The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

Book Review: End of Watch by Stephen King

Book #256 of 2017:

End of Watch by Stephen King (Bill Hodges Trilogy #3)

This last book in Stephen King’s Bill Hodges trilogy is unfortunately a bit of a mess. Partly that’s due to the tonal whiplash of following up two fairly straightforward crime thrillers with a story about hypnotic mind control, telekinesis, and bodyswaps, and partly it’s due to some very clumsy handling of the topic of teenage suicide. There also isn’t really much in the way of plot or character resolution to wrap up the series, and the villain’s motivations and schemes are never particularly clear. All in all it’s a rather poor send-off for Detective Hodges and his friends.

★★☆☆☆

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Book Review: Dangerous Women edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

Book #255 of 2017:

Dangerous Women edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

Far more misses than hits in this genre-spanning short story collection that purports to be about ‘dangerous women’ but mostly delivers stale femme fatales from a largely male gaze. (Why did it not occur to George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois that they really needed to bring on a woman as another co-editor for this project?) The rare standout entry is Megan Abbott’s haunting “My Heart is Either Broken,” which reaches Gillian Flynn levels of cruelty and creepiness as a husband’s suspicions of his wife grow over time. Read that — and Brandon Sanderson’s “Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell” if you haven’t come across it somewhere else before — but you can safely skip the rest of this collection without really missing anything.

★★☆☆☆

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Book Review: Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive by Scott Tipton, David Tipton, Rachael Stott, and Charlie Kirchoff

Book #254 of 2017:

Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive by Scott Tipton, David Tipton, Rachael Stott, and Charlie Kirchoff

This trade paperback collects the complete five issues of a comic book crossover between Star Trek and Planet of the Apes, and I have to admit that I didn’t have very high expectations for it. Franchise crossovers and media tie-ins can each struggle to present significant stakes in the face of a mandated status quo, so I had a fair bit of skepticism over the prospect of both in a single story.

Happily, “The Primate Directive” exceeds my expectations on that front. The plot that brings these two universes together makes sense for each of them, and the ensuing story feels like it really could be either a missing Star Trek: TOS episode or an extended bridge between the first two Planet of the Apes movies. The characters from both franchises are translated believably to this story, and they bounce off one another nicely. The comic even manages to resolve a potential plot hole that has long bugged Apes fans, with the revelation that Dr. Milo based his idea for time travel in part on an offhand comment Scotty makes about the slingshot effect.

You probably need to be a fan of at least one of these media properties already to enjoy this book. But for a project that could have been a lightweight hangout story, it’s a surprisingly solid entry to the canon of both series.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins

Book #253 of 2017:

My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins

This collection of holiday love stories from twelve YA writers makes for some cute seasonal fun. “It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown” by editor Stephanie Perkins was the clear highlight for me, but Holly Black’s “Krampuslauf,” Laini Taylor’s “The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer,” and Kiersten White’s “Welcome to Christmas, CA” could be worth a reread in future winters as well. The rest of the stories didn’t make much of an impression on me, but they’re all light and fluffy enough that even the weaker ones mostly don’t overstay their welcome.

★★★☆☆

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Movie Review: Bad Santa 2 (2016)

Movie #24 of 2017:

Bad Santa 2 (2016)

It’s hard to really justify this movie’s existence. The first Bad Santa movie (2003) wasn’t exactly a modern classic, but it was a funny spin on the darkness that can underlie the holidays with a surprising amount of heart to it. This one is mostly just mean and sad, and it never gets around to explaining just what about the original story or characters necessitates revisiting after all these years. The budget doesn’t seem low enough (or its predecessor popular enough) to call this sequel a blatant cash-grab, but I’m flummoxed as to why else such a low-quality project could have been greenlit.

★☆☆☆☆

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Movie Review: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Movie #23 of 2017:

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

I really liked this movie, and am surprised that there’s apparently such a backlash against it. I know that a lot of it zigged where we might have expected a Star Wars sequel to zag – especially given all the trademark J.J. Abrams mysteries that were set up in The Force Awakens and essentially deflated here – but it was still a great movie overall. There’s stuff I could nitpick for sure, but I thought it was by and large terrific.

★★★★☆

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Movie Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Movie #22 of 2017:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

I rewatched this movie in anticipation of its new sequel, since I’m pretty sure I had only seen it one time in theaters two years ago. It holds up really well! Definitely the shot in the arm that Star Wars needed to explode back on the big screen, setting up new stakes and immediately-lovable new characters. Far more successful on that front than George Lucas’s own prequel effort, obviously.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah” by Alan Light

Book #252 of 2017:

The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah” by Alan Light

An interesting slice of music history, detailing how an obscure track from an obscure songwriter grew over time to become one of rock music’s most-covered songs. Author Alan Light recounts the sequence of events that fed the growing “Hallelujah” avalanche, but he also delves deeply into the tensions and ironies inherent in the lyrics, exploring how the same song can seem secular or sacred, a hymn of triumph or of tragedy, depending on each singer’s emphasis. The many diverse interpretations of Leonard Cohen’s words have helped drive it to its unexpected success, and Light’s interviews with some of its more famous performers represent a fascinating kaleidoscope of perspectives on this modern classic.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix

Book #251 of 2017:

Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix (The Keys to the Kingdom #3)

This third volume in Garth Nix’s seven-part Keys to the Kingdom series is the least formulaic so far, which is a welcome change from the one before. I’m still not super invested in the story or these characters – still waiting for that Garth Nix magic I’ve loved in his other books – but this was a decent yarn with some nautical Dawn Treader flair. I’ll probably keep going with the series at some point.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Book #250 of 2017:

Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (Enchanted Forest Chronicles #2)

Even more so than the book before it, this second novel in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles is cute and fun and absolutely hilarious. Author Patricia C. Wrede’s wry comic tone has been honed to perfection here, and I especially like all the classic fairy tales that she lovingly tweaks a la Into the Woods or Shrek. I would have loved this book as a child, and it’s no less delightful to encounter as an adult.

★★★★☆

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