Robopocalypse a review

As if I didn't have enough to worry about with the eminent zombie apocalypse, I now have to add a possible robot uprising to the list.

It's hard to read Robopacalypse without thinking about the most pervasive techno nightmare in popular culture, the Terminator franchise. Daniel H. Wilson's robot/computer uprising story, in reality, draws few comparisons. He begins in such a benign place, turning everyday computer controlled appliances against us, a stark contrast to the nuclear holocaust unleashed in the Terminator universe. Instead of a horrible unknown future for humanity, in Robopocalypse we know the final outcome of the struggle within the first dozen pages but it's getting the characters there(in an unforeseen way) that makes this a great read.

I love the Terminator movies but while the premise is creepy there is something unbelievable about the whole thing. Robopocalypse seems like a more likely scenario. Instead of a murderous Skynet we have Archos who we aren't completely sure isn't somehow bent on helping it's human creators in the long run. While killing humans at an astonishing rate, Archos is also revitalizing the natural world. Instead of specifically creating killing robots, with Archos we see the evolution of common everyday robots modified for a new purpose.

There are several threads that due to the structure of the novel are never wrapped up. Why were humans being experimented on? What will happen to the freeborn as a species? What happened to Takeo Nomura and Mikiko? These threads could easily result in more novels something I'm hoping for.

I'd be remiss in not mentioning that while he currently lives in Portland, Oregon, Daniel Wilson is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma and his background is heavily reflected in the book.

I really enjoyed this book. It's the type of work that fires the imagination, go read it, or you can wait for the movie. Wilson sold the movie rights to the novel before he even finished writing the book. I'm excited to see what ends up on the screen.

Daniel H. Wilson gave a great interview to The Geeks Guide to the Galaxy.

Packing For Mars: Mary Roach

I've been bothering everyone around me with facts about the space program for a couple of weeks now. I spent a good half hour describing the development of the space toilet to a friend at the pub the other day and it's all due to this book.
Mary Roach has tackled the subjects of sex, death and now space all in a hilarious but extremely informative style that always keeps me glued to the page and staying up to read way too late into the night. I can't recommend this book enough for those of us who want to be educated and entertained at the same time.
How cool is it that they made a commercial for the book? Get it here.

Finally Caught up: Game of Thrones

I was sorely tempted to post this picture as reason enough to watch HBO's Game of Thrones, the new show based on George R.R. Martin's still unfinished fantasy series. Look at those sideburns tied into a beard, I think any viewer would agree that this is costuming genius and reason enough to watch.

But I can't leave it at that.
My wife was halfway watching with me, even though this is nothing like what she usually spends her precious few viewing minutes on. Her sole comment was "Is that a midget getting a blowjob?" Indeed it was, the first of many if the show stays true to the books. Clearly another mark in the show's favor.

I just finished the series of books the show is based on literarily known as A Song of Fire and Ice and I read them specifically to prepare for this show. Never mind that for years I had friends telling me I had to read the series. Since Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books I've been wary of far reaching series of books that aren't finished written by older authors.

The funny thing is that when I worked in a bookstore a few years ago this George R.R. Martin series was the go-to recommendation for anyone just finishing the Harry Potter series or Tolkien's books. I personally probably sold hundreds of copies of these books and it's nice to know my recommendations were for good reasons. In my defense, two employees nerdier than myself raved about these books on a weekly basis.
The books are really, really good. The world Martin has created feels real, avoiding that trap that fantasy writers fall into of just taking our world and adding dragons. It has a medivel feel but with a deep history to it. The world has its own mythology and gods that have a real sense of being developed over time within the world Martin has created. The strangest thing is that the seasons aren't fixed. When the novel starts there hasn't been a true winter in years although we get the feeling that one is coming.

The characters are very well crafted. The first book is almost overwhelming with the sheer number of characters that seem important. But Martin has created this vast cast for a reason and quickly (SPOILER ALERT) begins killing off characters that seem intrigal to the plot, it's bewildering and awesome. I found myself going back and rereading paragraphs as soon as I finished them because I couldn't believe my eyes.
Based on the first well-done episode of the show and what I can find online it looks like the books will be followed pretty faithfully. The first season is based on book one A Game of Thrones. The casting looks pretty spot on to what I was envisioning. The show didn't shy away from blood, midget blow jobs, creepy siblings or nudity in the first episode although they may have overdone Drogo's eye makeup.

The television series has already been picked up for a second season so no worries about getting emotionally invested and having the show canceled right away (Caprica). Another possible plus is that if the show continues Martin may be forced to get the books written in a more timely manner than he has managed over the last several years. The next installment of the series comes out in July and here's hoping he is busily scribbling down the next one.

Zombie review: "Brains a zombie memoir" by Robin Becker

I worked at a Border’s book store for two years right before the big box book sellers started their nose dive towards bankruptcy. In those two years the number of zombie books available was unbelievably small. It wasn’t until the very end of my time there that World War Z came out, so imagine my surprise when on a visit to the states this summer I wind up in a Border’s and on the new release table I find two zombie novels. I picked up Brains because it was a couple dollars cheaper and several hundred pages smaller then the other book. I thought it would be the perfect size to get me through an upcoming day of sitting in airports.

Right out of the gate I was a little intrigued and a little skeptical, a “zombie memoir?” I’m a zombie classicist. I prefer my zombies in the Romero vein, stupid, lumbering, brain hungry corpses. I once started a short story about a camera man who is bitten while his camera is recording but that’s as close to a zombie memoir as I could imagine. But in this novel, the zombie actually writes his own memoir. (This is the same zombie who lacks the dexterity needed to start a car.)

I know that the bulk of this write-up is going to sound a little crazy, “you can suspend disbelief enough to get into a book about zombies but this other stuff gives you fits?” Yes, yes it does. Let me clarify, I like the idea of a zombie memoir in that we are seeing the apocalypse through their eyes. I can see a person getting bit and writing about the process until they actually die and reanimate but I can’t buy the professor zombie who retains the ability to think and write.

Huge props to the author Robin Becker for exploring the zombie morality side of things. I love the comparisons to sharks that simply do what they do. They are simply designed to kill with no particular love or hatred towards their prey. That aspect of the novel was really cool and something that I had never thought of despite being a long time zombie fan. The whole slave to a biological imperative take on things was very fresh.

Unfortunately the novelty of the zombie point of view wasn’t enough to get me past the “what the heck” parts of the story. I might have eventually gotten behind the professor zombie but when he meets up with a former nurse who can’t help but patch up any zombie in her vicinity I was out. And the list of zombies with “special powers” continues to grow through out the book. There was the zombie kid who could think and move like a human, the two former soldiers with the ability to think and one of them could even speak, and the icing on the cake is the child born of a zombie mother who resembles a red-eyed, pointy-toothed devil. If I were somehow inclined to go along with the idea that a few zombies out of millions might somehow retained some of their human abilities how could I possible believe that they would all end up in the same place? It’s just too much for me.

My other complaint with the book is the tone. I really felt like the book suffered from either too much or not enough work shopping. On the one hand, I can see a group praising some of the witty, throw-away pop culture references. An author could easily think “if two cute literary references and one pop culture nod to Scooby-doo went over so well why don’t I squeeze eight references into the next paragraph?” Or the exact opposite could occur when writing in a vacuum (like blogging) since no one is around to step in and say “Jesus Christ, do you really need to reference eight super heroes and throw two Keats quotes into the same paragraph?” All in all it feels like the author is aware that she is “slumming it” as far as the subject matter goes and loads the book down with witty references to show you that she knows she’s above it. That’s not to say that it wasn’t a fun read. It moved along and was engaging. As I said before, I really liked the bits concerning the zombie’s view of his role in the (almost) destruction of the human race. This short 182 page book that I expected to read in a day’s travel ended up taking me almost three weeks to get through, and that’s not a good thing.

I’m a sucker for all things zombie so I’m not sorry I bought this book and believe me, I’ve read books on the subject that were much worse. I’m happy to add this to my zombie collection. I think in the end I’m too into the classic zombie and was unable to step out of that box and enjoy a new take on the genre.

I have to give this two out of five severed fingers.

Buy it from Amazon where it's also available for Kindle

Ryan Adams Hello Sunshine

Ryan's second book Hello Sunshine is available for preorder in Hardcover. Preorders include a signed chapbook, his first book sold out quick so if you want one get on it.

Anyone who read Adam's blog posts last year when he was blogging daily will be familiar with the choppy, illustrative style. I was able to buy his first book and it made for a strange but enjoyable read. It looks like I won't be able to afford this one and it sounds pretty good, blurbs here.

Ordering Blues

The new not-yet-released Ryan Adams book Infinity Blues is available for preorder from Akashic books in New York City. The book is 50$ with a 10$ shipping fee in the states and a 20$ fee outside the states. The book is a hand signed hardback edition with a book of poetry titled Sad American Mythology thrown in. I guess i've paid more for books but i guess i better ask the boss before i order. Needless to say i'm super psyched about this release and it's always great to get a package in the mail.
I noticed while perusing their website that Akashic publishes one of my favorite beat poets Amiri Baraka. I caught one of his poetry readings about 12 years ago and actually got to speak to the man and get some books signed. If you get a chance to hear him read, jump on it. He has an awesome style and presence.

Slash on Slash

I'm a sucker for rock biographys, I've read more than my fair share of them from classics like Hammer of the Gods to my latest read Slash. My favorite of all time is probably Catch a Fire, a biography of Bob Marley, although I've read a couple of really good Elvis books and Shakey about Neil Young is another good read.
Slash doesn't pretend to be written by Slash alone, right there on the cover is the co author's name, it's nice that they didn't try to pass it off as self written. That having been said, it defiantly sounds like Slash, I'm sure it was cleaned up a bit but it still sounds like a rocker that barely made it out of high school. The content is insane, plenty of rock cliches with Axl weirdness thrown in for good effect. The first half, which basically dealt with his childhood up through the teens, had me constantly saying "Who lets their kid do shit like this?" Slash is very unrepentant about everything he's done. The weirdest thing is the fact that he has some crazy heart shocking device implanted in his chest.
Over all it was a fun read, especially for someone with a soft spot for Guns and Roses. Very little is given to the life of Velvet Revolver after the band was put together so if you're looking for VR dirt this is not the book. My main gripe is Slash constantly saying "My side of the story is", we get it slash, two sides to every story, you don't have to remind us two dozen times that Axel's take on things is a far cry from yours. If anyone out there still reads this is a pretty enjoyable read.