The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

Book Review: Star Wars: Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray

Book #44 of 2018:

Star Wars: Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray

This prequel novel depicts sixteen-year-old Princess Leia coming of age alongside the fledgling rebellion against the corrupt empire that rules her world. Like author Claudia Gray’s earlier novel Lost Stars, it’s a great character-driven drama that asks some smart questions about reform and revolution while also delivering the daring space thrills that you would expect from this series.

As part of Disney’s new canon of Star Wars novels, there are some fun tie-ins to the recent movies, like Leia’s friendship with a young Amilyn Holdo or a quick visit to the salt planet Crait. I also really appreciate the tense scenes that Gray has written between Princess Leia and Grand Moff Tarkin, which add nice depth to their meeting in the first Star Wars movie three years after these events. It’s not quite an essential read, but Star Wars fans will find a lot to love here.

★★★★☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

Book #43 of 2018:

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

This is a pretty weird book, and I’m still not entirely convinced it’s my kind of weird. But it definitely comes close at times, and by about the halfway point of the novel, I found I simply couldn’t put it down. I think it reminds me most of American Gods — in both its slipstream presentation of everyday Americana and its intricate supernatural plots within plots — but whereas Neil Gaiman’s classic story blends myths inherited from across the world’s religions, author Scott Hawkins has offered up his own surreal arcana of talking lions, kidnapped children, blackmailed presidents, and lines of divine succession. All of that in an ancient library that might just be in the subdivision a block over from your house.

It’s bizarre and it’s bloody — trigger warning for implied rape as well as some pretty graphic violence against both animals and humans — but I have a feeling it’s really going to stick with me.

★★★★☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie

Book #42 of 2018:

The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie

This obscure Agatha Christie title is a bit of a head-scratcher. The short stories in the collection have the general structure of detective fiction, but in lieu of her usual sort of investigator, Christie has penned a borderline-supernatural figure who immediately knows the answer to every mystery and asks leading questions until the other characters deduce it as well. That’s a pretty tiresome conceit, and one that doesn’t really lend itself to any real dramatic stakes — especially since no one seems to care about actually bringing any of the perpetrators they uncover to justice. I commend the author for experimenting with genre, but the results here are rather lackluster.

★★☆☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

TV Review: The Mindy Project, season 4

TV #12 of 2018:

The Mindy Project, season 4

I’ve been pretty critical of this show in the past, but I thought season 3 was at least a little step up from its early clumsiness, and I had hopes that the move from Fox to Hulu for season 4 would boost the program creatively even more. Unfortunately, I saw little sign of that, just more of the revolving cast door and inconsistent character logic that has always plagued this show. The romance arc this season also feels like a weak retread of stories we’ve seen the show do before, and I really struggle to get invested in any of these characters.

★★☆☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager

Book #41 of 2018:

Final Girls by Riley Sager

Although I like the idea of this thriller about women who have survived earlier horror movie / slasher-style attacks, I found most of its major plot twists to be either glaringly obvious or completely unearned from what had previously been established. The psychology of certain characters also seemed unbelievable, with motivations either left murky or boiling down to generic craziness. The end of the story picked up and finally delivered some credible surprises, but I don’t think this is an author I’ll seek out again.

[Trigger warning for scenes of graphic violence as well as sexual content of dubious consent.]

★★★☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold

Book #40 of 2018:

The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (Vorkosigan Saga #3)

I’m told that Miles Vorkosigan is the real main character of this series, and after two books about his parents navigating military and political power struggles, he finally takes center stage here. I like our hero: he’s physically weak but tactically brilliant, and it’s a joy to watch him rashly jump in over his head only to manically scramble to think his way back out. The plot isn’t really anything special, but with Miles at the helm, it’s a fun space opera romp.

★★★☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

TV Review: Game of Thrones, season 7

TV #11 of 2018:

Game of Thrones, season 7

I literally just reviewed this season when I watched it last year, and even having rewatched all the earlier seasons since then (with my wife, watching the show through for her first time), I think my reaction remains the same:

All in all, this is probably one of the weakest seasons of Game of Thrones. As cool as it is to see long-anticipated developments finally happening – and it really is cool, don’t get me wrong – it’s a little disappointing how many characters have developed “plot armor,” aka the seeming ability to endlessly escape deadly situations due to narrative importance. This is all the more jarring since GoT first established itself as a show where no one was ever truly safe, no matter their apparent status as a main character. But any time someone escapes from mortal peril now, I have to imagine that their personal story arc must not be done yet, and that there’s something particularly important the writers are saving them for. It’s not like every single character in a cast this massive is going to get a tidy resolution before the end of the show, but with only 6 episodes left at this point, plot armor increasingly feels like the only explanation for some people’s continued survival. Plus, as many other viewers have observed, the travel logistics in this world no longer make any sense, and it definitely weakens the storytelling further when characters can suddenly whiz around all over the map on a whim.
The finale did a lot to rehabilitate some of these concerns, but it took some really shaky storytelling and narrative shortcuts to get there. With a rumored confirmed delay until 2019 for the final season to air, I really hope the writers spend more time ironing out a good story rather than just relying on spectacle to coast through to the finish line as they largely did here.

★★☆☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

TV Review: The West Wing, season 7

TV #10 of 2018:

The West Wing, season 7

This final season of The West Wing focuses mainly on the general election for president (after the Democratic primary in the back half of season 6). It’s a relatively new look for the show, and I appreciate the writers’ efforts to make the Republican candidate as reasonable, honest, and decent as the Democrat. There’s genuine drama here with no easy villains, and the last few episodes especially form a really satisfying conclusion to the series and sendoff for its characters.

This season: ★★★★☆

Overall series: ★★★☆☆

Season ranking: 2 > 4 > 7 > 1 > 3 > 6 > 5

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Book #39 of 2018:

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

This slim volume by Ta-Nehisi Coates reflects on the author’s experiences growing up as a black American and what he sees for his fifteen-year-old son coming of age in the time of Black Lives Matter. Presented as an open letter to the boy, it engages with the gulf between the professed universality of the American dream and the various ways that our country’s black population has always been left out and left vulnerable. In the writer’s view, the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Trayvon Martin that have so shocked his son are just the latest evidence that violence against black bodies has been hardwired into the structure of our society.

It’s an important read, but not a flawless one; the book’s poetic style can be a tad over the top, and even after reading it twice, I’m at a bit of a loss to articulate just what Coates wants his son or any of his other readers to take away from all this. The text feels as though it should build to a call for action, but in the end it falls short of offering anything constructive.

★★★☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb

Book #38 of 2018:

Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb (Farseer #3)

On the whole I love the Farseer trilogy (and the wider series that it begins), but every time I read this particular book, I find myself losing patience about halfway through. It’s one of those fantasy novels that consist mostly of characters walking across their realm, and the already meager plot often gets further bogged down in mysticism about ancient secrets. There are enough interesting character moments to make me stick with the story even on a reread, but it’s well below the level of the Elderlings saga at its best.

This book: ★★★☆☆

Overall series: ★★★★☆

Book ranking: 1 > 2 > 3