Baby, I Can Dig This Book

I am not a horror reader. When I was in elementary school, I used to occasionally enjoy reading a scary story, but, to use a phrase very ironically, "nevermore." I assume it is for this reason that I have never gotten around to reading a single Stephen King book, even though he may be the most renowned author of our time.

Well, I have been missing out.

Just recently, I finished Stephen King's The Stand. It is an excellent book, that is not very scary, but is very powerful and well-written. The Stand is a post-apocalyptic story. The United States government creates a superflu with a 99.4% death rate. The virus leaks out into the country through a morbid mistake. Within a few weeks, only .6% of the world is still alive. In 1985, when the story takes place, that would leave almost 29,000 people in the whole world.

Among the survivors, of whom the story is obviously about, are the following important characters:

Larry Underwood, singer of the hit song "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?";

Harold Lauder, a teenager with impure thoughts;

Frannie Goldsmith, a pregnant unwed young woman;

Stuart Redman, a tough Texan who does what he can for others;

Glen Bateman, a retired sociology professor;

Nick Andros, an intelligent deafmute;

Lloyd Henreid, a convicted murderer from a Nevada prison.

These people and all the other survivors of the superflu are spread out across the United States. At night, though, they have strange dreams. One dream is of a very old black woman in Nebraska, the picture of goodness and purity. The other dream is of a very dark and evil man west of the Rockies. Every person is drawn to one of these two for their own reasons.

King writes the story excellently. It is not a quick read (800+ pages), so he can truly tell the story of every person and their quest to make a new life when all others have gone. Anyone who loves fiction or science fiction should read this excellent addition to writing.

Note: This book has two versions. I read the original version, although there is also an uncut version of the story that I have not read. Also, younger readers should wait to read this, as it has a lot of mature content.

Original Version:
http://www.amazon.com/Stand-Modern-Classics-Stephen-King/dp/0517219018/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217964325&sr=8-1

Uncut and Expanded Version:
http://www.amazon.com/Stand-Expanded-First-Complete-Signet/dp/0451169530/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217964325&sr=8-2

Grade: 9

A Well-Rounded Pi

After reading 20 pages of Yann Martel's Life of Pi, I was not enthusiastic at all about reading it. It was a very weird book about a kid named Piscine living in India who just talked about random things.

But I am so glad I stuck with it.

Life of Pi is an excellent book. It is much like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, but much, much better. The first half of the book is devoted to Piscine explaining himself. He is an Indian teenager. His father is a zookeeper. Piscine Molitor Patel was born and raised a Hindu, but adopted Christian and Muslim beliefs in addition to his Hindu faith. Piscine was teased by the other schoolkids because of a word his name sounded like, so he gave himself the nickname "Pi", and it stuck.

Near the middle of the book, Piscine's family gets fed up with Indira Gandhi and the Indian government, so they decide to sell all of their animals and move to Toronto. The second half of the book is the main storyline. While in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a great storm arises. Piscine is the sole survivor. The bad news is that now Piscine is in a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific with a Bengal tiger.

Life of Pi is very introspective. I personally loved it, but most of my friends did not. The book has little or no action at all, and can be very boring to any reader that thrives on adrenaline. A good 200 pages is just Piscine talking about himself and his interests (while foreshadowing events from the second half of the book), so that may bore many people.

All in all, I implore any patient reader to get Life of Pi. It is definitely worth it.

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Pi-Yann-Martel/dp/0156030209/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215633260&sr=1-1

Grade: 8.5

This Is What I'm Talking About

Rick Riordan has gone up and down on the scales with his books. The Lightning Thief was a good book, that I gave an 8 out of 10. The Sea of Monsters was terrible, and it earned a 3.5 out of 10. The Titan's Curse was not bad, but it was not the best, so I gave it a 7 out of 10.

I was not even going to read Book 4 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Battle of the Labyrinth. The second two were not good enough to make me want to come back. I was over with the series.

Lucky for me, my friend convinced me to read it by saying it was the best of the four and had a lot of action. My inner bibliophage instincts told me I coul not resist reading it, and I was sold. And thank goodness for that.

The Battle of the Labyrinth starts out with Percy at high school orientation. Soon enough, just like every other year, he gets himself into trouble. He and his friend get attacked by empousai, monsters from Greek mythology. The school gets set on fire, all Hades breaks loose, and Percy and his friend escape through the window before the principal catches them. That is pretty much what happens to Percy in every book.

But the story quickly changes. Percy and his demigod friend Annabeth (a demigod is a half-Greek god, half-human) go to Camp Half-Blood (a half-blood is another name for a demigod). Camp is different: for one, their satyr friend Grover is in trouble; for two, the head counselor Dionysus is gone; and for three, Kronos's army is about to attack the camp.

Percy and some of his friends soon embark on a quest to stop Kronos from taking over the camp and the Greek gods. If he wins, the Titans will rule again. But Percy must go into the very depths of danger...into the Labyrinth.

Riordan does try for humor, but not as often as with his other books, which makes The Battle of the Labyrinth the best one of the four, humor-wise. I do like humor in books, but, to put it mildly, Riordan is not funny. The jokes are dumb. But in this book, the "humor" is deficit. I applaud Mr. Riordan for that.

The plot is also worthwhile and enticing. While The Sea of Monsters has a plot that is not great, The Battle of the Labyrinth has suspense, escapes, and plot twists that make for a good story.

Riordan has suffered terribly with his second and third books in the series, but the fourth try reminds me of the first. It is so good it is worthy to be in the same series as The Lightning Thief. This is what I'm talking about!

http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Labyrinth-Percy-Jackson-Olympians/dp/1423101464/ref=pd_sim_b_title_1

Grade: 8

Something Average This Way Comes

Ray Bradbury has proved himself to be a great author before in The Martian Chronicles. That novel had suspense, mystery, twists, and even a little horror. It was a really good book.

Something Wicked This Way Comes, though, does not live up to that high standard.

Don't get me wrong, it was a good book. But my expectations of Bradbury were a little bit higher after reading The Martian Chronicles. I liked the book, but not as much as I wanted to.

Something Wicked This Way Comes is about two boys: Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway. Jim is impulsive and can't wait to be older. Will is more practical and hesitant. They are inseparable, and the best friends in the world. Enter the carnival.

Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show, as can be guessed from the title, is a very evil and subfusc group of people. They appear normal, but strange things happen at night. Will and Jim have to fight hard to stay friends...and to stay alive.

The novel has quite a bit of horror. Darkness is everywhere at the carnival. It makes for a chilling piece, if not terribly scary.

Maybe the best part of the novel is Bradbury's style. His writing is so unconventional and different from the norm that it is perfect for the book. He makes Jim and Will truly seem like one person. The writing alone is enough for me to recommend this book to someone.

Bradbury scores another home run with this novel. If only it were a grand slam.

http://www.amazon.com/Something-Wicked-This-Way-Comes/dp/0380977273/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210980737&sr=8-2

Grade: 7.5

What Matters?

I am not a big fan of historical fiction books, and definitely not a fan of historical nonfiction. I just thought I'd say that right now, just to let you know that I have nothing against the book that I'm reviewing, just the genre.

In fact, Ann Rinaldi's The Secret of Sarah Revere is pretty good, considering its genre. But a beautiful rat is a rat nonetheless.

The book revolves mainly around Sarah Revere, daughter of the legendary Paul. Sarah constantly asks herself, "What matters? What's true? Or what people think?" This is one of the main themes of the book. That's where it is better than a normal nonfiction book, or even some historical fiction books. The characters seem dead, as in a history book. In Sarah Revere, however, this is not the case. The characters are as lively and sentient as most books.

Sarah lives in a world full of strife. Her mother, of whom she is named after, died years before. British soldiers are constantly terrorizing the colonists living in Boston, Massachusetts. Suspicious acts revolve around her stepmother Rachel and a family friend, Dr. Joseph Warren. The many brothers and sisters (Debby, Paul Junior, Mary, Frances, and Elizabeth were the ones who didn't die at birth) all have their own problems and fears and lives. Sarah struggles to survive emotionally through all this.

The story can get to be kind of confusing at times, and a little boring in other places, but for the most part, it works. The book, though historical fiction, is a decent story. I would recommend this for people who like historical fiction or that time period (American Revolution times), but would be very hesitant to do that for anyone else. So I ask myself: What matters? What's true? Or what people think? And for books, it's what people think.

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Sarah-Revere-Ann-Rinaldi/dp/0152046844/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208555276&sr=8-1

Grade: 6.5

Parallax to More Than the Plot

Orson Scott Card, as you know if you have read my previous reviews, is my favorite author. He wrote Ender's Game, one of my favorite books (see post "Ender Scores" and "My Favorites"). There have been three sequels to that book as of yet, one forthcoming sequel, six short stories that take place in the universe, one other novel that takes place at the same time as Ender's Game, and one short story collection about the Ender universe. In addition to all these, there is a parallel series, the Shadow saga, the first of which is Ender's Shadow (as Card calls it in his foreword to Ender's Shadow, a parallax).

And just like its parallel, Ender's Shadow rocks.

The book opens on the streets of Rotterdam, in what used to be called the Netherlands, but what is now International Territory. A four-year-old (who is the size of a two-year-old) is sitting by himself, homeless. He scavenges for food sometimes, but usually just watches the other homeless kids, inspecting their hierarchy. He is incredibly smart. Soon enough, he has the whole order of Rotterdam inverted and mixed up. A recruiter for the International Fleet takes the kid to Battle School, where Ender Wiggin (the protagonist of Ender's Game) is a student. The kid is Bean, one of Ender's friends in Ender's Game.

As expected by his intelligence and his incredible entry test scores, Bean thrives in the school. He advances quickly, and has many adventures (and misadventures) in Battle School.

Card doesn't write with humor per se, but with his incredible wit and intelligence that made me fall in love with Ender's Game. The amazing story, incredible characters, and the superb writing combine to form an amazing piece that anyone could enjoy.

When writing a parallel novel, a writer could easily fall into the trap of making events that don't go with the book it is parallel to. Card, though, successfully makes it so that nothing contradicts anything in Ender's Game, and so that there is enough different to make it not just another interpretation of Ender's Game. It seems like a completely different book that just takes place at the same time and place. Many characters are cast in completely different lights. Many events are interpreted completely differently by the two characters. And most importantly, even though both Bean and Ender are cognitively incredible, they think differently enough to make both books worth reading.

After reading this, I feel Ender's Shadow is a parallax to more than the plot of Ender's Game. It also parallels the excellence. I can hardly wait to read the other Shadow saga books. Thank you, Orson Scott Card.

http://www.amazon.com/Enders-Shadow-Ender-Book/dp/0765342405/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2

Grade: 9.5

A Great Return

You may have seen my previous reviews for Rick Riordan's series Percy Jackson and the Olympians (see "Riordan Makes it Work" and "Ridiculous"). If you haven't, then here's a summary: The Lightning Thief I liked. It was a good idea, and the author delivered it pretty well. The Sea of Monsters, though, was not good at all. The jokes were ridiculous, and it stunk.

But Riordan made a successful comeback with the third book in the series, The Titan's Curse. It wasn't perfect, but compared with his last try, it was worthy of Zeus.

The Titan's Curse opens with Percy Jackson going to a military school with some companions of his. They heard that there is a new half-blood or two there, waiting to be brought to Camp Half-Blood. (A half-blood is a child of both a human and a Greek god, and Camp Half-Blood is their summer camp.) Soon enough, both members of Camp Half-Blood and some Hunters of the godess Artemis are on a search and rescue team to find half-blood Annabeth and Artemis, both of whom have been captured by the titan Kronos.

Riordan is definitely not my favorite writer. (As a side note, that would be Orson Scott Card and J. R. R. Tolkien.) He cannot write particularly well, and he can be borderline offensive in some cases. But The Titan's Curse was really good for his standards. Some of the jokes were actually kind of funny. The story was pretty good and pretty well developed. The characters were plenty and had their own personalities. I wouldn't recommend it per se, but it was definitely better than its predecessor.

Riordan made a great return with his third book in the series. Hopefully the fourth will follow in its footsteps.

http://www.amazon.com/Titans-Curse-Percy-Jackson-Olympians/dp/1423101456/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206984644&sr=1-2

Grade: 7

Time Rages Not

When writing a book that takes place 50 years in the future, there is a large element of danger and a small margin of error. If it is read when the setting takes place and it is too far away from reality, it becomes history (literally and figuratively). If one were to read a book that takes place in modern-day but has too many differences from modern culture, it's a joke. Some authors can make it work. But there are not too many people who could make it near perfect.

Enter Ray Bradbury.

The Martian Chronicles, the second book by one of science fiction's most renowned authors, is one of those that work. True, there are a few instances where a 1950s writer can mess up in foretelling the 2000s. A modern-day rocket cannot fit as many people as it did in the book (at least to my knowledge). And there is one chapter which, if it were to take place today, might cause a small uproar. But there are not too many of these instances, and it's not like Back to the Future Part II, where there are already flying cars and 3-D posters in 2015.

The book takes place from 1999 to 2026, mostly on the planet Mars. People seeking new lives, astronauts, and murderers alike come to Mars looking for adventure. The Martians don't take it all that well, but, as one character near the beginning of the book says, since when has humanity cared about anyone but itself?

The book provides suspense, terror, philosophy, and adventure alike for anyone who reads it. Even though it is 50 years old and takes place today, there are only minor inconsistencies. Bradbury successfully tells a tale using several short stories, each from a different person's perspective, to create a whole novel. Anyone interested in science fiction should add this to their collection because, as Ray Bradbury can prove, time rages not when you're talking books.

http://www.amazon.com/Martian-Chronicles-Grand-Master-Editions/dp/0553278223/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206463171&sr=8-2

Grade: 8.5

A Seventh Son's Saga

Orson Scott Card is an excellent author, as I said in a previous blog (see "Ender Scores"). He has written many books, most renowned of which are the Ender Saga books (Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind). Card has proved his skills again in Seventh Son, the first book in The Tales of Alvin Maker.

The story begins with Alvin Miller's family crossing the Hatrack River. It is a raging current, and the mother is about to go into labor. It is very important that they get to safe ground. If the child is born, he will be seventh son of a seventh son, said to have certain qualities, or hidden powers, that separate them from everyone else.

Years later, Alvin Junior is a young kid, growing up with his parents, brothers and sisters, and a new church being built that Alvin Senior and his wife disagree on. The father is not much of a Christian, but the mother would rather die than be a heretic. There are many characters that have different sides in the church, and others with no sides at all.

The story is very interesting and intriguing, and has many thought-provoking lines. The characters are very interesting, and if the story has a fault, it is that it ends all too quickly. With only 200-odd pages, I feel I could go on for another several-hundred more. But I guess that's what the six sequels are for, including the one that has yet to be released.

I hope to get my hands on the second in the saga of a seventh son of a seventh son soon, for Orson Scott Card has proved again just how good of a writer he is.

http://www.amazon.com/Seventh-Son-Tales-Alvin-Maker/dp/076534775X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204931910&sr=1-1

Grade: 8.5

Never Thought I'd See the Day

I love to read books, as it is obvious from my previous entries and the whole subject of this blog. And there are almost no books that I would quit reading in the middle because of their worthlessness.

Notice the word "almost." That wouldn't be there before I started Donita K. Paul's DragonSpell.

The book was so terrible that I stopped reading it in the middle of the book. The story isn't very good, the author is not a good writer, and the only appealing part of the book is the front cover.

The story is about a girl named Kale, who finds a dragon egg and is sent to the center of the country she lives in. She has to deliver the dragon egg and figure out what to do with it. But she gets sidetracked from her quest, and then is told by people from the center to not go there. It is not bad yet, but read on.

There are so many characters and weird words that it gets confusing to the point of ridiculous. What is an o'rant? Who is Paladin? What are the seven low races, and what is their difference from the seven high races? What in Wulder's name (by the way, who is he?) happened to the people that were sent to help Kale but were lost on the quest, or were they even lost?

Is this confusing to you? If your answer is yes, don't read the book. It is full of several characters with weird names and weird roles, characters who disappear and never show up, and weird species (o'rants, emerlindians, mariones, grawligs, etc.) And Donita K. Paul cannot write. It is like reading a novel by a teenager who thinks she can be like Tolkien or Shannara author Terry Brooks. Most good authors can do good descriptions. Paul thinks she can, and tries to, but can't. She describes a cup of tea at one point of the story, and it is ridiculously boring.

One of the things I despise in most books is when one author tries to copy another. Reading DragonSpell is like reading Eragon, by Christopher Paolini, but worse. Most of the themes are the same. A mind-link with dragons. Dragons cannot be owned, only befriended. Try to block your mind so others can't read it. You almost expect to have Saphira, the dragon from Paolini's novels, appear. It is like a terrible rendition of the Inheritance Cycle. Don't get me wrong, Paolini is a great author, and his stories are really good. Not so for Paul.

I never thought I'd see the day where I would actually quit reading a book in the middle. But after reading a boring 100 pages of DragonSpell, I couldn't stand 200 more. I'm sorry, Donita K. Paul, but you can't write.

Grade: 2