The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

Book Review: Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones by Brandon Sanderson

Book #113 of 2016:

Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones by Brandon Sanderson (Alcatraz #2)

Another fun YA novel from Brandon Sanderson, who blends his usual high fantasy style with something closer to Harry Potter and then adds a snarky narrator offering meta-commentary on the nature of stories throughout. Book 2 in this series fleshes out the history of its setting a little bit more, although we won’t get serious worldbuilding until the next novel when Alcatraz finally leaves the Hushlands behind. It also adds several fun new characters with their own wacky magical talents that sound bad but are actually highly useful (like Alcatraz’s uncle whose ability to get lost allows him to escape from a crashing plane without a scratch). These books are quick and entertaining, and I’m quite enjoying this reread.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

Book #112 of 2016:

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell (Twisted Tales #1)

This novel offers a “what-if” spin on Disney’s animated Aladdin movie: what if the evil Jafar made wishes with the genie’s lamp before the hero got the chance? The result has some interesting moments, especially with Aladdin and Princess Jasmine leading a populist uprising against Jafar, but on the whole it’s rather flat. It’s also incredibly dark, to the point where I kept wondering whether Disney’s lawyers had read through the final draft before signing off on the official licence. (At one point, Jasmine’s narration points out the section of the palace dungeon where rapists are held. I was personally a lot happier before knowing Agrabah had that problem.)

Plus the first 20% of the book is essentially just a faithful novelization of the movie up until Aladdin finds the lamp, which is a huge waste given that pretty much any interested reader will already know those events. There’s potential for a good story here, and I particularly enjoyed the new female characters that Braswell adds, but in the end it’s a bit of a mess.

★★☆☆☆

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Book Review: The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Book #111 of 2016:

The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen (The Ascendance Trilogy #2)

This book is the Catching Fire to its predecessor’s Hunger Games – a sequel that faces the tricky task of recapturing what readers loved about the very particular scenario of the first book. The plot mechanics that get the orphan-turned-king from The False Prince back in his rags and living on his wits again are slightly smoother than a Quarter Quell, but as a whole The Runaway King stands in the shadow of the previous story. The adventure with the pirates offers some much-needed worldbuilding, but Sage seems to have fewer cards up his sleeve this time, yielding a more straightforward and predictable narrative. He’s still a fun character to read, but the plot just doesn’t crackle as much this time around.

★★★☆☆

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Movie Review: Hamilton’s America (2016)

Movie #21 of 2016:

Hamilton’s America (2016)

This documentary is a fun look at the Broadway musical sensation as well the real-life history of US Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. It’s informative enough on that last count that I could see schoolteachers getting away with playing it to their classes, and it’s charmingly bipartisan in having Elizabeth Warren, Paul Ryan, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush all talk about Hamilton’s political legacy. But the real draw here is for fans of the show, with behind-the-scenes insights and plenty of footage from the stage production. It’s no substitute for seeing the play – or even listening to the soundtrack – but it’s a lovely sampling of moments that always stays accessible to the part of its audience just now hearing about the musical.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

Book #110 of 2016:

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch #3)

A tremendous end to the Imperial Radch trilogy, following several threads from the first two books to their natural conclusions in a way that still manages to surprise. Author Ann Leckie clearly has a lot of thoughts on the notions of consciousness, sentience, and identity, and she foregrounds those issues in this novel far more than in its predecessors. I was concerned when the second novel took such an abrupt turn away from the action of the first to focus on a small backwater planet on the edges of the war, but this third book shows why that pivot was necessary to set up the series conclusion. This isn’t how I thought Breq’s story would resolve back when it began, but it all ties together rather nicely.

This book: ★★★★☆

Overall series: ★★★★☆

Book ranking: 3 > 2 > 1

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Book Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Book #109 of 2016:

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

The concept of a teenager reliving the same day over and over again (like in the movie Groundhog Day) is intriguing, and high school is a great setting to explore as a sprawling interconnected community that Samantha would ordinarily never get to see in its entirety. But she and her friends are so obnoxious and cruel that this book is legitimately hard to get through at times. Yes, Sam reforms like Bill Murray as the story goes along, and her mean girl friends do get some important shading along the way. But they’re still pretty odious, and the way the plot ultimately resolves is supremely unsatisfying. The middle of this novel was much better than either the beginning or the end.

★★☆☆☆

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Book Review: The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie

Book #108 of 2016:

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (Colonel Race #1)

A fun, droll adventure elevated by the wit of its plucky heroine. Agatha Christie’s thrillers aren’t as beloved as her mysteries, but the author’s intricate plots with their well-disguised twists are just as enjoyable in this format. (This particular novel even features a proto-version of the narrative device that would win her such acclaim two years later in her mystery The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.) I don’t know that I’d recommend a book like this to someone just starting to read Christie, but it’s a great overlooked gem for fans of her detective stories.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: A Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren

Book #107 of 2016:

A Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren

Not what I was expecting, honestly. I’m a big fan of Senator Warren, and I imagined this book – her first since being elected – would be all about her economic views and the resulting political philosophy which together have made her so popular on the left. But she addresses these issues mostly in passing, and seldom with a fair explanation of any opposing views, which she largely dismisses as being paid for by the banking industry.

This book is more memoir than treatise, filled with the play-by-play of Warren’s political battles (and quite a lot of information about the dogs that she’s owned), but lacking substantive policy discussions. Readers might admire Elizabeth Warren more as a person after reading this book, but it won’t change any minds.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

Book #106 of 2016:

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan #3)

A fun conclusion to Scott Westerfeld’s steampunk retelling of World War I. (Now with Nikola Tesla! At this point, I’m half-convinced that Westerfeld kept adding characters of new nationalities to the story just to hear audiobook reader Alan Cumming do more accents.) The action is as great as ever, and Alek’s inevitable discovery of Deryn’s big secret is handled probably about as well as it could have been. My only real complaint is that the book doesn’t really conclude the larger stakes of the series, so it’s a shame the author doesn’t seem to be planning anything further.

This book: ★★★☆☆

Overall series: ★★★☆☆

Book ranking: 3 > 2 > 1

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Movie Review: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Movie #20 of 2016:

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

This movie is a little clunky at times, and definitely not in the same league as The Wrath of Khan or even The Voyage Home. But it mostly all works, and it’s still way better than Star Trek I, III, or V. It’s not a perfect film, but it’s a perfectly fine farewell to the original Trek cast.

★★★☆☆

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