Quatermass' Book Reading Blog 3: Revenge of the Sequel

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Book 96...

REVIEW: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: The Lost Memory by Junichi Fujisaku, translated by Camelliah Nieh

Having enjoyed Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell mangas, as well as the television show, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, I have come to a spin-off novel based on the latter. This is really just to kill time, before the last books of this current book-reading blog...

A new group of terrorists are attacking targets around Japan, apparently emerging in a way not dissimilar to the Laughing Man case. Teenage boys, apparently without any motive other than frustration, begin terrorist acts. Dubbed the 'Good Morning Terrorists', they are the new investigative targets of Section 9. Between terrorists, arms dealers, purveyors of erotic cybermemories, military schools, and the renowned head of a Middle Eastern state, Major Motoko Kusanagi and her comrades have their work cut out for them...

Having watched a good chunk of Stand Alone Complex, I already have a good idea of how these characters should act and sound, and to the credit of both the author and the translator, they do act and sound like the characters should. The other characters, however, do not quite grab me as much, save for a peddler in cyberdreams, Yo Kazei, a disaffected teen, and the mysterious Satoru Sakami, who drives much of the plot.

While the story is pretty good, it still feels reminiscent, on many levels, of similar plots used in both the series and the manga. I am reminded of what Malcolm Hulke once said to Terrance Dicks when Doctor Who was going to have the titular character exiled to Earth: that only two types of story were possible, 'mad scientist', or 'alien invasion'. There are many threads in this novel that remind me of both the Laughing Man plotline, as well as the episode Idolator. The writing style was a little flat, and not as engrossing as I would have expected. And the conclusion feels altogether too rushed and dissatisfying.

Even so, The Lost Memory is a decent enough book. Ghost in the Shell fans might like it, and there may even be non-fans who might like it if they gave it a go.


8/10

First words: The man's hands shook as he grasped the control stick.

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers)

I intend to finish when I reach 100. I hope to make number 100 The Stand by Stephen King, and the three between (not in any particular order) will probably be Romanitas by Sophie McDougall, Nation by Terry Pratchett, and Doctor Who: The Well-Mannered War by Gareth Roberts.

I may begin another book-reading blog later in the year, once I regain the motivation and have some more books to read.

Book 97...

REVIEW: Nation by Terry Pratchett


I have to be honest, I'm not exactly a fan of Terry Pratchett's non-Discworld books. I've only read his collaboration with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens. To tell the truth, I was a little annoyed when Nation came out, as it wasn't a Discworld novel, and I was eagerly awaiting the next one. However, now that I have finally read it, I must apologise. Nation may not rank at the top of Pratchett's works, but it is still an excellent work...

In a world very much, but not quite our own, around the middle of the 19th century, an epidemic races through England, demolishing most of the royal family. The next people in line to the throne are in the distant Pelagic Ocean, and one of them is about to become involved in a disaster of major proportions. Meanwhile, on a distant island, Mau is undergoing a ritual, on an island away from his Nation, to turn him into a man. Leaving his boy's soul behind, he leaves the Boy's Island back for the Nation, where he will be given a man's soul. But a tsunami intervenes, and soon, Mau is the only survivor of his Nation, a boy with no soul. But he is not alone. A teenaged girl called Ermintrude 'Daphne' Fanshaw, daughter of the Governor of the Pelagic Territories, was washed up here with the remains of her boat, and this English girl must learn how to co-exist with this native boy, who is suffering from the loss of his family and friends, and of his faith in the gods. More people come to the reborn, fledgling Nation, but not all of them have good intentions...

Being a more-or-less alternate history novel, with a faint dash of fantasy, the premise is intriguing. While it is made fairly clear from the outset that one of the driving forces of the story is Daphne being the next in line to the throne of England, that, refreshingly, takes a backseat to the real story, about shattered faith and people. Terry Pratchett is far too canny a man to patronise a primitive people (indeed, there are some surprises on that score), and neither the European viewpoint or the Nation's viewpoint are viewed as incorrect. It's more about challenging preconceptions on both sides.

Mau, for example, struggles with shattered belief, and he struggles with the voices of his ancestors, as well as that of the local death god, Locaha. Convinced that he doesn't have a soul, or more properly, an identity, he manages to create one through his ordeals. Daphne struggles with the preconceptions of her society towards so-called savages, not to mention the preconceptions of society towards a girl of intelligence (she has an enquiring, scientific mind, something her grandmother detests). Most of the actual laugh-out-loud comedy comes from Daphne and Mau's initial interactions, but there is a strong element of satire, especially towards preconceptions and superstition.

The storyline, while basic, is a good one, and is really, most of all, about, beyond the themes mentioned above, surviving and learning to get along. There are interesting twists and turns, and the ending is sentimental, albeit in a good way. It's not quite a happy ending, but it's a good one all the same.

However, this is a story about character, and here, Pratchett really delivers. This is a story without villains, at least at first, unless you count the gods Mau rails against, or perhaps the mildly antagonistic, but otherwise sympathetic priest Ataba, who is believably written. But then, the mutineers arrive, with Cox being a well done villain, but reminiscent, in some ways, of previous Discworld villains (Cox reminds me of Vorbis from Small Gods, had Vorbis been more thuggish and less priestly) who push the boundaries because they can, and enjoy it.

If there is any fault to this book, it is that it doesn't quite have a more complex storyline. It's more about characters and themes. While this isn't truly a bad thing, I feel that there could have been a little more. Not only that, but there was no real explanation of why the Grandfathers suddenly shut up, and I feel that there wasn't quite as much comedy as one would expect from Pratchett. And Daphne demanding that she be put on trial, plus the trial itself, seemed a little superfluous, its only real purpose to explain the mutineers' background.

All in all, though, Nation was an excellent book. Not Terry Pratchett's absolute finest, but certainly of the high standard one expects from him.


9/10

First words: Imo set out one day to catch some fish, but there was no sea.

Last words: The old man smiled, and believed.

Book 98...

REVIEW: Doctor Who: The Well-Mannered War by Gareth Roberts


A certain amount of echoing lies within this particular book-reading blog. Earlier, I reviewed Gareth Roberts' first Doctor Who book, The Highest Science. Now, as my book-reading blog draws to a close, I come to his last book, at least before the new series, and the last Missing Adventure novel published, The Well-Mannered War...

Far in the future, a war has been raging for quite some time between a group of human colonists from Metralubit, and a group of Chelonians over the planet Barclow. But it is a strange war, where there have been no truly aggressive acts for years, and the opposing commanders are friends who make amusing and token gestures of aggression. But the war is beginning to heat up. A committee for the humans on Metralubit has finally decided to give the go-ahead for all-out conflict. Missile strikes on both sides are beginning to escalate the conflict, and something dark is possessing the soldiers. Arriving on Barclow by accident, the Doctor, Romana, and K9 are swiftly separated. While the Doctor must persuade the Chelonians of a danger from the past, Romana renews an acquaintance with opinionated artist Menlove Stokes, who cryogenically froze himself to find a time where his art would be appreciated. K9 finds himself a potential electoral candidate on Metralubit, and intends to participate in an election to help the Doctor and Romana. But why are Metralubits' Femdroids, led by Galatea, intent on covering up some terrible truth? What is the Darkness? And is there another manipulating events from behind the scenes?

Gareth Roberts, I must say, knows how to capture the feel of 1979-vintage Who perfectly, combining humour and drama in just the right amounts to make it feel like the stories of that time, without making it too silly. The Romance of Crime, his first Missing Adventure, was the epitome of this. While The Well-Mannered War is not quite at the same level as The Romance of Crime, it is still a good work.

While the Doctor does get things to do, most of the work of driving the story forward seems to fall to Romana and K9, not unlike The Horns of Nimon. A little disappointing to see the Doctor mostly struggling to persuade either the Chelonian commander Jafrid or a political protestor/revolutionary called Fritchoff of his bona fides, but it still works. Out of the non-regulars, these two stand out, with Jafrid being a more humane Chelonian than the ones seen in The Highest Science, and Fritchoff being a marvellous riff on political protestors and a reference to the similar Monty Python characters of Dennis the peasant from The Holy Grail and the People's Front of Judaea from Life of Brian. Galatea is also an interesting character, with more hidden depths to her than her glamourous Femdroid body would suggest, and Menlove Stokes makes a welcome return, with his true allegiances being shocking to all Who fans.

The story, while simple, does have some very intriguing twists in it, with the ending parts having more twists than a corkscrew. The ending itself is quite well done and leaves the series of books on an ambiguous note, albeit one that fits in well with the ethos of Doctor Who. The main villain is an unusual one as well, and while not completely original, is an interesting take on a concept done often in science fiction.

I feel that the story could have been a little more complex, and some of the twists didn't have enough leading up to it. Some of the secondary characters were a non-event, a marked contrast to The Romance of Crime, which was filled with a number of colourful characters.

Even so, The Well-Mannered War was a good send-off to the Missing Adventures. Seeing since this will also be the last Doctor Who book I review for this blog, it is fitting too as well. A good, intriguing story with an out-of-the-blue ending that will knock your socks off...


8.5/10

First words: The Darkness turned slowly through the Metra system, its bulk blotting out the stars as it passed.

Last words: Together they pressed the button.

The last two books in the book-reading blog will be Strata by Terry Pratchett, followed by the 100th book, The Stand by Stephen King.

Last edited by Quatermass on 23 Mar 2011, 9:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ooh, I should get that. I like reading books-of-the-film.

The Stand is an excellent book, but I would love to hear your review of Stieg Larsson eventually. I started Dragon Tattoo but immediately lost interest and want to know if I should go back

Maybe, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. And it's not a novelisation. It's what they adapted the movies from. That being said, there was a novelisation of John Carpenter's version of The Thing...



Well, you may have a while to wait until I can get my motivation back up. Not to mention finding books that I want to read. It may be some months before I do this again, never mind reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

"Book-what-inspired-the-film" was too long for my lazy fingers. Just read Nothing Lasts Forever ("Die Hard"), it was canny. But yeah, Amazon wanted ten quid and that's pushing it too far.

Book 99...

REVIEW: Strata by Terry Pratchett


I have enjoyed Terry Pratchett's Discworld theories, but my forays into his non-Discworld fiction have been rather potted. Indeed, it wasn't until this book-reading blog that I really attempted to do so. Good Omens, co-written with Neil Gaiman, was good, but wasn't as good as I thought it would be with all the hype. Nation was a different matter entirely, showing that Pratchett could really excel when not writing Discworld, even if it wasn't his best novel. And now I come to one of his earlier books, before he wrote Discworld. But Strata shows many of the ideas that would later come into play in the Discworld series...

Kin Arad builds planets, strata by strata, on behalf of the Company, which builds planets to help keep humanity diverse. But when someone shows her evidence of a world shaped like a disc, this seems to go far beyond the practical jokes some of her engineers place into the strata of artificial worlds. Accompanied by a paranoid four-armed green alien, and a giant bear-like alien with ritual cannibalism concepts, Kin must investigate this discworld, and find out why it exists. What they find there will astound them...

I'll have to be brutally honest: Strata is mediocre, compared to Pratchett's later works. The imagination is there, but the magic of his later books, not to mention their structure and character isn't. This seems like a mishmash of concepts from various sources, written well before Pratchett was in his writing prime.

There are many imaginative concepts. The concept of a disc-world in a science fiction setting is done well, as are many of the other concepts in the story, even if the whole idea of building planets and layering them with care seems blatantly out of Douglas Adams. And the concepts in the last few pages are intriguing.

But the story is a singular adventure romp that makes The Colour of Magic look complex. While there are some interesting surprises in seeing our history from another point of view, the story is basically about getting from A to B, and it doesn't do it quite well enough, trying escapades that are spread out too thin. The ending is a little confusing as well.

The characters, too, are not quite right, with only Kin Arad seeming to stand out with any kind of true depth. Silver and Marco appear to be rather two-dimensional, one-note characters, and the other characters seem to be but mere bit players, there to say their piece and bugger off afterwards.

Strata was disappointing. Not actually bad, but certainly mediocre. It was, however, one of Terry Pratchett's first works, and so could be forgiven, in light of his later successes...


6.5/10

First words: It was, of course, a beautiful day- a Company brochure day.

Last words: The ship fell onwards, into the scenery.

Now, time to finish the last half or so of The Stand, my final book for this book-reading blog...

The grand finale of this book-reading blog, book 100...

REVIEW: The Stand by Stephen King

For reasons of time, a dwindling of supplies of unread literature, and simple fatigue, I have decided to make my hundredth book in this book-reading blog my last. And I have saved a true monster for that last one. Stephen King is one of the most ubiquitous authors in the world, with a number of books that have become classics in many genres, particularly horror and supernatural fiction. Perhaps one of his greatest works is the epic post-apocalyptic novel The Stand...

It starts with such a simple thing. A containment door fails to close. A man escapes from a military compound. But it sparks off the worse epidemic in human history, for this unleashes Captain Trips, a biological weapon in the form of a superflu. As America descends into chaos and the government resorts to worse and worse means of stopping it, it starts to become clear that the end of the world is just the beginning. For after the end, two major groups will arise in America. One will be led by Mother Abagail, psychic and devotee to God. The other by Randall Flagg, the mysterious, practically demonic smiling man who roams America's roads, spreading chaos where he goes. From Stu Redman, a service station attendant who was the only person to survive initial contact with the first victim of Captain Trips, to the Trashcan Man, psychotic pyromaniac, from Fran Goldsmith and Harold Lauder, young people thrown together by death, to Larry Underwood, a jerky entertainer. From Lloyd Heinred, armed robber to the deaf-mute Nick Andros. They must take sides, for soon, there will be a stand between good and evil, for the future of America...

I'll confess, I actually liked the Left Behind books, for a time, as something of a guilty pleasure before my misotheism kicked into full gear. The emphasis on God in The Stand and the post-apocalyptic setting reminds me of that series, but Stephen King, while a little preachy about it compared to his other books, is a masterful enough writer to not let it interfere too much with the story.

The characters are all wide and varied, and while there are one or two cardboard cutouts and a few stereotypes, they are still interesting. It is also in this book that we meet Randall Flagg, who would go on to be a villain in the Dark Tower books, for the first time. The main villain of the book, particularly of the second half, he is handled rather well, his appearance being built up little by little, so that he is bloody terrifying. One excellent scene is where one of his henchmen screws something up, and Flagg, from apparently out of nowhere, charges him down with a big grin on his face, and kills him in a manner that King claims is worse than crucifixion ('There were teeth' are the last words of that particular sequence).

The story is big, huge, and convoluted. King is excellent at writing atmosphere, and it shows, especially in the US government's handling of Captain Trips, which is absolutely horrifying, perhaps more so than the flu itself, and pretty much on the level of Flagg's later antics. The fact that he manages to handle all the various characters and their disparate storylines (at least at the start of the novel) is amazing. He manages to keep all the balls in the air, and make consistent development to his characters.

I found a few issues with The Stand, though, unlike The Shining. The stuff about God gets too preachy at times (shades of Left Behind), the book gets too travelogue-y at times too (King said that he wanted to emulate Lord of the Rings, and he wasn't kidding about emulating Tolkien's own 'travelogue' bits), not to mention padding a lot of thing, and a few characters fall flat, or else grate too much. The Boulder Free Zone sequences also seem too bland at times, seemingly there more as filler. King stated that he had writer's block at around that time, and his solution is rather fitting.

Still, The Stand is an excellent book, one of the best post-apocalyptic novels of our time. This book certainly shows why Stephen King is considered a master writer, and how he can make a book you can beat a goat to death with an enjoyable read after all...


9/10

First words: 'Sally.'

Last words: And it always, at the end, came round to the same place again.


Okay, this will be the last book in this current book-reading blog. But there may be a new one later this year, depending.

While this current book-reading blog is over, there will be another one later in the year, for any of you following this.

That being said, I've read over two hundred books in just under two years. New books that I haven't fully read before. And I think it fitting that, later on, I do a books awards ceremony. Just because.

Watch this space...

I may be reviving this blog in a month or so. The problem is motivation and new books. The latter I can obtain, while the former is building back up. But I have commitments elsewhere for the time being.