Jumper
Steven Gould
Starscape
Fiction, YA Sci-Fi
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: One night, facing his drunken father's belt buckle for failing to mow the lawn, David Rice suddenly finds himself standing in the Stanwood library building. A short time later, he escapes another terrible situation, instantly and inexplicably. Are these traumatic blackouts, or something more?
David's new-found ability to "jump" to anywhere he has ever been, anywhere he can visualize clearly, helps him escape his abusive father. It even helps him get money to start over again in New York City, no easy task for an underage kid with no GED, social security card, or even a copy of his birth certificate. But it can't help him put the pieces of his shattered life together again, nor can it help him answer the questions that haunt him: What really happened to his abused mother? Can anyone else in his family do what he does? And how is a freak of nature ever supposed to find happiness?
REVIEW: This book starts fairly fast. David's life is one of violence, abuse, and lies, and even when he flees his father the darkness follows him, tainting his choices. His jumping ability is both a gift and a curse, a temptation to crime and vengeance. It has limits, but no apparent cost, save to his own psyche. Round about the midpoint, the book starts to lose its way, much like David. I had the vague impression that Gould, having come up with David's exceptional skill, wasn't quite sure what to do with it or the boy burdened by it. The final third or so sees the plot pretty much disintegrate, as he runs afoul of national security forces and starts a one-man war to avenge his mother. It all leads up to an ending that fails to live up to the earlier potential. Jumper is at its best when it's exploring the life of a scared young man dealing with a power he cannot understand, trying to rebuild himself with nothing but broken pieces. Unfortunately, it doesn't trust that strength enough to stay there for the whole book.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Site Updated, Reviews Archived
The previous six reviews are now archived at Brightdreamer Books, with cross-links to related titles.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Last Olympian (Rick Riordan)
The Last Olympian
(Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, Book 5)
Rick Riordan
Disney Hyperion
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Four years ago, Percy Jackson didn't know who his real father was. He didn't know why strange, monstrous things seemed to keep turning up in his life, or that there were other children just like him all across the country. He didn't know that the gods of Greece still reigned from Mount Olympus, now centered over New York City. He'd never heard of the Great Prophecy, from the lips of the Oracle of Delphi, which foretold the end of Western civilization. He'd never even fought with a sword.
Things have changed since then.
A son of the Greek god Poseidon, Percy inherited powers over water and a telepathic link to horses - and, like all half-blood children of the Olympic gods, an unusual attraction to monsters out of Greek mythos. With his friends Annabeth (daughter of Athena, godess of wisdom) and Grover (a satyr), he's fought all manner of impossible foes, visited the kingdom of Hades, and even challenged Titans. But worse is to come. Kronos, Titan lord of time, has regained material existence. Even now, he marches on Olympus with an army of monsters, fellow Titans, and half-bloods who turned on their own absentee parents. The Great Prophecy foretold that a heroic half-blood would decide the fate of the known world in the climactic battle to come... but it also predicted that hero's death. To save his friends and his family, Percy must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice - and even that might not be enough to stop Kronos from succeeding.
REVIEW: Percy's adventures are a fun hybrid of modern humor with classical Greek myths, fast-paced and easily accessible even to those of us who weren't obsessively reading Homer through our formative years. Riordan concludes the series with an appropriately cataclysmic confrontation between god and Titan, monster and hero, and even father and son. Some of the plot twists were obvious, but not all of them. Not everyone makes it through to the ending, and those who do find that their roles in the finale aren't at all what they expected. The book feels overlong at times, with some sequences running a few pages past the point of impact. Overall, I found the series very entertaining, well worth reading.
(Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, Book 5)
Rick Riordan
Disney Hyperion
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Four years ago, Percy Jackson didn't know who his real father was. He didn't know why strange, monstrous things seemed to keep turning up in his life, or that there were other children just like him all across the country. He didn't know that the gods of Greece still reigned from Mount Olympus, now centered over New York City. He'd never heard of the Great Prophecy, from the lips of the Oracle of Delphi, which foretold the end of Western civilization. He'd never even fought with a sword.
Things have changed since then.
A son of the Greek god Poseidon, Percy inherited powers over water and a telepathic link to horses - and, like all half-blood children of the Olympic gods, an unusual attraction to monsters out of Greek mythos. With his friends Annabeth (daughter of Athena, godess of wisdom) and Grover (a satyr), he's fought all manner of impossible foes, visited the kingdom of Hades, and even challenged Titans. But worse is to come. Kronos, Titan lord of time, has regained material existence. Even now, he marches on Olympus with an army of monsters, fellow Titans, and half-bloods who turned on their own absentee parents. The Great Prophecy foretold that a heroic half-blood would decide the fate of the known world in the climactic battle to come... but it also predicted that hero's death. To save his friends and his family, Percy must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice - and even that might not be enough to stop Kronos from succeeding.
REVIEW: Percy's adventures are a fun hybrid of modern humor with classical Greek myths, fast-paced and easily accessible even to those of us who weren't obsessively reading Homer through our formative years. Riordan concludes the series with an appropriately cataclysmic confrontation between god and Titan, monster and hero, and even father and son. Some of the plot twists were obvious, but not all of them. Not everyone makes it through to the ending, and those who do find that their roles in the finale aren't at all what they expected. The book feels overlong at times, with some sequences running a few pages past the point of impact. Overall, I found the series very entertaining, well worth reading.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The Art of War for Writers (James Scott Bell)
The Art of War for Writers
James Scott Bell
Writer's Digest Books
Nonfiction, Writing
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: It looks easy enough. Grab that story idea flitting around in your head, pin it down on paper, ship it off to an editor, and presto! Kick back to enjoy a carefree life as a famous author! Right?
As anyone who has tried writing knows, it's not as easy as that. Writing is more like a battle than a walk in the park, and any general worth their salt will tell you that battles cannot be won without a plan. James Scott Bell, a published novelist, adapts the classic treatise on war by Sun Tzu for writers.
REVIEW: I bought this book because the title leaped out at me. I've had writing ambitions for longer than I can reliably remember, but seem to have trouble getting from ambition to action. (I have a couple finished rough drafts, many more unfinished fragments, and that's about it.) This looked like a good kick-in-the-pants book to... well, kick me in the pants. Bell doesn't play games, pull punches, or take flowery side trips down Anecdote Avenue. He offers direct, practical advice in short, manageable chapters, covering everything from idea generation to agent queries. In between, he emphasises the practical, honest truth: a writer who doesn't take their writing as seriously as their day job is guaranteed to never be more than a daydreamer at a keyboard.
For being exactly what it claimed to be, and for delivering new information in a memorable way, I give it top marks.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a nightly writing quota to meet.
James Scott Bell
Writer's Digest Books
Nonfiction, Writing
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: It looks easy enough. Grab that story idea flitting around in your head, pin it down on paper, ship it off to an editor, and presto! Kick back to enjoy a carefree life as a famous author! Right?
As anyone who has tried writing knows, it's not as easy as that. Writing is more like a battle than a walk in the park, and any general worth their salt will tell you that battles cannot be won without a plan. James Scott Bell, a published novelist, adapts the classic treatise on war by Sun Tzu for writers.
REVIEW: I bought this book because the title leaped out at me. I've had writing ambitions for longer than I can reliably remember, but seem to have trouble getting from ambition to action. (I have a couple finished rough drafts, many more unfinished fragments, and that's about it.) This looked like a good kick-in-the-pants book to... well, kick me in the pants. Bell doesn't play games, pull punches, or take flowery side trips down Anecdote Avenue. He offers direct, practical advice in short, manageable chapters, covering everything from idea generation to agent queries. In between, he emphasises the practical, honest truth: a writer who doesn't take their writing as seriously as their day job is guaranteed to never be more than a daydreamer at a keyboard.
For being exactly what it claimed to be, and for delivering new information in a memorable way, I give it top marks.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a nightly writing quota to meet.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (Renni Browne and Dave King)
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers
Renni Browne and Dave King
Collins
Nonfiction, Writing
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Writing a story can feel like losing oneself in a vast forest. After following many dead-end paths, being distracted by birds and shiny rocks, and avoiding abundant sticker bushes, wasps' nests, and other obstacles, one finally stumbles upon a trail to where one wants to go. The story becomes the map of the author's progress... but the end result can be messy and confusing, not to mention full of sticker thorns. The cleaner the story, the more likely it'll engage readers (and even attract a publisher.) Thus, the necessary - if often painful and tedious - process of editing must begin.
In today's fast-paced, quick-return publishing industry, however, it's a rare editor who spends much (if any) time helping new authors present their strongest, best work. The wise author will therefore attempt to clean their own manuscript up before submission... but where to start? What makes one story shine in the slagheap of the slush pile? How can stilted dialog and awkward exposition become crisp and fresh? What separates a clever turn of phrase from a painful cliche? How can an author even recognize their own weaknesses to begin with? This book, written by professionals in the field, offers tips and strategies for editing stories.
REVIEW: Most of the writing books I own focus on the act of creation. Editing, as the authors point out here, is a whole 'nother beast, and should be treated as such. They highlight many pitfalls, large and small, that tend to weaken manuscripts and irritate the reading public - even if some top authors are inexplicably prone to them. (There are exceptions to every rule, after all... moreso if one generates seven-figure-plus sales.) Examples of each problem are offered, as are potential solutions. Each chapter ends with a checklist of points to remember and editing exercises for the reader, some of which come from popular works. I almost clipped it another half-mark due to the cartoons included with several chapters: rather than highlight the subject at hand, I found them only vaguely humorous at best and just plain pointless at worst. The captions were also difficult to read. That aside, it made for thought-provoking reading; I expect it to come in much handier once I have a finished draft of a story to use it on.
Renni Browne and Dave King
Collins
Nonfiction, Writing
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Writing a story can feel like losing oneself in a vast forest. After following many dead-end paths, being distracted by birds and shiny rocks, and avoiding abundant sticker bushes, wasps' nests, and other obstacles, one finally stumbles upon a trail to where one wants to go. The story becomes the map of the author's progress... but the end result can be messy and confusing, not to mention full of sticker thorns. The cleaner the story, the more likely it'll engage readers (and even attract a publisher.) Thus, the necessary - if often painful and tedious - process of editing must begin.
In today's fast-paced, quick-return publishing industry, however, it's a rare editor who spends much (if any) time helping new authors present their strongest, best work. The wise author will therefore attempt to clean their own manuscript up before submission... but where to start? What makes one story shine in the slagheap of the slush pile? How can stilted dialog and awkward exposition become crisp and fresh? What separates a clever turn of phrase from a painful cliche? How can an author even recognize their own weaknesses to begin with? This book, written by professionals in the field, offers tips and strategies for editing stories.
REVIEW: Most of the writing books I own focus on the act of creation. Editing, as the authors point out here, is a whole 'nother beast, and should be treated as such. They highlight many pitfalls, large and small, that tend to weaken manuscripts and irritate the reading public - even if some top authors are inexplicably prone to them. (There are exceptions to every rule, after all... moreso if one generates seven-figure-plus sales.) Examples of each problem are offered, as are potential solutions. Each chapter ends with a checklist of points to remember and editing exercises for the reader, some of which come from popular works. I almost clipped it another half-mark due to the cartoons included with several chapters: rather than highlight the subject at hand, I found them only vaguely humorous at best and just plain pointless at worst. The captions were also difficult to read. That aside, it made for thought-provoking reading; I expect it to come in much handier once I have a finished draft of a story to use it on.
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