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Still reading I haven't been spending as much time doing fun reading as I would like; schoolwork is still getting in the way, despite this being winter vacation. But I'm also enjoying seeing old friends over the break as well. As for reading news, Sophie's World is finally getting interesting: halfway through the book, Gaarder is finally moving past Renaissance philosophy into the more interesting (and familiar) words of Descartes and the more modern philosophers. Here's where my fairly scant knowledge of philosophy might allow me to make more intelligent criticisms or praises of Gaarder's work. Steven Brust's Orca is also pretty interesting; like Athyra, Brust plays with the viewpoints here: at times we see things from Vlad's eyes, and at times from Kiera's (a welcome change). But, like Athyra, Orca suffers a little from being just plain boring. Essentially, Vlad is trying to uncover a financial scandal. Whee! Well, I'm only about 70 pages into it, so it might get more exciting, but I definitely remember the mystery in Jhereg being far more compelling. By the way, I have actually started A Suitable Boy—byt that beast moves more slowly than any book I've ever read. Many, many pages in, and he's still writing about the !@#$)*# wedding! Perhaps it will get better—probably when it suddenly calls out to the hopeless romantic within me. New Review: Steven Brust's Athyra ADDED a review of Steven Brust's Athyra. The Vlad series is slowly losing its appeal for me, but I'm pushing onward to Orca, the next book in the series, nevertheless. I'm also planning on seeing the Lord of the Rings movie today—frabjous joy! Finally, I'm still sorry about reading both of Connie Willis's books within the space of a few days: I really miss the joy of plowing through a thick but enthralling book. Ah well: she's not the only great writer in the world, and I'm sure I'll find other places where I can immerse myself in the narrative. New Reviews: Lots of them ADDED reviews of David Eddings's Magician's Gambit (completed 12/20/01), Castle of Wizardry (completed 12/21/01), and Enchanter's Endgame (completd 12/22/01); Steven Brust's Phoenix (completed 12/22/01); and Connie Willis's Doomsday Book (completed 12/23/01) and To Say Nothing of the Dog (completed 12/26/01). New Review: David Eddings's Queen of Sorcery ADDED a review of David Eddings's Queen of Sorcery. As with Pawn of Prophecy, I liked the second book in the Belgariad quite a bit. New Review: David Eddings's Pawn of Prophecy ADDED a review of David Eddings's Pawn of Prophecy. For some reason, I ended up enjoying the book a great deal, which is why I'm continuing on with Queen of Sorcery, the second book in the sequence. However, I think I'll actually start reading Phoenix too, since I've been putting that off. I still haven't had a chance to go to the library to check out A Suitable Boy; perhaps after I return from my family trip I'll make an effort to go do that. Still reading I have some other stuff to take care of right now, so my reading is suffering a bit. Pawn of Prophecy proceeds. I'm leaving for a family vacation in two days, so there'll be about a week of no reviews; I'm sure my many readers will be able to withstand the withdrawal. Pawn of Prophecy getting better David Eddings's Pawn of Prophecy is definitely improving as I read along. Although it's still terribly cliched, there's a reason why the fantasy genre copies the same tropes over and over again: it works. And, as with the Shannara series, and with The Wheel of Time, and other fantasy series I've forgotten, the cliches are working their magic. I'm about halfway done with the book; I hope to have a review up within a day or two, at which point I can seriously dig into Phoenix and A Suitable Boy. New Review: Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers ADDED a review of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Unfortunately I was disappointed by it, and found large chunks of it mostly forgettable. Next, since I don't have Taltos with me, I'll be reading Steven Brust's Phoenix, the subsequent book in the series (I'll return to Taltos later). Being at home is very nice, but let's just say that I miss some people. A lot. And reading books, eating good food, and being with family doesn't quite make up for that. Back home for Christmas I'm back home for Christmas now, after taking a very early-morning flight from Boston to LAX. It was cold and rainy in San Marino when I finally got to my house, a real disappointment after the perpetual spring that I had been anticipating since Boston's first snowfall. And right now, in my back patio room, it's actually pretty cold. But I expect things to get better soon. I had an excellent lunch, and so far I've just been loafing around, so it's not as though Christmas vacation is being wasted. Started reading Pawn of Prophecy Thus far, Pawn of Prophecy is perhaps the most cliched fantasy series I've ever read. The prologue reads like a badly transposed version of The Lord of the Ring's pre-history (e.g. The Silmarillion), and it is obvious from the very beginning that Garion is the son of a Great Magician, and Garion will eventually hold the Orb in the Sword and gain Great Powers over the Land (defeating the Evil Dark Lord). Plus, Eddings is not above having people say things "mysteriously," or suddenly weeping when reminded (randomly) of their dead mothers. Well, at least it's an easy read. New Review: John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany ADDED a review of John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany. I didn't like it, but it got better near the end. Next, I will move on to another weighty tome (which, if all goes well, will be A Suitable Boy, at long last). Steve Sachs is a Rhodes Scholar! Today, I have officially become the roommate of a Rhodes Scholar. That's right, Stephen E. Sachs, my roommate of the last three years (except sophomore year), has attained perhaps the highest academic honor that a college student can hope for, and I can't think of anybody more deserving of it. New Review: Steven Brust's Teckla ADDED a review of Steven Brust's Teckla. Three books in three days—whew! Of course, none of them were too long, but that's still a lot more reading than I'd expected to do. If you read my review of Teckla, you'll notice that I'm no longer so excited by the whole Vlad Taltos series. So I probably won't be reading the next book in the series, Taltos, for a while now. Instead, I will begin reading another short and infamous fantasy series: David Eddings's The Belgariad, starting with Pawn of Prophecy. This is supposed to be terrible stereotypical fantasy—but still lots of fun. Oh well; I feel no compulsion to actually read all five books in the series, but if it comes to that I will. New Review: Steven Brust's Yendi ADDED a review of Steven Brust's Yendi. Still a fun book, but not quite as good as Jhereg. I think I will be reading the next book of the series, Teckla, pretty soon. I am also a significant way into Starship Troopers; unfortunately, its roots as a juvenile novel are pretty clear to me, and I find the blatant political propaganda pretty boring (although I liked a similar sort of plot device in The War Against the Chtorr—maybe a sign of my changing tastes?). Today is a day that I can finally relax for a little bit: no really pressing work, and Christmas break only two weeks away! Joy. New Review: Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey ADDED a review for Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey. I read this very short but critically acclaimed novel on a whim, thinking that it was time for me to take a break from science fiction and fantasy; unfortunately, like Breakfast at Tiffany's, it wasn't the wonderful experience that I had been looking for. Three-month anniversary Congratulations to this site! Today my book review page is officially three months old. In the last month, I have read three novels and two graphic novels; I have accordingly added five reviews for a total of 39 reviews. Since I began the site, I have read nine novels and six graphic novels. Not bad overall! In other web-site news: it seems that a lot more people have been visiting the page recently. What seemed to have helped the most was a mention of my page on Pat Nichols's own web site; several MIT people seemed to have unwittingly followed the link to this page. |
Steven Wu's Book Reviews |