Robots and Vamps

Congratulations to  Angie D. Winner of her very own copy of Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr.

What a great response we had!  Thanks to all who entered!

Reviewed by Christel

Disclosure: This book was purchased by the reviewer with her own hard earned cash.

For some reason I was really excited to read voices of dragons. I guess it was the cover that drew me in.

Kay lives in Silver River, a town that sits on the border of the human territory and Dragon. Dragon is the name of the territory occupied by…you guessed it, Dragons. A treaty is in place to keep the humans and dragons separated and was created to stop the last war between the two. Dragons have recently emerged from hiding to live in the open again, but were met with fear and resistance. This sparked an all out war between the humans and dragons. After much destruction, an agreement was reached. In a nut shell, if you stay on your side of the line, I will stay on mine.

Kay is the teenaged daughter of the town Sherrif and her mother works for the border authority. She is also somewhat of a thrill seeker and enjoys sneaking off to hike and rock climb. Not your normal high school girl. So when Kay is given the opportunity to meet a dragon face to face (actually she fell from a rock face and he saved her life) she jumps at the chance. The ultimate thrill, breaking the law by crossing the border, meeting a dragon and learning to ride one. The Dragon in question is named Artegal. He too is looking to break from the monotonous daily activities of his life and finds excitement in breaking dragon law to converse with humans.

So while Kay and Artegal are chumming around, the overzealous warmongering military has been clamoring at the chance to attack the dragons and rid them of their existence. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

While the initial idea was a good one, I felt that the story was somewhat lacking. There were really no shocking moments or major twists in the plot. Any major events were so obvious that I could see it all coming from a mile away. The writing was  difficult to get into as the sentences were short and choppy causing the story to not flow easily.

The other thing that bothered me was the manner of the dragon’s speech. Artegal would tell Kay to “Take Care” whenever they parted and it reminded me of my grandmother. Dragons should have a commanding or ancient quality to their language, they should not sound like a little old southern lady. It kind of deflated the dragon’s presence for me.

I also quickly bored of Kay pondering whether or not she should be having sex (cause all the other kids are doing it) but fortunately it tied in with the story at the end. So many stories include this topic of whether or not to be a virgin it seems to be included just to fulfill the teen angst quota. At least this time it went somewhere, kind of.

Now this isn’t to say the story was all bad. There were some good action scenes and tension between the military and the dragons. I liked how Ms. Vaughn built a world where dragons have re-emerged from hiding (they have been hiding since medieval times) and were forced to live in territories as prescribed in the treaties between the humans and dragons. Unfortunately, the territories are named a very uncreative “Dragon”. I also liked the description of the media frenzy that surrounds situations such as this and how they can perpetrate conflict and influence the general public.

All in all this book was OK. I still don’t know why my expectations were so high and maybe that is part of my issue. I guess I was just expecting a little more.

Authors Website: Carrie Vaughn

Reviewed by Matt

Disclosure: The Audio version of this novel was purchased by the reviewer’s own hard earned cash.

Narrated by Eric Conger

Audio Length: 14 hours and 45 minutes

Vernor Vinge does not write many novels averaging one about every 7 years. But when he does, they are usually a treat because they entertaining on many levels. Rainbows End was no exception as it was awarded the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

I fell in love with this from the very beginning as it absolutely hit all the right notes for me. Mr. Vinge understands that a story about possible future technology is moderately interesting to most Sci-Fi readers. But he interjects a very human story and this is what sets this novel apart from most modern Sci-Fi novels. At no time does he allow the Sci-Fi elements supercede or overwhelm the story so that the technology becomes the story itself. This happens far too often in modern Sci-Fi.

One of the hardest issues with a near future story is how the author introduce the new technology advances into their story without it seeming contrived or an info dump. Mr. Vinge worked out a brilliant solution to this problem. His main character, Robert Gu, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease which obviously forced him to lose contact with people and the world around him. Through some medical breakthroughs Robert is treated and mentally brought back to the point he was prior to the onset of the disease. This is a plausible explanation as Robert learns about the new world operates with all the technology advances. The reader is brought along as we learn all about smart clothing, overlay contact lenses, projection avatars, communication through “silent messaging”, etc.

For me, the personal story of Robert Gu is what makes this novel so great. Before he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, Robert was a world renowned poet who treated everyone, including his family, like crap by belittling them and making it known how superior he was to all of them. After recovering from the disease he has lost ability to write poetry because most of his malice has dissipated also. Roberts begins to discovers all of the harm that he caused his kids and grandkids and he is determined to make amends. This is where Mr. Vinge really shines because he understands human nature and that an old dog cannot new learn tricks. Robert will always have some nastiness that constitutes his character and makes him what he is. This was the source of his great poetry. So in the end, does Robert choose his family or does he choose his talent? I like the solution that Robert comes too as it is very plausible and it makes me wish that more people would have a chance to go back right the wrongs in their lives.

I am barely scratching the surface of the other themes explored in this novel. Mr. Vinge heavily explores the repercussions of high security state that constantly has its population under surveillance. So, is the rapid advance of technology ultimately good for society? Is living in fear of the next big attack beneficial or harmful? Ultimately only time will tell but its good to see a story ask some pretty tough questions about where our society is heading.

Eric Conger does a decent job of narrating the story. My favorite expressions were his old man grunts. Half the time Robert would answer with a grunt instead of a yes or a no and had me cracking up every time I heard an “um”.

Vernor Vinge masterfully blends a brilliant Sci-Fi back drop with an extraordinarily human story. Rainbows End’s Hugo Award for Best Novel is well deserved as it combines all the necessary elements for classic and timeless story. But more importantly this novel really affected me on personal level which does not happen very often and this about the best praise I can give it.

The technical difficulties continue to be a issue at RaV and it is sucking the life out me.  Again, WordPress is great when it works but when it doesn’t, it is a pain in the ass.  The upgrade to 2.9 has reeked havoc on the site.  I am not a computer programmer and I do not have the hours or the knowledge to delve into code to figure out what went wrong.  Plus, my patience is almost at an end.  I am almost at the end of scheduled posts so any future posts will be sporadic at best.

From all of us at RaV:  Have a safe and wonderful Holiday!  We hope Santa brings you everything you wish for this year!

Wishing you a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

From all of us at RaV, we are thankful for all of our readers!

Matt, Christel & Bean

Last night the World Science Fiction Convention announced the winners for the 2009 Hugo Awards.  The winner for Best Novel went to Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book.  In my opinion they got it right.  I read 4 1/2 of the Hugo Nominees, which also included Anathem by Neal Stephenson, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross and Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi.  The reason for the 1/2 was that I only made it half way through Anathem before giving up in frustration.  I know this book has garnered alot fans and they love it.  But it bored me out of my mind.

I am glad that The Graveyard Book won.  It was likely the best book I read last year and personally, I thought it was much better than Gaiman’s other Hugo Novel, American Gods.  My second choice would have been Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother then a tie for Saturn’s Children and Zoe’s Tale.

Anyway, congratulations Mr. Gaiman, the award is well deserved.

She Said…

Admission: I never saw the original…. I know what you are thinking, “How can that be? We thought you were a geek!” Don’t worry, I still am, but I wasn’t always. Unfortunately, I have been sheltered and I just don’t have a lot of classic movies under my belt. So here is my fresh and unspoiled view of the 2008 version.

I liked it. It wasn’t great, it wasn’t terrible. It was just good. I liked GORT; it was huge and menacing and cool! All of the actors were decent. No-one did a bad job. The Pinkett-Smith talent machine has produced another little star in Jaden. Keanu was good as Klaatu, but I was disappointed that he didn’t say “Whoa”, not even once.

There was a not so subtle message about being Green, which worked well as a reason that an alien race might want take our planet away from us. That would be a really hard lesson to learn, “Recycle and stop using up all of your natural resources or we will send millions of tiny metal bugs to devour you and everything you have built.” (shudder, I hate bugs!) Say, where did I put that recycling bin?

Side note: Before the movie, there was a trailer for Monsters vs. Aliens,(which looks great btw) and one quote stuck out in my mind and had me chuckling to myself,  ” Why do the Aliens always land in America?”

Why is that? Specifically, why do they land in New York? Everything bad happens to New York. How many times has Giant Stadium and Yankee Stadium been destroyed in the movies? Far too many! I say let’s give those poor New Yorkers a break and destroy some other cities.

He said…

I have seen the original The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) many, many, many years ago and I thought it was alright. It was never one of my favorites but understood it was one of the holy grails in Sci-Fi lore. Am I upset that it was remade? No. Was it time for a remake? Sure. Was the new version better than the original? Nope.

The updated version of The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) is a movie that can’t figure out which way it wanted to go. Does it want to be a Summer Movie Specials Effects extravaganza or movie with a well thought out message. My impression is it that tried to be both and did not succeed in either.

The first half was good. The mysterious arrival of globes all over the planet and the two beings that emerge, Klaatu and GORT, provide a great set up. Keanu as the emotionless Klaatu is perfect. Jennifer Connelly as Dr. Helen Benson is average at best. She plays up the doe eyes and is way too hot to be a scientist.  But I can suffer through.

After Klatuu escapes from the military base the movie goes down hill. These aliens are just plain stupid. Their big revelation…they want to destroy the Earth because humans do not have the capacity to change.  Ohhh…Ahhh.  Their response is to unleash robot bugs in order to destroy everything but then Klaatu suddenly realizes there are two sides to human beings and that we can change.  Yippee, we are saved. Klaatu then quips, “Oops, sorry about killing all those people and the huge mess, my mistake, we will be leaving now, thanks for the tea, cheerio”. Just stupid.

Hollywood should have learned one thing from the summer movies, audiences are not stupid. Mix  good material with your Sci-Fi flick and the movie goers will respond in huge numbers.

And yes, I need to spend more time educating my wife in all of the Sci-Fi greats.  I tried to get her to watch the original Planet of the Apes last week but she fell asleep.  It will be a long process.

Please check out Geeks of Doom 13 WTF Moments From ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ Remake.  This is hilarious.

As a tradition, almost every Friday night Matt & Christel having been taking their daughter out to dinner and then a trip to a local bookstore.  Sometimes it is a chain store, a used book store or a locally owned shop.  We are trying to instill a love of books in our daughter, plus we need to find something to read for the week.  Anyway, below is our haul for the week.  If you have any recommendations please let us know.

Matt

The Ferryman by Christopher Golden

Dust jacket summary: Janine Hartschorn left David Bairstow for a man who abandoned her once he discovered she was pregnant with his child. A miscarriage almost ended her life. Now she and David are reaching for a second chance.

But something is determined to keep them apart. Something with the power to conjure up ghosts from David’s past and make them real. Something Janine knows from her near-death experience.

From Publishers Weekly - Stoker Award-winner Golden (Straight on ‘Til Morning; countless Buffy the Vampire Slayer titles) offers an intelligent, compelling ghost story in the classic horror tradition. When Boston teacher Janine Hartschorn loses her baby at birth, she has what seems to be a near-death experience Charon the Ferryman of Greek myth comes for her, but she throws away the silver coins he demands. After her recovery, however, Janine realizes that something real is after her and also after her best friend, lesbian Annette Muscari; her old lover, David Bairstrow(whom she left to take up with her old flame Spencer Hahn, the stillborn baby’s father, who in turn deserts her); her mother and so on. Fortunately, Janine and her brainy friends know how to survive, and with the help of a wise priest, Father Hugh Charles, they get almost literally to the bottom of the mystery (the final, harrowing confrontation is on the Charles River). First, though, our heroes must suffer further losses and some awful assaults on their sanity, as when Annette finds the apparently perfect lover in a simulacrum of an old girlfriend of David’s, whom he killed in a drunk-driving accident as a teenager. Superior characterization, an exquisitely detailed setting and superbly orchestrated suspense set this above the usual run of horror novels. Only Janine’s inexplicable attraction to the feckless Spencer rings a false note.

City of Pearl by Karen Traviss

Dust jacket summary: Three separate alien societies have claimson Cavanagh’s Star. But the new arrivals — the gethes from Earth — now threaten thetenuous balance of a coveted world.

Environmental Hazard Enforcement officer Shan Frankland agreed to lead a mission to Cavanagh’s Star, knowing that 150 years would elapse before she could finally return home. But her landing, with a small group of scientists and Marines, has not gone unnoticed by Aras, the planet’s designated guardian. An eternally evolving world himself, this sad, powerful being has already obliterated millions of alien interlopers and their great cities to protect the fragile native population. Now Shan and her party — plus the small colony of fundamentalist humans who preceded them — could face a similar annihilation . . . or a fate far worse. Because Aras possesses a secret of the blood that would be disastrous if it fell into human hands — if the gethes survive the impending war their coming has inadvertently hastened.

Christel

FaerieWars by Herbie Brennan

Dust jacket summary: When Henry Atherton helps Mr. Fogarty clean up around his house, he expects to find a mess and a cranky old man; what he doesn’t expect to find is Pyrgus Malvae, crown prince of the Faerie realm, who has escaped the treacherous Faeries of the Night by traveling to the human world through a portal powered by trapped lightning. An egomaniacal demon prince, greedy glue factory owners Brimstone and Chalkhill, and the nefarious Lord Hairstreak, leader of the Faeries of the Night, all dream of ruling the Faerie realm and are out to kill Pyrgus. Enlisting the help of his sister, Holly Blue, and his new friend, Henry, Pyrgus must get back to the Faerie world alive before one of his many enemies gets to him instead. But how many portals are open, and can Pyrgus find the right one before it falls into the wrong hands? Conjuring scenes filled with vivid color, unforgettable detail, and fearless characters, author Herbie Brennan brings readers to the Faerie world, where nothing is ever what it seems and no one can be trusted.

Fish Out of Water (Fred the Mermaid, Book 3) By Mary Janice Davidson

Dust jacket summary: Fred the Mermaid has taken the bait and chosen to date Artur, Prince of the Black Sea, over human marine biologist Thomas. And just in time. The existence of the Undersea Folk is no longer a secret, and someone needs to keep them from floundering in the media spotlight. Fred has all the right skills for that job, but has a hard time when her real father surfaces and tries to overthrow Artur’s regime.

Dear Santa,

We have been good this year, really we have!   Mostly…… ok, kind of…. atleast we tried to be good.

Ceara’s Wish List

I wish I may
I wish I might
Have this wish
I wi….

Ok, enough shenanigans. Here’s my super awesome wishlist for Christmas ’08.

I wish for:

A movie (would accept animation) to be made out of the Vampire Huntress Series by L.A. Banks.

My own library pre-stocked with all my favorite books, plus even more awesome books that I have yet to read

My own Wall-e to roll along beside me and be my buddy. Eve would be good too. Her blaster might come in handy when I happen to run across particularly irritating people. That’s good entertainment, if I do say so myself.

An Iron Man suit. Maybe that should be Iron WOMAN suit. Preferably in shiny, polished black and silver, and 3 inch heels on the boots of the suit.

Christel’s Wish List

This year I am not asking for much. I’m not picky. I only want what any fan-girl wants….

I want time. Time to go to all the movies I want to see, read all the books on my “to read list” and time to spend teaching my daughter the finer points of geekdom. Also unlimited funds would probably help with this venture.

Do you think you could get the “geek powers that be” to schedule some kind of CON in my area? Star wars, Star Trek, Comicon, Twicon, etc… the geekier the better!

It would be great if you could talk Anne Rice into going back to being cool and writing Vamp novels.

I should probably ask for the body of Kate Beckinsale along with her black leather outfit, since this is apparently on someone else’s wish list….

But, if you can’t make any of those things happen I am willing to settle for Han Solo, Edward Cullen or Tony Stark, take your pick.

PS. Can I borrow a couple of elves to help me with all of the chores that are building up? This would go a long way toward some of that time I requested.

Coxie’s Wish List

I wish that a truck full of really awesome fabric would pull up in front of my house and give me all the decadent fabric that my little heart desires. This way I can make all the costumes that I am dreaming of from Elizabeth Swan’s outfit at the end of Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End to a robe al’anglaise fit for Marie Antoinette. The ultimate in geekiness, but it is my wish.

I also wish that fantasy/sci-fi films would win more “Best Movie” Oscars, as so many of them have deserved.  Such as Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner and The Dark Knight.

X

Scott’s Wish List

What do I want for Christmas? Hmmm…the list is too long it seems. Maybe I should start with what I don’t want. Please…please…no more horrific remakes of classic horror movies…I’m looking at you Black Christmas…what a pile of (insert colorful metaphor here) you were. Let’s just leave the classics as classics, enough with repackaging the same ole, same ole…bring something new to the table Hollywood. Ok, let me step off my soapbox.

Now what I want. I would love to see Stephen King’s Dark Tower series turned into movies. Now you may think, that’s 7 books worth of movies! But I say if they can turn Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings into movies, then surely the Dark Tower can be made. And please, to clarify, make it a theatrical release…not a made for TV one on ABC, haven’t we learned from Kingdom Hospital?

Lastly, I would like for a 2009 horror movie to inspire me the way the original Nightmare on Elm Street or even Saw 1 did. Hollywood seems to be lacking good horror writing, although I did enjoy The Descent and even Hostel. However, too often it seems Hollywood passes up stories for gore when it comes to horror…remember, less is better. You don’t have to show us knives being jammed into fingernails and worked until they are pried off or needles being inserted into the gum line, you can just insinuate it. Now I don’t want it to sound like I don’t enjoy gore, heck I once even rented a movie from blockbuster with a sticker on it claiming it was “The Goriest Movie Ever Made!”, but in this new generation of horror, it seems that the lessons of old have been forgotten, and the story and character development has gone out the window.

It seems this soapbox is comfy after all.

Matt’s Wish List

Peace on Earth and goodwill to…uh wrong list.

A time machine – to ward off George Lucas from putting Jar-Jar in any Star Wars Movie; to find out what drugs the Wachowski brothers were on when they made Matrix Revolutions; to find out what happened to Tony Soprano when the screen went to black; to figure out why the producers of I am Legand didn’t use the alternate ending and to stop Uwe Boll from making any more movies.

A second season or more for Space: Above and Beyond and Firefly.

For Guy Ritchie to start making good movies again.

The Sci-Fi Channel to start showing actual Sci-Fi shows, kinda like MTV actually showing a music video every now and then.

HBO to realize what a colossus mistake it made and reacquire the rights to Preacher to make it a series in the vain of True Blood (hey, it has a vampire also).

For Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson to star in every movie with Christopher Nolan as the director.

People to realize that their culture is heavily influenced by the geeks: No. 1 movie is The Dark Knight; No 1. Book Series is Harry Potter; Top rated TV series are Heroes and Lost and Michael Crichton was a sci-fi author no matter how far you stick him the literature section.

The next Batman movie plot to consist of the Cape Crusader going toe to toe with Superman.

A sequel to The Incredibles.

And lastly, MORE CHICKS IN BLACK LEATHER (it never goes out of style).