Book Review: The Last Adventure of Constance Verity by A. Lee Martinez

Book #186 of 2017:

The Last Adventure of Constance Verity by A. Lee Martinez (Constance Verity #1)

Constance Verity is fated to live a life of pulpy adventure, always saving the world from robots and ninjas and alien overlords, and it’s a lot of fun to see author A. Lee Martinez throw out all sorts of outlandish scenarios as the background to that kind of life. Constance herself is tired of all the hassle, however, and this novel follows her attempts to find a way out of her fairy godmother’s spell and settle down to be as boring as the rest of us. It’s sort of a loose, meandering plot that doesn’t quite hit the heights of Martinez’s previous novels, but it’s still very funny and an overall solid setup for what I understand is the author’s first crack at an ongoing series.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

Book #185 of 2017:

The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

This was a fun hardboiled detective story, and one that I ultimately liked better than the author’s more famous work, The Maltese Falcon. That’s largely due to Nick and Nora Charles, a retired Pinkerton and his wife who are reluctantly dragged into the unfolding investigation when they’d really rather be enjoying their vacation, their booze, and one another. Nick and Nora don’t sparkle quite as much on the page as they do in the various film adaptations and sequels (or as some of the similar pop culture figures they’ve helped inspire over the years), but they still add some terrific levity to an already great mystery plot.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Book #184 of 2017:

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1)

This was a fun fairy tale of a princess who runs away to live in a cave with a dragon to avoid an arranged marriage. As expected, it’s full of girl power for younger readers, although it’s a bit jarring when the heroine turns kinda murderous in the final act. (It’s later revealed that she didn’t kill five people after all, but she seems totally cool thinking that she did until then.) That false note aside, this story was a good time.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare

Book #183 of 2017:

Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare

The plot of this Shakespearean history is a trifle thin, detailing only a sliver of England’s War of the Roses, but we’re mostly here for the humor, which offers more laughs than some of the bard’s actual comedies. The most famous bits involve Prince Hal’s childish antics with Falstaff before he begins to grow up and take on more responsibility, but his rival Hotspur constantly deflating Welsh king Owen Glendower’s mystical airs is a standout scene as well. I’m glad I read this, although it’s not going to go down as one of my favorites.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The Science of Game of Thrones: From the Genetics of Royal Incest to the Chemistry of Death by Molten Gold – Sifting Fact from Fantasy in the Seven Kingdoms by Helen Keen

Book #182 of 2017:

The Science of Game of Thrones: From the Genetics of Royal Incest to the Chemistry of Death by Molten Gold – Sifting Fact from Fantasy in the Seven Kingdoms by Helen Keen

A fun little pop science book with a ridiculously long title, offering nuggets of learning all vaguely related to the TV show Game of Thrones. The topics range all over the place – the section on dragons alone discusses what we know about the flight patterns of ancient pteranodons, the breeding habits of komodo dragons, and how long eggs of any species can go without hatching – but it’s all entertaining and informative, and the material is definitely elevated by author Helen Keen’s sense of humor. There are spoilers through the sixth season of the HBO show, but any reader who’s caught up to date will learn and laugh plenty.

★★★☆☆

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Movie Review: The Room (2003)

Movie #15 of 2017:

The Room (2003)

Honestly, what is there left to even say about this awful movie at this point? No matter what you’ve heard, I guarantee you, the reality is even worse than that. It’s such an entertaining trainwreck to watch, though. Fun personal fact: I watched this movie for the first time back in 2015, just a few hours before I proposed to my wife. (I guess its clunky warning against trusting your closest loved ones somehow wasn’t enough to sway me!) I don’t even know whether it’s actually good enough to merit this generous two-star rating, but the rewatch value should probably count for something.

★★☆☆☆

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Book Review: The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Book #181 of 2017:

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

The setup to this book resembles Never Let Me Go, which similarly puts children in a bizarre setting with evasive caretakers who encourage them to accept everything as normal. But whereas that novel frustrated me by dragging out its reveal for almost the entire book, this one establishes the facts very early on: it’s set a couple decades after a zombie outbreak has upended society, and the children are infected individuals being studied in a carefully controlled quarantine environment. Melanie is a particularly talented young girl, but if not for her teachers’ regular chemical baths to hide their scent, the fungal infection would have her at their throats every time they take off her restraints.

Zombie stories told largely from the undead point of view are still relatively rare, and it’s even less common to find one that does so for pathos rather than comedy. But Melanie’s nature is achingly rendered in the language of an addict resisting a fix that she doesn’t want to want, and her struggle to determine what she is and where she fits in is very powerful. In addition to the great character work, the thriller that unfolds around Melanie is taut and suspenseful, presenting many classic zombie tropes in a way that still feels fresh. And while I didn’t even come close to predicting the ending, it was really the perfect way for this story to conclude.

★★★★★

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Book Review: Perelandra by C. S. Lewis

Book #180 of 2017:

Perelandra by C. S. Lewis (The Space Trilogy #2)

This was a much more overtly religious book than Out of the Silent Planet, but I liked how the core of the story was essentially just a human arguing with a demon in the Venusian Garden of Eden. Lewis is skilled at conveying a worldview that’s alien and yet still recognizably (proto-)Christian, and it’s fun to see arguments for and against original sin presented through that lens. I just didn’t care as much for the end of the story, when the hero is moved to physically attack the demon rather than continue his efforts to outreason it.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

Book #179 of 2017:

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler (Patternist #1)

Anyanwu is an African shapeshifter who has survived for centuries by healing all physical damage and keeping her body young. She thinks there’s no other person remotely like herself until she meets Doro, a man millennia past his own natural lifespan but whose consciousness moves on to take over a new host every time his current body dies. The two characters are alternately drawn to and repelled by one another, and I really loved the Magneto / Professor X interplay between them and their drastically different visions of their relationship to the rest of humanity. (Doro has grown to view people as eugenics subjects that he can selectively cross-breed to foster other strange abilities, whereas Anyanwu sees herself primarily as a healer and a matriarch to her extensive family of descendants.)

This first book in Octavia Butler’s Patternist series is full of her trademark reflections on the fluidities of race, gender, power, and blended families, and it’s a fascinating exploration of how the line between enemy and friend starts to blur when you’re the only two humans who live on through the centuries.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce

Book #178 of 2017:

Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce (The Immortals #3)

This third novel in Tamora Pierce’s Immortals quartet is the first one that I’ve felt approached the quality of the other books I’ve read in her wider Tortall series. The main character is still absurdly overpowered – she’s already able to magically communicate with, befriend, and transform herself into any animal she meets, and now she’s able to reanimate and command their skeletons as well – but the court intrigue plot gives her less of an outlet to use these abilities. She’s forced instead to think her way past the diplomatic obstacles of a peace summit, and the story is stronger for this restriction. I’m still not all that invested in her overall arc or her weird sexual tension with her much older tutor, but this is a very promising step.

★★★☆☆

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