Rating - 2: of use for some campaigns (but not most)
Here is an interesting first for us, a RPG book. This will require some alterations of our usual scale and review, since you do use gaming books, not just read them.
The fifth in the Complete series, this adds psionics to the four core class books. As with all in the series, this adds base classes, prestige classes, feats, powers (spells), and items for your game, this time with a psionic theme. We also get groups and ways of using the material in your game, sample NPCs, epic rules, and alternate rule options.
First, the assumptions: if you play D&D 3.5 and use psionics (i.e. the Expanded Psionics Handbook) and would like more psionic options, then this could be a good book for your game. If you are not using 3.5 psionics, obviously skip it, unless you just like reading these things. There are some suitably interesting concepts worth a browse.
By section:
The new classes are the Ardent, Divine Mind, and Lurk. The Ardent and Divine Mind use a new concept, psionic mantles, which are akin to clerical spheres. These make the Ardent a sort of psionic cleric and the Divine Mind a sort of psionic paladin, although more akin to a Diablo paladin than a D&D paladin. This works well for the Ardent, mixing a fair number number of powers with a themed selection. The Divine Mind is interesting for having auras, but the divine/psionics mix is shaky conceptually; it does not fit with anything else anywhere else in psionics. The Lurk is an interesting Swiss army knife that fails to fit any role. It looks like a psychic rogue, but it has no Trapfinding, Search, or Disable Device, so it is a lightly armored combatant option; it has Psychic Warrior-like powers and selection. The main feature is the use of Augments, which are a flexible but very limited tool since it is powered both by uses/day and by power points. Lurks seem more likely to go nova than psions, which can create devastating effects on a single target, but at that point the mages are detonating entire battlefields.
The prestige class selection is small, only eight. At least two are reprints or variants on Dragon materials, which happens throughout the Complete series. Anarchic Initiate has become popular on the Character Optimization boards, since it gives up little to gain a fair amount. Most of them are themed: ranged soulblade, positive energy soulblade, astral construct master, mind flayer aspirant. Half are extensions of new concepts or mechanics introduced in the Complete Psionic. I think the Soulbow is a good addition, conceptually and mechanically.
There are many new feats. About 40% are racial feats, generally too weak for any player to consider. Most give interesting variations on existing powers. That is really all I have to say here: either the options interest you or not. If you have wanted to play Darth Maul with a mind blade, that is here; if you have wanted to make an astral badger minion, that is here. The illithid feats are...unusual, and will probably not appear in too many campaigns (although you get a PrC in case you want to run with them).
The new powers are interesting. A distressing number of them are not available to Psions and Wilders, but they include many concepts that players have wanted, notably the Scanners detonation ("Cranial Deluge"). Issuing errata by re-printing the powers in a new book is a horrible idea. This section also has items, but items rarely excite me so I will not comment.
The monsters and constructs seem to be mostly those summoned by new powers or feats. They could use a bit of editing, or maybe an earlier section needed the editing, as not everything is consistent. I have always been fond of variant astral constructs, which is good because they take up eight pages, but that is about all that is of interest here. The elemental stewards are cute. If you wanted psionic undead and angels, you get a bit of that; I did not want that, but you are welcome to it.
Our variants are psionic races (did we need to re-cover that ground as racial classes, even for the low-ECL races?), psionic human houses (meh), psionic guilds (only two?), and the Erudite, a variant psion that interested me when it appeared in Dragon, though I have not compared it to the official version here. We also get the requisite epic rules and quick recommendation that NPCs should not go nova.
On the whole, some interesting ideas, but you know best whether there is enough meat for it to be worth buying for your campaign. By no means a must-buy, but it will be of interest to some campaigns that are already using psionics.
As a parting note, Amazon has the assorted D&D books for about 35% off. Not a bad price.
Amazon link
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
Rating - 4: worth reading multiple times (buy it)
Lord of Light gets a 4 partly because I will need to read it again to decide fully what I think of it.
On a world that has descended into a dark age after human colonization, one group of the original colonists has maintained the technology to set themselves up as Hindu gods, transferring their minds into improved bodies and developing powers appropriate to their Aspects. Sam fights the deocracy of false gods by setting himself up as a false Buddha, undermining the gods' support as he prepares for a war to shake the heavens. We first meet Sam, however, after he has lost and died and is preparing to try again.
Despite its having won the Hugo award, I would classify this as fantasy. Are there enough of these to constitute a sub-genre, books set in a medieval setting after human colonization of another world? We have already visited this sort with Warlock, and you may have read about Pern or Erna. Any sufficiently advanced technology and all that. It does maintain the classic sci fi approach of making a major change or two and following some implications: what happens when men can make themselves gods? In this case, the relevant question is control over guided mind transfer and cloning, a sort of reincarnation, with the assorted powers being window dressing. Wow, I just dismissed all the action as "window dressing," but it really doesn't matter if Agni's fire is a flamethrower, a mutant power, a spell, or what; the key factor is how Agni maintains his immortality and power.
I read this book as a teenager, and I am sure that I did not understand it all. My knowledge of Hindu and Buddhist tradition and thought must have been shaky. As it turns out, no more than a passing familiarity with either is needed, and more might just confuse the issue. Lord of Light displays a 1960s fascination with Eastern mysticism, along with the surface familiarity that often accompanies it. (Zelazny might have really known more, but it does not come into play here.) You would think that I would have remembered the Christian crusader-necromancer.
What I did remember very clearly is parts one and four. Our story is divided into sections of Sam's life and battle with the gods. Our opening images are evocative, with Sam and Yama and the echoes of a lost war. One cannot speak ill of Zelazny's quality as a writer. Even at a sketch, the lines are bold.
Anyone who knows me will know that I loved Yama. He is a great character, rivaling Sam for the lead in the story at times. He is the tactician, the artificer, a Death who wears his power about him without apology. Even conflicted, he demonstrates a purity of desire and intention. I found the end bit with Murga quite touching, which is to say that I became a huge sap at some point.
The book, however, avoids sentimentalism and treats a battle about power honestly. Some people have power, some people want power, and they come into conflict on an epic scale. Lord of Light might make a great summer blockbuster with big special effects.
Amazon link
Lord of Light gets a 4 partly because I will need to read it again to decide fully what I think of it.
On a world that has descended into a dark age after human colonization, one group of the original colonists has maintained the technology to set themselves up as Hindu gods, transferring their minds into improved bodies and developing powers appropriate to their Aspects. Sam fights the deocracy of false gods by setting himself up as a false Buddha, undermining the gods' support as he prepares for a war to shake the heavens. We first meet Sam, however, after he has lost and died and is preparing to try again.
Despite its having won the Hugo award, I would classify this as fantasy. Are there enough of these to constitute a sub-genre, books set in a medieval setting after human colonization of another world? We have already visited this sort with Warlock, and you may have read about Pern or Erna. Any sufficiently advanced technology and all that. It does maintain the classic sci fi approach of making a major change or two and following some implications: what happens when men can make themselves gods? In this case, the relevant question is control over guided mind transfer and cloning, a sort of reincarnation, with the assorted powers being window dressing. Wow, I just dismissed all the action as "window dressing," but it really doesn't matter if Agni's fire is a flamethrower, a mutant power, a spell, or what; the key factor is how Agni maintains his immortality and power.
I read this book as a teenager, and I am sure that I did not understand it all. My knowledge of Hindu and Buddhist tradition and thought must have been shaky. As it turns out, no more than a passing familiarity with either is needed, and more might just confuse the issue. Lord of Light displays a 1960s fascination with Eastern mysticism, along with the surface familiarity that often accompanies it. (Zelazny might have really known more, but it does not come into play here.) You would think that I would have remembered the Christian crusader-necromancer.
What I did remember very clearly is parts one and four. Our story is divided into sections of Sam's life and battle with the gods. Our opening images are evocative, with Sam and Yama and the echoes of a lost war. One cannot speak ill of Zelazny's quality as a writer. Even at a sketch, the lines are bold.
Anyone who knows me will know that I loved Yama. He is a great character, rivaling Sam for the lead in the story at times. He is the tactician, the artificer, a Death who wears his power about him without apology. Even conflicted, he demonstrates a purity of desire and intention. I found the end bit with Murga quite touching, which is to say that I became a huge sap at some point.
The book, however, avoids sentimentalism and treats a battle about power honestly. Some people have power, some people want power, and they come into conflict on an epic scale. Lord of Light might make a great summer blockbuster with big special effects.
Amazon link
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech
Rating - 2: not worth reading (skip it)
Nothing is wrong with the book, but not enough is right to make it worth reading. There is no there there.
Mary Lou Finney is writing her summer journal for school, which for her is a day-by-day diary. She has five siblings who take turns wreaking havoc with her life, along with an inscrutable cousin unexpectedly spending the summer with them. It is a summer of romance, death, friendship, loneliness, and discovery.
It sounds like a thirteen-year-old girl telling the story, although I am not sure it sounds like her diary except in places. The voice is suitably authentic, with the appropriate volume of self-absorption.
I say it does not sound like a diary because it is strong on-topic. There are few events that are not part of the central narrative. As a story, that is good: two thumbs up. As a diary or journal, that is spectacularly unusual. Only in retrospect does each day's events fit into a larger tapestry. Most of the things I would write about yesterday would not weave seamlessly into the story of my summer. Also, relatively few diaries will have passages that sound like standard narratives. The scenes Mary Lou recounts as plays sound more like how she would write them. That did not strike me as I was reading, though, since we are all used to books' looking like that.
Further detail on the rest of her life could be desirable or tedious, based on the quality of writing. I would trust Sharon Creech to do it well. Perhaps it is an intentional contrast with her best friend, who does go into all those details and bores Mary Lou.
The story is straightforward. It is neither complex nor deep. We have two small side stories going on, one of which is The Odyssey, with which you could have fun looking for symbols and parallels. Leopold Bloom as a thirteen-year-old girl: go!
There are no great lines or scenes that stand out. So we have a thin story with insights that might be insightful for the nine- to thirteen-year-old girls who are presumably the book's target audience. The mark of a great book is that it still feels relevant even as an adult.
Standards are higher after you have won the Newberry, and our standards here are always high enough not to recommend mediocrity. There are better stories in this vein and better books by Sharon Creech.
Amazon link
Nothing is wrong with the book, but not enough is right to make it worth reading. There is no there there.
Mary Lou Finney is writing her summer journal for school, which for her is a day-by-day diary. She has five siblings who take turns wreaking havoc with her life, along with an inscrutable cousin unexpectedly spending the summer with them. It is a summer of romance, death, friendship, loneliness, and discovery.
It sounds like a thirteen-year-old girl telling the story, although I am not sure it sounds like her diary except in places. The voice is suitably authentic, with the appropriate volume of self-absorption.
I say it does not sound like a diary because it is strong on-topic. There are few events that are not part of the central narrative. As a story, that is good: two thumbs up. As a diary or journal, that is spectacularly unusual. Only in retrospect does each day's events fit into a larger tapestry. Most of the things I would write about yesterday would not weave seamlessly into the story of my summer. Also, relatively few diaries will have passages that sound like standard narratives. The scenes Mary Lou recounts as plays sound more like how she would write them. That did not strike me as I was reading, though, since we are all used to books' looking like that.
Further detail on the rest of her life could be desirable or tedious, based on the quality of writing. I would trust Sharon Creech to do it well. Perhaps it is an intentional contrast with her best friend, who does go into all those details and bores Mary Lou.
The story is straightforward. It is neither complex nor deep. We have two small side stories going on, one of which is The Odyssey, with which you could have fun looking for symbols and parallels. Leopold Bloom as a thirteen-year-old girl: go!
There are no great lines or scenes that stand out. So we have a thin story with insights that might be insightful for the nine- to thirteen-year-old girls who are presumably the book's target audience. The mark of a great book is that it still feels relevant even as an adult.
Standards are higher after you have won the Newberry, and our standards here are always high enough not to recommend mediocrity. There are better stories in this vein and better books by Sharon Creech.
Amazon link
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
Rating - 2: not worth reading (skip it)
You have no idea how much it pains me to give Arthur C. Clarke a 2. We must be fair, though, and even if it was seminal and revolutionary at the time, we still do not recommend driving a Model T. There are better Arthur C. Clarke stories, and there are better first contact stories.
The Overseers' ships appeared simultaneously over every major city on Earth. While menacing and commanding, the Overseers came to bring Earth a golden age, not destruction. With what ulterior motive, one wonders, and at what cost to humanity's spirit is this peace and prosperity?
Is this the first time we get an image of aliens announcing themselves by parking a ship over every major city on Earth? Colossal, unopposable, and utterly unknown forces project their power over every concentration of Earthlings. The notion has been a centerpiece of many books and films, but it is a passing element on Childhood's End, only the first demonstration of a vast but carefully applied power.
That is typical of the book: put forth an interesting notion but fail to explore it. We see human civilization for more than a century, but we see it in very little depth. Our eye is as distant from Earth as the Overseers' ships.
We see the same in the lack of protagonist. While the characters are telling parts of a larger story, they feel more like several individual stories linked to the irresistible overarching events. While you may find an individual character compelling or sympathetic, they are not very detailed or deep. When a new character appears, it is not clear if you should care about this new major character or if this is another person who will have just the one chapter. Both have equal levels of detail.
So I wish to look upon some of the evocative notes that interested me, particularly looking back 50 years later. And how much do they say about the author's views, projected into the story?
We also see all religions wiped out by accurate historical understanding of how those religions were founded, and a major plot point involving a sperm whale locked in combat with a giant squid (not Tyrannosaurus yet, though). The view of society is much more Asimov's Foundation, where human society can be organized, planned, and controlled, than Heinlein's libertarianism. Humans object to the Overlords' coming down and controlling society, but we see that the humanitarians are objecting to who is in control, not whether societies should (or really can) have top-down management.
The last quarter of the book takes a significant turn from the earlier parts, which is hardly surprising as the book makes several swerves in the apparent narrative. The change in what sort of story it is, not just a twist-ending, is common enough but rarely done well; here, it rises to "kinda-sorta works." Given the number of bad twist-endings, I can forgive.
After all, the writing is not bad. It is Arthur C. Clarke. It is just not an example of his better work.
Amazon link
You have no idea how much it pains me to give Arthur C. Clarke a 2. We must be fair, though, and even if it was seminal and revolutionary at the time, we still do not recommend driving a Model T. There are better Arthur C. Clarke stories, and there are better first contact stories.
The Overseers' ships appeared simultaneously over every major city on Earth. While menacing and commanding, the Overseers came to bring Earth a golden age, not destruction. With what ulterior motive, one wonders, and at what cost to humanity's spirit is this peace and prosperity?
Is this the first time we get an image of aliens announcing themselves by parking a ship over every major city on Earth? Colossal, unopposable, and utterly unknown forces project their power over every concentration of Earthlings. The notion has been a centerpiece of many books and films, but it is a passing element on Childhood's End, only the first demonstration of a vast but carefully applied power.
That is typical of the book: put forth an interesting notion but fail to explore it. We see human civilization for more than a century, but we see it in very little depth. Our eye is as distant from Earth as the Overseers' ships.
We see the same in the lack of protagonist. While the characters are telling parts of a larger story, they feel more like several individual stories linked to the irresistible overarching events. While you may find an individual character compelling or sympathetic, they are not very detailed or deep. When a new character appears, it is not clear if you should care about this new major character or if this is another person who will have just the one chapter. Both have equal levels of detail.
So I wish to look upon some of the evocative notes that interested me, particularly looking back 50 years later. And how much do they say about the author's views, projected into the story?
[T]he pattern of sexual mores -- insofar as there had ever been one pattern -- had altered radically. It had been virtually shattered by two inventions, which were, ironically enough, of purely human origins and owed nothing to the Overlords.
The first was a completely reliable oral contraceptive: the second was an equally infallible method -- as certain as fingerprinting, and based on a very detailed analysis of the blood -- of identifying the father of any child. The effect of these two inventions upon human society could only be described as devastating, and they had swept away the last remnants of the Puritan aberration.
"...Do you realize that every day something like five hundred hours of radio and TV pour out over the various channels? If you went without sleep and did nothing else, you could follow less than a twentieth of the entertainment that's available at the turn of a switch! No wonder that people are becoming passive sponges -- absorbing but never creating. Did you know that the average viewing time per person is now three hours a day?"500 hours of radio and TV available per day, imagine that. There were not 24-hour stations when this was written, either, so that might have been as many as sixty radio and TV channels (combined) out there.
We also see all religions wiped out by accurate historical understanding of how those religions were founded, and a major plot point involving a sperm whale locked in combat with a giant squid (not Tyrannosaurus yet, though). The view of society is much more Asimov's Foundation, where human society can be organized, planned, and controlled, than Heinlein's libertarianism. Humans object to the Overlords' coming down and controlling society, but we see that the humanitarians are objecting to who is in control, not whether societies should (or really can) have top-down management.
The last quarter of the book takes a significant turn from the earlier parts, which is hardly surprising as the book makes several swerves in the apparent narrative. The change in what sort of story it is, not just a twist-ending, is common enough but rarely done well; here, it rises to "kinda-sorta works." Given the number of bad twist-endings, I can forgive.
After all, the writing is not bad. It is Arthur C. Clarke. It is just not an example of his better work.
Amazon link
Monday, June 05, 2006
Permutation City by Greg Egan
Rating - 3.5: worth reading, parts worth re-reading (borrow or buy it)
Rating - 3: worth reading once (borrow it from a library)
This is like a religious story for radical transhumanists. As humans transcend biology, we will have many issues to face of humanity, mortality, and what identity means when you can redefine yourself in every way.
An upload, or Copy as it is here called, is a mental scan of a human being run on a computer network. You back up your brain in case of biological death, although you could start living an electronic life while your body is still going. Paul Durham copies himself to test some fundamentals about the nature of Copies. A later Paul Durham is selling an impossible immortality to Copies, and he enlists programmer Maria Deluca to help with some explorations of nonbiological life. Once you have abandoned the biology, is it you that wakes up inside that computer? Are we cheating death or just cheating ourselves?
The cosmological underpinnings seem unlikely at best, moving the away from traditional science fiction. Material-independent consciousness sustaining itself through ... what? The act of being consciousness maintains its own consistency? As we get into Part Two, the consistency becomes a greater issue as we can have literally competing models of reality. I enjoy both hard sci fi and speculative fiction that hurdles beyond the science, but bridging the two is hard to do well. At least when Heinlein does it, he commits to that leap into incoherence beyond science. We accept the impossible but not the improbable.
As a philosophical digression, "universe as cellular automaton" (as postulated in Part Two) could justify Berkeley and resolve the problem of evil. Cellular automata are not computable from their base states, or rather they are only computable and not predictable. The only way you see how the process works out is to run the process. This is how the Autoverse works. Assume for a moment that the universe exists in the mind of God and is a cellular automaton. God is trying to create the best of all possible universes, but to know which it is, he must think about the possibilities. Because universes are cellular automata, this involves mentally "running" every possible universe to see how it works out. Therefore, we exist in the mind of God, in the way a simulation exists on your computer; God is creating the best of all possible universes, and may in fact have done so, but we may not be part of that universe, simply self-conscious elements of a simulation; and all the possible universes that could exist in fact simultaneously do, to the extent that everything exists in the mind of God as fully as we exist. This would account for why problems exist in our universe given an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent creator. But this takes us astray of our topic.
While Paul and Maria muddle about in cosmological questions, I find myself much more interested in Peer and Kate, copy stowaways in Permutation City. Part of that is because I sympathize with Peer completely; we share a contented acceptance that infuriates others, he is devotedly in love, and he has embraced his transhumanist Solipsist Nation ideals completely. More importantly, they are considering the meaning of all this on a very personal level, rather than expounding ill-defined metaphysics. Having surpassed human life, they exhibit very different senses of life. I am usually more interested in the personal import of ideas than the social import.
Thomas's side story is another sense of life entirely, providing a counterpoint that is explored but never discussed or integrated. His presence is jarring in a productive way.
This is not my strongest recommendation at a 3 rating, but the excellent parts outweigh the weaker ones. [Update: and the excellent parts are worth re-reading.] The perspectives from Peer and Maria are very good. Paul's philosophical exegeses are not as strong as they could be. Thomas's scenes might work better on film, but they still work. There are problems in the editing, such as "bail" versus "bale" and some typographical issues, but they are forgivable.
I am fully open to the notion that I am unduly attracted to a book that panders to my interests. I find the idea of uploading as desirable as others find it horrifying. Your mileage may vary. As a parting note, it is healthy for Americans to read Australian authors; I find the perspective similar enough to be instantly accessible while different enough to put a new light on things. The US is not always the center of the universe, in a way that we might dismiss in a European novel.
Amazon link (seems to be out of print)
Further thoughts at Kill Ten Rats
This is like a religious story for radical transhumanists. As humans transcend biology, we will have many issues to face of humanity, mortality, and what identity means when you can redefine yourself in every way.
An upload, or Copy as it is here called, is a mental scan of a human being run on a computer network. You back up your brain in case of biological death, although you could start living an electronic life while your body is still going. Paul Durham copies himself to test some fundamentals about the nature of Copies. A later Paul Durham is selling an impossible immortality to Copies, and he enlists programmer Maria Deluca to help with some explorations of nonbiological life. Once you have abandoned the biology, is it you that wakes up inside that computer? Are we cheating death or just cheating ourselves?
The cosmological underpinnings seem unlikely at best, moving the away from traditional science fiction. Material-independent consciousness sustaining itself through ... what? The act of being consciousness maintains its own consistency? As we get into Part Two, the consistency becomes a greater issue as we can have literally competing models of reality. I enjoy both hard sci fi and speculative fiction that hurdles beyond the science, but bridging the two is hard to do well. At least when Heinlein does it, he commits to that leap into incoherence beyond science. We accept the impossible but not the improbable.
As a philosophical digression, "universe as cellular automaton" (as postulated in Part Two) could justify Berkeley and resolve the problem of evil. Cellular automata are not computable from their base states, or rather they are only computable and not predictable. The only way you see how the process works out is to run the process. This is how the Autoverse works. Assume for a moment that the universe exists in the mind of God and is a cellular automaton. God is trying to create the best of all possible universes, but to know which it is, he must think about the possibilities. Because universes are cellular automata, this involves mentally "running" every possible universe to see how it works out. Therefore, we exist in the mind of God, in the way a simulation exists on your computer; God is creating the best of all possible universes, and may in fact have done so, but we may not be part of that universe, simply self-conscious elements of a simulation; and all the possible universes that could exist in fact simultaneously do, to the extent that everything exists in the mind of God as fully as we exist. This would account for why problems exist in our universe given an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent creator. But this takes us astray of our topic.
While Paul and Maria muddle about in cosmological questions, I find myself much more interested in Peer and Kate, copy stowaways in Permutation City. Part of that is because I sympathize with Peer completely; we share a contented acceptance that infuriates others, he is devotedly in love, and he has embraced his transhumanist Solipsist Nation ideals completely. More importantly, they are considering the meaning of all this on a very personal level, rather than expounding ill-defined metaphysics. Having surpassed human life, they exhibit very different senses of life. I am usually more interested in the personal import of ideas than the social import.
Thomas's side story is another sense of life entirely, providing a counterpoint that is explored but never discussed or integrated. His presence is jarring in a productive way.
This is not my strongest recommendation at a 3 rating, but the excellent parts outweigh the weaker ones. [Update: and the excellent parts are worth re-reading.] The perspectives from Peer and Maria are very good. Paul's philosophical exegeses are not as strong as they could be. Thomas's scenes might work better on film, but they still work. There are problems in the editing, such as "bail" versus "bale" and some typographical issues, but they are forgivable.
I am fully open to the notion that I am unduly attracted to a book that panders to my interests. I find the idea of uploading as desirable as others find it horrifying. Your mileage may vary. As a parting note, it is healthy for Americans to read Australian authors; I find the perspective similar enough to be instantly accessible while different enough to put a new light on things. The US is not always the center of the universe, in a way that we might dismiss in a European novel.
Amazon link (seems to be out of print)
Further thoughts at Kill Ten Rats
Saturday, June 03, 2006
The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume One by Terry Moore
Rating: 3 - worth reading once (borrow it from a library)
It might take you longer to read this review than to read it, so since it rates a 3, you might as well read the beginning of Strangers of Paradise in your library's graphic novels section. The rating is based somewhat on potential, since the actual story contained is brief. The first half of the book is the original Strangers in Paradise miniseries, three issues; the second half is "behind the scenes" of what went on to become a long-running series.
Francine is a romantic dreamer, someone who wants the right man to come along and rescue her. Freddie is not that man, as Francine will learn. Katchoo has loved Francine as a friend and a little more for years, and she is more than willing to demonstrate what happens when you hurt a somewhat psychotic man-hater's best friend. David has no idea what he is getting himself into with Katchoo, but he seems like a sweet enough kid.
These are the first three issues of Strangers in Paradise. As I write this, the series is set to end in a year, so this is the beginning of a 14-year run. If you were aware of comics as a medium in the 1990s, you were aware of Strangers in Paradise, widely acclaimed as a great example of non-superhero comics. I am late to the party.
Volume one is short, three issues totaling less than 90 pages with (of course) pictures. This means that we get the impression of our characters, but not a lot of development. Can Katchoo remain that over-the-top for the entire series, or is she going to calm down a bit? What romantic direction is this going to go in, with her having a crush on her best friend and a [what?] with David. And we have a sketch in the background of a peeping-tom neighbor and his alcoholic wife. There are many pieces that could be picked up, and the story is good enough to make that interesting rather than annoying.
So I say that as a contained unit it fails, but in a good way such that I would be interested in the remaining volumes. There are ways to deal with characters effectively in a short format; instead, this volume expects a longer run to come and plans its characterization accordingly over that space. This is like the first episode of a new TV show. Come to think of it, that is very promising considering how often a show needs a season or two to hit its stride. If season one of Buffy was this good, it would be much easier to get people to stick around for the better seasons.
As the introduction to a larger series, it works, and it contains an effective introductory story in a very short space. The characters quickly show who they are, and we get a little episode in Francine and Katchoo's life to show it.
This being a graphic novel, we must consider the art. The art is good. The level of complexity is fairly typical for comics, less detailed than some many but with an eye for realistic bodies that many artists lack. The lines are deceptively simple, expressing much without wasting ink. This works best with Francine, who makes great use of rounded lines and an open face. Katchoo's different emotional range is not as effective, although she is at her best when she is angry (which is a lot). David is that wisp of hair in his face, which works. Freddie and Francine's faces demonstrate the value of images in expressing things that might not come across well in a great many words. Moore is good with faces.
Katchoo's behavior demonstrates some conventions of the medium, which can be offputting in an otherwise realistic approach. The cartoonish violence and introduction of the police seem like a break in tone, an unnecessary concession to comics.
I look forward to more, assuming the library cooperates. This is another of those series where I reserve the right to revise a rating based on the quality of later volumes, and I do not yet know if I can recommend buying them if your library cannot help you.
We have a series of Amazon links this time, since it has been collected variously:
Hardcover (the version I read and am reviewing, which seems to be out of print)
Paperback
Pocket-sized (smaller pages, includes the next volume of the series, which is another 13 issues)
I'm a stranger here myself, so you might want to check Wikipedia and figure out which version suits your needs. Or just see what they have at the local library and go with that.
It might take you longer to read this review than to read it, so since it rates a 3, you might as well read the beginning of Strangers of Paradise in your library's graphic novels section. The rating is based somewhat on potential, since the actual story contained is brief. The first half of the book is the original Strangers in Paradise miniseries, three issues; the second half is "behind the scenes" of what went on to become a long-running series.
Francine is a romantic dreamer, someone who wants the right man to come along and rescue her. Freddie is not that man, as Francine will learn. Katchoo has loved Francine as a friend and a little more for years, and she is more than willing to demonstrate what happens when you hurt a somewhat psychotic man-hater's best friend. David has no idea what he is getting himself into with Katchoo, but he seems like a sweet enough kid.
These are the first three issues of Strangers in Paradise. As I write this, the series is set to end in a year, so this is the beginning of a 14-year run. If you were aware of comics as a medium in the 1990s, you were aware of Strangers in Paradise, widely acclaimed as a great example of non-superhero comics. I am late to the party.
Volume one is short, three issues totaling less than 90 pages with (of course) pictures. This means that we get the impression of our characters, but not a lot of development. Can Katchoo remain that over-the-top for the entire series, or is she going to calm down a bit? What romantic direction is this going to go in, with her having a crush on her best friend and a [what?] with David. And we have a sketch in the background of a peeping-tom neighbor and his alcoholic wife. There are many pieces that could be picked up, and the story is good enough to make that interesting rather than annoying.
So I say that as a contained unit it fails, but in a good way such that I would be interested in the remaining volumes. There are ways to deal with characters effectively in a short format; instead, this volume expects a longer run to come and plans its characterization accordingly over that space. This is like the first episode of a new TV show. Come to think of it, that is very promising considering how often a show needs a season or two to hit its stride. If season one of Buffy was this good, it would be much easier to get people to stick around for the better seasons.
As the introduction to a larger series, it works, and it contains an effective introductory story in a very short space. The characters quickly show who they are, and we get a little episode in Francine and Katchoo's life to show it.
This being a graphic novel, we must consider the art. The art is good. The level of complexity is fairly typical for comics, less detailed than some many but with an eye for realistic bodies that many artists lack. The lines are deceptively simple, expressing much without wasting ink. This works best with Francine, who makes great use of rounded lines and an open face. Katchoo's different emotional range is not as effective, although she is at her best when she is angry (which is a lot). David is that wisp of hair in his face, which works. Freddie and Francine's faces demonstrate the value of images in expressing things that might not come across well in a great many words. Moore is good with faces.
Katchoo's behavior demonstrates some conventions of the medium, which can be offputting in an otherwise realistic approach. The cartoonish violence and introduction of the police seem like a break in tone, an unnecessary concession to comics.
I look forward to more, assuming the library cooperates. This is another of those series where I reserve the right to revise a rating based on the quality of later volumes, and I do not yet know if I can recommend buying them if your library cannot help you.
We have a series of Amazon links this time, since it has been collected variously:
Hardcover (the version I read and am reviewing, which seems to be out of print)
Paperback
Pocket-sized (smaller pages, includes the next volume of the series, which is another 13 issues)
I'm a stranger here myself, so you might want to check Wikipedia and figure out which version suits your needs. Or just see what they have at the local library and go with that.
Friday, June 02, 2006
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
Translated from the Italian I Promessi Sposi by Bruce Penman
Rating: 3 - worth reading once (borrow it from a library)
Good, long, but suitably rewarding for the effort put it. If you frequently have trouble identifying sarcasm on the internet, you may have difficulty with the author's intent in the many ironic passages, but it should not be that hard on you. If you only read one book in your life translated from the Tuscan dialect, try some Dante, but this is a classic in Italian schools the way To Kill a Mockingbird is in the United States (or at least this part of the US). This is easier reading than La Comedia at any rate.
The major arc of The Betrothed follows two young lovers, Lucia and Renzo, who are prevented from marrying by the interference of a lustful noble. Things then take a series of turns for the worse. About half of our time, however, is spent on digressions into the life stories of various characters and a political history of the area. These serve as a rich backdrop to a tale of few but thoroughly explored events.
We do spend much of our time away on tangents, perhaps half the book or more. Father Cristoforo has his chapters, La Signora has hers, and so does the Unnamed. We learn about the political economy of grain, peasants' problems with mercenary armies, and the charitable works of a Cardinal. Twice, we spend a good portion of a chapter exploring the books in libraries.
On the plus side, this gives you a lot of context. Manzoni may or may not have expected his work to be read two centuries later on another continent, but the material gives you all the information you need to make sense of things. Perhaps a bit of Catholic catechism could help the modern American audience, but I think most westerners have at least a passing familiarity with Christianity. Dogma may not have taught you everything you wanted to know about Catholicism, but this will give you a more sympathetic crash course. You do not need to know anything about peasantry, noble houses, or the warring city states to read the book. It helps, but you can get by easily enough even if you have never heard of Cardinal Richelieu.
On the down side, there is not a lot in the way of story. If you just came for a tale about the betrothed, I can sum that up for you in a few sentences. Instead, you get a lot of smaller stories united with Lucia and Renzo as the frame. They do not build on each other terribly well, but each is usually worth reading on its own. You can skim the side stories that do not interest you.
The detail is extensive. We really dwell upon an event, a conversation, a day in the life of a peasant. You will hear characters' thoughts at length, with much indirect characterization. Prayers and holy exhortations are carried out fully. Discussions are not summarized where they can be spelled out, although more is done in summary as the book goes on.
Verbal irony is everywhere. On page two, we learn about how helpful the foreign soldiers are in reducing the amount that farmers need to harvest. When we explore a scholar's library, the mistakes he has learned from each shelf are explained as the flower of his learning. Hypocrisy and weak will are shown rather than explained. While large masses of people may be described as fools and idiots, individuals are given the loving and subtle treatment they merit.
The language is fresh and approachable. Much of this is probably Penman's translation rather than Manzoni's original, but I have no way of knowing. It is written to be read, not to give an air of This Is A Classic. There is clarity and humor. I congratulate the author and the translator as appropriate for an excellent piece of work. The content remains timely; replace "flour" with "oil" and "bread" with "gasoline," and chapter 12 is a story from last month.
In a sense, no group comes off well, but everyone has a chance. The commoners are more sinned against than sinning, but their ignorant self-immolation nearly destroys Milan two years in a row. The nobles are rapacious scoundrels who exist only by force of arms, but some are truly of noble character and others are not beyond redemption. The church is full of weaklings and makes an excellent tool for the oppression of inconvenient people, but it is also the book's fountainhead of heroism and hope. The rulers, however, seem unmitigatedly like Greek gods, engaging in their games heedless of the people trampled beneath them.
Because the assorted digressions do not come together as perfectly as Douglas Adams, I think some editing would serve the book well. We already have The Princess Bride's book-within-a-book structure, so separating a core story from all the attachments could help. Or maybe that would ruin everything, since as I said, the story itself is brief.
I think I just wanted to get that Princess Bride link in there. How is it that a story with almost no action at all reminds me of it? If you have only seen the film, try Goldman's book sometime. But I digress...
PTN book club discussion of The Betrothed
Amazon link
Rating: 3 - worth reading once (borrow it from a library)
Good, long, but suitably rewarding for the effort put it. If you frequently have trouble identifying sarcasm on the internet, you may have difficulty with the author's intent in the many ironic passages, but it should not be that hard on you. If you only read one book in your life translated from the Tuscan dialect, try some Dante, but this is a classic in Italian schools the way To Kill a Mockingbird is in the United States (or at least this part of the US). This is easier reading than La Comedia at any rate.
The major arc of The Betrothed follows two young lovers, Lucia and Renzo, who are prevented from marrying by the interference of a lustful noble. Things then take a series of turns for the worse. About half of our time, however, is spent on digressions into the life stories of various characters and a political history of the area. These serve as a rich backdrop to a tale of few but thoroughly explored events.
We do spend much of our time away on tangents, perhaps half the book or more. Father Cristoforo has his chapters, La Signora has hers, and so does the Unnamed. We learn about the political economy of grain, peasants' problems with mercenary armies, and the charitable works of a Cardinal. Twice, we spend a good portion of a chapter exploring the books in libraries.
On the plus side, this gives you a lot of context. Manzoni may or may not have expected his work to be read two centuries later on another continent, but the material gives you all the information you need to make sense of things. Perhaps a bit of Catholic catechism could help the modern American audience, but I think most westerners have at least a passing familiarity with Christianity. Dogma may not have taught you everything you wanted to know about Catholicism, but this will give you a more sympathetic crash course. You do not need to know anything about peasantry, noble houses, or the warring city states to read the book. It helps, but you can get by easily enough even if you have never heard of Cardinal Richelieu.
On the down side, there is not a lot in the way of story. If you just came for a tale about the betrothed, I can sum that up for you in a few sentences. Instead, you get a lot of smaller stories united with Lucia and Renzo as the frame. They do not build on each other terribly well, but each is usually worth reading on its own. You can skim the side stories that do not interest you.
The detail is extensive. We really dwell upon an event, a conversation, a day in the life of a peasant. You will hear characters' thoughts at length, with much indirect characterization. Prayers and holy exhortations are carried out fully. Discussions are not summarized where they can be spelled out, although more is done in summary as the book goes on.
Verbal irony is everywhere. On page two, we learn about how helpful the foreign soldiers are in reducing the amount that farmers need to harvest. When we explore a scholar's library, the mistakes he has learned from each shelf are explained as the flower of his learning. Hypocrisy and weak will are shown rather than explained. While large masses of people may be described as fools and idiots, individuals are given the loving and subtle treatment they merit.
The language is fresh and approachable. Much of this is probably Penman's translation rather than Manzoni's original, but I have no way of knowing. It is written to be read, not to give an air of This Is A Classic. There is clarity and humor. I congratulate the author and the translator as appropriate for an excellent piece of work. The content remains timely; replace "flour" with "oil" and "bread" with "gasoline," and chapter 12 is a story from last month.
In a sense, no group comes off well, but everyone has a chance. The commoners are more sinned against than sinning, but their ignorant self-immolation nearly destroys Milan two years in a row. The nobles are rapacious scoundrels who exist only by force of arms, but some are truly of noble character and others are not beyond redemption. The church is full of weaklings and makes an excellent tool for the oppression of inconvenient people, but it is also the book's fountainhead of heroism and hope. The rulers, however, seem unmitigatedly like Greek gods, engaging in their games heedless of the people trampled beneath them.
Because the assorted digressions do not come together as perfectly as Douglas Adams, I think some editing would serve the book well. We already have The Princess Bride's book-within-a-book structure, so separating a core story from all the attachments could help. Or maybe that would ruin everything, since as I said, the story itself is brief.
I think I just wanted to get that Princess Bride link in there. How is it that a story with almost no action at all reminds me of it? If you have only seen the film, try Goldman's book sometime. But I digress...
PTN book club discussion of The Betrothed
Amazon link
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