Book Review: Cell

Cell by Stephen King
Release Date: January 2006
Publisher: Scribner
Audience: Adult/Mature
Pages: 480
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 4/5









Alas, we have reached the last day of Stephen King week... If you are wondering why none of the Dark Tower books made an appearance, a couple reasons. 1. I haven't read any of them beyond The Gunslinger and...well...that's about it. The series is fairly well known, and I wanted to share other King offerings. That doesn't mean the series won't appear on this blog. . .

Bit of a shift today as I am looking at a more dystopic book and one of his more recent novels. Cell follows Clayton, an unsuccessful artist, as he tries to find his son during a technology-induced apocalypse. From Clayton's observations, using a cellphone essentially erases the human brain, much like a magnet on a hard drive. This creates a mass of humanity that is wild, unpredictable, violent, and later dangerous as the full potential of the human brain is unlocked and creates a group-mind populace with preternatural abilities. Along the way he ends up grouping together with a number of people and they try to find out how to turn humans back to normal while trying to find loved ones.

This book is a very visceral book, which I think affects the novel negatively. It's almost as if King wanted to write in all the blood and filth that many authors may not include in their 'artistic vision'. Does knowing that humans lost control of their bowels and crap their pants matter? No. Do I need to know the specifics of naked people running by the narrator or details of people bashing their faces in? No. (alas, King-itis affects this book with its cast of many). It may just be a personal beef, but blaring the humanity of humans in novels when it doesn't have direct bearing on the plot smacks of self-superiority. One could make the argument that it is a physical representation of the mind-wipe people experienced, but that is shown in so many other ways this feels extraneous and only serves as shock value.

That being said, King must have done something right because I read it when it came out and the novel, upon recollection, is still vivid in my mind, perhaps because of the realistic and visceral nature of the novel. The nature of the threats the main characters face change throughout the novel, and Clayton's quest to find his child amongst the wreckage of humanity is compelling. Also, the nature of humanity is discussed some as the main characters try to make sense of it all.

Beyond the shock value of the book, it was a vivid and fast read, well put together and is an interesting take on the many apocalypses (apocalypsi?) humankind may face, often from unexpected quarters.

Book Review: The Island of Dr. Moreau

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
Release Date: 1896
Publisher: Heinemann, Stone & Kimball
Audience: Everyone
Pages: 209
Read the Book: Project Gutenberg ; Kindle
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 4.5/5








I suppose H.G. Wells has done more to incite my interest both in Anthropology and English than any other author to date. The Island of Dr. Moreau was no different, as it explored the possibilities of science and evolution much like his creation of the Morlocs and Eloi in The Time Machine. Relatively straightforward plot, The Island of Dr. Moreau follows Prendick (thank you for a name this time around Wells), a bourgeoisie victim of a shipwreck who lands on, as the title implies, an island run by a man calling himself Dr. Moreau.  The main brunt of the story follows Prendick as he slowly uncovers the truth of the island, dicussions with Dr. Moreau over what makes one 'human' and, eventually his attempts to escape the island as things turn for the worse.

If you have only seen one, or more, of the movie adaptations, I strongly suggest reading the book as the themes presented in the movies and the themes explored in the book are, while similar, more questioning, ambiguous, and deeper than those presented in the movies, especially the 1996 version, which I think went for shock value more than anything else. What is especially interesting to me is the moments where Prendick is in the village of the beast-men and encounters the Sayer of the Law, and Prendicks own thoughts on the blurring of man and beast and his own place within that spectrum.

Now, I don't want to ruin anything, but where the movies end, the book does not, and the book takes the plot in an interesting direction though, in the case of Wells, less is more. Further, we get a bit of an epilogue with Prendick back in England with the now tired claim that 'men are just animals in suits, etc, etc' but, understandably, was fresher in 1896.

The Island of Dr. Moreau is a shorter book for those on the go and a compelling read. If you have only seen the movies, or, more likely, the 1996 version, do yourself a favor and pick up this book. The movies don't do Wells justice.

Book Review: The Last Oracle

The Last Oracle by James Czajkowski (James Rollins)
Release Date: June 2008
Publisher: Harper Collins
Audience: Everyone
Pages: 448
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 2/5
JamesRollins.com








A bit of a hiatus for a couple of days my loyal non-existent readers. Anywho, The Last Oracle is the fifth in James's series which follows a group of soldier/scholars known as the Sigma Force. In this book Gray and his group of solder/scholars are not only following the bloodline and  historical trail of the Greek Oracle's of Delphi but also slowly uncovering a plot by a covert Russian group which threatens to destroy Europe and kill millions.


In this book there are four storylines, two main ones (Gray and his group in America/India & Monk and several Russian children escaping the covert Russian group) and two minor plotlines and my main complaint is that these storylines do not meld with one another, its like reading two separate stories that pass like two ships in the night. It wasn't until about 250 pages in or more that the connection between the two plots becomes apparent. Even after that, the main characters in the main storylines get thrown together only in the last 30 or so pages of a 400+ page novel. Further, I felt that the use of deus ex machina in the novel was a bit heavy handed as well.

Also, the 'archaeology' in the book just didn't work for me. Sure, yes, supernatural elements have exists in the genre since its inception, but I just didn't find the claims made in this book to be feasible. While this is a work of fiction, it is set in the real world and the fact that the author is putting me vis-a-vis the preternatural elements in the novel only serves to pull me away from the book.

Those elements aside, I commend him for actually doing fairly extensive research for the novel and, as far as building a story arc and likable characters, he is quite successful in this and other Sigma Force novels. However, I felt that the overall book was one of his weaker offerings. If you like all his novels, sure, give it a shot (I picked it up cheap with multiple discounts when Borders went out of business) but, otherwise, I would skip it as you aren't missing anything as far as the multi-book story arc of the Sigma Force is concerned (save two things that I am sure are recapped in his next book in the series).

Film Friday: Priest (2011) Review

Title: Priest
Genre: Action/Supernatural
Directed by: Scott Stewart
Written by: Cory Goodman
Starring:
Paul Bettany
Karl Urban
Cam Gigandet
Lily Collins
Release Date: May 13, 2011
Rating: 2.5/5





No sparkly vampires in this movie.

Priest takes place in an unspecified time in the future in an alternate timeline where humans and vampires are separate species and have battled against one another over the centuries. Humanities greatest weapon--the warrior priests--are believed to have conquered the vampire menace.

Despite this, Priest learns of his nieces disappearance and the death of his brother in a vampire attack. The Church, maintaining all vampires are dead, refuse to believe the story and refuse to let Priest search for his niece. Priest goes against the Church and the movie follows him as he searches for his niece and for the vampires. The Church, learning of this, sends out Priest's of their own to capture him. However, the vampires are doing things never before seen and all of humanity is threatened. Only Priest (oh...and some side characters) stand in the way of mankind's utter annihilation.

Where Priest succeeds most is its setting. Part western, part 1984, part Blade Runner, the backdrops in which the characters fight are panoramic and larger than life. But we only get glimpses of the city and a few shots of it from a distance when Priest is leaving the city on his motorcycle. The same amount of attention is paid to the various hives and the desert. These larger than life settings also house actions scenes of a similar caliber. For example, when Priest is chasing the train he suspects his niece to be on and when an entire town is destroyed by vampires.

However, I felt like the entire plot served as a prologue to a larger storyline and, as it stands, the plot is extremely weak and seems like a poor attempt to stretch the franchise. Granted, I haven't read the comics the movie draws from, but I felt that the movie tries to be too many things at once and, as a result, doesn't focus on anything. To greater and lesser degrees, much of what the movie introduces us to matters very little and often has little bearing on the plot. Further, despite the movie rushing through most things, it takes a long time to reach the climax of the movie,and then, after a minute or so of battling, its all over (about as quick as the battle between Captain America and the Red Skull).

Most of the actors in this movie seem to be here for a paycheck. Karl Urban (as Black Hat, our villian) seems to be the only one having fun with his role in the movie, for what little screen time he gets.

'scuse me while I blow up this town

This also reflects on the characters as well, because none of them are particularly interesting and are characters we have seen time and time again in other movies where they are better executed.

Priest is a nice looking movie, but I don't think that's enough to save the plot or bland characters. I would avoid buying the dvd, but it is still at redbox at the moment for those interested.

Book Review: The Supernaturalist

The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer
Release Date: October 2004
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Audience: Young Adult/Everyone
Pages: 267
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 3/5









While I have not read the Artemis Fowl series (me not being part of its intended demographic) I have at least heard of it and, by accident, I picked this book up at Goodwill while trawling for books to read and review on this blog. I got home, noticed the scholastic logo on it, said 'whoops', and read it regardless. Hey, I paid 0.50 for this book. Don't tread on me!

ANYWAY,  this book takes place in the 3000s in North America (neither are specifically stated) and follows the adventures of Cosmo Hill and a group he unexpectedly joins: The Supernaturalists. Cosmo Hill, a orphan in an institute that tests various military, health, and beauty products, escapes the institute when a car the orphans are travelling in wrecks on the highway. Despite his escape, Cosmo is horribly injured. Comso's near death experience allows him to see blue creatures (dubbed 'Parasites') which seem to feed upon human life energies. The rest of the novel follows Cosmo and the group as they try to eradicate the Parasites to save human lives while trying to eek out an existence of their own.

For me, one of my main problems with this novel is its lack of description. A lot of the scenes and the city in general are given very vague descriptions. Yes, this is a young adult novel, I don't expect it to be bogged down in detail, but I have little understanding where buildings sit in relation to one another, their layout, and what they look like. However, on the flip side, when introducing something to the reader (rust mites for example) he only does so once, assuming the reader was paying attention. It was nice to see an author not holding the readers hand then entire time.

My other problem was with the characters. Much like the city, character descriptions are quite vague, save a few tertiary characters. Further, I felt that many of the characters, especially Stefan, were more caricatures than characters; with one dimensional personalities or little character growth, I felt the main characters, save Ditto and Cosmo, were pretty bland. That being said, the book does keep ones attention.

For the adult readers of this blog I would say pass on it unless you find it for $1 or something. Other than some cool aspects of the future, there is nothing new here and the main characters lack depth. But, if you have a younger reader in the household, I suppose this is worth checking out at your local library.

Book Review: The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Release Date: 1898
Publisher: William Heinemann
Audience: Everyone
Pages 303
Read the Book: Project Gutenberg
Buy the Book: Amazon ; (Compilation) Amazon
Book Rating: 5/5








I was introduced to many books by the Moby Illustrated Classics, small books with truncated versions of classic novels with comic book frames on each page illustrating the novel as it progressed. These books often made an impression on me as a child and I have returned to many of them as an adult to read the original books to reread the books but also see how they differed (often a great deal) from the Moby books. Tangent aside, The War of the Worlds was one of the books I had from the series and, since then, have read the actual book a fair amount of times.

Spare some change?

For those who are not familiar with the plot, the unnamed narrator (as Wells was wont to do) is at the center of an invasion from Mars as the martians land on Earth, hungry for our resources...including MAN! The narrator gets separated from his wife and the story focuses part on his quest to find his wife and part on the invasion and the narrators attempts to come to terms with both.

Like many of Wells novels, a great deal of the novel is given over to the narrators introspection to what is happening around them but it does not affect the pace of the novel (as often occurs with heavy handed authors in the 19th century) Not quite a epistolary narrative (such as Dracula or Frankenstein) the book is nevertheless a journal by the narrator narrating the events as they happen to him.

The book, regardless of its science fiction trappings, still stays within the science of the times to a reasonable degree. H.G. Wells, an advocate of Darwinism, saw the usurpation of mankind's place on Earth as inevitable, be it by other races, species, or aliens. Much like my recommendation in regards to The Time Machine modern science fiction and its offshoots owe much to H.G. Wells, and The War of the Worlds should be on everyone's list of must read sci-fi.

Book Review: Oryx and Crake

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Release Date: March 2004
Publisher: Doubleday
Audience: Everyone/Adult
Pages: 378
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 4/5









Oryx and Crake is centered around a man called Jimmy from upper society. The story follows two distinct storylines 1. The 'present' where civilization has collapsed years prior and Jimmy (now known only as Snowman) is an old hermit and 2. A series of flashbacks of Jimmy's life from early childhood up to and including the apocalypse.

The story is primarily concerned with the relationship between the three main charcters: Jimmy, his best friend and genius Glenn, and the love interest between the two only known as Oryx. However, it also examines a number of societal issues generally focused around the notion of a immoral and desensitized civilization and what could become of the world should social, moral and ethical restrains become lifted (child pronography, live executions on television, extensive genetic tinkering with plants and animals, etc) Further, both Jimmy and Glenn are from the upper echelons of society (geneticists and their families are protected and given all the luxuries) while Oryx and the rest of the world try to survive, serve the needs to the massive genetic companies, and, to a large extent, consume and buy the products the companies tell them they should.

However, Glenn aka Crake soon becomes dissatisfied and then resentful of the society he lives in and humanity in general and starts genetically engineering a species of human he believes was the intended end result of our evolution, not human beings as we known them today. However, Jimmy is not only in competition with Glenn for Oryx's attentions, but also in a continuing debate between the two over what makes us human, ideas about civilization, and, ultimately, if mankind should survive.

While this book includes a lot of social commentary it is not heavy handed and comes across naturally in the book as the two almost opposites (Jimmy and Glenn) take each side of the argument throughout the book. The book is structured extremely well and keeps the reader wondering as to what happens next both in the books 'present' and in the past. Atwood has engineered an fascinating world in this book that explores the possibilities of science and society without restriction, and the dangers thereof. A good book and I recommend checking it out if you get the chance.

Book Review: The Time Machine

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Release Date: 1895
Publisher: William Heinemann
Audience: Everyone
Pages: 250 Pages
Read the Book Here: Project Gutenberg
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 5/5








Since I have been discussing 19th Century Dystopian Literature, I can't neglect discussing H.G.Wells who, perhaps, is one of the most influential authors in the science fiction genre, and the Dystopian genre as well. The Time Machine follows a scientist (known only as the traveler) as he, after inventing a time machine, tests it and goes hundreds of thousands of years into the future. When he arrives 800,000 years in the future mankind has already reached the apex of civilization millenia ago and now exists in a fallen state. Further, it is revealed that humans have split into two distinct species, known as the morloc and the eloi. The traveler faces a bleak future as he soon discovers his time machine has been stolen by the morloc's and he must not only try to understand how the world has arrived at such a dark state, but recover his time machine and either travel farther into the future, or, return home.

One of the first science fiction books I read when I was younger, I was fascinated by the potential of mankind when evolution is combined with the passage of time. This concept, I think, has driven not only my search for similar books (Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut as a quick example) but also in my own writing as well, and my interest in anthropology. The idea that mankind, given different environmental conditions would create such distinct end results as the morloc and the eloi has always fascinated me. That, and much like the traveler, being witness to the passing of all civilization and viewing the end of humanity. 

This novel is one of the earlier examples of the Dying Earth genre, a genre where the author explores a specific type of apocalypse: the utter exhaustion of the earth, sun, life, the universe, and everything (sorry, couldn't resist). Or, to put it simply: entropy. This is seen in The Time Machine as the traveler goes to the very end of time itself.

Much like Frankenstein, apocalypse and post-apocalypse fiction owes much to H.G. Wells and, specifically, The Time Machine. For fans of The Road, Deathlands, and others like them, pay homage to those who created the series and give this book a read.