Book Foo and some assorted other stuff...
Aug. 30th, 2012 01:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
newnumber6Book Foo... been a while..
Finished: Old Man's War by John Scalzi (reread)
Reread, not much new to say, enjoyed it, probably a little more knowing how the last book turns out so some of the things that put me off the first time didn't this time.
Finished: For the Win by Cory Doctorow
This is a book about gold farming in MMORPGs and attempts to unionize them in various other countries.
It's a Cory Doctorow book, so it does get a bit preachy at times (although, I largely agree with his points so I don't mind so much), and hits on some of his pet interests a lot, but he does write with an enthusiasm that can be infectious, even though some of the outcomes are less than convincing.
But it was fun and an interesting look at how things like gold farming as a business might work and other issues.
Finished: The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi (reread)
Again, reread, same universe. Not much to say.
Finished: The Last Colony by John Scalzi (reread)
See above
Finished: Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi (reread)
Last book in the series, parallel to The Last Colony. I do think that there are some elements of it that are worthy of their own book, but in padding those elements out to novel length and giving the character interesting things to do it does push the character a little into... well, I'd almost say Mary Sue territory, but they're all his own characters. Still, it's one of those cases where it feels like she's too awesome and perfect and right all the time that it strains believability. The other main characters (who, in other books, do occasionally have this problem, but at a much lesser degree) have the advantage of being older and well-trained and occasionally in superhuman bodies.
Finished: Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (reread)
Another reread, and multiple times reread so nothing much to say. Is it wrong I really like the Quellisms?
Finished: The Year's Best SF 14 (short story collection)
As usual, a mix of good stories and kind of blah ones. Neil Gaiman's got one in this one, called "Orange", and it's kind of fun, although it's a bit too gimmicky for my tastes. My favorites are probably "Oblivion: A Journey", by Vandana Singh, although it ends a little predictably I liked the way there. Michael Swanwick's "The Scarecrow's Boy" was also pretty good, and Ted Chiang's "Exhalation" is really neat in a 'imagining a whole different basis for life and how that affects how people believe' way. Others have some good elements, but didn't really bring it home like I'd hoped. None outright pissed me off, though a fair number left me kind of cold.
Started: Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds
Started: Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan (Kovacs trilogy, #2)
What else? TV really hasn't started yet, aside from Grimm (which is already in my bad books for pulling the all-time !@%@! move in storytelling. (spoilers) A character getting amnesia. Which is bad enough on its own, but when it's "character getting amnesia right after learning the main character's big secrets" it's total bull$!@!, because it's either going to be used to undo that revelation, or it's pointless stalling. I'm adding amnesia to my list of "things I will not do if I run a TV show". If you're going to change the status quo, you change it and deal with the consequences. Don't change it and undo it with a cheap-ass plot device. (Okay, Alternate Universes and Time Travel may also be a cheap ass plot device, but I will allow those as options for exploring a change without committing to it... however, if I ran a TV show I'd try to refrain it or use it in a way that actually subverts it a little... like, a character uses what they learned in the time travel/alternate universe episode as a reason to change the way things are, not just reset it to how it was).
Otherwise, things are starting soon, starting with Doctor Who this weekend (and the Pond Life minisodes already started... they're mildly cute, but not really anything special).
In movies, I finally wound up seeing some of the big ones of the summer:
The Hunger Games: Liked it for the most part. Obviously loses a lot of the internal dilemma and wishy-washiness of the books, and I don't think they really sold the... heart in the ending like they did in the book. Where (spoilers) Katniss is relieved that they could stop pretending to being in love, and then realizes Peeta wasn't pretending... the book made that a lot clearer than the movie. In fact, I think the movie kind of failed on emphasizing the whole 'fake relationship' plot as a whole. It wasn't absent, obviously, but it wasn't there. Also, I wanted more Foxface. Otherwise, it pretty much had the same good points and flaws as the book, but enjoyable enough for a movie. Probably will watch the others (though maybe not the last one, I don't know).
Avengers: Really very satisfying all around. A little less impactful considering I'd already been spoiled on a number of the best lines and surprises, but still, really good, especially with a movie with that large a cast. Apparently Joss Whedon's doing a SHIELD TV show in addition to the next movie... not my first choice, but might be cool (hopefully they'll use it to set up some new female heroes to make the jump into the next movie).
The Cabin in the Woods: Again, I might have been spoiled a little which ruined some of my enjoyment, but I liked it. Not super-great, but good, and, aside from one eye-rollingly stupid contrivance (spoiler) Really? A big red button that LETS OUT ALL THE MONSTERS INTO THE FACILITY???? REALLY???, I really liked the ending. But what it really needs?
A sequel.
No, wait, hear me out. (Major spoilers again, obviously) The movie ends with the ritual failing, and so the Great Old Ones (or whatever you want to call them) becoming loosed on the world. Ha-ha, surprise apocalypse, good joke, everybody laughs. But... isn't kind of the whole premise based on the idea that humanity did on some level either survive among them, or perhaps even managed to lock them away into a slumber for a long time? After all, they were all over the world, ruling everything, and if humanity arose long after they disappeared, how did they ever learn about them, and who was doing the rituals while we were crawling up from the caves (yes, yes, there are potentially easy explanations, but they're not as fun). Might it not be cool to explore that premise, and maybe the idea that these guys really AREN'T as tough as their reputation, particularly in the light of modern technology, the same type of technology that allowed the Cabin-runners to contain all these minor-monsters until they were needed?
Obviously, you'd have to have a whole new cast (or mostly new), and probably be nothing like the original, it'd have to be one of those sequels that's a completely different style than the original, rather than just "more of the same". Maybe do it as a bit of a spoof of, instead of Teens in the Woods movies, movies like Godzilla and Cloverfield and things like that. Or maybe play a little with the humor value of cults dedicated to worshipping the newly revived Gods, being like fans of any big political philosophy or, for that matter, fandom, with some people accused of being 'posers', and internal politics becoming more important than the big deal.
I think it could actually work.
In completely unrelated news, last night I had a dream I was running from a tornado. Which I think is a first for me. I don't live in a particularly tornado-prone area (every once in a while there's a report of one in the general part of the province,but I've never seen one myself). Anyway, it was kind of intense, but kind of cool, too.
My Dad and I were talking about my brother (who wasn't present) and wandering around to one of those big outdoor tents they have for events, where my stepbrothers were performing in a band, where I realized that the weather was starting getting really rough and windy and somebody spotted a funnel cloud, so we tried to get everybody to rush to safety, and we were running and holding hands so as not to get separated (and I remember seeing a niece that was on her own and who couldn't see because there was a lot of dust in the air, so I grabbed her)... at one point we passed right through a minitornado that was a little like a dust-devil, just visible, but there was another big one that was coming, and chasing us and finally we decided we had to just lie down on the ground and hope it flew over us, and it did. We realized just a second later that we'd hit the ground right under something like an overpass and the tornado flew over that anddidn't directly touch us, but it did deposite a wooden shipping skid and some bags of sugar right beside us that might have seriously hurt us. And we were all kind of relieved to be safe, and then I woke up wondering WTF? Where did all that come from?
Slightly more amusing (to me, I know none of you care), part of the dream, before the Tornado, was about my brother and his girlfriend who'd gone to be extras in a movie but had been away for two days and nobody had heard from them and we were getting worried. My dad asked if I should ask his (my brother's) sister, and I said, "what sister", and Dad said that my brother (but not me) had a half-sister he learned about a couple years ago, which naturally shocked me because he'd never mentioned it. Anyway, the interesting thing was, while I was IN THE DREAM, a half-minute or so after that revelation, I realized... wait a minute... my brother CAN'T half a half-sister that isn't also a half-sister to me. Because we share the same parents, unless that was a lie but that didn't make sense either. My brain didn't manage to figure out: 1) my brother and his girlfriend are not movie extras, 2) my stepfamily do not play in a band together, 3) Tornados are really unlikely here and 4) Tornadoes really don't work like they did in the dream... Factual inconsistencies may get glossed over when I'm in dreamland, but a logical inconsistency, I was able to pick apart! Yay me! :)
Finished: Old Man's War by John Scalzi (reread)
Reread, not much new to say, enjoyed it, probably a little more knowing how the last book turns out so some of the things that put me off the first time didn't this time.
Finished: For the Win by Cory Doctorow
This is a book about gold farming in MMORPGs and attempts to unionize them in various other countries.
It's a Cory Doctorow book, so it does get a bit preachy at times (although, I largely agree with his points so I don't mind so much), and hits on some of his pet interests a lot, but he does write with an enthusiasm that can be infectious, even though some of the outcomes are less than convincing.
But it was fun and an interesting look at how things like gold farming as a business might work and other issues.
Finished: The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi (reread)
Again, reread, same universe. Not much to say.
Finished: The Last Colony by John Scalzi (reread)
See above
Finished: Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi (reread)
Last book in the series, parallel to The Last Colony. I do think that there are some elements of it that are worthy of their own book, but in padding those elements out to novel length and giving the character interesting things to do it does push the character a little into... well, I'd almost say Mary Sue territory, but they're all his own characters. Still, it's one of those cases where it feels like she's too awesome and perfect and right all the time that it strains believability. The other main characters (who, in other books, do occasionally have this problem, but at a much lesser degree) have the advantage of being older and well-trained and occasionally in superhuman bodies.
Finished: Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (reread)
Another reread, and multiple times reread so nothing much to say. Is it wrong I really like the Quellisms?
Finished: The Year's Best SF 14 (short story collection)
As usual, a mix of good stories and kind of blah ones. Neil Gaiman's got one in this one, called "Orange", and it's kind of fun, although it's a bit too gimmicky for my tastes. My favorites are probably "Oblivion: A Journey", by Vandana Singh, although it ends a little predictably I liked the way there. Michael Swanwick's "The Scarecrow's Boy" was also pretty good, and Ted Chiang's "Exhalation" is really neat in a 'imagining a whole different basis for life and how that affects how people believe' way. Others have some good elements, but didn't really bring it home like I'd hoped. None outright pissed me off, though a fair number left me kind of cold.
Started: Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds
Started: Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan (Kovacs trilogy, #2)
What else? TV really hasn't started yet, aside from Grimm (which is already in my bad books for pulling the all-time !@%@! move in storytelling. (spoilers) A character getting amnesia. Which is bad enough on its own, but when it's "character getting amnesia right after learning the main character's big secrets" it's total bull$!@!, because it's either going to be used to undo that revelation, or it's pointless stalling. I'm adding amnesia to my list of "things I will not do if I run a TV show". If you're going to change the status quo, you change it and deal with the consequences. Don't change it and undo it with a cheap-ass plot device. (Okay, Alternate Universes and Time Travel may also be a cheap ass plot device, but I will allow those as options for exploring a change without committing to it... however, if I ran a TV show I'd try to refrain it or use it in a way that actually subverts it a little... like, a character uses what they learned in the time travel/alternate universe episode as a reason to change the way things are, not just reset it to how it was).
Otherwise, things are starting soon, starting with Doctor Who this weekend (and the Pond Life minisodes already started... they're mildly cute, but not really anything special).
In movies, I finally wound up seeing some of the big ones of the summer:
The Hunger Games: Liked it for the most part. Obviously loses a lot of the internal dilemma and wishy-washiness of the books, and I don't think they really sold the... heart in the ending like they did in the book. Where (spoilers) Katniss is relieved that they could stop pretending to being in love, and then realizes Peeta wasn't pretending... the book made that a lot clearer than the movie. In fact, I think the movie kind of failed on emphasizing the whole 'fake relationship' plot as a whole. It wasn't absent, obviously, but it wasn't there. Also, I wanted more Foxface. Otherwise, it pretty much had the same good points and flaws as the book, but enjoyable enough for a movie. Probably will watch the others (though maybe not the last one, I don't know).
Avengers: Really very satisfying all around. A little less impactful considering I'd already been spoiled on a number of the best lines and surprises, but still, really good, especially with a movie with that large a cast. Apparently Joss Whedon's doing a SHIELD TV show in addition to the next movie... not my first choice, but might be cool (hopefully they'll use it to set up some new female heroes to make the jump into the next movie).
The Cabin in the Woods: Again, I might have been spoiled a little which ruined some of my enjoyment, but I liked it. Not super-great, but good, and, aside from one eye-rollingly stupid contrivance (spoiler) Really? A big red button that LETS OUT ALL THE MONSTERS INTO THE FACILITY???? REALLY???, I really liked the ending. But what it really needs?
A sequel.
No, wait, hear me out. (Major spoilers again, obviously) The movie ends with the ritual failing, and so the Great Old Ones (or whatever you want to call them) becoming loosed on the world. Ha-ha, surprise apocalypse, good joke, everybody laughs. But... isn't kind of the whole premise based on the idea that humanity did on some level either survive among them, or perhaps even managed to lock them away into a slumber for a long time? After all, they were all over the world, ruling everything, and if humanity arose long after they disappeared, how did they ever learn about them, and who was doing the rituals while we were crawling up from the caves (yes, yes, there are potentially easy explanations, but they're not as fun). Might it not be cool to explore that premise, and maybe the idea that these guys really AREN'T as tough as their reputation, particularly in the light of modern technology, the same type of technology that allowed the Cabin-runners to contain all these minor-monsters until they were needed?
Obviously, you'd have to have a whole new cast (or mostly new), and probably be nothing like the original, it'd have to be one of those sequels that's a completely different style than the original, rather than just "more of the same". Maybe do it as a bit of a spoof of, instead of Teens in the Woods movies, movies like Godzilla and Cloverfield and things like that. Or maybe play a little with the humor value of cults dedicated to worshipping the newly revived Gods, being like fans of any big political philosophy or, for that matter, fandom, with some people accused of being 'posers', and internal politics becoming more important than the big deal.
I think it could actually work.
In completely unrelated news, last night I had a dream I was running from a tornado. Which I think is a first for me. I don't live in a particularly tornado-prone area (every once in a while there's a report of one in the general part of the province,but I've never seen one myself). Anyway, it was kind of intense, but kind of cool, too.
My Dad and I were talking about my brother (who wasn't present) and wandering around to one of those big outdoor tents they have for events, where my stepbrothers were performing in a band, where I realized that the weather was starting getting really rough and windy and somebody spotted a funnel cloud, so we tried to get everybody to rush to safety, and we were running and holding hands so as not to get separated (and I remember seeing a niece that was on her own and who couldn't see because there was a lot of dust in the air, so I grabbed her)... at one point we passed right through a minitornado that was a little like a dust-devil, just visible, but there was another big one that was coming, and chasing us and finally we decided we had to just lie down on the ground and hope it flew over us, and it did. We realized just a second later that we'd hit the ground right under something like an overpass and the tornado flew over that anddidn't directly touch us, but it did deposite a wooden shipping skid and some bags of sugar right beside us that might have seriously hurt us. And we were all kind of relieved to be safe, and then I woke up wondering WTF? Where did all that come from?
Slightly more amusing (to me, I know none of you care), part of the dream, before the Tornado, was about my brother and his girlfriend who'd gone to be extras in a movie but had been away for two days and nobody had heard from them and we were getting worried. My dad asked if I should ask his (my brother's) sister, and I said, "what sister", and Dad said that my brother (but not me) had a half-sister he learned about a couple years ago, which naturally shocked me because he'd never mentioned it. Anyway, the interesting thing was, while I was IN THE DREAM, a half-minute or so after that revelation, I realized... wait a minute... my brother CAN'T half a half-sister that isn't also a half-sister to me. Because we share the same parents, unless that was a lie but that didn't make sense either. My brain didn't manage to figure out: 1) my brother and his girlfriend are not movie extras, 2) my stepfamily do not play in a band together, 3) Tornados are really unlikely here and 4) Tornadoes really don't work like they did in the dream... Factual inconsistencies may get glossed over when I'm in dreamland, but a logical inconsistency, I was able to pick apart! Yay me! :)
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Date: 2012-08-30 08:22 pm (UTC)Out of curiosity, have you been watching Alphas? (I don't even know if it's airing at all in Canada, so.) I've really been enjoying it. It's a pretty down-to-earth take on superpowered beings, closer to a real-world X-Men than, say, to Heroes, and it's very well-written and well-acted.
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Date: 2012-08-31 01:35 am (UTC)Reading back on that it looks like I'm trying to damn him with faint praise, but it's not like that at all, he is good, just in a style that's a little more accessible.
I've heard about Alphas... it does air here, I believe, but I don't have cable so I can't watch it that way. I do have a good chunk of the first season on my HD through... magic, but I just haven't gotten around to actually watching it.
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Date: 2012-09-04 01:57 pm (UTC)