Fat Kid Rules the World
K. L. Going
Penguin Books
Fiction, YA General Fiction
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Seventeen-year-old Troy Billings doesn't fit in - not in his family, not in school, not in Manhattan, not anywhere. Over six feet tall and nearly 300 pounds, not a day goes by when he doesn't seem to be the butt of everyone's joke and the object of everyone's disgust and utter loathing - his own, most of all. He was about to end it all by stepping in front of the subway when a voice stops him... a voice belonging to the dirtiest, skinniest young man Troy's ever seen. But the moment he hears the man's name, he's starstruck: this is none other than Curt MacCrae, a legend in the local punk rock scene, if a notoriously elusive one. He even went to the same high school as Troy, though he dropped out and disappeared a couple years ago. For some strange reason, Curt not only stopped him from ending his own life, but recruits him into a new band he's forming as the drummer (disregarding Troy's insistence that he last played drums in junior high and was never much good even back then). But there are reasons a prodigal guitar player like Curt has never moved beyond occasional gigs at a local dive known as the Dump, reasons that could drag Troy down just when the teen has started to think he can rise up.
REVIEW: One of the truest bits of dialog I've heard in a movie is in the animated feature Kung Fu Panda, when the hefty panda/unpromising student Po finally talks back to kung fu master Shifu, who has been disparaging and discouraging him since they met. Po tells him that all the insults Shifu and the other students have hurled at him hurt no worse than every day of his life just being him, then says he only stuck around because he figured if anyone could change things, make him not him, it was Shifu. That vibe, the desperate bone-deep desire to not be what one sees in the mirror, is amped up to eleven in Fat Kid Rules the World.
It starts with Troy quite literally on the edge, standing on the subway platform, wondering grimly if even his grisly suicide by subway train would do no more than make people laugh at him. Even his own kid brother, who once looked up to him (nine years ago, before the weight and before their mother died), seems to think the world would be better off with no Troy in it. Curt's intervention saves his life and forges a bond not easily broken, not even when Curt's erratic behavior becomes harder and harder to chalk up to artistic eccentricity. At first, it's just the push Troy needs to get out of his own head and his own miseries and push some boundaries (internal and external). The "band", which is apparently just Curt's guitar and Troy's as-yet-nonexistent drums, seems at first just to be a spur-of-the-moment lie Curt trots out to shut up Troy's obnoxious kid brother... but Troy slowly realizes he's serious. Worse, he's finagled a debut for them at the Dump in just over a month, when Troy hasn't so much as looked at a drum in years. Dazed and bedazzled and more than a little starstruck, he finds himself pulled into Curt's orbit, as others have been before (and still are), but that orbit is not exactly a safe place to be, and Curt isn't exactly a stable star at the heart of his little solar system, but one likely to go supernova at any moment. Even as Troy finds himself warming up to this new possible future, this new possible him - who learns drumming from one of the members of his favorite local punk band, who cuts school, who aids and abets the odd nonviolent crime, and who actually hangs out with someone as legendary as the Curt MacCrae - he can't help seeing the problems and the wreckage strewn in Curt's wake... just as he can't help noticing the many different "prescriptions" Curt takes, and how he can't reliably remember from one minute to the next what he's committed himself (or others) to. As much as Troy needs someone to rescue him from himself, it's possible Curt needs someone even more, but many have tried and failed, while Curt continues to spiral further and further out of control. It all swirls around the pull of punk rock, not just the music and the rock scene but the mindset and attitude - all of which Troy has secretly yearned toward for years, even if he's never had the courage to embrace punk openly, certain it'll be just one more thing he fails at and one more reason for strangers to ridicule the big, clumsy fat kid.
Troy's journey is not the quick and easy march from "self-loathing, insecure boy" to "successful young man who has found his calling and future" that some might have written. There is no great montage moment where he casts aside all doubts and lives up to a higher version of himself, with Curt as the eccentric but ultimately wise beyond his years mentor. Troy stumbles more than once, and Curt falls down on the "mentor" job with increasing frequency, building to his own crisis where their bond faces what might be a tipping point or a breaking point, depending on how they both react.
There are one or two points near the ending that I wasn't quite sure felt right, particularly in regards to Troy's father (who, despite the potential stereotype of the widower ex-military father who appears deeply disappointed in his decidedly non-military-grade eldest son, actually has a lot more to him than first appearances indicate) and brother (a character who could've used a little bit more fleshing out). Despite that, there are innumerable moments that rang true about being an awkward outsider who can't seem to figure out how to fit in to the life they've found themselves living, or even if there's anywhere they can fit in, and what a many-layered, self-perpetuating, personal Hell such an existence can be, related in Troy's point of view that's funny and gut-wrenching by turns. That was enough to earn it an extra half-star in the ratings. Been there, done that, still living it in too many ways...
You Might Also Enjoy:
Light From Uncommon Stars (Ryka Aoki) - My Review
Wolfwood (Marianna Baer) - My Review
Ghost (Jason Reynolds) - My Review
Friday, November 10, 2023
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Retribution Rails (Erin Bowman)
Retribution Rails
The Vengeance Road series, Book 2
Erin Bowman
Clarion Books
Fiction, YA Western
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: The frontier public knows him as the Rose Kid, a cold-blooded boy who, at only fifteen, slaughtered an entire family of farmers and ran off to join up with the notorious Rose Riders. But they have it all wrong: Reece was about to be slaughtered, too, until the leader of the Riders, Luther Rose, decided he'd be more useful alive than dead. Reece had on him a distinctive gold coin, one very much like the kind carried by the gunslinger who killed Luther's half-brother ten years back, and the boy insists he could identify the man who gave it to him. A day hasn't gone by that Reece hasn't hated himself for what he's had to do to stay alive, that he hasn't dreamed of escape, but the one time he did try sneaking away they made him pay dearly. Which is how he wound up on the train to Prescott with the other Riders, stealing a lucrative payroll and robbing the passengers while they're at it... and how he nearly got shot by a young woman.
Charlotte knows she should've stayed behind in Yuma, like her mother told her. Only one week ago, her beloved father died after a long illness, willing the family fortune to his wife and daughter... and bringing trouble from a devious uncle who wants those riches for himself. Mother went to Prescott to sort things out with the lawyer, but Charlotte isn't about to be pushed aside like a little girl. Besides, she aspires to follow in the footsteps of pioneering lady reporter Nellie Bly, and how is she going to find anything worth reporting on if she sits meekly in her room? She didn't count on her train being held up, but fortunately she had her father's Colt on her when it was... and she kept her cool enough to be able to describe the robbers when she came to the next town. As if anyone west of Colorado wouldn't know the Rose Riders - or the face of the notorious killer, the Rose Kid, when he's staring right at her.
Bad luck lands Charlotte and Reece together, one as he flees from both the law and his former crewmates, the other as a hostage of circumstance. Though they start as rivals, they soon find their goals unexpectedly aligning - but can that bond last against scheming relatives, relentless outlaws, complicated histories, and flying bullets?
REVIEW: This "companion novel" takes place ten years after Bowman's top-notch Western adventure Vengeance Road, and crosses over with a couple of the characters from that book, but more or less stands on its own.
Arizona has changed substantially in that decade, most notably with the arrival of the railroad and the prosperity (and problems) that brings. The characters are also their own people, and not rehashes of the ones in the first story. Charlotte is nothing like the tough, vengeance-driven Kate (teen protagonist of the first book, now a young married woman and soon-to-be mother), being a daughter of privilege and less country-wise (and people-wise; she takes the printed word of news articles as gospel, as well as the notion that people tend to be either Good or Bad and that's all there is to it). Still, she's no fainting flower, and pursues her dreams despite the naysayers who insist that journalism is an improper and impractical pursuit for a woman. Reece, on the other hand, was dealt a bad hand in life, first from a drunkard father, and then when the farm family he was boarding with was struck by the Rose Riders, and yet again when Luther not only took him as an essential hostage to point the way to the gunslinger, but seems intent on turning him into a true outlaw and Rose Rider, taking on a paternal role that Reece can't help responding to. From their first meeting aboard the train, Reece and Charlotte's association is bound to be rocky, and it doesn't notably improve for some time later. Meanwhile, Charlotte discovers just what lengths her crooked uncle has gone to in order to ensure her father's will is disregarded and the family fortune willed to herself and her mother instead go to him... an inheritance to be sealed by a forced marriage, either of her mother to the uncle or herself to her uncle's son. Worse, the very people Charlotte and her mother were counting on to protect them and enforce the will seem to have been paid off or persuaded by the man's unfounded slander against them. Reece finds himself pursuing the gunslinger alone, knowing that he will never be free of Luther Rose until he delivers the outlaw's brother's killer to the Rose Riders, but instead finds himself pulled into a story of lost gold and vengeance sought and found a decade earlier when the trail leads to the homestead of Kate Colton, nee Thompson. Kate has ridden the road Charlotte and Reece are on now, a road of vengeance and justification of all means to their desired ends, and knows where it leads - to rash actions you can never undo, consequences you cannot control, and a dark cloud of regret that you can never outrun but only learn to live with. Of course, the youngsters don't really understand, not even Reece with his hard and compromised life, until it's too late and they have their own dark clouds.
As in the first book, everyone has extra sides to them, even the baddies, and nobody is beyond mistakes, nor does anyone get through the book without some blood on their hands. For some reason, I found it a little weaker than the first story; Kate was just such a strong character in her own book that her arrival threatens to swamp Reece and Charlotte, and neither of the new characters really grabbed me the way the ones did in Vengeance Road. Still, it's a well-paced, active novel with few slow spots, quite enjoyable on the whole.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Vengeance Road (Erin Bowman) - My Review
Thieving Forest (Martha Conway) - My Review
The Misadventures of Maude March (Audrey Couloumbis) - My Review
The Vengeance Road series, Book 2
Erin Bowman
Clarion Books
Fiction, YA Western
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: The frontier public knows him as the Rose Kid, a cold-blooded boy who, at only fifteen, slaughtered an entire family of farmers and ran off to join up with the notorious Rose Riders. But they have it all wrong: Reece was about to be slaughtered, too, until the leader of the Riders, Luther Rose, decided he'd be more useful alive than dead. Reece had on him a distinctive gold coin, one very much like the kind carried by the gunslinger who killed Luther's half-brother ten years back, and the boy insists he could identify the man who gave it to him. A day hasn't gone by that Reece hasn't hated himself for what he's had to do to stay alive, that he hasn't dreamed of escape, but the one time he did try sneaking away they made him pay dearly. Which is how he wound up on the train to Prescott with the other Riders, stealing a lucrative payroll and robbing the passengers while they're at it... and how he nearly got shot by a young woman.
Charlotte knows she should've stayed behind in Yuma, like her mother told her. Only one week ago, her beloved father died after a long illness, willing the family fortune to his wife and daughter... and bringing trouble from a devious uncle who wants those riches for himself. Mother went to Prescott to sort things out with the lawyer, but Charlotte isn't about to be pushed aside like a little girl. Besides, she aspires to follow in the footsteps of pioneering lady reporter Nellie Bly, and how is she going to find anything worth reporting on if she sits meekly in her room? She didn't count on her train being held up, but fortunately she had her father's Colt on her when it was... and she kept her cool enough to be able to describe the robbers when she came to the next town. As if anyone west of Colorado wouldn't know the Rose Riders - or the face of the notorious killer, the Rose Kid, when he's staring right at her.
Bad luck lands Charlotte and Reece together, one as he flees from both the law and his former crewmates, the other as a hostage of circumstance. Though they start as rivals, they soon find their goals unexpectedly aligning - but can that bond last against scheming relatives, relentless outlaws, complicated histories, and flying bullets?
REVIEW: This "companion novel" takes place ten years after Bowman's top-notch Western adventure Vengeance Road, and crosses over with a couple of the characters from that book, but more or less stands on its own.
Arizona has changed substantially in that decade, most notably with the arrival of the railroad and the prosperity (and problems) that brings. The characters are also their own people, and not rehashes of the ones in the first story. Charlotte is nothing like the tough, vengeance-driven Kate (teen protagonist of the first book, now a young married woman and soon-to-be mother), being a daughter of privilege and less country-wise (and people-wise; she takes the printed word of news articles as gospel, as well as the notion that people tend to be either Good or Bad and that's all there is to it). Still, she's no fainting flower, and pursues her dreams despite the naysayers who insist that journalism is an improper and impractical pursuit for a woman. Reece, on the other hand, was dealt a bad hand in life, first from a drunkard father, and then when the farm family he was boarding with was struck by the Rose Riders, and yet again when Luther not only took him as an essential hostage to point the way to the gunslinger, but seems intent on turning him into a true outlaw and Rose Rider, taking on a paternal role that Reece can't help responding to. From their first meeting aboard the train, Reece and Charlotte's association is bound to be rocky, and it doesn't notably improve for some time later. Meanwhile, Charlotte discovers just what lengths her crooked uncle has gone to in order to ensure her father's will is disregarded and the family fortune willed to herself and her mother instead go to him... an inheritance to be sealed by a forced marriage, either of her mother to the uncle or herself to her uncle's son. Worse, the very people Charlotte and her mother were counting on to protect them and enforce the will seem to have been paid off or persuaded by the man's unfounded slander against them. Reece finds himself pursuing the gunslinger alone, knowing that he will never be free of Luther Rose until he delivers the outlaw's brother's killer to the Rose Riders, but instead finds himself pulled into a story of lost gold and vengeance sought and found a decade earlier when the trail leads to the homestead of Kate Colton, nee Thompson. Kate has ridden the road Charlotte and Reece are on now, a road of vengeance and justification of all means to their desired ends, and knows where it leads - to rash actions you can never undo, consequences you cannot control, and a dark cloud of regret that you can never outrun but only learn to live with. Of course, the youngsters don't really understand, not even Reece with his hard and compromised life, until it's too late and they have their own dark clouds.
As in the first book, everyone has extra sides to them, even the baddies, and nobody is beyond mistakes, nor does anyone get through the book without some blood on their hands. For some reason, I found it a little weaker than the first story; Kate was just such a strong character in her own book that her arrival threatens to swamp Reece and Charlotte, and neither of the new characters really grabbed me the way the ones did in Vengeance Road. Still, it's a well-paced, active novel with few slow spots, quite enjoyable on the whole.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Vengeance Road (Erin Bowman) - My Review
Thieving Forest (Martha Conway) - My Review
The Misadventures of Maude March (Audrey Couloumbis) - My Review
Friday, November 3, 2023
Little Fuzzy (H. Beam Piper)
Little Fuzzy
The Fuzzy Sapiens series, Book 1
H. Beam Piper
Audio Realms
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**+ (Bad/Okay)
DESCRIPTION: On the frontier world of Zarathustra, a seemingly endless supply of natural resources is making a lot of people - particularly the Chartered Zarathustra Company that controls the Class 3 world - very rich. Jack Holloway is hoping to be one of them; a lone prospector, he works his claim for sunstones, gemlike fossils of an extinct native jellyfish, that fetch a hefty price on many worlds. He never expected to find anything of true interstellar significance... but then he discovers the strange, fuzzy little biped hiding in his home. Since the planet has only been inhabited for a couple decades or so, there are numerous native animals yet to be discovered, and at first Jack thinks this is just one of those. But "Little Fuzzy" seems unusually clever to be just another animal, even using basic tools - and after the rest of the creature's family shows up, Jack soon has no doubts that they're sapient, if very primitive, people. If true, this would have ramifications across Zarathustra: worlds with native sapient species are Class 4, not Class 3, and an exploitative monopoly contract like the one held by the colony company would be rendered null and void. Of course, that would only happen if word got out to the interstellar human Federation - and the Chartered Zarathustra Company isn't about to let that happen, even if it means eliminating a troublesome prospector and his little fuzzy "pets"...
REVIEW: This is something of a genre classic, but, as it was first published in 1962, it definitely shows its age, and not in any good way. The parallels to colonialism and efforts to reduce native cultures to lesser or even flat-out inhuman status (efforts driven by profit potential at least as much as racism, the two motives frequently combined) are quite clear, which makes it extra cringeworthy how the author and the protagonist Jack treat the Fuzzies (no prizes for guessing whether or not they're sapient). The old prospector immediately adopts a patronizing, fatherly role with his new little friend, calling himself "Pappy Jack" and consistently talking down to the Fuzzies, treating them as something between a pet and a small child. This treatment is echoed by most every "good" human throughout the story, and the Fuzzies continually live up to (or rather, down to) this expectation, apparently wanting nothing more than to abandon their native lifestyle and live like glorified pets at the feet of the wise and powerful human invaders - invaders who, incidentally, have already damaged the planet to the point of altering the climate, a little throwaway subplot that's never followed up on. It's also yet another very white, very male, very mid-20th century vision of an interstellar future; women exist to be secretaries or wives almost exclusively, while men smoke like chimneys and always have alcohol near at hand while doing all of the hard, important work of civilization. Beyond that, it does earn some marks for trying to tease out a solid definition of what makes a being sapient, when examples on numerous worlds keep contradicting every definition humanity comes up with. There are some echoes here with more recent studies that reveal just how little we understand the inner workings of animal minds here on Earth, and how little of what we used to think of as exclusively human actually is unique to our species. The plot at least moves fairly well, for all that the ending involves pulling a few plot twists out of thin air.
The rating I gave it takes into account the fact that it was written in an entirely different era, and for an entirely different audience, than I embody. Even given that, there are some things that happen after the climax and the resolution of the sapience issue that just induced one too many cringes for me to overlook. (Potential Spoiler: when the very judge who, moments ago, ruled that Fuzzies were people and not mere animals, then inquired about acquiring a pair of cute little Fuzzies for his pampered wife much as he might ask for a pair of Bichon Frise puppies, followed by Jack deciding he needed to start an adoption service to home all the natives with human homes without even thinking to ask the Fuzzies what they thought of the plan ('cause of course the human Pappy Jack knows best) - blatantly treating them like the dumb animals they were just ruled not to be, and with terrible echoes of how colonizing people throughout history considered that native cultures should be "grateful" to be taken from their homes and raised with white people in "superior" white ways... yeah, there are some things I just can't overlook because "things were different then".)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card) - My Review
Quozl (Alan Dean Foster) - My Review
Children of Time (Adrian Tchaikovsky) - My Review
The Fuzzy Sapiens series, Book 1
H. Beam Piper
Audio Realms
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**+ (Bad/Okay)
DESCRIPTION: On the frontier world of Zarathustra, a seemingly endless supply of natural resources is making a lot of people - particularly the Chartered Zarathustra Company that controls the Class 3 world - very rich. Jack Holloway is hoping to be one of them; a lone prospector, he works his claim for sunstones, gemlike fossils of an extinct native jellyfish, that fetch a hefty price on many worlds. He never expected to find anything of true interstellar significance... but then he discovers the strange, fuzzy little biped hiding in his home. Since the planet has only been inhabited for a couple decades or so, there are numerous native animals yet to be discovered, and at first Jack thinks this is just one of those. But "Little Fuzzy" seems unusually clever to be just another animal, even using basic tools - and after the rest of the creature's family shows up, Jack soon has no doubts that they're sapient, if very primitive, people. If true, this would have ramifications across Zarathustra: worlds with native sapient species are Class 4, not Class 3, and an exploitative monopoly contract like the one held by the colony company would be rendered null and void. Of course, that would only happen if word got out to the interstellar human Federation - and the Chartered Zarathustra Company isn't about to let that happen, even if it means eliminating a troublesome prospector and his little fuzzy "pets"...
REVIEW: This is something of a genre classic, but, as it was first published in 1962, it definitely shows its age, and not in any good way. The parallels to colonialism and efforts to reduce native cultures to lesser or even flat-out inhuman status (efforts driven by profit potential at least as much as racism, the two motives frequently combined) are quite clear, which makes it extra cringeworthy how the author and the protagonist Jack treat the Fuzzies (no prizes for guessing whether or not they're sapient). The old prospector immediately adopts a patronizing, fatherly role with his new little friend, calling himself "Pappy Jack" and consistently talking down to the Fuzzies, treating them as something between a pet and a small child. This treatment is echoed by most every "good" human throughout the story, and the Fuzzies continually live up to (or rather, down to) this expectation, apparently wanting nothing more than to abandon their native lifestyle and live like glorified pets at the feet of the wise and powerful human invaders - invaders who, incidentally, have already damaged the planet to the point of altering the climate, a little throwaway subplot that's never followed up on. It's also yet another very white, very male, very mid-20th century vision of an interstellar future; women exist to be secretaries or wives almost exclusively, while men smoke like chimneys and always have alcohol near at hand while doing all of the hard, important work of civilization. Beyond that, it does earn some marks for trying to tease out a solid definition of what makes a being sapient, when examples on numerous worlds keep contradicting every definition humanity comes up with. There are some echoes here with more recent studies that reveal just how little we understand the inner workings of animal minds here on Earth, and how little of what we used to think of as exclusively human actually is unique to our species. The plot at least moves fairly well, for all that the ending involves pulling a few plot twists out of thin air.
The rating I gave it takes into account the fact that it was written in an entirely different era, and for an entirely different audience, than I embody. Even given that, there are some things that happen after the climax and the resolution of the sapience issue that just induced one too many cringes for me to overlook. (Potential Spoiler: when the very judge who, moments ago, ruled that Fuzzies were people and not mere animals, then inquired about acquiring a pair of cute little Fuzzies for his pampered wife much as he might ask for a pair of Bichon Frise puppies, followed by Jack deciding he needed to start an adoption service to home all the natives with human homes without even thinking to ask the Fuzzies what they thought of the plan ('cause of course the human Pappy Jack knows best) - blatantly treating them like the dumb animals they were just ruled not to be, and with terrible echoes of how colonizing people throughout history considered that native cultures should be "grateful" to be taken from their homes and raised with white people in "superior" white ways... yeah, there are some things I just can't overlook because "things were different then".)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card) - My Review
Quozl (Alan Dean Foster) - My Review
Children of Time (Adrian Tchaikovsky) - My Review
Thursday, November 2, 2023
The Adventurer's Son (Roman Dial)
The Adventurer's Son: A Memoir
Roman Dial
Mariner Books
Nonfiction, Memoir
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: As a boy, Roman Dial became enamored with the wilderness. He pursued a degree in Alaska just to be nearer to the wild places that called to him, the mountains and rivers and deep trackless woods that challenged him, and dedicated his career to studying ecology and wildlife around the world, often in the most remote and inhospitable places. When he married, he introduced his wife Penny to these wonders, and when they had children the couple ensured that young Cody and Jasper, too, were exposed to the wonders and adventures to be found out of doors.
Later, he would wonder if perhaps it was his fault that his son followed in his footsteps.
In the summer of 2014, Cody Roman Dial, then in his twenties, was traveling solo in Central America. Like his father before him, he was an explorer at heart, a wanderer who was always looking toward the next challenge, the next adventure. He'd done several solo trips before, at least as challenging as the one he had planned for Costa Rica, and always kept in touch through e-mail with his family. But in early July, Roman would receive what would turn out to be the last contact he would have with Cody: a map and loose itinerary, and a promise to e-mail again after a planned five-day excursion into some of the wildest rainforests left in the country. But that e-mail never came, and Cody was never seen again.
As Roman heads to Costa Rica to search for his missing son, he confronts language and cultural barriers, indifferent local authorities, and other obstacles, not the least of which is the rainforest itself, brimming with treacherous terrain and deadly snakes and numerous poachers and drug smugglers. Even as he looks, he reflects on his own life and Cody's adventurous childhood - a childhood that may have led him to this beautiful, dangerous land that might have killed him.
REVIEW: Another random selection from the library's audiobook offerings, The Adventurer's Son is the story of one man's love of - and borderline addiction to - the wilderness, and how he wrestles with the legacy of that love when it's picked up by his son. Starting in Roman's own childhood, the book follows him through his discovery of the outdoors, the adventures (and near-disasters) that love led him to, the friends he made, and the career paths it opened up for him. Though his would-be wife was at first not that much of an outdoor junkie herself, and never reaches his level of obsession, he introduces the wilderness to her, and they have their own adventures, adventures they would share with their young family - camping trips in their home state of Alaska, journeys to Borneo and Australia, and more. Introducing his children, particularly his son (who took after his dad in so many ways), to that passion was one of the greatest joys of Roman's life, watching the boy rise to the challenges presented by a hike or unmarked trail or foreign country... and one of the greatest devastations when his adult son goes missing in the very wilderness Roman taught him to respect and explore and embrace so wholeheartedly. The great pride and sense of wonder of the earlier portions of the book, the author's passion fairly leaping off the page, turns quickly to the devastation and frustration of a father pursuing answers about his son's disappearance in a remote area replete with criminals and other dangers, as well as spotty law enforcement that seems to have already made up its mind about Cody's fate before even beginning its investigation... an investigation that would pursue numerous false leads and dead ends for over two years. In pursuit of answers, Roman and Penny even turn to a "documentary" television team, with results that demonstrate how far from reality a lot of so-called "reality" television ends up becoming and how manipulative and exploitative the crews can be, on and off camera. Eventually, closure is reached and answers (some, at least) are forthcoming, but there are clearly some wounds that will never fully heal. Did the father's obsession lead his son to tragedy, or did he simply awaken in the boy a passion of his own, one with certain inherent risks that living fully and deeply always entails? There can be little doubt that Cody Roman Dial lived a full and vivid life, a life made fuller and more vivid by his father's adventurous legacy, no matter how that life ended.
Some of the earlier material can feel a bit meandering, even if it's always decently written. Overall, it's as much about the love of one man for the wilderness (dangers and all) as about the love of a father for his son, and the complicated feelings when those loves seem to collide and end in tragedy.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Gone to the Woods (Gary Paulsen) - My Review
The Lost City of the Monkey God (Douglas Preston) - My Review
The Invention of Nature (Andrea Wulf) - My Review
Roman Dial
Mariner Books
Nonfiction, Memoir
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: As a boy, Roman Dial became enamored with the wilderness. He pursued a degree in Alaska just to be nearer to the wild places that called to him, the mountains and rivers and deep trackless woods that challenged him, and dedicated his career to studying ecology and wildlife around the world, often in the most remote and inhospitable places. When he married, he introduced his wife Penny to these wonders, and when they had children the couple ensured that young Cody and Jasper, too, were exposed to the wonders and adventures to be found out of doors.
Later, he would wonder if perhaps it was his fault that his son followed in his footsteps.
In the summer of 2014, Cody Roman Dial, then in his twenties, was traveling solo in Central America. Like his father before him, he was an explorer at heart, a wanderer who was always looking toward the next challenge, the next adventure. He'd done several solo trips before, at least as challenging as the one he had planned for Costa Rica, and always kept in touch through e-mail with his family. But in early July, Roman would receive what would turn out to be the last contact he would have with Cody: a map and loose itinerary, and a promise to e-mail again after a planned five-day excursion into some of the wildest rainforests left in the country. But that e-mail never came, and Cody was never seen again.
As Roman heads to Costa Rica to search for his missing son, he confronts language and cultural barriers, indifferent local authorities, and other obstacles, not the least of which is the rainforest itself, brimming with treacherous terrain and deadly snakes and numerous poachers and drug smugglers. Even as he looks, he reflects on his own life and Cody's adventurous childhood - a childhood that may have led him to this beautiful, dangerous land that might have killed him.
REVIEW: Another random selection from the library's audiobook offerings, The Adventurer's Son is the story of one man's love of - and borderline addiction to - the wilderness, and how he wrestles with the legacy of that love when it's picked up by his son. Starting in Roman's own childhood, the book follows him through his discovery of the outdoors, the adventures (and near-disasters) that love led him to, the friends he made, and the career paths it opened up for him. Though his would-be wife was at first not that much of an outdoor junkie herself, and never reaches his level of obsession, he introduces the wilderness to her, and they have their own adventures, adventures they would share with their young family - camping trips in their home state of Alaska, journeys to Borneo and Australia, and more. Introducing his children, particularly his son (who took after his dad in so many ways), to that passion was one of the greatest joys of Roman's life, watching the boy rise to the challenges presented by a hike or unmarked trail or foreign country... and one of the greatest devastations when his adult son goes missing in the very wilderness Roman taught him to respect and explore and embrace so wholeheartedly. The great pride and sense of wonder of the earlier portions of the book, the author's passion fairly leaping off the page, turns quickly to the devastation and frustration of a father pursuing answers about his son's disappearance in a remote area replete with criminals and other dangers, as well as spotty law enforcement that seems to have already made up its mind about Cody's fate before even beginning its investigation... an investigation that would pursue numerous false leads and dead ends for over two years. In pursuit of answers, Roman and Penny even turn to a "documentary" television team, with results that demonstrate how far from reality a lot of so-called "reality" television ends up becoming and how manipulative and exploitative the crews can be, on and off camera. Eventually, closure is reached and answers (some, at least) are forthcoming, but there are clearly some wounds that will never fully heal. Did the father's obsession lead his son to tragedy, or did he simply awaken in the boy a passion of his own, one with certain inherent risks that living fully and deeply always entails? There can be little doubt that Cody Roman Dial lived a full and vivid life, a life made fuller and more vivid by his father's adventurous legacy, no matter how that life ended.
Some of the earlier material can feel a bit meandering, even if it's always decently written. Overall, it's as much about the love of one man for the wilderness (dangers and all) as about the love of a father for his son, and the complicated feelings when those loves seem to collide and end in tragedy.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Gone to the Woods (Gary Paulsen) - My Review
The Lost City of the Monkey God (Douglas Preston) - My Review
The Invention of Nature (Andrea Wulf) - My Review
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Over the Moon (Natalie Lloyd)
Over the Moon
Natalie Lloyd
Scholastic
Fiction, MG Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Once, the skies over Coal Top Mountain were full of stars, and the houses were full of spun starlight, luminous material used in everything from clothing to book covers and more. There were also flying horses who would carry children on their backs above the high peaks. The people were happy, then, full of songs and laughter... but not now, not in the decades since the Dust choked off the stars and spread sorrow and misery everywhere in a gritty, toxic soot. Even to sing is discouraged, lest inhaled Dust plunge one into deep despair or worse. As for the flying horses, they vanished with the stars, leaving the forests full of monsters.
Mallie Ramble's father, like all the men of Coal Top, used to work in the mines seeking gold, the town's only livelihood without starlight to spin. But the deep, dark places of the mountains are as tainted as the skies above. First it steals the color from the eyes, leaving them inky black. Then it steals voices. When an accident left Papa blind, he was blamed and not even paid when they sent him away. To keep her little brother Denver from the same fate, Mallie works as a maid in the rich houses down in the valley, backbreaking work made harder by her only having one arm. Still, she'd do anything to spare her brother and keep her mother from one more worry... only the valley folk look for any ways they can to cheat those from the hilltop, and the few Feather-coins Mallie earns for her labors aren't nearly enough to keep the family fed, let alone pay the massive debt the Guardians insist the Rambles owe. She needs a miracle - and she thinks she finds one, when she spots the flyers around town asking for children willing to risk great danger for a great reward.
The town leader has learned that some winged horses are still lurking in the woods... and, with them, a brave enough rider might reach the mountains beyond Coal Top, each peak glimmering with layers of gold dust. It's a dangerous proposition, especially as nobody has ridden a flying horse in a generation, but there's hardly a mountain child in Coal Top who doesn't need that money like they need air or water - and even children from the valley are tempted by the rewards. Mallie doesn't care what the dangers are; she'll do whatever it takes. But there's another danger lurking around Coal Top, a secret worse than the dust or the monsters... a secret that could destroy everything Mallie loves and every dream she's clung to all her life.
REVIEW: The setup here is interesting, if a bit formulaic, and Mallie's a determined young heroine who doesn't set out to save the world, just her little family in their mountaintop cottage. If characters came across as simplified sketches, if the worldbuilding didn't withstand too close a scrutiny (how has the constant layer of sun-smothering dust not choked off all the town's agriculture and not just the decorative flowers?), and if there were a few points on which Mallie was willfully obtuse in order to stretch the story, I could roll with it... for a while, at least. But at some point those accumulated little nitpicks started weighing on my suspension of disbelief, especially toward the end of the tale as it ramps up to a climax that feels a little too trite and convenient (and has more than a whiff of faith allegory).
That's not to say there's nothing to enjoy here. Mallie is, for the most part, a solid heroine, working hard and driven to overcome any obstacle, especially when it comes to keeping her little family together. Indeed, she bristles at being told she has limits, be it because of her gender or because of the arm she wasn't born with (she has a "Popsnap" artificial arm of undetermined construction and practical usefulness; this is one of those flimsy worldbuilding points that could've used more clarification, as the tech levels are distinctly plot convenient). The fears she lives with are not just in her head, either; it's clear from early on that the "monsters" in the wood are real things that represent a real threat. Despite the drudgery of her life and the literal weight of doom and gloom over Coal Top, she holds impossible dreams close to her heart, dreams of starlight and happiness, imagining herself as "Mallie Over the Moon" instead of what the spoiled son of the valley family she works for calls her, "Mallie in the Muck". Still, it's hard to hold on to those dreams when the rich folk short her most of a week's wages for imagined shortcomings (mostly just because they're rich and can do whatever they want to poor people). Surrounding her is a cast of fairly expected supporting characters and enemies, few of whom bring any surprises to anyone who has read any similar stories. Things move fairly well, and there are some nicely described scenes and action sequences, but it becomes harder and harder to buy into the whole thing as the bad guys and problems become more and more caricature-like, in service to a building Message that dominates more and more of the plot. By the end, that Message has opened its maw and swallowed the story whole, striking the reader's skull like the hooves of a kicking horse.
This is a case where I strongly suspect younger readers will enjoy it more than I did... and even I admit that the flying horses and some of the imagery were kinda cool. I just felt like it started to disintegrate by the end, and would've benefited from a little more nuanced characterization. (Even in middle grade titles, there's usually a bit more to characters nowadays.)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Race the Sands (Sarah Beth Durst) - My Review
The Unwanteds (Lisa McMann) - My Review
Windsworn (Derek Alan Siddoway) - My Review
Natalie Lloyd
Scholastic
Fiction, MG Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Once, the skies over Coal Top Mountain were full of stars, and the houses were full of spun starlight, luminous material used in everything from clothing to book covers and more. There were also flying horses who would carry children on their backs above the high peaks. The people were happy, then, full of songs and laughter... but not now, not in the decades since the Dust choked off the stars and spread sorrow and misery everywhere in a gritty, toxic soot. Even to sing is discouraged, lest inhaled Dust plunge one into deep despair or worse. As for the flying horses, they vanished with the stars, leaving the forests full of monsters.
Mallie Ramble's father, like all the men of Coal Top, used to work in the mines seeking gold, the town's only livelihood without starlight to spin. But the deep, dark places of the mountains are as tainted as the skies above. First it steals the color from the eyes, leaving them inky black. Then it steals voices. When an accident left Papa blind, he was blamed and not even paid when they sent him away. To keep her little brother Denver from the same fate, Mallie works as a maid in the rich houses down in the valley, backbreaking work made harder by her only having one arm. Still, she'd do anything to spare her brother and keep her mother from one more worry... only the valley folk look for any ways they can to cheat those from the hilltop, and the few Feather-coins Mallie earns for her labors aren't nearly enough to keep the family fed, let alone pay the massive debt the Guardians insist the Rambles owe. She needs a miracle - and she thinks she finds one, when she spots the flyers around town asking for children willing to risk great danger for a great reward.
The town leader has learned that some winged horses are still lurking in the woods... and, with them, a brave enough rider might reach the mountains beyond Coal Top, each peak glimmering with layers of gold dust. It's a dangerous proposition, especially as nobody has ridden a flying horse in a generation, but there's hardly a mountain child in Coal Top who doesn't need that money like they need air or water - and even children from the valley are tempted by the rewards. Mallie doesn't care what the dangers are; she'll do whatever it takes. But there's another danger lurking around Coal Top, a secret worse than the dust or the monsters... a secret that could destroy everything Mallie loves and every dream she's clung to all her life.
REVIEW: The setup here is interesting, if a bit formulaic, and Mallie's a determined young heroine who doesn't set out to save the world, just her little family in their mountaintop cottage. If characters came across as simplified sketches, if the worldbuilding didn't withstand too close a scrutiny (how has the constant layer of sun-smothering dust not choked off all the town's agriculture and not just the decorative flowers?), and if there were a few points on which Mallie was willfully obtuse in order to stretch the story, I could roll with it... for a while, at least. But at some point those accumulated little nitpicks started weighing on my suspension of disbelief, especially toward the end of the tale as it ramps up to a climax that feels a little too trite and convenient (and has more than a whiff of faith allegory).
That's not to say there's nothing to enjoy here. Mallie is, for the most part, a solid heroine, working hard and driven to overcome any obstacle, especially when it comes to keeping her little family together. Indeed, she bristles at being told she has limits, be it because of her gender or because of the arm she wasn't born with (she has a "Popsnap" artificial arm of undetermined construction and practical usefulness; this is one of those flimsy worldbuilding points that could've used more clarification, as the tech levels are distinctly plot convenient). The fears she lives with are not just in her head, either; it's clear from early on that the "monsters" in the wood are real things that represent a real threat. Despite the drudgery of her life and the literal weight of doom and gloom over Coal Top, she holds impossible dreams close to her heart, dreams of starlight and happiness, imagining herself as "Mallie Over the Moon" instead of what the spoiled son of the valley family she works for calls her, "Mallie in the Muck". Still, it's hard to hold on to those dreams when the rich folk short her most of a week's wages for imagined shortcomings (mostly just because they're rich and can do whatever they want to poor people). Surrounding her is a cast of fairly expected supporting characters and enemies, few of whom bring any surprises to anyone who has read any similar stories. Things move fairly well, and there are some nicely described scenes and action sequences, but it becomes harder and harder to buy into the whole thing as the bad guys and problems become more and more caricature-like, in service to a building Message that dominates more and more of the plot. By the end, that Message has opened its maw and swallowed the story whole, striking the reader's skull like the hooves of a kicking horse.
This is a case where I strongly suspect younger readers will enjoy it more than I did... and even I admit that the flying horses and some of the imagery were kinda cool. I just felt like it started to disintegrate by the end, and would've benefited from a little more nuanced characterization. (Even in middle grade titles, there's usually a bit more to characters nowadays.)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Race the Sands (Sarah Beth Durst) - My Review
The Unwanteds (Lisa McMann) - My Review
Windsworn (Derek Alan Siddoway) - My Review
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)