Mini Reviews

I've been absent from the blog for a couple of weeks. Mostly because I just haven't had the time. Work, family life, and writing (and Halo 4, let's be honest here) don't leave much time left over for blogging. Also, though, I got tired of the majority of my posts being book reviews. I'm not a book reviewer. I'm actually sick of going in-depth on book reviews, because I've had to be more of a critical reader than I want to be. Critical reading is great... sometimes. Most of the time, however, I just want to enjoy a book. Anyway, I will continue to post reviews but not as often, and I'm now (as the title of the post implies) going to be doing it a different way. From now on a book review post will include several books, and only have a paragraph about each. This will give me the chance to point out books I think you should read or avoid, but also let me do it in a less involved way. I don't want to dissect books anymore. I just want to enjoy them, damnit. And now the reviews...

Red Country, by Joe Abercrombie. This is Joe's latest standalone in his "First Law" world. It picks up several years after the end of his trilogy and continues the story of several characters readers have either come to hate or hate to love. Red Country is heavily influenced by western themes and story devices. I found it to be a bit too heavy handed most of the way through the book. I love westerns, and I love Joe Abercrombie, but the two should be a bit more distinct than they were in this book. Some parts of the story just felt like lazy add-ins because, hey, that's the kind of stuff you'd find in a western. The ending seemed less dreary than Abercrombie's usual fair, but the language and gore seemed pumped up from previous novels. Some parts were difficult to get through. Red Country gets 3 out of 5 stars.

Next up is Fevre Dream, by George R.R. Martin. This is the first of Martin's solo books I've read besides his massive epic, A Song of Ice and Fire. Also, it was my first true vampire novel. There was a lot about this book that I really loved. It takes place in the late 1850's, mostly aboard a steamboat called, you guessed it, Fevre Dream. The story takes us up and down the Missouri and Mississippi, through pre-civil war America. The characters were great, and the vampires weren't sparkly and pretty. They are monsters, as all proper vampires ought to be. The only problem I had with this book was its pacing. The ending dragged on and on. My mind wandered a bit in the slow parts and that is never a good sign. On a better note, those who have attempted to read A Game of Thrones and put it down for content, Fevre dream is much more a PG-13 book than an R. There aren't any sex scenes or F bombs. It is a horror novel, though, and so don't expect angsty teenagers looking for romance. People die. 4 out of 5 stars.

The last mini review for today is The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is a book that is a bit harder to review because I've read it so many times. Usually the books I review are ones I've just finished for the first time, and so have a stronger sense of what I liked and disliked about them. In my head, The Hobbit is amazing. After listening to it again for maybe the fifth or sixth time, I notice lots of things that are somewhat annoying. Mostly it's the writer in me that finds problems with it, and that's only because the styles writers use today are quite a bit different than how Tolkien wrote. However, if you can look past the dated prose, and the endless songs and such that interfere with the story (very annoying on audio, despite the narrator trying his best to give each a tune of its own), then I think this book can be enjoyed by all readers of all ages. The story itself is timeless, and it holds a fond place in my memories. Read it if you haven't, and re-read it if its been a long time. you'll be happy you did. (And for those of you like me who listen rather than read, Audible recently released this and the Lord of the Rings trilogy unabridged for the first time. Good times.) The Hobbit takes the cake with 5 out of 5 stars.

The Trouble with the Curve

This isn't a review for the Clint Eastwood movie, sorry. I don't have any interest in seeing it. Don't care for baseball. What this post is about is the learning curve found in fiction. Is it wise for writers to make their curve steep? Or should they create a gradual climb, easing readers into a story? It's an important decision writers need to make before beginning a novel.

Avoid the vertical learning curve.
You'll lose your audience before your
story makes it off the ground.

Every book has a learning curve. Whether it's fantasy, science fiction, historical, or modern-day thriller, every story has information in it that readers will have to learn in order to understand or fully appreciate it. How quickly should an author deal out this information? I've read books that do it every which way, which means there isn't a right or wrong way to do it. There are benefits and problems, however, no matter how you do it. Here are some examples:

Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is a great example of how a writer would ease an audience in to a fantastical world. First of all, she begins her series with one point of view character. One boy, living in a normal world, with a boring life, and a few family members with easy-to-remember names. Her story, of course, is about an entire magical world hiding in plain sight, and so she introduces readers to said world a few steps at a time. By the time Harry reaches Hogwarts, we're totally sold on the world. We don't know how it works just yet, but she hasn't lost us with any difficult terms or concepts. By the end of the series, she has taken readers much deeper into the fantastical, introducing things left and right that we are expected to keep up with. Rowling uses the gradual curve to great effect. 

George R.R. Martin is another household name in fantasy, so let's talk about his great epic, A Song of Ice and Fire. Martin's world starts with a much steeper curve than Rowlings, but he is writing to an adult audience, most of which have already been reading thick fantasy novels by the time they pick up his work. So is his curve a huge one that readers should be scared of? I don't think so. Yes, there are a lot of names and places mentioned in the beginning of the series that you'll quickly lose track of. The thing about his series, though, is that all of the important world information is repeated so many times that by the time you need to know it you've gotten it all down. What Martin does is brilliant. He has this huge world, with a large cast of view-point characters, but he starts all of the pov's--with the exception of one--off in the same location. This way, we are introduced to a lot of people, but they keep referring to each other and it is easy to keep up. Martin's curve will be steeper for newcomers to epic fantasy, but fairly normal for those who have read the genre before.

Steven Erikson is the best example that I've come across of a writer with a ridiculous curve. I think his is very nearly vertical at the beginning. If you want to know what I'm talking about, open up Gardens of the Moon--the first in his Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I've been reading epic fantasy for more than ten years and he lost me on that one...

Now you can get a feel for what I'm talking about. So, what are the pros and cons? A gradual curve will make it easier for readers to digest. It will probably mean you'll have a wider audience, which can translate into major success. The gradual thing has been done to death, though, and so experienced readers might roll their eyes and not give your "simple" story a try. If the learning curve is significant you can deliver a world that feels completely real--every corner can be fleshed out, every character explored. You'll probably have some hard core fans that will defend your story with their own blood. That hard core group might be small, though, and so your book could be great, but not widely read. Really, it's up to the writer to decide the type of story they want to tell, and then tell it. 

That's all.  

Game of Thrones Season 1

I don't have cable, and so have had to wait a year for GoT to make it to dvd.  I bought it on iTunes the day it came out, and have watched an episode or more a day.  I've finished the season, and feel I should comment on some things.

Lord Eddard Stark in the godswood

HBO did a lot of things well with the show.  I thought most of the actors fit the characters perfectly, the scenery was amazing, the costumes were spot on, the filming, the music, the freaking Wall!  As I said, a lot was done well.  Having said that, I am very disappointed in the content they included.  I shouldn't have been surprised... it's HBO, after all.  And the books do have several scenes of adult content I wouldn't let kids read.  But holy crap.  There were so many scenes added to the show that don't even exist in the books, simply to have another bit of sex on screen.  

I have never watched an HBO series before.  Perhaps this is how they all are.  I get that sex is sexy.  What I don't get is why the people at HBO think it belongs in a show for its own sake.  So much of what they added had nothing to do with the story.  It only served to be tantalizing. 

Again, I shouldn't have been surprised.  I am unable to recommend the books to people--in good conscience--because of the explicit content in their pages.  However, I am quite open about them being my favorite novels.  George R.R. Martin is a master storyteller.  His grasp on character is nothing less than amazing.  I was told about A Game of Thrones nearly ten years ago, and have read it and its sequels nearly a dozen times since.  I couldn't resist watching when the story ended up on screen.

It is easy to overlook content in books when becoming a professional author is my biggest dream.  As a writer, you must be truthful about the world and human nature.  I believe this completely.  It is why I forgive authors when it comes to certain things.  However, 

and this is a BIG HOWEVER,

It is absolutely unnecessary to show the audience everything.  If a head is getting hacked off, cut away to another scene as the axe is dropping.  If a man and woman are about to have sex, leave the room as they begin to pull at each others clothing.  We'll get the point.  We'll know what just happened.  We'll still follow the story without being privy to every little detail of every little act humanity participates in.  I once told my wife's uncle that my goal is to write honest stories without being vulgar.  He seemed to think it a hard goal to accomplish.  It isn't.  Truth is, a story becomes much more powerful when the audience is left to imagine a few things.  The beauty, depth, and horror of words typed on a page, or scenes shown on a screen, are only as good as a consumer's interpretation.  Don't interpret intimate settings for me; let me, as reader and viewer, do this on my own.

I've said my peace.  If you want to watch Game of Thrones, know that there is a lot that is good about the show.  Know also that there is content you might be uncomfortable viewing.  I was uncomfortable.  Damnably so.  I intend to never watch the show again, unless I can find someone able to edit out what I don't want to see.  As for the books... well, I know which parts to skip at this point.