Books
20.
Leviathan Wakes, by James S.A. Corey
This book came highly recommended (above another space opera book I had on my list of books to read this year, in fact), and it's the basis of a new show on Syfy, so it seemed like a good time to see what the hype was about. And because I chose the physical book over the ebook, as I try to do more often than not, the first reaction I had about the book was about how I didn't like how it felt in my hand. It's a long book at 592 pages (though about 30 are used for an interview with the authors and a preview of the sequel), but it wasn't as heavy as a 592 page book would be. The cover felt too flimsy, the paper stock for the pages inside too light. And it's an unwieldy book to read on the train; the pages were light enough that they would go flying when I stood in my preferred spot under the subway's air-conditioning vents, so reading the book on the train would often require two hands. I had slightly more luck reading the book at home, which meant that I wasn't reading the book as often as I would have liked, which meant that it took me much longer to generate the momentum to finish the book than I would have liked. These are the complaints of the physical realm.
For a book of such length, I thought the plot rushed to its conclusion. It was clear when the narrative momentum picked up, but I was surprised when the resolution arrived. This made me wonder if the book was planned to be the first of a series; the inclusion of a selection from the sequel, Caliban's War, certainly would support that theory. The way the story merges about a third of the way in was a neat narrative trick, at least.
The authors spilt a lot of ink to create the world and the space combat, but the combat never really achieved a sense of place. The Belt, as the authors depicted it, felt mostly realized; the cultural and technological aspects of life on a rock in the Belt were definitely considered, though it's not quite clear who governs and who manages one of these settlements. Since the focus is on the Belt, the Belters' conflicts with Earth and Mars lacks explanation from the Earth or Martian perspective. And we have a stock amoral science fiction corporation that seemed straight out of Aliens. One would almost think that Paul Reiser would be tapped to reprise his role as a sleazy corporate mouthpiece for the Syfy show. The book, by virtue of its split perspective between a detective who worked on a Belt colony and a captain who was focused on keeping his crew alive but had no direct contact with Earth or Martian interests, was unable to explore inner planet motivations.
The authors also seem more impressed by the book's big revelation than it warranted, while the resolution should have been treated by the characters with much more gravity. And I have concerns about the widening scope of the narrative as the authors turn their attention to humanity's expansion to the outer planets and beyond the solar system.
It's not a bad book, and it's not bad space opera. It wasn't quite what I was looking for; the protagonists are people on society's margins who end up playing significant roles, while I think I wanted a story about central people making significant decisions that impact everyone. I am intrigued by the sequels, even though I know the printing won't be any different. I wonder if the authors would consider splitting the point of view further, which might help the problem of exploring motivations of the different actors in the book's worlds.
21.
Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents Sega Arcade Classics Volume 1, by Kurt Kulata
While I waited for the next books on my list to arrive from the library, I pulled this previously unread volume from the bookshelf. I've respected the work that Kurt Kulata and other writers have done in documenting video games of vary9ing levels of notoreity for Hardcore Gaming 101 for some time, and I have some fond but vague memories of watching people play the motorized deluxe arcade versions of Outrun, Space Harrier, and Super Thunder Blade. This book is a solid. well laid-out, and colorful collection of the technical histories of these and other Sega arcade games, and it's the kind of documenting video games' histories that we need since the developers and publishers don't aim to preserve their products' histories.
22.
Erewhon, by Samuel Butler
Erewhon is most famous for its satirical commentary on Victorian values, using a utopia to mount criticism of the beliefs and practices that Butler finds ridiculous in his own society. Specifically, he attacks the attitudes on the ill and unfortunate in society by treating disease as a crime and crime as a disease, which just reminds me of
Cobra. The physically sick are punished, the unfortunate are imprisoned and sentenced to hard labor, and the criminals are treated at hospitals and at their homes by straighteners, which seem similar to psychiatrists. It's a depiction of a denial of common humanity. Butler also targets organized religion by comparing the Anglican church to Erewhon's Musical Banks, which are revered but little visited. The ministers of the Musical Banks are cashiers that deal in valueless currency, and sons are brought into the profession in their infancy when they are impressionable and unable to make the choice consciously. Butler also attacks academia with Erewhon's Colleges of Unreason and industrialization, mechanization, and the resultant dehumanization with the Book of the Machines.
The satirical elements of
Erewhon and its textual relationship with Sir Thomas More's
Utopia have been discussed elsewhere. What interested me were Butler's forewards, which humanized him greatly. Butler would carry his attacks on Victorianism throughout his works until his final novel,
The Way of All Flesh, published post-humously because he feared his attacks would be too contentious. In his second foreward, Butler expresses high hopes for the publication of
Erewhon Revisited, his revised version of
Erewhon. Unfortunately, Butler had great difficulty identifying a publisher for Erewhon Revisited despite Erewhon's commercial success. His attempts to address criticisms of his novel and his optimism for his follow-up work have stayed with me more than his satire of Victorian society or his idea that machines will evolve beyond human imagination and possibly replace or subjugate human beings.
Not a single one this month. I also only watched three movies. One of which was a terrible German tv-only production featuring one of our more annoying "celebrities" in her first movie role. Needles to say that it was rather stupid, but my mother didn't let me change the channel.
