Category Archives: Reviews

Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin

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I wanted so much more from A Dance with Dragons, I really did. What I got was a rehash of Feast with a tiny nibble towards the end of the book.

The hardest part about reading this book was that I had already read a lot of it. Most of it takes place during Feast so at best it was what someone else was doing and at worst the exact same chapter with the thought bubbles reversed. It wasn’t until Martin caught up with himself that the story started getting interesting again. Of course he does away with the only piece of information in Feast that was worth while. So you could skp Feast and get most of the pertinant information, though it might be worth while to read Arya’s chapters and and the end of Cersei’s.

As for Dance, the profficy continues, I’m not sure whether John is justified or not and frankly, I cheered for Greyjoy when he jumped the wall. There is no doubt that Martin is a great writer, but he can’t seem to separate the wheat from the chaff in his own writing.

How to Write Comic Books by Peter David

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I love Peter David. His sense of humor and writing style was a dear friend during my high school years in form of Star Trek books. I have enjoyed his comics and his novels.

So when I saw this book I had to pick it up.

How to write for comic books is one of the most interesting writing books I’ve picked up. His basic advice on characters, plot, and writing are priceless and filled with interesting ancedotes about writing for Marvel. The book goes into detail on who to write for the major comic publishers, format, and selling your work as well.

For the general writer, his essays on creating characters are excellent. He shows you how to give a character depth and then provides examples from major comic characters such the Hulk. The examples are priceless and for this reason alone I’d recommend this book to any writer.

For those of you wanting to write for comics, this is a must read. David gives examples for full creators as well as collaborators and valuable industry information.

Prisoner’s Base by Rex Stout

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I first became fascinated by this story watching the Nero Wolfe series with Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton. Priscilla Eads comes by to stay with Wolfe and Goodwin until a certain. They turn her out and she ends up dead, but that’s not the worst part. No, it gets much worse as Archie tries to solve the murder case without the help of Wolfe.

The part that fascinates me is the game prisoner’s base. Trying to get from one point to another without being tagged is a thrill for nearly everyone. When Archie is honestly trying to save Sara, an associate / one time friend of Ms. Eads, he does the best he can from across town with only a 50′s era telephone system.

The show was very close to the book. I keep reading that part over and over. I’m weird like that.

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

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Doctor Zhivago follows Yuri and Lara as they grow up, marry, and live through the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the civil war afterward. Their life goes from one of privilege and opportunity to running for their lives through the Russian wilderness. Like most books in this genre, people disappear, and everyone dies alone.

It’s a lesson in realizing that people cannot be held up to altruism. History shows that no matter the intent, a group in power rarely stays with the ideals they start with.

Feast of Crows by George R. R. Martin

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I saved reading this book until the next came out and I was warned. And while I remained hopeful, Feast of Crows could have been summed up (and was summed up in Storm of Swords) in much less time. The important points could have been summed up.

I’m on the fence on whether or not they should have been.

Overall, good writing continues. I think we could have had much less of Cersei. I mean, we know she’s crazy and stupid, I don’t need hundreds of pages of reminders. I thought it was funny that the answer to every questions, comment and prophecy was Daenerys. Seems like a tiny bundle though if that’s going to be end of this opus.

Rereading Storm of Swords and Observations on Feast of Crows

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I’ve reviewed Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin before on this blog. I still cried when Sansa made Winterfell; I still hated that the Starks kept missing each other; and I still cheered a bit for Tyrion and Jaime.

Then I finally picked up Feast of Crows. I have been putting off reading this one because I knew he was working on a fifth and now sixth book. If you read my blog then you know that if I have comments on a book I’m not finished with, there are issues.

Martin is missing something. Somewhere along the line, he decided that every minor character must have their say. He’s now giving full chapters to Head of Guards, The Priest, etc. These don’t further the story anymore than one sentence would. Instead of a couple of thousand words from the Head of the Guards, he could have said, “Dorne may go to war with the Lannisters” which he did say in Storm of Swords. Instead of a chapter from the priestly Greyjoy, he could have said, “Now with Balon dead, the ironmen are fighting over their next ruler.”

I’m staring at a 1000 pages of fluff. Stuff that the author knows that we really don’t need to know. Martin isn’t writing a story any more. He’s interviewing characters. We already know that Cersei is batshit crazy, being in her head doesn’t help matters. Martin isn’t answering questions but harping on what we already know from the last three books. I have yet to find any story forwarding material in Feast of Crows. I’m hesitant to say you can skip this book…but I am afraid that when it comes time to review the fourth Song of Ice and Fire book, that I’ll be able to say you can skip this and you’ll never know the difference.

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

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They were already going to war but everyone wanted their own king. I don’t know a better way to sum up A Clash of Kings.  The Seven Kingdoms already have war on their hands against the Lannisters but they splinter inside themselves creating a bigger problem.

We have a few new POVs in this book, but otherwise if the character lived through the last book we still hear from them. I continue to like Tyrion, and Arya. I’m not sure what’s going to happen to the characters next as far as this book goes (pretend this is not a re-read). I thought that reading this book again may change my mind about Catelyn, however she is to blame for most of what happens and continues to be someone I have no sympathy for.

It is a good middle book.  Though I wish it was the only middle book. On to A Storm of Swords.

A Dark History: The Roman Emperors From Julius Ceasar to the Fall of Rome by Michael Kerrigan

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Another of the series of Dark History from Barnes & Noble. Interesting but fails at the same sensationalism that the other books do. The author repeats over and over about the horrid things that were done but refrains from details. Pullouts are out of context and boxes tend to change the subject. The text itself is stilted and tends to jump around five or six reigns without an effort to keep them straight.

The art is phenomenal. The photographs of statues, so life-like you expect them to move, are impressive. And the captions contain more info than the text, like the other books.

I’m kind of regretting buying this series but they are alright.

The Nighttime Novelist by Joseph Bates

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I picked up this book hoping for some inspirational stories about writing a novel when you have time. I didn’t get that. This is a book teaching plot, character and writing structure. That’s fine but I have a million of these. Only the last chapter deals with writing when you have time and is mostly a list of cliches you can find in a Google search.

The book is really for a beginning writer. If you don’t know story structure this may be a good resource for you.