The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo

It is hard to say what is so compelling about this story.

I got wind of it when surfing through movie previews, and noticed that there was a trilogy in print already. So I quickly reserved all three from the library and read through them. Stieg Larsson has compiled a very interesting tale about a very unusual and unlikely duo. While it is often gritty and even horrific, the realism only drew me in further. This is a key part to what I really valued from the movie rendition as well.


So, the books. I learned that Larsson unfortunately passed away. Fortunately, he worked on and completed all three books before his demise. It is interesting to note that he draws from his experience as a magazine publisher; one wonders where his inspiration for Lisbeth Salander comes into play. The story is very well done; complicated, with excellent character background, intrigue and an exploration of what is right and what comprises ones identity. I really appreciate how Larsson had a definite beginning and a definite end to his tale, and did not bother to meander along the writer's landscape that some authors are prone to do.


To be honest, the Swedish setting actually lends itself to the realism as well. As an American reader, the Swedish tongue is foreign enough to be just barely alien and thus set the stage for a fictional story - I have a hard time explaining why that makes it more believable to me. =) Maybe because it helps suspend my disbelief? However, the key point I really want to make is that the original film from Yellow Bird and Music Box was extraordinary in this regards; local cast, locale and language all make this film authentic and true to the story. I cringe to think what the American version is going to be like. It hearkens me back to Nightwatch, a Russian film with Russian actors based on a Russian story; trying to Americanize that piece would utterly kill it, IMO.


The film, true to the book, is gritty, raw, and downright disturbing. My hat is off to the awesome job the actors did in this film. Perhaps that is another element which makes this story more believable - none of the actors are well-known in the US. They are completely new faces to me, and utterly believable with their phenomenal performances. But the things they are asked to do are genuinely horrible. There is an interview with Noomi Rapace on the DVD that was also eye-opening; she worked extremely hard to get into character, and I am amazed at her dedication. Peter Habar also won my respect for such a wide dynamic of portrayals - he scares me. =) However, I felt he was much more savage and reprobate in the book, and I am sort of glad the movie did not go that far.


The technical manipulations with the Apple laptops was quite fascinating as well. To be honest, when I read the books, I was thinking about Sweden which is not necessarily known to be the hi-techno, gee-whiz gizmo center of the planet. But the film did a small turn of justice to technology with some of the visual displays, better than I expected a Swedish film would pull it off. Kudos to them.


Some notable exclusions between book and movie. No physical connection between Blomkvist and Cecilia Vagner, very little romance between Blomkvist and Erika Berger, very little picture into the glory of Millenium and what it does and the character development of the folks who work there. Likewise, very little attention given to Milton Security, with only a passing look at Dragan. In order for the next films to work, I can only imagine how those subplots will be built up.

The Green Zone, 2010

I actually saw a "behind the scenes" clip off Tivo before I even heard about this movie; Matt Damon did a good job taking this bull by the horns and I love how he gets into character.

My only major complaint is that I utterly detest shaky cameras. Yeah, I know it is supposed to help the viewer feel like he/she is part of the action, but it totally kills the connection for me. I mean, you can't see anything!

So aside from that, great plot (with excellent twists along the way), excellent action, acting, direction.. all around, very good.

As this is a movie, and not a Michael Moore documentary, it really does make you wonder how much of this stuff could reflect reality. Especially in terms of the politics involved. I already do not trust the government as it is, and I am fully aware that the normal average joe is getting screwed over by large Corps and Big Money. The whole fiasco with MWD was (and still is) underplayed. (As an aside for robots that look for "common keywords", MWD = Microwarp Drive in Eve Online *grin*) It makes me sick that folks in high positions get away with so much crap and are able to side-step the normal checks and balances that restrain the rest of us mere mortals. This extends throughout large government and even down into the police force.

I liked Freddy a lot! Aside from his believable performance, he was given some very key lines and for me, as an otherwise ignorant American, gave me a picture for what I believe the Iraqi heart might look like. Americans really need to stop sticking their nose in other countries. This whole idea of "democracy" as put forth by politicians (especially those in power) is a farce and has already exacted a huge toll on the global society.

The Brave One, 2007

This was an amazing film! Even though you know what's going to happen, the story is riveting and gripping; you have to see exactly how what you know is going to happen happen.

Jodie Foster inbues her character with an intense depth that draws one right in. The story, obviously, is highly dramatic and pulls your strings. Don't watch this film expecting action sequences, but also, the scenes are so gruesom and energized that this is no drama, either. I was not overly convinced by Terrence's performance. Or perhaps the fault lies with his script. Or something.... He is very honorable, but the kind of honorable with a flaw. And I am biased towards Naveen, having seen him in other productions; his part was .... well, quite small in this one, but the story (and Jodie) magnified his presence in phenomenal ways.

I love how the plot drew me in. You know the story is about vengeance and vigilantes, you know hte good guys are going to win. But you just have to see how it all comes down. It touches on the morality of justice, a deep topic in any context. My one biggest problem is that this movie, like so many others, glorifies the individual, personal sense of what is right and what is not. It does not adhere to an absolute standard of justice. On the other hand, it also showcases the severe problems with the current legal system, especially the inability of the "upholders of the law", the police, to bring the guity before judgement. I love how Terrence's character (Mercer) said of such a problem that there is nothing legal he can do about it, but had to backtrack and rescind that statement. He opened up the window to his true thoughts, just a crack, and realized that what he said is not fit for the law he is supposed to represent. That is the grit of life.

The recurring theme (both in music and via the radio show) of "walking the streets" became powerful, and I am really glad the director/producer did that. I was enthralled how "walking the streets" irrevocably transformed into a stranger;

There is no going back, to that other person, that other place. This thing, this
stranger, she is all you are now.

There is something about that statement which resonates with the power of authority and truth about that. We are all changing, growing, becoming strangers on the streets we walk. We may try to stay the same, and we may see the same things around us, but people change.

WALL-E, 2008

This was a really cute movie; great for watching with little ones. I really enjoyed the "over-the-top" roboticness; arms and manipulators that go through 720 degrees of motion, panels that slide and peel like onions, never-ending motion that results in a very simple action. The contrast between the stark hospital purity (aka, sterility) of the "future" robots and the grit, the run-down, energy-inefficient clumsiness of the older (WALL-E) was very well done. The team that wrote, designed, automated and directed WALL-E was ingenious; so many small details, so many idiosynracies, so many things that could be "real".

Two particular problems I had with the story (and Pixar to a degree). While so much attention is given to the landscape and WALL-E, the humans look like plastic toys. Ok, forget that they are enourmously overweight, so many of Pixar's humans look so unreal. Ok, now back to the story, it is just ridiculous that every single human is obscenely obese; where are the health nuts? The Tree huggers? And what's with every single person being so disconnected from reality that they do not even notice the "world" (ship) around them? If that was the whole point, the storywriters did well to go above and beyond to make it. But it just felt.... out of place. And the robot "Hospital Ward" was done up more like an experimental lab from a horror movie, only with bright shiny lights and pastel colors.

The romance was light-hearted and heart warming. The pixelized facial expressions of the white robot (EVE) were great; interesting how they were so retro, as well. I enjoyed the complete facial swipes as EVE attempted to find a language that WALL-E would understand.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2009

I am torn if I would elect to see this movie a second time or not. Usually this is what I use to determine between my "blacklist" and "whitelist". I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and found it entertaining, but would I see it again? I think not.

The movie's special magic is really appreciated in the larger scope of the story, since it cannot possibly stand on its own (just like the books). I am a visually-oriented person, so seeing the book played out on the big screen is very satisfying to me. I grant the obvious alterations Hollywood chose, and for the most part, I am just going to ignore them. However, how the movie portrays spell-casting (and subsequent spell-based battles) is a bit perplexing. How is it that some spells come out of the wands like streams from the GhostBuster's guns, even to the point that such streams can meet in the middle and war with each other? That's not what spells do. Some spells have special affects (the obvious green of Voldy's fav "Avada Kedavra"), while most spells get to their targets with no affects. Some (all?) spells can be deflected somehow and produce a visible white flash as if they hit a shield. I thought spells had to be counter-spelled, not merely deflected with a flick of the wand.

I like how the characters mature (physically, emotionally and not to mention the actors themselves are growing professionally and literally). The movies (and the storyline itself) get darker and darker, proving that these are not kids stories. I find it frightening that parents are brining young children into the the theatres to see this.

The special affects are well done, and the color/lighting is pretty good throughout. While I appreciate that there is only so much they can put into the movie, I do kinda wish there was more on Tom Riddle's background. I think.

District 9, 2009

I was intrigued by the anthropology aspect (using aliens instead of humans) presented by the previews, mixed in with the sci-fi of alien technology. The directors/producers did a great job representing a completely alien race, depicting an almost believable story. The greater genious was the hyperbole - apartheid.

The setting is very confusing at first; a giant spaceship shows up out of nowhere and just sits above an African city doing nothing. When the government breaks into it, they find a starving mass of delinquent human/insectoids, not to mention of a cache of gun-like objects that cannot be operated. How is it that this large group of seemingly low-intelligent life forms got to be stuck on this floating castle? Are the aliens merely cattle or slaves? The reaction by the general public are interesting in that they are curious, scared, cautious, and deteriorating into downright inhumane disregard for another lifeform. The "racial" tension is extremely poignant and explicit.

The lead (Wikus, played by Sharlto Copley) was an almost disturbingly naieve, compassionate EMU employee. What I found most interesting was that Wikus had a monumental brain fart when encountering an alien that was not only able to cogently read the hastily and wrongfully enforced eviction notice, but an alien that comprehended exactly what it meant and what his rights were. Also, the sublime metamorphises of his pysche that shadowed his physical transformation was outstanding.

Great cinematography, good use of lighting and special affects. The CGI was integrated quite well, although sometimes the aliens moved a bit too... computer-generated-ish. Not easy to spot except once or twice, overall not a big deal. While I thought the aliens manipulation of the shuttle's 3d interface to be cool, it came across as a little over-the-top. It helps that the scene was during a highly dramatic climax. The alien vocalization was done well.

The alien technology was appropriately alien - I did not understand much of it at all. =) What exactly did the weapons do? Yes, obviously they were very good at exploding humans into a bloody mess, but how? The alien mech-warrior was awesome, but I did not buy the easiness with which Wikus was able to pilot it.

Good stuff.

Eagle Eye, 2008

I enjoyed the plot in this film; a good bit of suspense, not knowing who was directly Jerry and Rachel to do all those crazy things they would never do in real life. The twists and story branches are quite good.

The computer technology aspect is a bit of a double-edge sword. For entertainment value, it is intriguing to see a super-computer do so much, the possibilities of all the control it could exert over our lives. However, my belief was suspended a bit too thin and it became more of a gimmick for me.

Great acting all around. Rachel's kid Sam (Cameron Boyce) has the most engaging smile. =) Even those with small parts did a great job, IMO. I enjoyed the action scense, although by the end I felt like it was going over-the-top with the extent to which the AI could manipulate the world.

Body of Lies, 2008

I was pleasantly surprised by DiCaprio; he is definitely maturing as an actor. For some reason I almost felt this film was flirting with Jason Bourne or Enemy of the State, maybe even a little of Cruise in Mission Impossible; CIA types playing games with their pawns. DiCaprio brings a strong sense of American overconfidence melding into his environment like a neon green jacket in a rain forest.

Russel Crowe, on the other hand, was the other extreme. Maybe his role was scripted poorly, or perhaps he was over-pompous. I did not like how he talked via phone-in-the-ear to his operatives everywhere he went - and here the American spy agency is tracking cell phone calls of people on the other side of the planet. Crowe's Ed Hoffman was too much of a dunce to be a jerk.

Another strange thing is that I expected more plot twists. With a title like "Body of Lies" and a movie about spy games, I didn't get much double-crossing or sleight of hands going on. However, I did thoroughly enjoy Mark Strong's Hani character, including his delightful sharp wit and no-nonsense approach - yes, even his manipulations of the political machine and his own pawns. In fact, I think that made the setting in Jordan all the more delicious, one-upping the US government at their own game.

Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor), 2004

I finally got my grubby hands on this film, and loved it! I am still very confused by the poor choices for the names of the movie in relation to the books; this movie is the first half of the book called "The Night Watch", as I mentioned earlier.

Having read the story before-hand really helped me understand where the movie was going and how it fit into the larger picture. As another commentor mentioned, it is really strange how the Light and Dark forces were using clumsy medieval weapons during the intro first battle. And I wonder how this movie would be viewed by someone with absolutely zero prior exposure to the story.

Anyway, I love the cinematics! As I was dearly missing from the other DVD, I got a big kick out of the sublte (and not so subtle) use of the subtitles - that is just ingenious. As with the first time I watched the movie on the big screen, I was immersed into the movie and quickly forgot that it was all in Russian.

And what immersed me? The special affects are excellent - the attention to detail (ie, when Vampires issue a Call and the Anton's capillary system stand out in rythym with the heart beat), the quick cuts, the fast-mo slow-mo sequences, the lighting... Timur Bekmambetov just did an excellent job suspending the audience's belief (or disbelief if you will) in the Gloom, and the abilities of the Others.

The books have a lot more PvP, if you will, action scenes where a Light One fights a Dark One. There is not much of that in the movie at all (even in the Day Watch movie). We see the medieval battle scene repeated a few times with all its bloody gore - after the first time, I just did not care for it in and of itself. But where are the special abilities?!?!

We see Anton's Seer ability in affect, and we see Gesar and Zebulon pull some punches from time to time, but I still want more.

Love it.

The Chosen, by Chaim Potok

It has been about 20 years since I first read this book (am I dating myself or what? =) It was suggested as a prelude to "My Name is Asher Lev" which I just started today.

So, anyway, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders. I love the look inside the Jewish culture; I have taken a class in Hebrew so I have the tiniest of ideas what the culture is like; I was the only non-Jew, but I believe they were not that religious - heck, at the time I was growing a full beard and earlocks for no good reason so I looked more jewish. =) Anyway... the sheer pressure that these kids were under is just amazing. All the time spent studying, the heavy expectations, the strict ritualts, all these things together are just so different than my own upbringing, my own experiences and observations.

I appreciated how the author helped me slip into Reuven's shoes, but at the time I felt it quite distracting to be reading at such an intellectually advanced level for a 15-year old. Is the author trying to project that these kids actually perceive and think along such mature and wisened lines, or is that merely a by-product of the author's style? I enjoyed the flow of the story, the onrush of the baseball game and the near cataclysmic accident, the waxing and waning of excitement, of the relationship between the two boys. The father's almost come across as devious chess-masters using their kids to manuever around a playing board.

So while I had an extremely hard time believing the story and stepping into that universe, I did find myself rooting for Reuven and perhaps a stirring of pity mixed with awe. Perhaps some children do go through such stringent practices.

From A to X: A Story in Letters by John Berger

This book was the result of a completely random experiment; I was trolling the "New" section of the incoming books and grabbed a few sci-fi books, and purposefully pulled one that was neither Sci-fi or Mystery. This book is an absolute gem!

Perhaps my long journey in the science fiction genre has dulled my literary senses somewhat. Perhaps I become desensitized to bad writing. I dunno - maybe it is just that the genre is a niche, and I needed to get out of that niche. Perhaps this author is just brilliant!

The raw yearning is characterized in such a powerful way - it is not immature, not the flippant "Oh, I miss you so much!" puff.

[T]he day does not begin with your absence. It begins with the decision that we took together to do what we are doing.

Every night I put you together - bone by delicate bone

There are many phrases that I would love to quote from this book; the author has a very distinguished and fresh perspective of life that I found myself waiting for the next surprise every time I turned the page.

The book is written from a female's point of view, and I wonder how it would be different if the author were female. Regardless, the intimate details are the stuff of real life; melancholy, private thoughts, reminiscence, longings, and personal discoveries. The characters are intelligent, witty, full of life and driven by hope. This is the kind of book that I want to read again, just for the inspiration and expressiveness that Berger buries into his work, a work that provides fertile ground for a strong crop.

Day Watch (Dnevnoĭ Dozor), 2007

I had been wanting to watch this again ever since reading the books. I am still waiting for the first one, Night Watch, to come in from the library, but I think it got stuck (lost?).

Anyway, the DVD really sucks in comparison to the film I saw at Boardman's Art Theater. And it's not just the quality of the medium (which is significant, just not alone in the list). Right off, I was hugely disappointed in the old-style, blocking subtitles. What happened to the artsy, tasteful, really cool subtitles?!? Another thing, I did not remember the soundtrack being so bland (in fact, muted in most cases); was the original film like that?

In and of itself, the flick was not as great as I remembered it. I am going to have to chalk it up to being 2 years later and my memory emphasized the more catchy aspects. And I really subconciously buried how much the movie differed from the book. In fact, how can they even think of doing Twilight Watch on the silver screen?!?

One good think about the DVD was the extra features. Watching the "making of" really reminded me what an awesome job the actors did, especially Galina Tyunina who had to act as Anton. Interesting views from the actors themselves, and we got a glimpse at the awesome reception this work received in the homeland. Good stuff.

I still really appreciate how the movie brings the book to life. I still want to see the others.

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, by Barry Hughart

The chronicles actually include three pieces by Barry Hughart; this review will cover the first two, "Bridge of Birds" (1985) and "The Story of the Stone" (1988). I'll read and review the last of the trilogy later.

I loved these books! They are extremely witty, alive with fantastical ancient stories of China ("that never was"), and full of adventure. Just very pleasant and satisfying reads.

Master Li is a hoot. I enjoy that the stories are told from the prospective of Number Ten Ox, his "esteemed former client and current assistant". Number 10 tells a great, epic tale; for a simple peasant, he has quite wonderful understanding of the world around him, yet he belabors his point with very simple language. I love how Mr. Hughart spins a very crafty web using these two eclectic characters, and manages to pull in various supporting characters who are strong in their own right. The supporting cast really helps to give the story a sense of depth while at the same time providing plenty of comic relief; Barry Hughart weaves both these elements together with mild suspense plot twists into an excellent story-telling extravaganza.

Not being familiar with any Chinese mythologies, I have no idea how important the "August personage of Jade" is, but Hughart conveys a clear sense of awe for the local gods, and their interaction with the various folks running around China. In the "Bridge of Birds", we get a taste of that divine interplay with some interesting results, often humorous, and always dramatically showing how mankind yearns for the beuatiful, the wonderful, the fantastic, the excellent. "The Story of the Stone" takes a slightly darker twist on the same story, dealing more with death and the afterlife, yet still sprinkled liberally with Master Li's gunslinger style and Number Ten's ... oxish, yet innocent charm. I really enjoyed the descriptive elements Hughart writes with; not so much the attention to detail about the environment, but rather the incredibly lucid insight into various thought processes that allow the reader to dive into the character's heads. Master Li is my hero! =)

I eagerly look forward to reading the third installment, but right now I am taking a break with something completely different.

The Age of Heros, by Brandon Sanderson

I really like the way Mr. Sanderson wrapped up his Mistborn series. He draws together a lot of loos threads; and for once, the loose threads that he intentionally leaves hanging do not bother me that much. They are not the kind of jangling bits of plot line that inherently shout SEQUEL, which I so hate. Although the 15th and 16th metals are huge open doors....

I again appreciated the running journal entries that preceded each chapter; they added depth and extra back-story. There were some really interesting developments in this last book, and it shows that Brandon had time to think about and mature his story. And I felt that he did an excellent job at it.

It would be sorta kinda interesting to read more about Mistborn, but I fear that it would get ground into the earth, like how Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series just killed itself by too many sequels, or the Edding's Belgarath series which got to be a bit too repetitive. I am glad Sanderson stopped here - great books.

The Twilight Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko

The last book of Lykyanenko's series is great! An excellent way to cap off some wonderfully entertaining, intelligent, witty, grisly, epic stories. Imagine how bummed I was when I heard that Timur Bekmambetov is putting off the movie productions because they are too similar to Wanted! What the heck is he thinking!?!? Too similar?!? Is Star Wars too similar to Star Trek? Is Barney too similar to The Wiggles? (Don't answer that last one)

Anyway, Sergei did an excellent job detailing a lot of the backstory. While not always intellectually satisfying (I think I found some loopholes), the explanation of "power" that is available to Others was intriguing. And the author just happened to hit that special nitch of anthropological discussion that was appropriate in a sci-fi setting; I personally find that thrilling. *grin* Call me weird. The movies and books are almost sold as horror/thriller flicks, but that is not the flavor you get after reading the books at all. Even the movie was not "horror" at all. Strange, maybe. Alien. But horror?

The ending was strange. One of the loopholes. We have one of the cast of characters who is suddenly elevated to "most supreme" status and everyone wants to take him down. Yet, he is young, therefore a little immature and inexperienced. Even so, given the what we have learned about Twilight Power, how is it even possible that "everyone" could become Others - the net potential of power would dip, no, rather landslide to a negative rating. No more power.... or maybe that is what they want? Another thing... the spell was supposed to work for everyone in the caster's line of vision? Regardless of many hundreds of miles away they were? Whatever... if that was so, than half the world would have been transformed already.

Anyway, great book, great series. Now I really want to see the movies! And I do not say that often about a book/movie deal. Get off your butt, Timur! *grin*

The Night Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko

After reading this book, I start to see how the movie relates. So, first off;
Lukyanenko wrote 3 books, in the following order: Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch. They are all part of the Night Watch series, and are sometimes called Night Watch, Night Watch II and Night Watch III. The movie that I saw (DayWatch) actually takes one small section from Night Watch, dealing with the Chalk of Fate (there are 3 books within each novel). I suspect the movie NightWatch, being a prequel to DayWatch, deals with the other 2 book the precede the Chalk of Fate in Night Watch. Yes, that was quite confusing to me as well. And there are still discrepancies between the movie and the book; ironically, having seen the movie, my mental images of Anton, Egor, Svetlana and the rest of the cast have been permanently affixed.

So, anyway, The Night Watch. I like the way Lukyanenko writes. While sometimes dull, the main character's introspection provides a lot of rich background to the story. I did not realize this when I read the book called Day Watch (all along I thought the book was related to the movie, but it is only slightly related). The idea of remoralization is rather interesting, and Lukyanenko starts to build a picture of a kind of "good vs evil" plot. But the "good" guys are not perfect, and the "evil" guys are not all bad. This makes the story seem a little more real, and little more believable. The magic system is a bit far-fetched, but I found it refreshingly so. The Twilight is a huge mystery, and it seems that even the most powerful folks do not fully understand it. I find the various players, their skill levels and individual personalities quite fascinating. In a way I am glad I saw the movie first, because it set the stage for my mind to have awesome special affects preprogrammed! *grin*

Sins of a Solar Empire, by Stardock/Ironclad

In light of my earlier post on Stardock, I was playing the demo for Sins. It is a good game, and I am hugely disappointed there is no single-player story. Grrr!!

I cannot help but feel like this game was hugely inspired by Homeworld, with a little bit of Galactic Civilizations thrown in. The graphics are great (not awe-inspiring, but great) and the gameplay is refreshingly easy to grasp. The ships scale well (fighters and bombers are really small, planets are big). The sounds leave something to be desired, and I was hoping more from explosions (it is appropriate that the capital ships leave debris, but they all explode and fragment the same way). Also, as I am only playing the demo, I have read that it is possible for one of the races to upgrade to a level where you can target specific sub-systems. I hate that. This should be something that any race, any ship can do. Even if you only target a physical part of the ship (aft, port, starboard, bow). I was also disappointed by the tech tree - it is not bad, but I want more of out of it, especially since there is no single-player scenario. On the other hand, I was really impressed that some of the games can take hours upon hours; this can be a bad thing, if all you are doing is waiting. The slow pace of the game is good to some degree; or rather, good for certain aspects. It is nice that you can complete a black market deal without having to just close the window and frantically jump to the system that is under attach. The flip side is that the weapons are notoriously weak; it takes a long time to pummel other ships and planets. It is an interesting choice, especially when you figure that genre-setting building blocks like Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica allowed capital ships to annihilate fighters and corvette-class ships with a single shot; even fighters had enough firepower to obliterate another fighter. But not in this game.

The nuance of "persuasion" and "culture" are interesting; I have not yet been able to fully test how effective it is in the demo, but I can at least see my culture spreading.

I am very tempted to buy this game. I like the direction that Stardock and Ironclad are going, but I really miss the single-player element. We will see....

Jhegaala, by Steven Brust

I was joyed to see a new book by Brust; I have really enjoyed his other pieces, and looked forward to this one. I have to admit, I was at first a bit confused about where this story in the Vlad timeline, but it became a little obvious once we learned he was carrying Spellbreaker. A little.

I really like the way Brust writes. I like Taltos as a character, especially. As mentioned previously, Vlad is a swash-buckling sort of guy. I also like the intrigue the Brust builds into his story and players. One thing that struck me about Jhegaal was that there was not a lot of ton of action involving the super-powers, or even the warlocks, sorcerror/wizzard types ("elves" or Dragaeran). This was mostly about the Easterners, Vlad's homebodies. And Brust does a great job painting this folk as being more alien to Vlad, which sets the scene for a great little mystery/drama.

One thing that is a little jarring to a reader like me is the months-turned-years wait between reading of the various stories. I am glad I got to read the Amber in one monster volume; reading about Vlad in piece-meal, amidst a lot of other sci-fi (not to mention Real Life) contributes to me forgetting about the Phoenix stone and other artefacts that Vlad has picked up on his brief but illustrous journey. To that end, I can easily see Vlad being a D&D character, for better or worse. When does that come to the PC? =)

Last Argument of Kings, by Joe Abercrombie

I really felt that #2 (Before they are hanged) and #3 (last argument of kings) could have easily been combined into one book (before they argue?). Having finished Abercrombie's trilogy, I can say that I am glad I read his work. His English origins peek through his writing at times, and perhaps, unfortunately, contributes to his phallic interests (what do I know). Other than that, I rather enjoyed his writing. To be honest, I was also a bit bothered by the blood and gore - a bit too much for me.

Another thing I found very interesting is the huge stack or layers of lies upon which the characters are built, specifically Bayaz. At first, we think he is a good guy, but by the end, your perceptions may be challenged. Mine were. But that is not saying much; who is the good guy? I was reminded of Vin Diesel's Riddick character, a force of evil fighting evil.

Throughout, Glotka was a very interesting character; an easy-to-hate, deformed, crippled, ruthless torturer who has a spark of conscience and noble mettle.

Another very minor thing I liked was Joe's choices for titles, not only for the book, but also for the chapters. I like the way he thinks, in that regard. Instead of fantastical conjurations that beg a stretch of imagination, Joe just puts it out there; if someone is going to talk about carrying lots of knives, that is what the title says.

The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie

I really like the style with which Joe writes. And "Joe" sounds like a most unusual author name. =)

Anyway, the book has some good points and bad points, but very little in between. Abercrombie is very descriptive, making the world seem much more realistic and easier to imagine. I like the details. He has a strange fascination with "fruit", and I found that a tad distracting. He also like to sprinkle cuss words lavishly like pepper and salt; on the one hand, it does seem relevant for today's society, but I do not find it that entertaining.

It is satisfying that the characters live up to some of their stereotypes, but Abercrombie also tries hard to make sure that some stereotypes are intentionally broken. For instance, the all-powerful wizard is indeed all-powerful. But he's not some old frail guy with a pointy hat and robes. No, we meet this swarthy, bald fellow chopping meat with blood spattered all over his kitchen smock. Ninefingers has a dark reputation, but he comes across as some big dumb brute; his dark side is hidden well, especially since the characters are surprised when they experience it. The nobility is satisfactorily proud and arrogant, the soldiers seem well-trained and able to fight (the King's Own, that is), and the Inquisition is appropriately evil and just rotten to the core. =) The mystery of the older Empire and the elder gods is interesting, as was the walk inside the "Maker's House". Lots of room for exploration, but lots of focus on the main story with a good flow.