Jungle

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Eric

I’m glad I went back and read this one again in the spot where it’s supposed to land in the series. It was good to see a case that was less complex than a lot of the things that have been created later in the series.

That being said – this particular case was quite short. If I had to guess, I’d say it was because it was part of a comic series / graphic novel.

I’ve never been a huge fan of comics themselves, but I have always loved the art. This particular story is really well done and I very much enjoy the art that goes with it. There was one thing that stuck out to me ~ and it’s part of the reason I’m going back and doing the re-read.

I’ve heard / read some folks that call Harry (the main character in all this) misogynistic. I don’t see it that way, but I’m a guy so my opinion might be biased. Since I’ve heard this complaint in more than one place I’ve tried to take note of various bits that might highlight that for others. This particular case has one thing that struck me as something a person could point their finger at and say “that ~ that’s what I mean”.

Murphy is there. She’s a strong and independent female character, even if she’s conflicted about how she feels about Harry. The villain of the piece is also a woman. There are in fact as more noteworthy strong female characters in here than there are males.

However.

Then there’s Willamena aka ‘Will’ – the assistant to Dr. Reese. She is 110% the damsel in distress. She does nothing but deliver information and need to be rescued. She cowers behind Harry more than once. I hadn’t particularly noticed it before, but I could totally see where people might find this character problematic. I found her a bit annoying, but genuinely realistic. There are some people out there that just can’t “do” the violence / scary situation thing. They freak out. They cower. They fail. It just so happens that this cowering person in need of rescue is a woman. Except… why is it always that way? I didn’t see it before, now I’m questioning it.

I would suggest digging up a copy of the graphic novel and taking a peek for yourself. I think it could be an interesting conversation. On to Storm Front!

Faith

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Eric

My own great re-read of the Dresden files has begun. It will be filled with spoilers and story specific information.

I forget now where I heard about the short story Restoration of Faith first, but I seem to recall that the author was less than happy with it at this point. It was an initial offering in a series that has gone on for a very long time. Anyone that practices their craft for that long is bound to get better and will likely look back at their early work and shake their head.

This story is the first appearance of Murphy. There’s very little detail, but I filled all that in based on all the other stories I’ve read. It gives this short story a bit of a different twist really… or not really a twist but an alternate feeling. Feeling is what came through for me in this short piece.

I still contend that if you’ve not started the Dresden Files you should read this. IF a down on his luck want to be private investigator that happens to also be a wizard doesn’t work for you after this short, you can pass. IF you’re into a guy like that, and you get a good feeling about Harry at the end, you will enjoy the ride.

I’m going to continue to recommend this as a starting point for anyone unfamiliar with the series – and I’ll likely be back to read it again.

Suspense and Re-reading

Posted on March 1, 2020 by Eric

How do you keep somebody in suspense?

I’ll tell you next Tuesday.

Yes, that’s a bit of an old joke, however it can be effective marketing. It can also be a driver for anxiety. I recently entered some art into a contest. The winners of the contest were supposed to be announced last Tuesday.

I waited. I waited. Then I saw the e-mail announcement from that mailing list pop up on my account. With great trepidation I opened the e-mail.

I’m not much of an artist really. I try, but I don’t have any delusions about my talent level. I don’t actually think I’m going to win anything in this contest… intellectually. Emotionally, there’s the teeny spark of hope. Hope can be cruel, so I try to avoid it. Pragmatism. Planning. Realistic options. But I really like this author’s work and it would be so far beyond super cool to be noticed. I’ve shown my contest entry to a few friends and they all seem to think it’s good.

And now you’re waiting for the big reveal… I opened the e-mail and…

Yeah, I felt that way too.

I opened the e-mail and there was a brief statement about how the winners would be announced after an additional week of deliberation. Remember what I said about hope? Yeah, and the anxiety and then the “ARRGH! Another week?!?” because that sliver of hope, like a splinter in my mind will be hanging around until at least Tuesday. I say at least because there’s a deeply cynical part of my mind that has crept out of the dark corner where it lives to say, “Oh, absolutely… THIS Tuesday… for sure…” followed almost immediately by a mangled quote from Wimpy the guy begging for hamburgers in Popeye, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today…”

The really effective part of the marketing / contest strategy is that I’ve been thinking a lot about the series and attempting to remember specific parts. Discussions with other fans have me thinking things like, when he did what again? Some would be fans have written unflattering reviews and taken on points of view that don’t mesh with how I remember things. Turns out that after a decade or so, I’ve forgotten a lot of the details.

I’m going to go back and do a re-read of the entire Dresden files series. I’m actually going to look up where the short stories fit in along the way too. I hope to have this entire re-read finished up before the new book comes out July 14th of this year. It’s a tall order, but I’m up for the challenge.

Once again time to go read A Restoration of Faith, the story that starts the whole thing.

Oh, and the art? I’ll have to tell you on Tuesday.

Jane Hawk

Posted on February 2, 2020 by Eric

The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The story of FBI (or possibly former FBI) agent Jane Hawk hunting down a global conspiracy.

This book was a pick from the science fiction book club. IF you go with the thought process defining science fiction as ‘a story that fails without the science’ then this book fits that definition. There is a science portion here that the book wouldn’t survive without. I would not categorize this as science fiction ~ I’d put it much more into the ‘techno thriller’ category. There are many other aspects of what I consider to be science fiction that don’t actually appear in the book.

This book will bring excellent discussion to our group. There are lots of topics to pick from. Ethics, technology, law enforcement, moral choices, and how far some of the action stretches. I won’t say the story breaks my willingness to ignore my disbelief, but there are certainly a couple of stress points that are being pushed.

There were a couple of spots in the book that I thought made it drag too long. There were a number of details that the writer in me cheered as ‘research done’ so that the story was very grounded in the world we live in. This was OK, but I enjoyed Odd Thomas much more.

View all my reviews

Book Reviews

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Eric

For a while I was writing reviews for a number of different places. I would also post up my reviews over on Goodreads. I haven’t been asked to do any book reviews for any of my sources for quite some time. I am also woefully behind on posting reviews for the works that I have read.

I’m trying to catch up with these ‘missed’ reviews on Goodreads. Normally I’d cross publish all of those reviews here but I suspect I’m going to just hit the highlights.

Reviewing all the books I missed from the end of last year’s reading during January of this year feels a little like cheating on this year’s list. Like bumping or padding my stats in an unfair way. I mean, nobody is looking or checking. I haven’t actually set any goals personally or using whatever tools the web site offers – so I’m not sure who I think I’m cheating on, but the feeling persists.

I feel as though I do actually need to add this review here.

Navigating the Stars by Maria V. Snyder

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimer – I know the author, but I did not get this book as any kind of freebie or promotion or anything. I went and bought it. Yes, she signed it for me, but that’s just because she’s cool.

Having said all that – this was an awesome book. Go, buy it and read it. Then go and get the next one too.

Lyra is a teenage girl. She lives with her parents in another part of the galaxy searching for resources. The story centers around Lyra and the mystery surrounding the life sized terracotta warriors that humans have found on 21 different planets.

The voice of the main character in this book is very strong. Lyra is a real person – it’s that good. The science of the time dilation just adds to the mix and makes a really suspenseful story. I don’t want to give anything away. I will simply repeat – go get this book.

View all my reviews

Reviewing the reviewer

Posted on December 15, 2019 by Eric

It has come to my attention that I am a terrible book reviewer.

This was not a mean or critical thing, it was just something that came up. I’m not sure the person that pointed this out to me even understands that was what happened.

I have more than 300 books read / reviewed on my Goodreads account. I only put books I’ve read since starting Goodreads on there with reviews. I am always honest about what my feelings are toward the book that I’m reading at the time. I give my opinion just as it is.

That brings out the two biggest problems with my reviews.

The first part isn’t really a problem as much as it is something that is common to anything posted on the internet. It’s out there and it’s not going away. I’ve given my opinion, but it’s exactly that – an opinion. My opinion on certain things has changed over time. It’s entirely possible that my opinion will change on the books over time. It’s fair for an opinion to change, but my reviews are static. What is out there, is out there. I’ve written before about the importance of reading books at the right time. This applies to me too – and there might be some reviews that were just the wrong time. I am a writer (hopeful author?) so I know the struggle of trying to get a story published. I always keep that in mind when I’m putting together a book review. Hopefully people will appreciate that about what I put out there.

The second part is the heart of the issue. I have never learned, studied or applied anything that resembles a structured critical book review.

I shouldn’t say never.

I recall writing book reports back in elementary school that had a structure. I haven’t looked at anything like that as an adult though. I should. When my friend asked me about a book that I’d read some years ago it turned out that I had posted a review to Goodreads. I went back to that review to ‘check my notes’ and see if I could answer the questions put to me. My review was something close to “meh, it was OK” and that was it. I couldn’t help. To be fair to myself, if it were a truly memorable book I suspect I could have been more help. What that did was point out a need. I need to get a better method for reviewing books and making notes to help me remember important details some years down the road.

I’ve got at least a half dozen books that I’ve finished reading and not posted anything about yet. I will have to see what I can come up with for the ‘new review format’ over the next couple of weeks.

How do you review what you’ve read?

Military Science Fiction Giraffes

Posted on July 10, 2019 by Eric

I have read and reviewed at least one book by author Marko Kloos in the past. I remember it only in vague terms. I DO very much remember that he wrote my favorite story from Love Death + Robots on Netflix. I was distinctly in the category of MEH when I saw a new book coming out from him. Then I read his words in “The Big Idea” and I was sold. This has the potential to be a very cool book indeed.

Check out what he said here.

Read the first chapter here.

To blatantly self promote along with this ~ IF you like military science fiction there is another work out right now that you can get and it even has one of my stories in it! There is a plan in motion to make an appearance at Shore Leave this Friday to celebrate the new book. Feel free to come on out and see us!

Hop on over to a new tab and order up your copy of DTF: In Harm’s Way!

Collapsing Empire

Posted on July 7, 2019 by Eric

I posted this review to my Goodreads account first. There was something in the book that didn’t make it into that review that I think is worth considering. I want to note it here because there’s a better than fair chance that I’ll forget by the time we get to discuss this book at Watch The Skies.

The acknowledgements at the end of the book talk about the coincidental timing of the book title vs. the current political climate in the United States. I think it’s noteworthy that the author claims no planned connection. I also believe that however ‘futuristic’ a work of science fiction is, it can not ever be taken apart from the time when it was written. Science fiction is inherently commentary on the time and culture when it was written. While not planned, I don’t think this book is an exception to that.

The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency, #1)

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this book as a free download from the publisher. I have read some Scalzi before and had a level of expectation going into reading this book.

This book was a little difficult to get into at first, but it became a quick and easy read within the first couple of chapters.

This book was a far reaching scope and still managed to pull it off. I found myself hoping that good things would come about for the Emporox and go badly for those looking to disrupt her. It took me a while to appreciate Lady Kiva, but in the end I could work around the constant “F” bombs.

I like that the story threads wrapped up in this book, but there is enough world building to make me interested in what comes next. I suspect I will be looking the next book up when it comes out.

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Writing along still

Posted on June 29, 2019 by Eric

It’s always tempting to start with excuses about not blog posting, but I would rather tell you that something new is out there!

My latest story is available now! E-spec books is now selling In Harm’s Way (Defending The Future Book 8). This features my story Sympathetic is in there!

You should pop over to wherever you get books from and get a copy. Then you should get a copy that you can give to a friend. Then you should tell others to go and get one too!

Check it out on Amazon here.

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Fan, Author, Artist – Eric Hardenbrook

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