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Archive for November, 2011|Monthly archive page


Looking Glass, James R Strickland

In books on November 27, 2011 at 4:43 pm

Cyberpunk! James Strickland delivers the classic elements in Looking Glass – a future United States now carved into different countries, powerful corporations, cyber space, techy jargon, decks, jacking in and action! The strength of this novel is not in offering something insightful and new – but rather in being an intelligent and fascinating recombination of science fiction/cyber punk ideas. If you are a fan of William Gibson‘s Sprawl Trilogy it is safe to say that this is a great read for the atmosphere and the action. A good diversion from the text book I am reading for my current class…

Rating: 3 of 5
First Read Date: September 2011

Looking Glass

Note that in James Strickland’s comment on this post (below) he points out that there is another book in the same world: Irreconcilable Differences – which has now been added to my reading list…

CM


Await Your Reply, Dan Chaon

In books on November 20, 2011 at 9:44 pm

Dan Chaon gives us a clever plot – with several converging stories – and disturbed characters that work together to create an enjoyable and slightly uncomfortable novel. There were sections that certainly made me think about my own life and identity, but overall I was not quite completely hooked/pulled in.

Rating: 3 of 5
First Read Date: July 2010

Amazon – Await Your Reply

CM

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Running the Sahara

In film on November 15, 2011 at 10:08 pm

Running the Sahara – directed by James Moll – follows three athletes as they run across the Sahara Desert. They run (and sometimes walk) thru Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya and Egypt. The film does a great job of showing some of the amazing landscapes that they cross – with small glimpses of the people and cultures that they encounter. The scenes in the vast sands of the Ténéré were fantastic! The film also gives you some insight the incredibly tough physical, political and emotional challenges the expedition faced.

Rating: 4 of 5
First Watch Date: July 2011

H2O Africa Foundation – the film talks briefly about water in Africa and the H2O Africa Foundation who works to create clean water well and enhance lives and communities in Africa.

CM


Recumbent & Tandem Rider Magazine

In magazine on November 10, 2011 at 12:28 pm

A couple of years ago I started riding a Volea recumbent (my 2011 post about my bike). Recumbent bicycles are less common than up-right bikes and there are not as many magazines/publications/books/sites about them. There are some great online sources of information – ‘BentRider Online and the Recumbent Journal are two of the best, but sometimes it is nice (nostalgic?) to read a paper magazine. For Recumbent enthusiasts I only know of two choices – one of them is Recumbent & Tandem Rider Magazine. This quarterly magazine has reviews, tips and articles about subjects such as touring – it is thin (issue 38 was 30 pages) and I am only deeply interested in half of the content (I have never even ridden a tandem) but I love that this magazine is around!

Rating: 3 of 5
First Read Date: late 2010

Recumbent & Tandem Rider Magazine

CM


The Black Company – Glen Cook

In books on November 5, 2011 at 12:03 pm

When I was writing about the Michael Moorcock books that I like I kept trying to remember other fantasy novels that I really loved… I remembered the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories from Fritz Leiber – but they were just not quite ‘classics’ for me, I have never made it very far into the The Two Towers without loosing interest (either as a teenager or an adult – just not what I love) – but then I remembered Glen Cook‘s Black Company series! The Black Company follows the adventures of a mercenary unit made up of interesting and questionable characters thru adventures and battles filled with magic and deceit. I think the hook with these books is the continual backstabbing and morally ambiguous situations – somehow they make the stories more interesting and familiar… Besides, how can you go wrong with a series that includes characters named Soulcatcher, The Limper, The Howler, The Hanged Man, Moonbiter and The Faceless Man (among many others…)! I enjoyed the first three books in the series – The Books of the North – the most, and if you like those it is certainly worth continuing with the later novels.

Rating: 4 of 5
First Read Date: Late 1980s

CM


Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon… – Michael Moorcock

In books on November 1, 2011 at 7:54 pm

When I was younger the Michael Moorcock books that I read were exactly the fantasy novels that I was looking for – interesting worlds, amazing battles, intrigue, magic, fast pace, varied heros and a huge number of books to discover. I certainly didn’t love everything I read, but some of my favorites were:

Corum Jhaelen Irsei – classic tragic hero Corum, last of his race, helps the Mabden against the Gods.

Dorian Hawkmoon – in a post-apocolypic setting Hawkmoon seeks the magical Runestaff.

Elric of Melniboné – the adventures of Elric – a classic anti-hero, alienated from his people and dependent on a sword that steals souls.

All of these books are part of Moorcock’s Eternal Champion Sequence, a set of books where the ‘heros’ are incarnations of the Eternal Champion and the worlds are part of a multiverse (this occasionally allows the various incarnations to meet – Corum, Hawkmoon and Elric meet in several different books).

I have read very few fantasy books over the last decade and these strike me as a very specific genre/taste – but for me they are fun to occasionally re-visit (Elric and Corum most of all) and I appreciate the imagination, grand scope and adventure!

Rating: 4 of 5
First Read Date: Late 1980s

Moorcock’s Miscellany – a great site where Michael Moorcock (“Mike”) actively and frequently participates in the forums – this is a fun place to visit if you have any interest in Michael Moorcock.

CM

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