What I Am Reading - The Road

The Road

Cormac McCarthy

Softcover 287pgs.

While I generally try and write a little bit about the author before each book review, I feel Cormac doesn’t really need the same level of introduction.  The man himself has written enough stuff that I feel you are familiar with his work or you are not.  The likes of which include: “No Country for Old Men”, “All The Pretty Horses”, “Blood Meridian”, and of course “The Road”.  Three of which were made into major motion pictures of great notoriety.  Cormac McCarthy is 78 years ancient, and lives in New Mexico.  Apparently Cormac feels authors should only undertake matters of life and death, which explains why death is so heavy an element in his stories.  If you are uncomfortable with such I suggest you look elsewhere.  Cormac has been married a few times, has two kids from different mothers and is now happily married to one of them.  Cormac also despises the use of exaggerated punctuation, and told Oprah as much during his first televised interview; that there is no reason to "blot the page up with weird little marks".  This explains a lot of the lacking indicators present in his books.  Dialog exists as flat sentences with little to know sign of who says what throughout the course of a long dialog.  Makes for some interesting reading.

I have to say that I thought the book was alright.  With that said though, I saw the movie first so I knew most of the "tilters" before I read them which dramatically changed the story for me because I knew what was coming.  I was surprised though, after reading it, just how well the movie did at capturing the feel of the book.  In most instances I felt the movie actually did a better job.  The book didn’t really clarify a lot of points of the movie that I was hoping it would but “C’est La Vie” I suppose.

The book itself covers the journey of a man and his son, both unnamed in the story, who are traveling South East to find the coast.  They have no names and the environment they are traveling is a famine disaster full of hidden traps, roaming cannibals, thieves, and a severe lack of shelter.  From the description you summarize that the story takes place somewhere in the United States in an undisclosed time frame in which the world has undergone some sort of world disaster.  The story does not cover the disaster, its first impacts barely mentioned, or what the disaster was.  The story is bleak, it’s violent, and it’s sad. 

A friend suggested that I read it while the weather was nice, and I would give that suggestion to anyone wishing to read it.  I live in Seattle and it rains for months straight, I would hate to try to digest this book during the course of endless rain as the story is bleak enough.

Excited to read “Blood Meridian” shortly.

A Note on reviews for a "A Song of Ice and Fire"

I first read George R.R. Martin's "A Song and Ice and Fire" ten years ago.  At the time one through three where published works but not yet acclaimed. 

Since the release of four and five I have picked these up again and am planning on reading through all five.

The reviews of such come from a discussion I am having with a group of my friends who are also working there way through the series.  Because of that I am not doing traditional reviews and am simply bringing up some of the bigger talking points from the books to continue this conversation.

If I could read these to people I would and highly recommend checking them out no matter what genre your standard is, enjoy.  If you are not much of a reader, HBO has concluded the first season and should be available on DVD/Blue Ray shortly.  It only gets more complicated and fantastic, enjoy.

George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire"
Book 1) A Game of Thrones
Book 2) A Clash of Kings
Book 3) A Storm of Swords
Book 4) A Feast For Crows
Book 5) A Dance With Dragons

What I Am Reading - 2011 Thus Far

I started keeping track mid year and was already through several novels that I have not been able to circle back, and if truth be told wont be going circling back to fill in the reviews for those selections.  I was recently asked how I come up with all of the books I read since they come from a large diversity of genres and subject matters.  While most of my selections are made from Si-Fi and Fantasy, I do touch on much more than that. 

Most notably, I read off of other readers suggestions.  I have several people in my group of friends that read more interesting things than I do and I mine them for it.  I actively ask and seek out council on what people are reading.  I strengthen this bond and mutual book borrowing by offering some of my favorite reads.  Once they have proven that they are as interested in me as reading solid books despite the subject matter and can facilitate dialog from it the process really becomes that easy.  Failing that, I dig through book stores and take references from shows like the Colbert Report and The Daily Show.  I find both shows provide a large and diverse amount of hosts with a magnitude of different subject matters in which they push to their books to the masses.  These are generally the books I choose to fill my breaks from Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

It is always super frustrating when people borrow books and don’t return them.  I guess I should be better at setting expectations with people.

I prioritize reading high on my weekly obligations. I will devour a three hundred page book in a day while 600pg and higher books generally bog me down more to a week or two.  Coffee shops are where it's at.  Reading at home keeps me in my comfort zone and allows me to get distracted by people and what they are doing, computer be it for work or pleasure, and of course my beast who I just want to play with at all times.  Even reading at night is not all that productive as I will only get a chapter or two before hitting the late.  "Trickle Reading" is hard for me.  I just do not find it rewarding.    I think this is why I prefer moderate novels as apposed to these 1400 page monstrosities (yea, I see you "A Clash of Kings".  Not to say I won't read/re-read these, I just think it is the reason I get bogged down on them.

I have thought about writing reviews for the books I don't finish.  I suppose I should but it seems wrong to discredit the authors simply because I did not find the subject matter all that interesting.  It is rare that I come across a published work in which the writing quality is, for a lack of a better word, shit.  Generally it is a book that I picked up and just found it to not be engrossing in any form.  One notable read from this year that I didn't finish, Utopia, just failed to be interesting to me.  Perhaps it was the subject matter, I personally find 1800-1920 pretty damn boring.  Add a Faery King that lives in the mountains and runs around raping woman, surgery and abortion in gross detail, and dialog that is reminiscent of the time period uneventful and uninteresting.   I realized about three quarters of the way through this three hundred page book that I just didn’t care.  In between chapters I took a break to put the "Buddha to the Shurm" and just took my book mark out and put it in another book from the stack.  Moved on and felt better for it.  Utopia will just go in the bin for me to return to a used book store for in store credit.

I have been accumulating books since High School and after several negative incidents of moving these books from house to house I have decided to only keep books that I would lend, would read again, or I consider to be esteemed works.  This generally leaves me with an on site collection of around a 150 books.  This is a manageable level for me.  It was sad to drop off five packed boxes of good books to a used book store a few years ago and I have told myself I wont ever let my accumulation stack up to that level again.  It is not that I mind having so many books on hand, I just cant house them in any of my current housing establishments.  It is just not convenient for anyone.

I am excited to continue reading and sharing that with the members of OurLucid.  This provides a way for me to consolidate my thoughts on a book and try to entice other users to read.  In some instances it has been a great success, such as "Soft Apocalypse."  In others it has become apparent that no one else is interested at all, "Jasmyn".  Either way to me I suppose as I am going to read what I am going to read.  Writing reviews can be daunting as it does take a decent amount of time.  I am currently sitting on three reviews that I need to write.  One of which I am not sure how to write that hasn’t been said by anyone that has ever read it.  I guess I will just vomit it out.

The stack is it's own monster.  I will get to them all I promise.  If you have suggested a book and accepted it from you, I will read it.  Be patient.  The stack in no particular order as it stands now:

Collapse - Jared Diamond

Mechanique - Genevieve Valentine

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell - Tucker Max

The Shack - WM. Paul Young

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

The White Plague - Frank Herbert

Tales of H.P. Lovecraft - H.P. Lovecraft

The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss

Three Armies At the Somme - William Philpott

What I Am Reading - A Clash of Kings

A Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin

Read it in Hardback - 728pgs.

First and fore-most there are spoilers and speculations ahead, tread at your own peril.

I won't do the re-cap, in fact I am going to skip anything  about the first book at all.

The Comet - Heralding Doom, Death, and Dragons?

The book starts out with a comet in the sky and everyone thinks it’s one variation or the other of a boon for themselves or some impending disaster to destroy them all.  I personally think it's for Daenary's comment signifying the return of Dragons and as it so happens magic as well.   She's plotting east with the comet which appeared after the birth of the dragons and has been rewarded for it thus far.  One thing that I think is interesting about the comet is that its seen by everyone across both continents but that it's appearance in the far North is different than its appearance in the East and different in King's Landing.  It appears to me like a beacon for the North, or at least the impending doom that is going to come spilling over the wall. 

Across the Narrow Sea - The Mother of Dragons Returns?

Daenary's visit to the Maegi was huge for speculation, foreshadowing, and she did receive the warning from the Maegi before one of the dragons tore the heart to pieces putting an end to the "un-dying."  She will be deceived once for love, once for power, and once for wealth.  Well who is what in terms of the promise from the Maegi?  She definitely isn't making any friends in Qarth but just as she is about doomed there, she is saved by an old friend.  How much help is he actually going to give to the mother of dragons?  Who is the bearded man, as the eunuch leaves little mystery to what he is and who he has slain.  100 or so people can’t stop anyone in the free cities and the dragons are not much more than dogs with wings that happen to be priceless and wanted by everyone.  Dany has some things to work out quick like before she sees herself dead and her precious dragons taken. 

Greater Westeros & King's Landing - The Summit of Chaos

Four kings in the land of Westeros and three see to sit the thrown at Kings Landing.

Some interesting characters come into light with Arya, Jaqhen Haqar comes to mind.  How did Jaqhen Haqar fulfill the three deaths she could claim for saving his life, magic of a sort?  What is the burnished silver coin he gave her before his departure?  The bloody mummers aren't to be trusted and I am surprised Bolton didn’t just put them all to the sword, but I suppose they have their uses, kind of like how people need their feet.  I support Arya's decision to not let everyone know who she is.

Melisandre is an interesting addition to the story and the first real account of magic, apparently immune to poisoning, burning the seven and the god's wood wherever she has found them, and erotically birthing a shadow of Stannis to kill what he couldn’t on the field of battle.  Renly's as dead as nails so who donned his armor to meet Stannis across Blackwater in the sortie that drove him from the landing?  My guess is Ser Loras from HighGarden but I see no real reason for them to support Joffrey and the Lanister at this junction with exception of survival.  It's a shame Renly and/or Stannis wouldn’t support Robb in the North.  Especially Stannis as that would have been beneficial for both of them.

What is Stannis's next move?  His fleet is nearly all but lost since the imp burned it in the Black water using Dragon Fire, his army took a terrible blow and he didn't retreat to Storm's Landing.  We obviously have not heard the end of Stannis but his sword isn't literally flaming either as Melisandre continues to feed him lies.

Caetlyn gets some answers from the "Kingslayer" down in the depths of Riverrun but could Petyr Baelish really be the one to cause so much of this?  Petyr couldn’t have fathomed that Bran would see the Lanister incest or that Jaimie would throw him from the tower, so he couldn’t have "always" been planning to slay Bran.  Something still isn't right here though.  Petyr wasn’t there either and these things would have been intercepted from the ravens.  How did Petyr ensure that the blade would be ready for a Stark?  You say why do you?  Petyr hates House Stark and House Tully but has amassed a significant amount of respect as the lord of coin, why would he still want to ensure the destruction of these houses?  It still feels like the game is being played by a higher level of players but that we only have visibility to maybe one or two, being Petyr and Varys the eunuch I suppose.  With Petyr returning with the remnants of Renly's army, which didn’t bend the knee to Stannis, and wiping Stannis from the field of power, what power did Petyr broker in his longer than expected absence?  Mind you he is the Lord of Harenhall and has been promised the tax revenue and the fealty of the Riverlands after the war; mind you all of the lords are pledged to the north.

The land of Dorne is still a mystery, as well as who they support.  Although I don’t believe anyone south of House Lanister is really all that friendly to the Kings Landing cause.  They have no love for House Lanister, or House Baratheon so I am excited to see what happens there.  They had no love for House Tygarean either but bent the knee none the less and eventually provided a queen for House Tygarean, once they ran out of people to inbreed.  When Sandor Clegane the "Mountain That Rides" decided to bash the infants heads against the walls of the Red Keep and then raped the Dornish queen, I don't believe they made friends with House Lanister but I guess we will find out shortly enough through books three, four, and five.

The North - Because Winter is Comming

Theon blundered into Winterfell and made a mess of the whole thing.  What was Theon thinking?  Robb and Theon's plan was much better than what the lord of Pyke is planning, it is a shame he's a stubborn ass and even more unfortunate that Theon sees no "out" but to play along and making more and more mistakes by the minute.  Theon trusting in a stranger that turned out to be Roose Boltons bastard who just recently raped and murdered Lady Hornwood and got away.  The North realm thinks Roose's bastard is dead and done with but Roose Bolton is receiving messages from a wife long and dead?  Sounds like Mr. Bolton has quite a few other things in mind and who should be governing the north.  Not surprising considering that there is no love lost and the Bolton's flayed Starks for a long, long, long time before bending the knee, could he be seizing the North from the Starks, I guess burning Winterfell speaks volumes enough on that subject? 

So the remaining Stark's are latent Wargs, this is an interesting dynamic thrown into the mix.  It seems all of them save Sansa is having the dreams, who knows if she has or has not since Lady is dead, which makes me wonder if this is also a little foreshadowing towards where Sansa is headed.  Bran the cripple now has legs and if the dialogs had in the crypts of Winterfell are foreshadowing the future, I believe Brann will be spending a lot of time as his wolf instead of a man. 

Jon's actually gone north of the wall with the watch.  Love me some Craster's Keep, even if he has a penchant of making his daughters his wife.  A little foreshadowing to what happens to the unfortunate sons his wives bear but I guess the price must be paid.  I think Jon's finding of the Dragon Glass is pretty important but who left it for them, Benjen perhaps?  At this point is Benjen even alive?

Loved me Rattleshirt and the free folk/wildlings but how does the Half-Hand actually think this is going to play out.  I like the chapters with him and I wish we had had some more time to really get to know the legendary ranger before his death at the hands of Jon Snow.  What was Mance digging for in the FrostFangs do you think, and will 500 rangers be able to stand against Mance and his host of 30k at the Fist of the First Men?

Just started the Third today.

What I Am Reading - Songs of Love & Death

Songs of Love & Death

Assorted Authors

Edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

Hardback - 468pgs.

Assorted work by multiple writers and edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois.  Being familiar with multiple anthologies edited by Martin, I was instantaneously interested.  I picked this up after misplacing my current read "Latro in the Mist" and figured it would be the perfect opportunity to carve through some shorts while I wait for its return and/or rediscovery. 

They are all quick reads and as the title suggests, all are around the disasters that love and death can bring.  Some are uniquely written to leave the reader remorseful and contemplative while others are simply written to entice the reader to buy their other works.  The later uses characters that the reader would only know from reading the authors other works.  This is of course disappointing to me as I feel a standalone anthology like this shouldn’t be a spring board to sell your other works.  It does not make me want to read the other works but I pretty jaded when people try to sell literature to me.  The stories that were written especially for this collection without borrowed elements are my favorites.  I think producing works that can stand alone in an anthology proves your writing ability and makes me want to read more of your works as I have faith that they will be written specifically for that audience.

Below is the list of shorts, a brief description of them, and some of my thoughts on them.  Skim at your pleasure.  I believe most of these shorts should be able to be found via a quick search on the web.   If you are interested in reading the whole book, as usual, let me know.

Kaskia - Peter S. Beagle

Sometimes love isn't tactile.  In this story Martin lives a boring life with a boring job and an uninterested wife.  His life is so dismal that his only real friend is a cousin who just shows up to sell Martin assorted things from hazy origins.  In this particular instance he sells Martin a laptop with a mysterious button.

The Marrying Maid - Jo Beverley

A unique spin on an old story, a man must marry his marrying maid to prevent the death of his historical family.  Of course love isn't easy and the one you’re destined to be with isn't always on the same page.  The story itself was good but not set in a time period (1758) I like all that much.  The outfits, the proper English and over use of etiquette generally drives me crazy and in my opinion adds little to the story.  

Love Hurts - Jim Butcher

Drawn from characters and situations in a series that made him famous, Jim forces us into the world of Dresden.  A private investigator that works close to the police to solve crimes, Dresden also happens to be a mage.  This allows him to tap into the supernatural underground which is vast and living parallel to us normal people.  The story itself felt like a full length Dresden books that was compacted into a single chapter for this anthology.  In this specific story Dresden pairs up with a colleague to hunt down a series of "loving couple" suicides that all have a common denominator.

You, and You Alone - Jacqueline Carey

I didn’t care.  I wasn’t sure of the period the story was meant to convey, I assume somewhere between medieval to early renaissance France.  I am not thrilled with gay sex which was at least a brief glimpse with no indigestible bits.   A man sent to speak for a Madame falls in love with the prince.  The man becomes a trusted lover of the prince and follows him all around until a series of tragedies strike.

A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows - Diana Gabaldon

An interesting story about an RAF pilot during World War 2 who experiences mechanical failure, while on a training mission.  When the pilot comes crashing down from the sky, he finds himself somewhere else and some other time, and must find his way home.  The story is good but peters out short at the end, for me at least.  I guess this is just part of a bigger series of shorts from Diana so there is a lot more to the story than what we see.

The Thing About Cassandra - Neil Gaiman

Neil has been making waves in the sci-fi and fantasy genre in the years past; if this short is any evidence of his talent I would really love to read some of his horror.  The title alone is well crafted and promises an interesting story.  While the end of the story wasn’t such a shocker as it would have liked I was really interested the whole way through and ended satisfied.  ‘The Thing About’ Cassandra is creative, weird, and spins a turn at the end.

Man in the Mirror - Yasmine Galenorn

This story was boring.  Essentially when people die they go to a place where they can apparently still talk to cats and see people through reflective surfaces, choosing to let them be seen or not as they choose.  A lady who just survived some tragic event in which her abusive husband tried to kill her has now moved into a house belonging to his parents.  Little did she know her husband’s brother had chosen the house as his haunt.  On Halloween he has the opportunity to switch his place for hers but can't pull the trigger.

Hurt Me - M.L.N. Hanover

One of my favorite stories, no it is my favorite story in the volume.  The story itself is unsettling during the duration and absolutely satisfying at the end.  Love isn't' always understood and it certainly does not always make sense to anyone else not directly involved.  A middle aged lady decides on a house after dramatically altering her life from a happy and healthy relationship which leaves her loved ones questioning her choices.  Sadly, the house she just purchased is haunted and it doesn’t like females of any sort. 

Blue Boots - Robin Hobb

I just wasn’t a fan.  Thus far this is the only story I can say that about.  It wasn’t written poorly by any means but the girl who takes main stage in the story has had some unfortunate things happen but none so terrible that it deserved the length of pages and pity party that accompanied it.  She chose nearly everything in this story, except the happy ending. Blah.

Demon Lover - Cecelia Holland

Love isn't always at the surface layer and you should never take that for granted.  In this story a maimed, once beautiful girl is returned to glory but at costs she never knew.  A hooded man offers her the world which she accepts.  Only once she has what could ever be desired does she realize she doesn’t have anything that she ever wanted.

Under/Above the Water - Tanith Lee

Incredibly well written.  The visual images that Lee is able to dispense are pretty cool to read.  I contend that this short was written for writers.  Two lovers lost among time reunite in a fantastic solar storm across the lake of a sunken kingdom. 

After the Blood - Marjorie M. Liu

A post-apocalyptic story set in the Midwest.  A great plague swept the nations of man turning everyone into mush.  The great cities soon fell to be replaced with creepy forests.  At night dead things, horrible things live in the forest and there is a new energy that some are blessed with.  The main character finds herself in love with a creature that haunts the forest, not quiet one of them but still one of them.

The Demon Dancer - Mary Jo Putney

Like the Jim Butcher story this is that new emerging genre in which mages and vampires and demons or whatever is haunting cities and the only people that can stop it are part of a conclave of guardians which possess the ability to see, track, and defeat otherworld creatures.  In this story two guardians separated by years are given the ability to unite after they defeat a demon.

Courting Trouble - Linnea Sinclair

Another sci-fi story of intrigue and reunited love.  A captain of an interstellar trade vessel finds her ship and cargo seized by a space station.  As things transpire she finds that they are connected to the man she though she used to love and the one she actually does.  It's a good short read but is "high sci-fi" with blasters and all that jazz which is really a rather large turn off for me in that genre.

The Wayfarer's Advice - Melinda Snodgrass

This is the first sci-fi tale in the compendium.  Spurned lovers separated by rank, status, and conflict are reunited under a perilous situation.  Through sheer luck they are reunited but only for a short time before the complications of their life separate them again.  It's sci-fi that is exotic and exciting but mute enough to not swallow the entire story in its grandeur.

His Wolf - Lisa Tuttle

Loved this story.  A lonely Texas teacher finds love in a man and his wolf with just a brief encounter.  She quickly learns just who this mysterious figure and his sorted history.  He promises to leave it all behind for her and in doing so meets a gruesome end.  She has his wolf, which she soon discovers isn't so far distant from having him at all.

Rooftops - Carrie Vaughn

A struggling play write is on the verge of her first real release when she is taken hostage by criminals heisting the jewelry shop next door.  Lucky for her the city is loaded with super heroes and one of them has come to her rescue.   Unlucky for her, the savior now makes her question her life and current life partner.  The story was alright, definitely not bad.  It is interesting to read about the unattainable due to lifestyle alone despite being thrilling.

What I Am Reading - Galapagos

Galapagos

Kurt Vonnegut

336 Pages, large font/gaps.

Kurt was born in 1922 and only just recently passed in 2007 due to health implications resulting from smoke inhalation (the apartment/condo/whatever below his caught fire) as well as smoking cigarettes for the better part of his life.  He is most notably known for his other writings, Cat's Cradle (1963), Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), and Breakfast of Champions (1972).  Vonnegut uses satire as his main medium of diction, which Kurt utilizes in an affective and fun manner.  I do very much want to read Slaughterhouse-Five and it is widely regarded as his best work.  Kurt Vonnegut was a private in the 423rd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division, and was captured during the Battle of the Bulge.  Kurt was imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp in Dresden and witnessed its firebombing in 1945.  Kurt was eventually rescued from German clutches by the Russians shortly after the firebombing.  Upon returning he was awarded a Purple Heart.  Kurt Vonnegut is a pretty well-known author and where I could go on for days over the weird things that have transpired in his life, I will not.  Look him up if you’re interested.  Kurt meanders through his stories as he meandered through life, a rambling man with a point if your patient.

On to Galapagos!

The narrator of this short work is Leon Trout.  Leon was seeking asylum in Sweden from Vietnam when he met an unfortunate end via decapitation from a steel plate while building a ship.  Instead of going down the "blue tunnel to the Afterlife", Trout decides to stay on and seek the answers to life and stay aboard the earth and upon the ship that cost him his life.  Years later that ship would harbor the only hope for civilization.  A rag tag rabble that would have chosen any other fate than the one before them, through a series of events humans completely render themselves extinct, except the few survivors now hopelessly stranded on the Galapagos.  Trout who continues to snub the advances of the "blue tunnel to the Afterlife" is forced to spend the next million years on earth searching for his answers, during the course of which Trout is able to watch the re-evolution of human beings with the absence of technology.

The story itself is more about how the survivors came to be stuck on the island and less about their transformation over the course of those million years.  Kurt hypothesizes that our evolution to include such a "big brain" will inevitably be our undoing, simply for the fact that all of this brain power isn't needed to survive and creates incalculable complications when blended with human nature and the ability to lie.  The entire delivery of the story is pretty exquisite and easy to follow.

What I Am Reading - The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry

Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson is a Welsh journalist most noted for his "self deprecating" style according to Wikipedia.  This is the same stylized approach that Rodney Dangerfield, Tine Fey, and Conan Obrien use.  I think this style  works for Jon and makes for entertaining reading.   Jon wrote the "The Men Who Stare At Goats" as well as "Them: Adventures With Extremists."    While I have not read either of those two, I have seen the movie for "The Men Who Stare At Goats" and am planning on reading "Them - Adventures With Extremists." Jon does a lot of documentaries and BBC specials as well.  Although I haven't seen or heard any of them.

The Psychopath Test was a supremely interesting read.  A "Starbucks Day" and a night and the book was devoured. 

The book first begins with a bit of mystery.  Jon is approached by a scholarly type with a book that was delivered to her by a mysterious source.  The book itself had been printed multiple times and sent to multiple people across the world's scholarly populace.  As the mystery transpires Jon is confronted with a question, who could send something like this and why?  Exactly this question leads Jon through an amazing series of interviews with psychiatry enigmas, a death squad mastermind, a fraudulent corporate legend, an inmate convinced he's sane, and a cult of scientologists determined to help Jon see the plague that is psychiatry.  It was all interesting.  It was all insightful.  In some instances completely insane. I was enthralled till the end.

In all my flattery I forgot to mention, much like the opinions on both sides of the psychiatry debate, this is all speculation and opinion.  A clever way of encouraging the debate and I believe Jon does it successfully.

Below is the 20 point checklist for the identification of a psychopath created by a notable association of psychiatrists; the same American Psychiatrist  Association who publish the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical  Manual  of Mental Disorders).  

Twenty-point Hare PCL-R Checklist aka "The Test" -

Item 1: Glibness/superficial charm

Item 2: Grandiose sense of self-worth

Item 3: Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom

Item 4: Pathological lying

Item 5: Conning/manipulative

Item 6: Lack of remorse or guilt

Item 7: Shallow affect

Item 8: Callous/lack of empathy

Item 9: Parasitic lifestyle

Item 10: Poor behavioral controls

Item 11: Promiscuous sexual behavior

Item 12: Early behavior problems

Item 13: Lack of realistic long-term goals

Item 14: Impulsivity

Item 15: Irresponsibility

Item 16: Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

Item 17: Many short-term marital relationships

Item 18: Juvenile delinquency

Item 19: Revocation of conditional release

Item 20: Criminal versatility

What I Am Reading - A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin

Truth be told, I do not know how to write review for this.  This isn't my favorite book ever but it is the first book of my favorite series, and I haven't even finished all of the books available in the series. 

The series itself is called "A Song of Ice and Fire", and is currently composed of five books with another two to four books rumored.  As the series lays currently in order:

A Game of Thrones

A Clash of Kings

A Storm of Swords

A Feast for Crows

A Dance with Dragons

I originally read the first three in High school and recently decided to pick them up again after the successful launch of the series on HBO.   I had forgotten a shameful amount and am excited to read the entire series again, this time to complete the entirety of the series. 

The books themselves are really anything that you could want in a book. 

Anything I could have said these and a multitude more could say better.

http://www.curledup.com/thrones.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-Song-Fire-Book/dp/0553573403

http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/George-RR-Martin/A-Game-Of-Thrones.html

http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/reviews/books/0-553-57340-3.html

http://www.discovereads.com/book/show/13496.A_Game_of_Thrones

For those of you who have read it, thoughts?

What I Am Reading - Orson Scott Card - Hart's Hope

Hart's Hope

Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card (OSC) needs little introduction for anyone that has ever read a menagerie of Sci-Fi.  OSC is responsible for the "Enders Game" series which has won him both the  Nebula and Hugo award and thus making him the only author to consecutively win both awards.  Although I have never read the "Enders Game" series, I am familiar with it's celebrity and have a general idea of what it is about.  He also is a life long Mormon, who has advocated loudly in favor of the church.  It just so happens that his uncle is the one and only, Brigham Young.  He also apparently hates the gays, "Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down..." -24th of July 2008, Mormon Times.  Amazing what people are passionate about and willing to say on public record, but I digress.

 On to Hart's Hope.

According to Wikipedia the book was written before his acclaimed works and is of much darker tone.  I don't know that I would agree that it is all that dark as I felt the book was equal parts dark as it was just frank account of a day in the life of someone living in this mythical land OSC calls Burland.  Burland itself and it's capitol of Inwit, is a standard medieval make believe world where all magic must be paid in blood.  The larger and more intricate the spell, the larger and stronger the animal needs to be.  In some instances the blood must be worked as the animal transitions from life to death, leaving very little time for the mage to work his/her magic.  There are several deities worshipped by the people of Burland.  The Hart (Elk and their like) is held in high esteem by men and how they divine their magic's,  The Hart appears to be the god of nature, rebirth, and strength.  Females worship the sweet sisters who are rumored to be two females congenitally joined at birth who dispense wisdom.  New to the pantheon is of course god, disseminating wisdom to anyone willing to hear it and widely encourages his followers to put his faith in him as opposed to the other choices.   

The story itself begins with a tale of a king "Palicrovol" who seized power from a cruel and ruthless king who took advantage of the power he possessed.  In order to seal his rightful place as king he takes the former kings daughter and rapes her on the gates for all of Inwit to see.  After which he spurns her and sends her to live with a mage consort named Sleeve in the far reaches of Burland and takes the flower princess as his new bride.  The daughter of the former king is a cruel woman, only made worse by the fact that her father was put to sword, her raped for the world to see, and then dismissed.  On top of that her husband, the new king put his seed inside her which has resulted in a pregnancy.  Stealing knowledge from Sleeve she works the magic of men and woman together and sacrifices her child which garners her the ultimate gift of power.  She decides then to bind the world to her.  She becomes a god and de-thrones all of the deities of Burland.  She allows Palicrovol to keep power but is cursed.  His bowels are always running, he is reduced to a feeble state, stricken blind, and his advisors killed. 

In a desperate attempt to save the world the gods put forth all of their power into the fate of a young boy named Orem.  Orem is a small farm boy with interesting parents and eventually sets out to the city of Inwit to make a poem for himself.   He meets several shady people of good hearts a long the way and eventually comes into the service of a mage named Gallowglass.  Inevitably he falls out of favor with Gallowglass and becomes the king of Inwit as the queens puppet.  What she does not know is the power that Orem possesses but she will soon discover…

Over all I enjoyed it.  It was good enough for me to chug through 170 pages to wait for the book to really engage.  Once I was engaged I polished it off and was thoroughly happy with it.  The first half of the book is written more as an oratory like Beowulf or any old legend.  I found Gallowglass and the magic of Burland to be an interesting take on magic and its description of it's effects was pretty cool.  The book itself does not have a traditional ending and it's probably best to be prepared for that.  If you enjoy fantasy and are looking for something to read, let me know.

What I Am Reading - Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Rick Riordan

Well I have to say that I was apprehensive.  This was a referral and referrals always make me apprehensive.  I like specific things and I crave specific writing styles when reading, especially when the genre is fantasy.  None the less I was loaned Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.  Most notable as a Harry Potter comparison and a failed blockbuster hopeful,  again I was apprehensive.  I have stayed away from Harry Potter on purpose, despite the movies which I have thoroughly enjoyed as just a two hour investment.  I just don’t feel like I am the target demographic for Harry Potter and that the writing style is just bland and toned down logically for a 6th grader.

Apprehensive.

The author Rick was actually born Richard Russell Riordan Jr. essentially making him RRR Jr. which is kind of weird and fun to say.  Like most, he has fancy degrees in English and History.  He was awarded the St. Mary’s Hall first teacher award, whatever the hell that is and many other awards as well.  Anyways, he has written a bunch of books for not only Percy Jackson & The Olympians series but three other series as well.  These being The Kane Chronicles, Tres Navarre Series, and The 39 Clues Series.

So onto Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, as you would have figured is about Percy and some lightning that has been abducted from Zeus’s throne.  Percy is a twelve year old boy who has a terrible life, a loving mom, a wretched step father,  ADHD, Dyslexia, and the worst luck staying in school.  When he didn’t think things could get any worse they do.  Percy just so happens to be a son of a god.  Not just any of the gods but one of the big three.  You would think that would help but overall it seems to cause a lot of problems.  After learning all of this he must of course track down where the lightning went, who stole it, and why or else Percy  will fail in his quest and the gods will go to war.  What else could you expect, after all the gods are petty and immortal.

My apprehensions melted about 70 pages in and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.  I don’t know that I will read the others simply because I have so many books that I want to read but I wouldn’t be opposed if it were to come up.  It’s fun, predictable, and moves quickly as I expected.  This is the perfect book for a plane ride or sitting by the pool and would recommend it for anyone doing those activities.  Chapters come quick and never drag so you can put it down every five minutes if you need and not feel like you are breaking the story apart by doing so.  

What I Am Reading - Soft Apocalypse

Soft Apocalypse

By Will McIntosh

Will McIntosh is more well known for his host of short stories and of course winning the Hugo-Award (given every year for short story efforts to authors endeavors in science fiction and/or fantasy.) McIntosh himself has a Ph.D. in social psychology in which he now teaches at some University in Georgia.  I believe knowing as much about phycology as he does provides an interesting view for a reader on the apocalypse, this is of course what soft apocalypse is about.  Thus far I am really enjoying only reading books under 300 pages as it allows me, should I choose to, to read the entire book in one sitting (24 hours) as I had done with The Giver.  I also read this book in one sitting after finishing Jasmyn.

 It seems most authors that choose to wright about an Apocalypse describe the fall itself briefly before diving into how the survivors story of endurance in the completely changed landscape.  Generally speaking the fall itself is glossed over and in my opinion half thought out.  The common causes of human apocalypse might include zombies, plague, over-population/lack of resources, general populace upset (revolution), alien invasion etc.  Once the reason for the fall has been outlined the stories seem to just follow a group of survivors with little more insight to the fall. The fall itself just isn’t all that important to the story in this genre.

I don’t dislike these stories, I love them.

Now Soft Apocalypse itself is a story about apocalypse and the survival of the human species through chaos and a complete dismantling of government structure but where this story differs is that it is about the apocalypse itself.  The characters are living the slow death throes of collapse.  “Soft” because it’s not an immediate collapse that people come to expect from the genre.  There is no impending doom that will wipe the population and the population isn’t just dyeing out immediately.  It is a story of failing government, the increasing prevalence of anarchists known as “jumpy-jumps”, and shortages of consumables.  It follows a group of nomads through their journey and outlines their attempt at survival in a world that is increasingly more and more hostile.

It does take place in the near future and McIntosh takes a lot of scientific liberties so be prepared for that.  One thing that  I felt really challenged with was the fact that the story spans a slow collapse and is thus written that way so you will have gaps of in the story of months or even years between chapters.  McIntosh does not attempt to fill you in to what has happened in between.  It was hard for me as a reader to just accept that three years or even months passed without any sort things worth mentioning but somehow it worked.  Parts of this book will stay with you as McIntosh is a pretty descriptive writer and understands human phycology real well.  That insight allows him to paint pictures that stay with you.  I think about one scene in the book in which a girl is essentially executed by fast growing bamboo and I still shiver.

The trick to understand while reading this book is that this is a story of a group of people existing in a collapse.  It is about companionship, general life, discovering what it means to be a human, and love as much as it is about dodging bullets, not getting gassed, watching people get executed, and hacking rapists to pieces.