Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

Book #2 of 2016:

The Martian by Andy Weir

This was good, but I think I like the movie more. Granted, there was some cool stuff that didn’t make it to the screen – I’m thinking particularly of the dust storm and the interruption of contact with NASA, but also having the Beck/Johanssen romance not come completely out of nowhere – but for the most part, the film did a better job telling this story. I’m really glad I saw it in theaters, and that I didn’t make myself wait until I had read the book first.

Recommendation: If you haven’t read or seen The Martian, just watch the adaptation. And if you’ve seen that version already, you probably don’t need to check out this one as well. Remember that The Martian is Weir’s first novel, and that it was originally self-published as a free ebook on his website. It’s still solid sci-fi material, but Ridley Scott and Matt Damon elevate it beyond what’s written here.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Book #1 of 2016:

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

So much better than I was expecting it to be. I remember seeing a trailer for the movie adaptation way back in the day, which made me think this story was going to be really Nicholas Sparks-y. And it was, to some degree, but it was all-around a really enjoyable read. (Well, actually, a really enjoyable listen. But I decided that I’m no longer going to differentiate between books and audiobooks.)

The author did a good job of un-creepifying the potential consent issues that necessarily arise from a grown man meeting his future wife while she’s still a child – it helps that they’re both meeting out-of-order, like River Song and the Doctor (although yes, I know this book came out before the Library episodes of Doctor Who). Also that the time traveler has no control over where/when he shows up and that changing history is demonstrably impossible in this narrative: if one character has lived through something, nothing can possibly change that even when the other character later goes through it for the first time. The book raised some really interesting philosophical ideas and was more or less a sweet love story.

★★★★☆

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TV Review: The Legend of Korra, season 2

TV #1 of 2016:

The Legend of Korra, season 2

Honestly, what even was that? I’ve never been a huge fan of this particular franchise, but this season represents a new low for me. It’s just such a mess on pretty much every level: plotting, character arcs, worldbuilding, you name it. And for Korra and Asami supposedly being ‘endgame’ — which was literally the first thing I ever knew about this show, long before I even watched Avatar — they’ve sure barely interacted for two whole seasons now. I had hoped that the weird ending to season 1 was just a small hiccup for the series, but I don’t even know how to deal with this show right now. I’ll still push on because these seasons are so quick and the program so highly-regarded, but I’m not happy about it.

★☆☆☆☆

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Book Review: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Book #88 of 2015:

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

I may have been too old when I first came at this book, because the whole affair left me supremely unsatisfied. Kids might be caught up in the adventure of the premise and enjoy watching the characters hunt for clues, but I felt as though there was never enough information provided by the narrative for it to ever really make sense as a mystery novel. My enjoyment of that genre strongly depends on a fair playing field between reader and detective, so that we at least have a chance of solving the puzzle beforehand. Without that, I’m just bored as I was here.

★☆☆☆☆

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Book Review: Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce

Book #87 of 2015:

Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce (Song of the Lioness #1-4)

I read this fantasy quartet bound as a single hardback edition, only realizing later that the different sections of the story were actually separate books. For that reason — and because I’m piecing together this review from scattered notes and recollections well after the fact — I don’t have much of a sense for how the four novels compare with one another.

Taken as a whole, however, this tale of a girl who disguises herself as a boy to become a knight is a lot of fun and a solid launch to the larger Tortall series. The writing can be a little clunky and Tamora Pierce has some eurocentric issues that she still needs to work on at this point, but overall it’s worth picking up. I like many of the author’s later books in this setting even better, but I think you’d be missing out by skipping their foundation here.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The King’s Justice by Stephen R. Donaldson

Book #86 of 2015:

The King’s Justice by Stephen R. Donaldson

I wasn’t super blown away by either of the two (unrelated) novellas in this book, but even middle-of-the-road Stephen R. Donaldson is still worth the read. And there are echoes of many of the stories I love from his collection Reave the Just and Other Tales, although I wouldn’t say the new batch rises quite to that same level.

I’m also choosing to view this project as a necessary palate-cleanser for the author after finally finishing his epic Thomas Covenant series, which ultimately spanned ten hefty novels over a 36-year period. Donaldson is a genius fantasist, and this volume proves he has no intention of packing up his pen just yet. The King’s Justice and The Augur’s Gambit won’t go down as my favorites, but I’m excited to see what he comes up with next.

★★★☆☆

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TV Review: Doctor Who, season 9

TV #53 of 2015:

Doctor Who, season 9

I know a lot of people have cooled on Doctor Who lately — or perhaps just on showrunner Steven Moffat — but the season that just ended was seriously the best one since Matt Smith’s first in 2010, and free of a lot of those twisty Moffatisms that many viewers dislike. Structuring the year primarily as a sequence of two-parters was a bold choice that really paid off, with the standalone “Sleep No More” being the only episode that didn’t really work for me. (And even that was more of an interesting failure of a unique format than an out-and-out dud.) Everything else was absolutely fabulous, with a couple of series-high greats. Definitely worth catching up on if you had stopped watching at some point!

★★★★★

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TV Review: The Legend of Korra, season 1

TV #56 of 2015:

The Legend of Korra, season 1

I already like this Avatar sequel far better than I ever did the parent show, but it’s a little disappointing how neatly everything gets wrapped up at the end of this first season. I know they weren’t sure if they would get renewed or not, but ending the season with the heroine as just an airbender would have been a much stronger writing choice than immediately letting her get back her powers (and the ability to un-Amon people).

I also don’t like how the moral ambiguity seems to lessen as this season goes on. At the beginning it’s pretty clear that bending has some unsavory elements and that the equalists have something of a point, even if their methods are cruel and their leader is shady. But by the end the framing has become that all benders are great, and the equalists don’t really seem to care about their mission once Amon is revealed as a fraud.

So, I don’t know. I also still have a lot of questions about bending that the show(s) don’t seem to care about answering, but I guess I’m getting more resigned to that. Anyway, this franchise increasingly reminds me of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn books, and that’s definitely a good thing.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Doc by Mary Doria Russell

Book #80 of 2015:

Doc by Mary Doria Russell (Doc Holliday #1)

Historical fiction is usually not my thing, but I enjoyed this novelized account of Doc Holliday’s life before the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Maybe it helps that I didn’t really know anything about Holliday or his friend Wyatt Earp going into the book. (I saw the movie Tombstone once a long time ago, but that’s pretty much it. And that story wasn’t 100% accurate either.)

I don’t think I would have read this if it wasn’t from the author of The Sparrow, but it was fun and presumably informative — depending on how much artistic license she took with everything, which is my main problem with historical fiction in general.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson

Book #78 of 2015:

Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #5)

I have mixed feelings about this Mistborn novel. For backstory: author Brandon Sanderson originally wrote a high fantasy trilogy in this setting, and plans to someday write another series where the technology has progressed to modern levels. He then added a standalone novel, The Alloy of Law, with a ‘wild west’ feel set in between… and now he’s decided to follow that up with another trilogy in the same era, starting with this volume.

Unfortunately, I think Shadows of Self is a much weaker story than The Alloy of Law, and I also don’t like how much it leans on the original trilogy when the previous book stood on its own so well. (Would anyone have really been that upset if kandra hadn’t come back into the main storyline?) On the other hand, it does have the trademark Sanderson magic and action scenes, and I’m a huge sucker for returning character Hoid — who appears to be either a time-traveler or immortal now and not just a world-hopper — and the unfolding mythos that accompanies him. Those connections to the author’s larger Cosmere series are more setup than anything else, but it still makes me feel more charitable to this book than I might have otherwise.

★★★☆☆

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