Ready Player One

Ready Player One
By Ernest Cline

Rather than doing a review for Ready Player One, I decided to just go ahead and write the movie trailer for it.

Click here to purchase Ready Player One

Movie Trailer Time after the break:

Not a review of The Wise Man's Fear

The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 2) 

by Patrick Rothfuss

“In many ways, unwise love is the truest love.” Pg. 53

“It was like watching stories being born.”  Pg. 379

“For without hope what do any of us have?”  Pg. 450

“There are so many men, all endlessly attempting to sweep me off my feet.  And there is one of you... Making sure my feet are firm beneath me, lest I fall.”  Pg. 471

“They say a thing in one breath and others will find meaning in it for a year.”  Pg. 713

“Anything that brings two people close together is intimate.”  Pg. 817

“All you have to offer the world is your anger.”  Pg. 839

A few years ago a friend of mine handed me The Name of the Wind with the one word of instruction, “Read.”  It was a thick black paperback book that stretched upwards of 1,000 pages; how could I NOT read it?  How had I not read it already?  What the hell?

“Give me that sonovabitch” I said.  “What’s it about?”

Not a black Devil Crab Thingy

“It’s about a ginger who owns a bar, tells stories, and fights black devil crab thingys.”

Being as we were both employees of a chain book store who strove for nothing higher than to be cool, edgy, and hyper-literate devourers of verbiage who dance on the razor blade edge of fiction I had to consume it and pretend to like it lest I look a fool.  I was, after all, a massive fan of A Song of Ice and Fireseries, and as such would not be intimidated by the first effort of some unknown author.  

Of course, as a fan of George R. R. Martin’s epic series I have seen first hand the perils that go along with getting on board with a series of 1,000+ page fantasy novels.  The release schedule for such books tends to be frustratingly slow.  And as I read 30 - 50 books per year my ability to recall who killed what where and with, wait, is she getting her wolf back or not tends to get a bit muddled.

I’m awesome so I read The Name of the Wind with a quickness.

When you finish a 1,000+ page book you’re reaction should NOT be:

“I wish that was longer.”

And yet this was my reaction.  I also force fed it to several of my friends and bought the excellent audio version from Audible.  

The Wise Man’s Fear is the sequel to Mr. Rothfuss’s first novel.  And it is great.

I bought two copies.

So if you haven’t read The Name of the Wind then you should just buy both books and read them and enjoy them and we will talk about them in 3 months when you’ve finished reading them.  It will be fun.  You will be happy and hug me.  I like hugs.

If you’ve already read Wind, but haven’t read The Wise Man’s Fear then I will justify the investment of Wise Man in a few simple words: Kvothe unleashes all manner of hell and sexes a bunch of women-folk; a fact competently demonstrated by the fine folks over at Penny Arcade:

I don’t really want to say much else about a book that is a sequel, except that you should do yourself a favor by reading it. Mr. Rothfuss also runs a rather excellent blog that is worth checking on a regular basis.

Here's a random Youtube video starring a pretty girl:

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

Yu, Charles

I realized a couple of years ago that not only am I not super-skilled anything, I’m not even particularly good at being myself.

-Pg. 10-

Most people I know live their lives moving in a constant forward direction, the whole time looking backward.

-Pg. 22-

You lie in your bed and realize that if you don’t get out of bed and into the world today, it is very likely no one will even notice.

-Pg. 181-

At some point in your life, this statement will be true: Tomorrow you will lose everything forever.

-Pg. 211-

...just like the concept of the ‘present,’ is a fiction.

-Pg. 216-

At its heart How to is a story about a family that uses the trope of time traveling to express how segregated we as humans are from the other humans; even - no - especially from our closest family members.  It comes complete with infinite causality loops, paradoxes, alternate universes, and all the other clichés you’d expect. 

Time travel stories have, I feel, become kind of annoying.  Star Trek has beat Time Travel to death, and popular movies like Back to the Future and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure have been pretty hard to beat. 

Party on, Wayne.  Wait that's not right.

And yet, I read How to in two sittings.  It’s a fun riff on the scenario and it’s an easy, fast read.

The thing most people will probably get a kick out of from this book is Yu’s breaking of the fourth wall that makes this a very meta-fiction.  It is also a book that seems heavily influenced by Douglas Adams’ The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

The main character’s father, one of the discoverers of time travel, gets lost in time, and the second half of the book deals with Yu’s obsessive quest to discover where/when his father is/was/will be.  The scenes with Yu’s mother/not-mother were particularly touching and played on the ubiquitous regrets that we all harbor over the things that we could have done better in our lives.  We could have been better children/parents/friends/siblings/spouses and to that end we will go through greater lengths to hide the pain we carry and delude ourselves with lies than we ever would to just try and be the people we want to be moving forward.  Much of the material dealing with Yu’s mother directly addresses the idea that the past is not ever truly gone as long as we remember... if for no other reason than the past continues to exist, literally, as bio-chemical processes within our own physical bodies.  Shame then, I say, that there is no known way for our species to foster a sort of selective genetic memory so that we are able to pass on to our descendants important information such as:

1. The proper way to handle that not-so-fresh feeling
2. How to cure a hangover
3. What “masturbate” means
4. Why did Daddy leave?

Just imagine all the awkward questions that could avoided through the selective transmission of genetic memory.  Let’s order the scientist to get to work on this immediately.

Oh, I just realized I got off topic.  How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe is a good book.  Go buy it and read it.

Io9 Q and A with Charles Yu

@charles_yu

  

Dying of the Light by George R. R. Martin

Dying of the Light

George R. R. Martin

"Can they love without a word for it...?" Pg. 37

George R. R. Martin is a fucking beast. His attention to detail and his ability to meld natural organic worlds with advanced Sci-Fi Tech is unparalleled. His characters feel real, and the decisions that they make don't feel like they were made just to move the plot around... Everything just kind of flows.

Dying is set the same universe where many of Martin's other SF story are set. It's an amazing universe populated by dozens of sentient species, including offshoots of humans. Anybody who has had the chance to read the compilations of Martin's earlier works called Dreamsongs will be on familiar ground with Dying, but if you haven't you might find the book to be esoteric. However; the character development is strong enough to carry you over some of the rough patches, and some time spent studying the glossary at the end of the book will serve as cliff notes for information served up in other stories.

My only knock on the book is the thread left hanging at the end. Ugh. I understand leaving some threads loose... It only makes sense to do so in a book that is only one story - one part - of a greater whole, but the big question left open at the end of the novel is a shame. I am a huge fan of Martin, and I enjoy the fact that he routinely breaks the "Rules" that college creative writing teachers tell their students. 99% of the time he gets away with it, but Dying's epilogue is weak.

That said; Dying of the Light is a great read marred only slightly by a weak ending.

November is National Novel Writing Month!

Here is the site I've created in dedication to this years project: The Complete Winner's Guide to Writing bad Science Fiction.

Oh, here's a link to the official NaNoWriMo site.

How I became a Famous Novelist

How I became a Famous Novelist

Steve Hely

-          People will believe thousands of different lies in succession rather than confront a single scintilla of truth.  Pg. 45

-          But that was all for the editors to sort out.  Pg. 115

-          As research for my novel, I’d read almost all of the Wikipedia page about tornadoes.  Pg. 162

-          She was clearly worried about getting every detail right.  That’s a stupid and time-consuming way to write.  Pg. 221

-          You’re always looking for the falseness in everything.  Pg. 303

-          The only way to live life is to lose your self.  Pg. 322

This is the second time I've read this book, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time.

I laughed out loud several times.  That's a good thing. 

But, also, I appreciate the fact that the protagonist is a very flawed character who I found myself cheering for.  Not so much that he would get what he wanted, but that he would evolve and rise above the petty adolescent BS that was simultaneously driving him forward and holding him back.

This is a great novel that I highly recommend.

The Game by Neil Strauss

The Game

Neil Strauss

I recently listened to The Game as an audio book downloaded from Audible.com.  I don’t really like audio books, but found this to be one of the better ones I have downloaded.  This is in part because it is narrated by the author.

The Game is offered up as an inside look at the world of the professional Pick Up Artist.  It chock full of advice on how to approach an attractive stranger and start up a conversation.  Because of the way Neil Strauss presents this information when you finish The Game you’ll probably feel like you could go out and get your swerve on; kinda like when you watched The Fast and the Furious and sat in the cinema parking lot revving Hyundai’s engine. 

Not that I did that or anything. 

But soon into The Game you’ll realize that there is more to this book than just how to scam babes into working your cock.  Beneath the veneer of smooth Game running pimpitude this is one of those books where you’re, like, supposed to learn a bigger lesson and stuff.

After Neil gets into the realm of being a Pickup Artist (PUA) he moves into this crazy Fight Club-esque testosterone fueled house.  You can guess how that goes.  As much as we might not like to admit it; masculine and feminine compliment each other… like peanut butter and chocolate.

What I take from this book, as a single guy, is something I’ve always known, but never really been able to put into words.  The things that make for a strong first impression… the attributes that women are initially attracted to… the things that drive them nuts in the bar, the coffee shop, the super market, or the break room in the office are not the same things that keep they hanging around after the initial attraction has faded. 

What attracts a mate is not what keeps a mate. 

It would seem that nothing says, “I’m gonna make your toes curl and your back arch,” like sweater vests, economy cars, and diversified investment portfolios.

Oh wait.  That’s not right is it?

Because of this dichotomy The Game covers some tricky subject matter.  Handled wrong it could come across very misogynistic.  At times certain characters hit that mark without a doubt, but the author doesn’t.  He seems genuine when he claims to not be a douche.  Rather, he was addicted to his new-found self-confidence and skill in making new connections with beautiful women after years of feeling alienated and inadequate.

Ultimately, the lesson The Game teaches is the same one your mom always told you; Be yourself.

But The Game recognizes that sometimes yourself has low self esteem and feels awkward talking to strangers… And if you just had a way of going up to an attractive stranger and starting a conversation that would be cool, because at the end of the day we’re all just peanut butter looking for some chocolate.