maria in jealousy, believing that she and Varden were lovers during his first stay in New York, and planned to kill Varden in the same fashion after he returned from his war service.


Wimsey goes on to relate that after Varden fled the house, Wimsey confronted Loder with a pistol in the secret workshop. Loder tried to outmaneuver Wimsey by shutting off the lights and then rushing him, but tripped and fell into the vat of cyanide to be used in the electroplating process, dying almost instantaneously. While Wimsey fumbled to turn the lights back on, he inadvertently switched on the current to the copper wire Loder was gripping, which transferred copper plating to his hands. Loder was found the next morning, and his death was ruled an accident, while Wimsey took Maria Moranno's encased body to a local cemetery and gave it a Christian burial with the aid of a sympathetic priest.


The Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question

Peter and Bunter are waiting in line at Saint-Lazare in Paris, when Peter overhears a conversation from a young woman in line that makes him curious, particularly when he notes that the woman and her companion are also taking the same train to Calais, and crossing the Channel to Dover. After patient investigation, Peter meets with his mother's friend, the Dowager Countess of Medway, warning her that someone is planning a burglary during her granddaughter's upcoming wedding. He believes he knows who the thief is, but cannot prove it unless the theft is allowed to take place.


Peter also alerts Charles Parker, who has men on guard during the wedding. A brief uproar arises when the bride's famous diamond necklace, brought out of the family vault for the occasion, is reported stolen, but the thief and her accomplice are caught red-handed. Peter shocks the assembled wedding party by exposing the Dowager Countess's French lady's maid as a man in disguise, Jacques le Rouge, a.k.a. Jacques sans-Culotte, a notorious safecracker, burglar and female impersonator. Jacques admits defeat, asking Peter how he knew. Peter explains that while waiting in the line at Saint-Lazare, he overheard Jacques, while dressed as a woman, use the masculine article "un" instead of the feminine "une." Jacques congratulates Peter for a mastery of the French language probably unique among all English people.


The Dowager Countess is initially outraged that Peter knowingly allowed her to be dressed, undressed, and assisted to bed by a man, but then laughs off the whole affair, reminiscing that she was a famous beauty in her youth, who attracted the attentions of many young men.


The Fascinating Problem of Uncle Meleager's Will

The disposal of a dead man's fortune depends on his penchant for cross-word puzzles.


The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag

A high-speed chase and a lost bag converge with a gruesome discovery.


The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker

A lady pleads for Lord Peter's help in retrieving a valuable necklace, and more importantly, a portrait with an indiscreet inscription.


The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention

Lord Peter, visiting friends in the country, sees a ghostly carriage, hears rumours of an odd will, and deduces that foul play is afoot.


The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran

Lord Peter deduces the whereabouts of a cleverly hidden murder weapon.


The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste

Lord Peter's celebrated palate exposes two impostors seeking a secret formula.


The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head

Viscount St. George appears as a boy as Lord Peter uses clues from a rare book to find a treasure.


The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach

Involving several Scotsmen, a digestive organ, and a handful of diamonds.


The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face

Prompted by a discussion with strangers on a train, Lord Peter investigates the murder of a man whose face was disfigured after death.


The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba

Lord Peter infiltrates a den of ruthless thieves; notable for unusual technology.




My Thoughts:


This was a good entry in the series. A selection of short stories worked perfectly for me and kept my attention without making me feel “Ok, get on with it already”.


Some stories worked better than others and the last one did NOT work for me. Faking his own death for 2 years just to catch a gang of high tech thieves seemed a bit ridiculous to me. And it made me realize how old he is. He was 37 at the time of his fake death. I also don't understand why he's still single. I seem to vaguely recollect that he's married in later books but might be confusing him with his official detective partner Charles Parker. Either way, he's not Batman/Bruce Wayne so he should be married. And that's my final answer.


Other than those odd complaints, this was just what was needed. I really like collections of short stories if they are done well. None of this 800 page “world building” crap where the author destroys any chance of allowing the reader to use their imagination. None of this 800 pages of “character development” where the author makes the character more important than the story. Sayers tells a story using the titular character and she does it well. But they are the vehicles and the story is the point. I appreciate, so much, that approach to story telling. It is sadly lacking in today's books and is probably one of the reasons I'm not drawn so much into modern SFF.


Going slightly off topic here. I don't understand why authors like Sayers, and McKillip, aren't mentioned more by those who want more women writers. They seem to be completely ignored by the very people I would have thought would be searching them out and bringing them to a new generation. Part of it, I suspect, is the style of writing. “Kids these days” just don't want this sparse, utilitarian and yet excellent kind of writing. Heaven help us, they might have to use their imaginations! Maybe it's a genre thing? Most of the mystery series that I've dipped my toes into have been penned by women but I don't hear their names bandied about at all nowadays. Ok, I'm done blabbering.


The main reason this got a 3.5 instead of a 4 is because in one of the stories Wimsey is talking with someone who's french and Sayers doesn't translate it. She expects her readers to be able to read french. She obviously was NOT part of the Freedom Fries movement of the 00's, otherwise she'd know better. To be honest though, I don't feel like I really missed out on anything by not being able to read a couple of paragraphs.


★★★✬☆




Friday, May 21, 2021

The League of Frightened Men (Nero Wolfe #2) ★★★✬☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission


Title: The League of Frightened Men
Series: Nero Wolfe #2
Author: Rex Stout
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 233
Words: 92K







Synopsis:


From Wikipedia


After reading a controversial new novel by an author called Paul Chapin, Nero Wolfe reveals to Archie Goodwin that he has been approached by Andrew Hibbard, a psychologist fearing for his life. Hibbard had received threatening poems from an individual he refused to name, but after reading a phrase in Chapin's book that also appeared in the poems, Wolfe has deduced that the man Hibbard feared is Chapin. Wolfe orders Archie to contact Hibbard to offer Wolfe’s services, but when Archie does so he learns that Hibbard has disappeared under mysterious circumstances.


Hibbard is a member of “the League of Atonement”, a group of college friends who once played a prank on Chapin that, to their lingering shame and remorse, left him permanently crippled. In addition to Hibbard's disappearance, two other members of the group have also died under mysterious circumstances, and both Hibbard’s niece Evelyn and the police suspect that Chapin has murdered them. Wolfe acquires a list of the other men in the League and summons them to his office, where he proposes to both determine the truth behind the deaths of their mutual friends and remove the threat that they believe Chapin poses. The meeting is interrupted by Chapin himself, who claims innocence in the affair but refuses to provide evidence when Wolfe challenges him to do so. This prompts the League to agree to Wolfe’s terms.


Wolfe has Archie arrange for Chapin to be tailed as closely as possible, a search for Hibbard to be conducted, and the two deaths to be investigated. Archie discovers that another member of the League, Dr. Leopold Elkus, is also tangentially involved in the two deaths and, as Elkus is sympathetic to Chapin, begins to suspect that he is helping him commit the murders. He also discovers the existence of a mysterious man with gold teeth and a pink tie who also appears to be tailing Chapin. On bringing this man to Wolfe, they discover it is in fact Andrew Hibbard. Hibbard, driven to desperation by his fear and paranoia of Chapin, had faked his death and begun following Chapin to work up the courage to murder him.


Soon after, Paul Chapin is arrested for the sudden murder of Dr. Loring Burton, who is both a fellow member of the League and the man who married the woman Chapin was in love with. This prompts Wolfe to take the drastic step of leaving his home to consult with Chapin, while Archie gains the trust of Burton’s wife and learns that Dora Chapin, the wife of Paul Chapin and Burton’s former house-maid, had visited Burton before he was murdered. Believing Dora to be the murderer, Archie attempts to confront her but is taken by surprise, drugged, and incapacitated.


Upon regaining consciousness, Archie is alarmed to discover that Dora Chapin has apparently kidnapped Wolfe. On receiving a message from Wolfe, however, he learns that Wolfe has convinced Dora Chapin that he poses no threat to her husband and does not believe him to be guilty of murder. Wolfe then summons the members of the League to his office, where he produces Hibbard and reveals a confession he has apparently received from Paul Chapin. To the League’s surprise the letter confirms, as Wolfe suspected all along, that Chapin had no involvement in the deaths of their two mutual friends at all. The deaths were an unfortunate accident and a suicide respectively, but Chapin, psychologically incapable of murder but resentful of his friends for both their responsibility for his injury and their pity towards him, sent the poems to scare his friends and gain his vengeance on them that way.


Incredulous and skeptical of Wolfe’s claims, the League vote on whether to pay Wolfe. When the vote indicates that Wolfe will not receive his fee, Wolfe presses one member—Ferdinand Bowen, a stockbroker—to change his vote. When Bowen refuses, Wolfe reveals that Bowen is in fact Burton’s murderer. Burton had discovered that Bowen had been embezzling from him and other members of the League whose investments he managed, and Bowen used the fear and paranoia that everyone had of Chapin to stage Burton’s murder and throw suspicion on Chapin. Bowen is arrested, leaving Archie to realise that Chapin’s letter was faked. His vengeance thwarted, Chapin reveals to Wolfe that he will be basing a character on Wolfe in a forthcoming novel, and that character will meet a very unpleasant end.




My Thoughts:


Another thoroughly enjoyable read.


I skipped the introduction, as I found that the people who do that kind of thing are idiots and either spoil the heck out of the book OR are wannabe freuds and everything is about sex, even when it isn't. My life is better when I just read the book for myself instead of being told what it is supposed to mean by some hack.


I do have to admit, I didn't understand why everyone was so afraid of Chapin, the supposed villain of this particular story. A self-absorbed, selfish crippled gimp who is still in love with a woman who has been married for decades and has his own wife steal things from her? Of course, with him “claiming” to have done the murders through anonymous letters, you could see why they were concerned. But afraid? Ask Chapin to his face and get a yes or no. If you can't, then you kill him yourself. Man, nobody in that group had one pair of balls between them all. Shameful. Thankfully, the title alerted me to what I was getting into so I didn't get too steamed up about the group's lack of manhood, but still, it was a sore point for me.


I did end up laughing out loud at the shenanigans Wolfe got up to at the end. What a dirty money grubber. I'm hoping he refutes his own statement about letting murderers go free if he's not paid to catch them by future actions. If not, this series might have a much smaller chance of survival with me than expected.


★★★✬☆

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Chasing the Dragon (Galaxy's Edge: Tyrus Rechs #2) ★★★★☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission


Title: Chasing the Dragon
Series: Galaxy's Edge: Tyrus Rechs #2
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF/Space Opera
Pages: 243
Words: 75.5K








Synopsis:


From Galaxysedge.fandom.com & Me


They all want the Dragon dead.


The Dragon was trained from his youth to operate as a lethal killing machine. He has tangled with crime lords, dangerous insurgents, even Nether Ops… and none of these forces has been able to bring the elusive warrior to heel.


Enter the notorious bounty hunter Tyrus Rechs.


Rechs takes on the job as a favor to an old Savage Wars buddy. Only Rechs isn’t out to kill the Dragon—his mission is to save the kid’s life. Unless the Dragon kills Rechs first.


The Dragon is the last of an experiment from the Savage Wars, an experiment meant to duplicate Tyrus Rechs. With speed, endurance, healing and other capabilities, the Dragon is a one man army meant to train an army. As a Sinasian, he's now using his skills to train the Sinasian worlds to break free from the Republic.


That war, justified or not, will cost billions of lives and Rechs can't let it happen. In league with a Nether Ops agent who wants the Dragon to live out a life of peace, Rechs must find the Dragon, convince him to stop and then get him to safety. When the Nether Ops agent shows her true colors and double crosses Rechs, a Republic Destroyer is on hand to use a crustbuster on the world the Dragon is on. Rechs rescues the Dragon and delivers him to a couple of Dark Ops agents who want what the Nether Ops agent claimed to want.


The books ends with the Dragon dying of old age surrounded by his family and him holding on until Rechs shows up.




My Thoughts:


I have to admit, this book made me feel really bad for the man known as Tyrus Rechs. He carries such a weight on his shoulders and his memories of his past are simply fading away. He remembers Earth, now mythical in status. He knows he's been around for thousands of years and knows there was a purpose he was meant to fulfill, but details escape him. The unstoppable killing machine he's become seems to be the only way for him to keep going. That is just very pathos filled.


As an action story, this was great. Rechs is facing off against someone who appears to be just as powerful as him. He's also going against Sinasians gangs, Sinasian ninjas, Sinasian special forces, Nether Ops, Legionnaires from the Republic as well as other bounty hunters.


It also excels at providing glimpses of backstory for the universe we're currently reading about. I never felt infodumped on or that “So Bob, let me explain....” feeling that sometimes happens. It really felt organic and like it was directly from Tyrus.


Another fantastic entry in the Galaxy's Edge universe. In terms of pure enjoyment, this is beating out even Asher's Polity series. I don't know how it will stand up to re-reads though. I guess I'll find out in a decade or so :-)


★★★★☆




Monday, May 17, 2021

The Sapphire Rose (The Elenium #3) ★★★✬☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Sapphire Rose
Series: The Elenium #3
Author: David Eddings
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 479
Words: 181.5K






Synopsis:


From Wikipedia & Me


Sparhawk now has possession of the Bhelliom, so he returns to Cimmura and uses it to cure Queen Ehlana. Unfortunately, when returning the symbolic ring of the monarchy to her, she, perhaps deliberately, mistakes his action for a marriage proposal. The engagement has been publicly announced before he has had time to clarify this - although it seems unlikely that Ehlana would have been willing to break the engagement anyway. After curing the Queen of her illness, the knights ride for Chyrellos to prevent the Primate of Cimmura from ascending the throne of Archprelate. An enormous army lays siege to the Holy City.


Meanwhile, the evil God Azash and his servant, Otha, have been massing their forces along the eastern border of Eosia in preparation for an invasion of the west. Sparhawk decides, after consultation with his superiors in the Church, to take Bhelliom and travel to Zemoch with several others, with the intention of destroying Azash.


They reach the city of Zemoch, and find the temple which contains the mud idol to which Azash is confined. By a slightly odd mixture of subtlety and brute force, they gain access to the inner room - but not without the loss of Kurik, Sparhawk's squire and friend. Sparhawk duels with Martel, another of Azash's accomplices, and kills him; he then goes on to destroy Azash himself, who takes Otha and Annias with him.


The end of the series comes to a close with the birth of Sparhawk's daughter Danae, who reveals herself to be Aphrael. Aphrael reveals that Sparhawk is the Man without a Fate and helps him lose Bhelliom so it won't fall into the wrong hands.




My Thoughts:


This was a good ending to the trilogy. I had forgotten that so much happens. It was like Eddings realized he had dragged things out too long in the previous books and so had to cram everything in here. This was also quite a bit longer in terms of pages too.


In the previous book it felt like Eddings did everything he could to slow down our protagonists whereas in this book it was full steam ahead, damn the torpedoes and the jolly roger on the high seas. Sparhawk heals Ehlana, marries her, races across a continent to face down a god, defeats him, deliberately loses Bhelliom, has a kid who is actually a goddess and then helps heal the world. It was just a bit much.


Oh, the biggest reason for keeping it below a 4star was that Ehlana wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant after being poisoned and it's a whole plot point between Danae/Aphrael and Sparhawk. The thing is, Bhelliom healed Ehlana from the poison, so why didn't it heal her from that particular side affect? It just made no sense.


Overall, I was happy to re-read this trilogy but I think this is it. Eddings has a big place in my history of reading but not a future.


★★★✬☆




Friday, May 14, 2021

Decadence (A Very Short Introduction) ★✬☆☆☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Decadence
Series: A Very Short Introduction
Author: David Weir
Rating: 1.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 142
Words: 44K







Synopsis:


From the Publisher


The history of decadent culture runs from ancient Rome to nineteenth-century Paris, Victorian London, fin de siècle Vienna, Weimar Berlin, and beyond. The decline of Rome provides the pattern for both aesthetic and social decadence, a pattern that artists and writers in the nineteenth century imitated, emulated, parodied, and otherwise manipulated for aesthetic gain. What begins as the moral condemnation of modernity in mid-nineteenth century France on the part of decadent authors such as Charles Baudelaire ends up as the perverse celebration of the pessimism that accompanies imperial decline. This delight in decline informs the rich canon of decadence that runs from Joris-Karl Huysmans's À Rebours to Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Aubrey Beardsley's drawings, Gustav Klimt's paintings, and numerous other works. In this Very Short Introduction, David Weir explores the conflicting attitudes towards modernity present in decadent culture by examining the difference between aesthetic decadence--the excess of artifice--and social decadence, which involves excess in a variety of forms, whether perversely pleasurable or gratuitously cruel. Such contrariness between aesthetic and social decadence led some of its practitioners to substitute art for life and to stress the importance of taste over morality, a maneuver with far-reaching consequences, especially as decadence enters the realm of popular culture today.




My Thoughts:


I was talking with a friend of mine about higher education and we ended up discussing how it seems that those who are the most informed on a subject are often the worst at actually conveying information about said subject. Which led me to talk about this series and that lead to some interesting info for me.


Zac, my friend (and no, he's not just in my head), was saying that a lot of higher education is about finding the right books on a subject tangential to the one you're actually studying. So an Introductory book like this is meant for someone who is already experienced in some aspect of the subject and wants a bibliography to expand their knowledge. It went a LONG way towards explaining my issues with this series. It's not an Introduction for the Layperson, but an Introduction for People Already into the Subject. While it doesn't solve my problems with the series, it radically adjusts my perspective and that will help alleviate some of the frustration caused by idiots who aren't idiots but are idiots. With that out of the way, let's proceed.


I was hoping the author would take a factual look at Decadence and keep his opinions to himself. In fact, I wasn't just hoping that, I was expecting that. Instead, I am treated to an author glorifying and almost wallowing in the perverse and disgusting. The author doesn't appear to just be interested in the subject of Decadence itself but to have dived into the very essence of Decadence and come out praising it. Metaphorically, he doesn't just talk about pig poop but he dives in and then proceeds to throw it at the reader while shouting how wonderful, how liberating, how brave anyone is who can swim in pig poop.


I'm adding a couple of quotes now.


But above all perverse, almost everything perverse interests, fascinates me.”

~chapter 3


those decadents and degenerates of the 1920s now appear almost heroic in their hedonism”
~
chapter 4


but such attraction to degradation is by no means a criticism”

~Afterwords


Now, none of those are in context and many are not the authors words but quotes he is using to support his own ideas. However, the context IS clear that he supports each and every statement. It made me sick.


To end, this book made me sick and I'm sorry that I read it. Talking about a subject is far different from praising a subject :-(


★✬☆☆☆




Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Thraxas of Turai (Thraxas #11) ★★✬☆☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Thraxas of Turai
Series: Thraxas #11
Author: Martin Scott
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 172
Words: 58.5K







Synopsis:


From the Publisher


Thraxas, perhaps the doughtiest warrior ever born within that city's walls, (as he describes himself) is almost home. The army led by Lisutaris reaches Turai, ready to retake their city. Thraxas begins the book in some trouble, having been flung in the stockade following a disreputable brawl, but will soon be back in action, investigating a politically awkward murder while making ready for battle. At his side is Makri, whose mathematical skills are called upon for some complicated sorcerous calculations designed to bring down the walls. There are dragons in the sky, hostile forces ahead, and, worst of all as far as Thraxas is concerned, a general beer shortage. When this is all over, Thraxas intends to spend the rest of his days sitting comfortably in his favourite tavern. But first, he has a city to retake.




My Thoughts:


I just re-read my review for the 10th Thraxas book (Thraxas and the Oracle) and most of the same issues apply here. This book ends with Thraxas being the first soldier back into Turai and then just ends. Scott is obviously leaving himself openings for more books but really, who is going to read any more of this series? I won't be.


Thraxas as drunken, bumbling Private Investigator just isn't funny any more. Even though it has been 3 years since I read book 10, it felt like it was just yesterday and that I hadn't had any break from the infantile behavior of Thraxas. He's moved from grouchy and curmudgeonly yet still amusing to just plain old annoying. I won't be reading any more Thraxas books.


At 175'ish pages, Scott could have written another 50 and wrapped the series up. At some point an author needs to accept that his creation has run its course and it's time to finish the story. Do yourself a favor Martin Scott/Milar, end the series and stop embarrassing yourself.


★★✬☆☆




Monday, May 10, 2021

Executive Power (Mitch Rapp #4) ★★★✬☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission


Title: Executive Power
Series: Mitch Rapp #4
Author: Vince Flynn
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 412
Words: 134K







Synopsis:


From Wikipedia & Me


CIA field agent Mitch Rapp's cover has been blown following his last assignment, preventing Saddam Hussein from obtaining nuclear weapons. Rapp receives public acknowledgment by the president in response to the latest Congressional leak to the media. Though the praise is of the highest quality, the President might as well have placed a bulls-eye on Rapp's chest and that of his loved ones by singling him out as the most important person in the fight against terrorism. The spotlight makes the former covert operator an ideal international target for eradication by terrorists as the symbol he has become.


Rapp moves from CIA operative duties to that of a counter-terrorism bureaucrat. As special advisor on counter-terrorism to CIA director Dr. Irene Kennedy, Rapp uncomfortably sits in an office. However, everything changes when radical Islamic terrorists ambush Navy SEALs on a top-secret rescue mission in the Philippines. The leak had to be in either the State Department or the Philippine diplomatic corps, but nobody knows for sure. However, worse yet is that someone is trying to cause a Jihad on a scale never before seen and that unknown invisible individual is close to achieving the goal with only a too visible Rapp in the way.


Rapp leads a team to avenge that loss by defeating the Philippine terrorist network that killed two SEAL team members and rescuing the American hostages. In order to successfully accomplish this mission he must keep its existence from the turncoats who betrayed those who went before him. The coincidental plot-line has forces plotting to upset the tenuous balance in the Middle East's geopolitical situation. A flamboyant Saudi Prince, who is banished from the Kingdom, elicits the help of a Palestinian assassin to murder the leaders of terrorist cells as well as Saudi and Palestinian Ambassadors in the hopes of dissolving US support for Israel and the eventual establishment of an official Palestinian state.


The assassin completes his tasks and has Israel, the US and the UN exactly where he wants them. Unfortunately for him, Rapp finds out who he is, what he has done and leaks some of the assassins talks with Israel to the Saudi Prince, who kills the assassin. Rapp then in turn kills the prince as an object lesson to other Saudi Royals to stay out of the “terrorism as a hobby” business.




My Thoughts:

This was another enjoyable read but the dual storylines never connected and so it almost felt like two different books mashed into one. I have to admit, I wish the author had simply concentrated on one or the other and expanded it to fill the book.


The palestinian assassin storyline could have been fantastic and I was waiting for him and Rapp to duke it out assassino a assassino style. So it was a letdown the way things went. The biggest thing is that Rapp's cover is permanently blown and so his days of secret assassinations are pretty much done. And yet there are a lot more books to go so I'm left wondering how the author is going to keep the interest going. I guess I'll just have to keep reading and find out, hahahahaa.


The author handles Rapp being recently married very well. I was wondering how he was going to deal with the relational side of things and he doesn't shy away from it. Rapp and his wife Anna have a huge blowout about him going back into the field, against orders no less and the fact that he'd been wounded made it even worse. Thankfully, Rapp isn't a pigheaded jerk and he cares about his wife and her feelings and realizes that he is going to have to change some things if he wants their marriage to work. It was so refreshing and encouraging to see a character in a book place the needs of their marriage before their own personal desires or using “work” as an excuse. We will have to see how this part of the overall storyline works out in future books because it can not turn into a cycle of Mitch Rapp doing what he wants, his wife blowing up at him, making up and then promising to do better.


Overall, I'm pretty happy with how this series is progressing. It is book 4 and I have no real complaints. The author hasn't pulled any boneheaded moves but simply tells a good action/adventure story. Keeping my fingers crossed he can keep that track record.



★★★✬☆





Friday, May 07, 2021

The Exorcist (The Exorcist #1) ★★☆☆☆


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Exorcist
Series: The Exorcist #1
Author: William Blatty
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Horror
Pages: 282
Words: 101K









Synopsis:


From Wikipedia


An elderly Jesuit priest named Father Lankester Merrin is leading an archaeological dig in northern Iraq and is studying ancient relics. After discovering a small statue of the demon Pazuzu (an actual ancient Assyrian demon), a series of omens alerts him to a pending confrontation with a powerful evil, which, unknown to the reader at this point, he has battled before in an exorcism in Africa.


Meanwhile, in Georgetown, a young girl named Regan MacNeil is living with her famous mother, actress Chris MacNeil, who is in Georgetown filming a movie. As Chris finishes her work on the film, Regan begins to become inexplicably ill. After a gradual series of poltergeist-like disturbances in their rented house, for which Chris attempts to find rational explanations, Regan begins to rapidly undergo disturbing psychological and physical changes: she refuses to eat or sleep, becomes withdrawn and frenetic, and increasingly aggressive and violent. Chris initially mistakes Regan's behavior as a result of repressed anger over her parents' divorce and absent father.


After several unsuccessful psychiatric and medical treatments, Regan's mother, an atheist, turns to a local Jesuit priest for help as Regan's personality becomes increasingly disturbed. Father Damien Karras, who is currently going through a crisis of faith coupled with the loss of his mother, agrees to see Regan as a psychiatrist, but initially resists the notion that it is an actual demonic possession. After a few meetings with the child, now completely inhabited by a diabolical personality, he turns to the local bishop for permission to perform an exorcism on the child.


The bishop with whom he consults does not believe Karras is qualified to perform the rites, and appoints the experienced Merrin—who has recently returned to the United States—to perform the exorcism, although he does allow the doubt-ridden Karras to assist him. The lengthy exorcism tests the priests both physically and spiritually. When Merrin, who had previously suffered cardiac arrhythmia, dies during the process, completion of the exorcism ultimately falls upon Father Karras. When he demands that the demonic spirit inhabit him instead of the innocent Regan, the demon seizes the opportunity to possess the priest. Karras heroically surrenders his own life in exchange for Regan's by jumping out of her bedroom window and falling to his death, regaining his faith in God as his last rites are read.




My Thoughts:


I think this book would have been much easier to read as fictional horror if I didn't believe that demons are real, that possessions are real or that exorcisms are real. That being said, Blatty is no Christian. He grew up catholic and this story deeply reflects that but he was what you'd call a “nominal” catholic. A “nominal” X is someone who likes to say he is X but only believes or practices select bits of X while criticizing and trying to change every other bit of X. It is kind of like saying you love pizza and then only eating the cheese and throwing the rest away.


My main issues with this book weren't about the demon possession or the nature of evil. Unfortunately, it was all with the nature of God. The older priest, Merrin, believes that God is an Omega Point (from what I understand that is extremely similar to the hindu idea of Nirvana, where everyone becomes part of one gigantic thingamajig and loses their individuality). That is extremely problematic for me as it denies what God has revealed about Himself in the Bible as a personal God. It also makes Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection meaningless as we're all going to reach perfection naturally on our own through evolution.


My other issue is that Jesus, as God, is barely mentioned. In the Bible, in the New Testament, the disciples of Jesus and then later others, cast out demons in Jesus name. They didn't use complicated rituals and perform mystical ceremonies. The name of Jesus has power for those who believe in Him. It really felt like the author believed in the power of evil and demons but wasn't quite so sure about the power of God.


With these issues in mind, I think this is going to be the first and last book by Blatty that I read. There's a sequel to this called Legion that I had on my TBR but that's not going to happen now.


On a final note, ouija boards are dangerous. They open the user up to the supernatural and unfortunately, only the evil side of that. Don't play around with them folks, they are not a game.


★★☆☆☆