Hiatus (not a book)

It likely will be a while before I get to post up another book review.

Law school has started up again and my free time for reading has plummeted. Granted, I probably read more a week (in sheer volume) than I was this summer. But for the most part it is much duller stuff.

In the mean time, I am augmenting my book collection, including some titles I'd previously read (not mentioned for the most part) and will re-read and post about. For the time being, this blog is likely to go rather dead.

Gift from the Sea

“Gift from the Sea” is a short book that was given to me to read by my great aunt.

There are two main points that spoke to me.

One is the focusing on the center: focusing on here instead of there; focusing on the present instead of the past or future; focusing on one’s self instead of the masses; and again on one’s relationships instead of the mass (society).

Two is the idea of ebb and flow; that all life, relationships, love, interests, hobbies, or whatever ebb and flow. This parallel’s a statement made by Rabbi Zvi Katzman, that the shape of the human heartbeat on an EKG shows that life has its ups and downs. Lindbergh uses the example of the incoming and outgoing tide, of water’s rise and fall.

Another thought that came from the book, and only applies if you have enough space for this luxury, is the idea of a room that is empty. A room without any distractions meant for sitting a reflecting that would need to be big enough to allow a person not to feel cramped. I think it would be interesting. Or perhaps the ability to do the same on a back porch looking into trees or across a field.

Anyways, the book is a short read and interesting. It is far more geared towards women than men, particularly women with children.

Howl’s Moving Castle

This was a suggested read from multiple friends and my girlfriend as I am a big fan of the movie adaption directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

Also, as writing this, I learned the book is part of a trilogy called “The Castle Series.”

Being a fan of the movie the book has some stark differences.

Both stories are whole and very well told. The characters are similar and I now see how the movie takes from the spirit of the characters, capture most of their essence, but then was transformed through the lens of Miyazaki.

 The book is a well spun children’s tale, though at times confusing. Particularly, I’m not sure why Wales played a part in the novel at all, as hardly any time is spent there, and there were other plot devices to accomplish the same thing.

I also did not like Sophie’s fatalism as much; I think it was a bit too heavy. This seems a recurring theme in some of the literature I’ve read this summer (Robin McKinley’s “Sunshine” and of course Neil Gaiman’s and Terry Pratchett’s “Good Omens”). I also think there was a bit too much focus on chasing girls (Howl and Michael).

As for the rest of it, I love the depth of Calcifer’s character. I also really like that Sophie is unwittingly a powerful witch.

It may be awhile before I read the rest of “The Castle Series.” But I do enjoy the characters of Howl, Sophie, and Calcifer immensely and would read about more of their adventures.

Earth Unaware

The first worry about this book is that it was co-authored and in the Enderverse. Turns out that the worry was unwarranted.

Secondly, there were some minor things that bothered me. The fact that the main character Victor has so much insight about humans and how his actions will be perceived by them but does not contemplate how an action of revenge (which he does not take) would be perceived by a visiting (invading / colonizing) alien species. It just felt weird having a character full of so much insight and yet having this major drop off.

Another issue was Lem. Bright guy, son of another bright guy, but his inner thought process always concludes people’s thoughts are one or two dimensional compared to his deep and multifaceted thoughts. Again, kind of making a deep character and then leaving big holes in him.

These holes are annoying. Granted some of Orson Scott Card’s characters in these series are larger than life, sometimes inhuman (especially Bean). But this thing of delving into the depths of an individual’s mind, exploring their conscious and cognitive pathways, the character being aware of this exploration (as opposed to a dive into a character’s psyche in Douglas Adam’s “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”) and then having these gaping holes in their thoughts about others is really annoying. Either all the characters are way more arrogant than they are written to be, or this is a flaw in the book.

That being said…

I know the title is “Earth Unaware.” But in reality it is about a disorganized, greedy, and infantile humanity who is much like we are now, though they have a city on the Moon and are space borne.  The only person who really seems to understand humanity is Wit, who is a soldier, and likely to bite it in a future book.

It is nice to see humanity outclassed in every possible way by their enemy in this book. Not just being the underdog, but at the moment, royally and completely screwed.

The MD device is hinted at and its origins explained which I found pretty cool. The hero Mazer Rackham is shown to be able to think outside of a box and think himself into a box. In fact, almost all the characters are flawed, far more so than they were in the other Ender Saga and Shadow Saga books.

So yeah, if you’re a fan of the Ender Saga and Shadow Saga I suggest reading this.

I do not suggest reading this as the first book. In fact, I suggest you read the entire series in chronological order starting with Ender’s Game / Ender’s Shadow. Then, once you’re done with all that you should start the prequel series.

Why do I suggest this?

Books like “Xenocide,” “Children of the Mind,” and “Shadows in Flight” tell you a lot about the Formics and so you better understand both sides of the encounters between humans and Formics even though only the human side is told. The insight granted by having read everything else adds even more depth to this book.

Conclusion: good and enjoyable read.