Category: Books

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Books

The Magican’s Book

The Magician’s Book: A Skeptic’s Adventures in Narnia by Laura Miller

This book is an interesting look at CS Lewis, Narnia, and is a great example of how to look at a book. The author shares her memories and experiences with Narnia, and mixes in bits of interview and first hand research to round it out.

I learned quite a bit about CS Lewis and his friends (including Tolkien). I had no idea that he whipped out the Chronicles so quickly, and during such a stressful time in his life. The author’s efforts reveal a much more complete vision of Lewis– fortunately not all worshipful or intended to drag an idol into the mud.

It moved quickly and was as interesting to read as a novel, which counts as high praise from me.

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Fledgling by Octavia Butler

This is an interesting science fictional take on the Ina, Butler’s vampires. We learn about the Ina and their society from the viewpoint of Shori. The Ina are a fascinating group, with a culture and history that we learn alongside Shori.

Rather than the comfortable norm for vampires, Shori looks very young (which brings up Lolita like concerns), is small, and black. Her control of her victims is due to a venom which has several interesting side effects. It’s interesting looking at these near traditional vampires through a more scientific lense. Similarly, the social groups they build feel realistic, and in context their withdrawal from society makes perfect sense.

Interestingly, as the book goes on, we begin to transition from traditional vampire (and sympathetic vampire) books and start getting involved in genetic engineering ethics and race. It makes sense in the book, despite the shaking your head you’re probably doing.

In the end, it’s an interesting and fun book with deeper overtones, if you’re looking for them.

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The crooked letter by Sean Williams

A dense and confusing book about the end of the world, done very well. The confusion comes honestly– while everything is well described (and often vivid), the characters are pawns that everyone keeps in the dark while the rules are rewritten.

The heroes of the book are a pair of mirror twins– much like identical twins, but more so. They are the lynchpin of the world’s invasion/destruction– so when one dies, this world and the next get drawn closer together. That leaves each twin exploring a bizarre realm undergoing massive change. Each is clueless and in the hand of great powers that guide and manipulate them.

It was enjoyable but thick– in the afterward, I read that it’s kind of a prequel to another trilogy: The Books of the Change. I’ll probably check those out next, rather than continuing with the rest of this trilogy.

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Books Roleplaying

The Elfish Gene

(subtitled: Dungeons, Dragons, and Growing Up Strange, a memoir) by Mark Barrowcliffe

The book is well written with a very consistent tone– but my attitude toward it varied dramatically over the course of the book. As it began, I empathized with his younger self, and remembered how D&D (and roleplaying) felt to me. I was annoyed, though, at his constant running down of himself and his friends– as a roleplayer, I felt like he was bagging on all of us. In the end, he really is, though there’s a lot of wistfulness as he talks about his early days.

In many ways he was a lot like me, squared. My love of gaming and friends squares into a horribly dysfunctional obsession; his sense of superiority is unbounded and turns him into a jerk around friends and family. His focus on cool reminds me of mine… but even more of Dan’s, with his desire to be the only one in on the obscure, his distaste for anything that turns popular.

In the end, it’s a great look at someone very like a more extreme version of me and my friends in junior high and high school. The same jealousies, dominance issues, and friendship choices loomed in his life. In the end, he sets up fantasy and reality as the dichotomy and chooses reality. For him, that’s victory, and I’m happy to let him mark it so. (Of course, I also note that my own identity is quite wound up in roleplaying– despite all the differences between us, I mostly ignored them and read along as if I was almost him. The differences in nation, schooling, social circles, and the like weren’t a huge consideration… which shows what an issue it is for me.)

I liked it, both for the familiarity and the differences. It’s a little amusing the ends he has go to in order to remain apart from the world of fantasy… but only because I’ve made little effort to separate myself from it. Something tells me that it’d be as painful a scab to pick… if I chose to. For now, I still look forward to gaming in the old folks home with my wife.

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Books

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

I just completed rereading Elantris, Brandon Sanderson’s first book. While the book is less polished (mostly word choices at the very beginning), it quickly develops into an interesting book. The three main characters are well drawn, and the Gyorn’s crisis of faith is handled particularly well in a low key way.

This world does a great job of detailing the results of a magic dependent society when their magic is suddenly cut off. The Shaod (and its cause) are interesting and well presented. All in all, it’s a good book and a great first effort.

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Books

The Hero of Ages (Mistborn 3)

The conclusion of the Mistborn Trilogy, The Hero of Ages is an excellent book. As promised in the last book, the end of the world is in progress. Vin, Elend, and Kleiser’s crew struggle with Ruin. A new power, Hemalurgy, joins the mix and along the way we learn the secrets of the Koloss, Kandra, and Inquisitors.

What happens is too dependent and spoilery of the previous books, but the promised end of the world is in full swing. Spook’s development is handled well, bringing him into the spotlight– which he deserves as the book goes on.

If you’ve read the first two Mistborn books, this is a worthy conclusion.

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Books

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do

More fully, Tom Vanderbilt wrote Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us). I liked the book a lot, though much of it felt familiar. The book is less about technological issues contributing to traffic, but about the sociological side of it.

The book is divided into nine chapters, each with two to four major sections. The first three chapters do a good job of establishing human biases, and explaining how our hardwiring affects how we see the world, particularly while we’re enclosed alone in a car. They also establish how difficult driving really is– and the biases that lead us to overestimate our competence, underestimate threats, etc.

Chapters 4 and 5 are bigger picture, about a systemic overview of the process. Interestingly, parking is targeted as a major component of traffic, due to circling, the way it blocks entire traffic lanes, etc. Chapter six talks about how our individual problem optimizing leads to the overall problems– there are a lot of tragedy of the commons issues in driving.

Chapter seven was the most familiar (due to ASCE articles); a lot of discussion about how things that feel unsafe (like roundabouts) can be much safer, just because it makes you more alert. It also talks about some of the efforts in the Netherlands to incorporate cards more into village life instead of giving spaces over completely to cars– and some of the unusual effects that result.

Chapter 8 was about local traffic variations– particularly how varied traffic can be in third world nations and rapidly developing nations. Chapter nine has a few loosely connected themes; how statistics don’t match our perceptions and concludes with a discussion of new technologies… and how they aren’t any more likely to dramatically revolutionize things than the last hundred inventions that promised to revolutionize driving and traffic.

All in all it is a good introduction to the subject. I suspect everyone will be familiar with some of the points brought up– through casual exposure, drivers education, etc. There’s a huge breadth here– I doubt anyone, even traffic engineers and other professionals, have looked at the problems of traffic from all of the angles mentioned. Check it out if you want a better handle on why traffic is the way it is– and why that frustrates us so much.

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Books

Jubilee by Jack Dann

This is a collection of short stories over a career. Lots of interesting stories, some more appealing than others. Still, a solid sampler for a man I hadn’t otherwise encountered.

While it’s billed as SF and many stories have some element out of the norm, the more constant focus is his characters’ relations with Judaism. Among the characters are several interesting perspectives on the culture and well described struggles with doubt and similar religious themes.

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Books

The Dark Door by Kate Wilheim

A solid book, SF according to the subtitle, but as easily classified as a suspenseful thriller. Very enjoyable and a quick read.

There are three POV characters (not including the -logues), but it’s the two men whose eyes we look out most of the time. They’re smart and driven, each with interesting limitations and blinders. Constance is a very engaging woman– scientist and outdoors woman, with a perfected retreat towards domesticity that comes out a couple of times. The author sells the relationship between the characters; the marriage and unspoken communication are conveyed well.

I’ll probably pick up more of her books at the library soon. (On reading her Wikipedia page, it appears that there are several novels featuring Constance and Charlie– this is the second written.) I also remember her book Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, an interesting twist on a calm end of the world.

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Books

Game Night

Game Night is a fun book by Johnny Nexus. The core concept is very familiar– a dysfunctional RPG night and pokes fun at the problems common to RPG groups (much like the movie, The Gamers). Time starts and stops, rewinds, and one character just stands around because its player is asleep all the time.

A conceit of the book is that the players are gods guiding their mortals, not strictly roleplayers. The book’s humor runs well throughout, even as he needles our foibles.

If you’re interested in giving it a try, the author just released a free novella length prequel as a teaser. It’s called Saving Stone.