Jan 25, 2023JingoNot Pratchett's best, not the best Pratchett featuring these characters, but I mean, still Pratchett, still heartfelt and earnest light silly fantasy about racism and war. Good fun, and would recommend, but maybe not for someone's first experience of Discworld.
Jun 28, 2023Black SunPretty good, really! It is a bit tropey, the pirate mermaid is a good bit and some fun sociopolitical drama is scattered throughout, has a refreshing fantasy setting. I think, had I read this when I was younger, I would have loved it - but as it is, it did ring a little hollow, a little by-the-book, and when , 80% of the way in, I noticed that it was going to end on a cliffhanger setting up a sequel (series?) I was a bit disappointed. I'll probably read the next, would honestly expect to enjoy it more.
Oct 19, 2023The GunslingerStephen King's voice is smooth, straightforward, easily digested. Technically, aesthetically, he is quite good at that voice - but I don't think when it comes down to it, that I care very much for it. It is maybe without flaws, but that makes it without character? Or perhaps it is simply unambitious to the point that it becomes uninteresting. The plot of The Gunslinger, on the other hand, is quite ambitious, aiming for the unusual, unpredictable, and potentially offputting. Snippets of Lore are dropped here and there, slowly filling in the backdrop of the strange Arthurian-Western post-apocalyptic dystopia. I think at periods in my life I would be enraptured by that, but at the moment I feel like it is little more than a random collage, a patchwork of tropes and times thrown together based on authorial whim - surely a story, a cohesive world can be woven of a random collage, but again, it becomes a bit uninteresting.
Oct 21, 2023The Drawing Of The ThreeThe second book in The Gunslinger series is less engaging. It is more ambitious than the previous, with King filling out his patchwork universe with connections to times, places and trends from Our World, that are ultimately not particularly poorly handled - but I don't find King to be the best writer for wading into issues of addiction, racism, criminal psychology. He can write a good cereal-box thriller, and the characters are somewhat fun, but it mostly just feels overstretched.
Dec 25, 2023A Christmas CarolA classic that stands the test of time! Tiny Tim did not die and Scrooge was a doofus but he bought a goose so it is all good.
Dec 25, 2023The Hundred Thousand KingdomsI think my threshold for good fantasy varies wildly from book to book, season to season. At times it is a comfort food, and seeking comfort and ease I find it and look no further - while at times I approach it more like I approach the rest of literature, seeking comfort and ease and beauty and grace and a compelling truth about the human condition.
Jan 11, 2024His Majestys DragonOne of my favorite book's growing up was My Father's Dragon, which I remember little about now - but did bias me pretty strongly against His Majesty's Dragon. I am an adult now! This looked like the lowest form of pablum. But really it's just pretty good pablum! An easy, comforting read, with sailboats and war and dragons, with problems presenting themselves and melting away, it is a book rightfully confident in its identity and a fun experience. It took me about 18 hours to get through, while The Guermante's Way has been sitting by my bedside for the last 5 months.