What am I reading?

"Hunters of Dune" by Brian Herbert - the long awaited seventh book of the original Dune series.


So far it is very good.

Often when I go back and read a new book I will go back and re-read the whole series beforehand - just so I remember the characters and the context. I probably should have done that in this case - I have read the original Dune series several times, but it has been at least five years since I read "Chapterhouse: Dune" - the last of the original books. So I remember the characters but not all of the intricate background stuff. It will be interesting to see if it lessons my enjoyment of this book.

Decisions, decisions

Sometimes it is difficult to decide which book to read next. Such is the case for me right now.

Here are my choices and my reasoning for each:

1) "Wolves of the Calla" by Stephen King - the next book in the 'Dark Tower' series, which just seems to get better and better. I can't wait to see what happens next.

2) "Hunters of Dune" by Brian Herbert - the seventh book in the original 'Dune' series. I need to write something about 'Dune' and how great I think it is. I think of it as the Science Fiction equivalent of "Lord of the Rings." The last of the series written by Frank Herbert, "Chapterhouse: Dune" was published in 1985 and I received a copy from my grandparents for my birthday that year. It left the reader with a big cliffhanger - and then Frank Herbert died. His son began writing some prequels to Dune, which are ok but not nearly as great as the original, and then found a safe deposit box with Frank Herbert's outline and notes for the rest of the series. And after years of work they published "Hunters" with a couple more books to come in the future. So, in some sense I have been waiting for this book for 21 years. (man, that makes me feel old.)

I have decided to read "Hunters of Dune" next. Why? Primarily because it is due back at the library in 9 days and I don't know when I will get it again....

Review "Wizard and Glass" by Stephen King

"Wizard and Glass" is the fourth book in King's 'Dark Tower' series. It continues the story of Roland and the Gunslinger and his companions on their quest for the Dark Tower.

This is great book. It is worth reading this series just to read this one book. The story is both exciting and moving. This book is a true page-turner - I could not wait to see what happened next.

The main plot of the book is Roland's story of the key part of his personal history. So 90% of the book is a flashback to Roland's younger days and his adventures as a new gunslinger. While the last book in the series had more of a 'mad-max style post apocalypse' feel to it, this one is a western. The story revolves around Roland and his young friends as they travel to distant land (sent by their fathers for safety), only to discover a treasonous plot, true love, evil magic and dangerous enemies.

King does an amazing job with the characters in this book, and also with creating a small western style town. For example, he blends different cultures and his own imagination to create the town's harvest festival, and does an amazing job emphasizing its important to the locals. His vivid descriptions and great word choice create real lasting images.

The bottom line: Highly recommended.

What is on the Future Reading list?

While I am cruising through "Wizard and Glass" (and this book and this series get better with every page!!), I thought I would try and list what is on the future reading list:

1) The rest of the Dark Tower series. (Western, Mad Max-style post apocalyptic, Fantasy series.....yes the concept is bizarre but it works!) Two more books to go after this one.
2) "Hunters of Dune" by Brian Herbert (not one of Brian's prequels but the next book in the actual Dune series based on Frank Herbert's outline and rough draft!!)
3) Probably will be Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey series (which the movie "Master and Commander" is based on - a long series about Napoleonic naval warfare.)

Suggestions are always welcome....

A Sample of Stephen King

"The desert was the apotheosis of all deserts, huge, standing to the sky for what looked like eternity in all directions. It was white and blinding and waterless and without feature save for the faint, cloudy haze of the mountains which sketched themselves on the horizon and the devil-grass which brought sweet dreams, nightmares, death. An occasional tombstone sign pointed the way, for once the drifted track that cut its way through the thick crust of alkali had been a highway. Coaches and buckas had followed it. The world had moved on since then. The world had emptied. "

Excerpt from "The Gunslinger: Dark Tower Volume 1" by Stephen King

What am I reading?

I am currently reading "Wizard and Glass" by Stephen King - Book IV of the Dark Tower series. Back to the tale of Roland the Gunslinger and his companions!! I look forward to it very much...

Thought for the Day

"The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Review "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe

Let me start by saying that I am not a big Tom Wolfe fan. I believe I quit reading "A Man in Full" in the middle, even though it was about Atlanta (see discussion below of quitting books in the middle). Having said that, I enjoyed "I am Charlotte Simmons."

The title character is a young woman graduating first in her class in a very small town in the mountains of North Carolina. She is from a poor, devout family. She heads off to 'Dupont College' (Wolfe's version of Duke) where she finds an almost amoral undergraduate world. Charlotte is shocked to encounter a world of extremely casual sex, coed bathrooms (in her coed dorm), drinking, drugs, superstar athletes who are catered to by the college, sarcasm and viciousness. While her complete naivete is almost unbelievable in modern American society (she could not have been more sheltered if she lived on an Amish farm), Wolfe uses it to create a great contradiction with the other students on campus. And the story focuses on Charlotte's first year - would she stay above the morass of behavior around her or would she sink into it and never escape?

What does Wolfe do well as an author? He captures parts of American culture and distills it into his books, making it entertaining and easy. In this case he takes the culture of young people at college - the cussing (see post below), the music, the attitudes toward drinking and sex, the attempts to create social caste systems based on coolness, etc. and describes it well in the course of telling Charlotte's story.

What does he not do well? Most of his characters are stereotypes. He creates plausible backgrounds for them and makes a few of them grow or develop but most are surface level stereotypes of college figures - the frat guys, the geeks, the athletes, the liberal professor, etc. And I think the plot itself is OK, but not brilliant. It wasn't surprising or moving.

As a fan of college athletics I also enjoyed his insight into that world - this was one of the parts of the book I enjoyed most.

My warning is that this book contains constant cussing and graphic descriptions of sex - it is not for children.

Overall the book was enjoyable. It is more a commentary on our society than a deep, moving story but it was enjoyable.

Thought for the Day

“When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before"
Cliff Fadiman

Thought for the day

"Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's prepare to
grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all. "

Douglas Adams, from "Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detectice Agency"

Thought for the day

"People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk. "

Stephen King

What am I reading?

I am currently reading "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe. I honestly don't love his books but a friend gave me a copy and suggested it. And I am enjoying his insights into big time college athletics (which are a portion of his look into college life.)

After this - back on track with Stephen King I hope.

Review "Phantom" by Terry Goodkind

"Phantom" is the tenth book in Terry Goodkind's 'Sword of Truth' series.

It continues the story of Richard and Kalhan and their struggle against a multitude of evil forces. But like so many other books in this series, this story is one of the two primary characters ripped apart and desperately trying to get back together. Yes, the circumstances have changed from some of the other separations, and the situation is more complex than ever, but the song remains the same. (How many times can the separation of those two be the big plot device???)

Mr. Goodkind has created some excellent characters along the way and at times the world he created was very interesting and intellectually challenging. But in this book many of the excellent secondary charachters do little or nothing.

The book itself has some interesting and entertaining parts, but I find the second half of this ten book series not nearly as good as the first few books. In the beginning things were simpler, and the books explained the rules for magic in Goodkind's world in a logical and creative way. The characters were interesting and compelling. But somewhere along the way, Goodkind has gone 'Robert Jordan' on me. (Robert Jordan is the best selling author of the 'Wheel of Time' series - a series which is so huge and complex that in a 900 page book the main plotline moves forward a few inches and some major characters barely appear...) There are so many great characters - but in many of these books they barely do anything because new characters and new challenges must be created for the two primary characters.

Two other things bother me about the series. First, Goodkind has always enjoyed putting his philosophy and views about life into the good characters in the book, but at times it sounds like something written during the peak of the Cold War. Also, Goodkind's liberal descriptions of torture and violence are both a strength and weakness in the series - the first 150 pages of this book contain several entire chapters devoted to nothing more than detailed, gruesome scenes of what happens when the 'bad guys' army sacks and pillages and city. Was this just a reminder? This is book ten and that army has been roaming around for five or six books doing the same thing...... Did we forget how awful they are? At times early in the series (especially the early Mord-Sith parts), Goodkind is very creative in the use of descriptions of torture and human suffering. But at times he also gets carried away with it. (And yes, from this description, you can assume these books are not for kids or the squeamish.)

This book claims that the next 'Sword of Truth' book will be the last. Perhaps he can wrap it up and capture what made the first few books so great. Unlike with Robert Jordan's books, I am still reading and giving Goodkind that chance.

What am I reading now?

I am currently reading "Phantom" by Terry Goodkind, the 11th book in the Sword of Truth series.

I was planning on reading more of King's 'Dark Tower' series next, but this came in at the library and I only have it for 10 days so off we go.

Soon to come: How Terry Goodkind ruined a perfectly good series.

Review "The Wastelands" By Stephen King

"The Wastelands" is book three of King's 'Dark Tower' series. It continues the story of Roland the Gunslinger and his companions on their quest for the Dark Tower.

The world of Roland has "moved on" and he and his companions must pass through some horrible landscapes on their quest. King has a gift for setting his readers on the edge - making them scared and uneasy. But he also can create truly memorable characters - and Roland falls into this category.

This is not a children's book and is not for the squeamish.

This series gets better and better with each book and I can't wait to see what happens next. I will start the next one tomorrow!