Book #55

Last Call, by Tim Powers. Unabridged audio.

This novel has some of the trappings of a traditional fantasy story. There is a fight for a crown between warring factions, family debts that need to be repaid, and vengeance to be meted out along the way. There are creatures with strange powers, including the power of body-jumping.

But Last Call does not take place in a faraway make-believe world, because this is not a typical tale of epic fantasy. The setting is the Las Vegas of today, and the characters are immersed in the world of card-playing. And the crown that is being sought is that of the Arthurian Fisher-King. And the battlefield is the mysterious game "Assumption," a bizarre blend of poker and tarot. To some, the game is about gambling and winning sums of money. But to some, it is about claiming the souls of opponents. The mix of tarot and poker is intriguing, as it brings to the surface questions of randomness and chance, along with those of fate and destiny. One can cheat at cards, but can one cheat fate?

This book lies somewhere in the murky world between the genres of "urban fantasy" and "magical realism." There is powerful magic, but only a few people in our world recognize what is happening. Most of the world is unaware of this battle, and the consequences that the world may face depending on who wins the crown. There is a love story, but that is a subplot -- the main thrust of the narrative is the Fisher-King battle, tied into the poker-playing drama. But the plot-centric nature of the story does not mean that character development is lost. Powers does a fine job giving us moments of character development along with keeping the plot moving.

There have been modern takes on the Fisher King, such as C. S. Lewis' That Hideous Strength, Susan Cooper's The Grey King (from the Dark is Rising Sequence), and Matt Wagner's comic book Mage, and this is an excellent one. Actor Bronson Pinchot does a find job narrating the audio version of this book.

Podcast Review: The France Project

 This is a new show from podcasting veteran KatiaGrimmer-Laversanne, an Australian who has lived for 10 years in France, and is married to a Frenchman. Her prior podcast, the excellent Katia & KylieMac Show, ended earlier this year after six years and nearly 500 episodes. In that show, she and her American co-host explored life in Paris from an expatriate perspective.

This show covers similar territory, but this time Katia is more comfortable in her adopted country. She is still an outsider in France, but she has garnered much experience, knowledge, and friends in her decade living there.

Two episodes of the France Project have been released as of this writing, and they are made up of short segments of Katia interviewing different people with connections to France. In the first episode, she spoke to a range of interesting people (tourists, an author, and an American diplomat) about their experiences in France, and what makes the country so appealing to foreigners.

In the second episode, she covers the topic of "stereotypes." She talks to foreigners about how their experiences in France differed from their expectations, and then has a long chat with a world-traveling Frenchman. In his segment, he talks about the stereotypes he has faced around the world. It was interesting hearing him explain how France is viewed very differently around the world. His main message seemed to be that he rarely eats frog legs.

This new show is an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in travel, foreign cultures, or interesting conversation.

Walking Dead, issues 13-24

Written by Robert Kirkman, with art by Charlie Adlard.  

This volume of the hardcover collection covers the survivor's new life in the prison. The symbolism of our survivors choosing to live in such a location smacks the reader square in the head, but the location also makes sense. There are fences, gates, separate rooms (cells), an infirmary, a playground, and a dining hall. And there are already a few people living there, our crew quickly discovers.

There are (of course) some deaths among our crew, but by this point readers are used to that brutal fact of life. This volume is mostly known for the addition of Michonne to the cast. Now that she has appeared on the TV show, the comic that contains her first appearance (#19) has greatly appreciated in value. She is helpful with battling the undead, as her sword skills are very strong.  How exactly she survived so long without being in community is a mystery, but her solitary journey seems to have left its marks on her. Like almost everyone (to varying degrees), she seems a little bit crazy.

These issues see the departure of previous artist Tony Moore, and the arrival of Charlie Adlard. The black-and-white aspects of these books makes the artist's style and skill more noticeable than in books where color can be a distraction. By reading these many years after the fact, I know that Moore does not return, and this knowledge makes me more accepting of the change than some who were reading the books as it originally came out.

Kirkman is expert at balancing the gruesome nature of the world and its violence with the necessary character moments to make us care about what happens in the world. It's the psychology of the survivor that is on display as much as the zombies are. And it makes for a riveting read.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
Just do the following:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

From chapter 4 of Last Call, by Tim Powers: "Crane had been asleep then, dreaming again about that long-ago game on the lake. Had the dream conjured up some frail ghost of Susan? Or could the house itself generate some replica of her?"

Book Guys -- Busy Week!

During this past week, we released three Book Guys Show episodes. Yikes!

Episode 049 was our standard weekly episode. Paul talked about Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan 1942 – 1945 by Barrett Tillman, and I then lightened the mood by talking about the early Stuntman and Black Owl comics I have reviewed here. On the technology side, we also talked Amazon & Audible’s new Whisper Sync.

I missed Episode 050, but my co-hosts did a pretty good without me on the "Talk Like A Pirate Day" special. In addition to covering books about pirates, they had a pretty insightful discussion on piracy of books, movies, and music.

Episode 051 was a panel from a Toronto comic convention featuring actor and author John Barrowman. Known mostly for his portrayal of Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood, Barrowman also talks about his upcoming role in the comic-based "Arrow" TV show, as well as the Torchwood novels that he and his sister have written.

Book #54

Illusion, by Frank Peretti. Unabridged audio.

This review first appeared on The Spirit Blade Underground blog.

When the book (and later movie) The Time Traveler’s Wife was released, there was much discussion about whether it was a genre story or not. Yes, there was time travel, but the main dramatic through line was a love story. So was the book science fiction? Or was it just a romance novel, placed in a sci-fi setting? 

I felt a similar tension reading Frank Peretti’s newest novel, Illusion. Peretti single-handedly brought unsterilized and unsafe storytelling to Christian fiction with his novels of spiritual warfare. But this latest novel more closely resembles The Time Traveler’s Wife than his classic This Present Darkness, especially the first half of the novel.

Dane and Mandy were a Christian married couple, who had a long career as a popular magic act. Their forty-year relationship ended when Mandy died tragically in an auto accident. Shortly thereafter, a woman who may or not be the nineteen-year-old version of Mandy from four decades before arrives in present day, throwing her and others into confusion. Teenaged Mandy starts to earn money as a street magician, and does demonstrate actual strange powers. She crosses paths with sixty-year-old Dane more than once, and the pair find themselves strangely drawn to each other.  I admit, there is a mild "creep factor" about this, given the apparent 40-year age difference.

It does take a few hundred pages, but the novel eventually moves into solid sci-fi thriller territory in its second half. The explanation of how Mandy moved forward in time, and the source of her strange powers, is done well, as are the motivations of the scientists (mild spoilers) who caused it to happen.

The Christian nature of the story is very subtle, and I appreciate that. Mainstream Christian art does not do subtlety often, or particularly well, and it is welcome here. There is no sense of being preached at, at any point in the novel. 

As a story about magicians should, this one contains lots and lots of doves. To those familiar with traditional Christian iconography, these references to the Holy Spirit as helper, companion, and comforter are quite well-managed in the novel. There was a strong theme of fate/destiny, as well, as Dane & Mandy always seem to find each other, no matter the circumstances of their increasingly twisted timelines.

There were a few aspects of the plot that did not make sense, events that happened in the novel (or character reactions to these events) that seemed unrealistic. But these moments did not pull me out of the overall flow of an otherwise solid story.

Frank Peretti does a more than serviceable job narrating the audio version of this novel, although I usually prefer professional actors as readers. I saw Peretti give a talk at a Christian festival more than two decades ago, and his experience on the speaker circuit serves him well here. He is definitely above average among novelists who read their own work.

Retro Review: Stuntman #1 & #2

 Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's first non-DC or non-Marvel work after they returned from World War II was Stuntman, a character they created for Harvey Comics.  Former circus Acrobat Fred Drake stops a criminal ring at his failing circus, taking the moniker of Stuntman, complete with colorful costume and cape. The first two issues of this comic were published in April and June, 1946.

Drake's resemblance to actor Don Daring (who fancies himself an amateur detective) gets him a gig as Daring's secret stuntman on set -- though he does later become Daring's official stuntman. Daring finds himself getting into trouble on a regular basis, and Drake comes regularly to his rescue, sometimes as Daring's double, sometimes as the costumed Stuntman. Beautiful actress Sandra Sylvan plays roles of varying importance in most of these stories, as well. Whether the setting is a movie set, a theatre, or an insane asylum, trouble manages to find a way to Drake and Daring.
 

There are a few oddball aspects to these stories. It doesn't necessarily make sense that a character named the Stuntman would have a secret identity who is .... a stuntman. And the notion that two men could pass themselves off as each other, save a fake moustache, strains credulity. But the golden-age silliness aside, these stories are a treat to read. Simon's writing reveals a nice sense of humor, as well.

There is no Kirby crackle or Kirby machines in these stories, but these are definitely Kirby characters.  I am not an art critic, but the some of the villains and other oddball characters are portrayed in distinctively Jack Kirby manner. There are some very fun and energetic panels, and dynamic action scenes in each story.