Book Review

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; L. Frank Baum.
Believe it or not I've never read it before. I always had too much of the movie imagery in my mind to give it a chance when I was younger. But I kept it anyway after I moved out because after I got bit by the reading bug, I knew I'd get around to it someday. I have to say I'm surprised at how closely the movie followed the primary plot points of the book. Movies have always taken a lot of license, but the dramatic changes they made were particularly egregious back in the golden age of cinema. It loses sync with the book the further it gets from beginning to end and there are several people, creatures, and places of the land of Oz that were left out entirely. The movie was obviously good enough that the cutting and splicing that was done is forgivable and even understandable considering the limited effects of the day, but if you've never read it, it's nice to see the secondary details that were sacrificed for musical numbers and other creative elements that didn't make the cut. It's a short novel but there's a lot of things packed into it. So much, that it could've been a much longer and even an epic story had it not been intended to be a simple fairy tale. The adventure doesn't end at the Emerald City, but the adventure continues briefly even after Oz disappears in his balloon before Dorothy can finally return home.
However the bits that were lost to the classic film were touched on in the the movie they made 5 years ago "Oz, Great And Powerful." I liked that movie anyway. I approved of the story they wrote for Oz's background. And I liked the idea of a village of porcelain china people which was taken from a segment in this book. It's always cool to see the concept origins. That's why books are the best. And this is the kind of book that leaves things wide open for a range of authors to come in and build on concepts since they weren't developed any further than a page or to in order to move the characters along. As long as it's not overdone, I'm okay with it.
If you've only ever seen the film, you should read the book too. You won't regret it. I realize most people probably already have, but there may be hold-outs out there like I was.

Book Review

Divided Allegiance; Elizabeth Moon
Second of the Sheepfarmer's Daughter series. Taking up the story right where it left off in the first book, it follows the continuing adventures of Paksenarrion as she leaves the Duke's army to seek a higher calling. I noted in the first novel that there was a darkness to her career as a mercenary that wasn't common in most high fantasy tales but it was done purposefully to map out the ground-up creation of a hero. Instead of fighting for a share of loot while using her position to regulate civilians, she now desires to fight for more noble causes and the good of humanity in general. To become honorable as heroes of high fantasy novels are with the glory that goes with it. I say "continuing adventures" because at first the book appears to be episodic. Moving from the army to a series of seemingly unrelated adventures, she helps to free cursed ancient Elven property and aides in rescuing a village from highwaymen controlled by acolytes of an evil god. But although these incidents seem to be the result of a randomly meandering story, they serve the dual purpose of speeding along Paks' personal promotions as well as world development. The prize she'd been working towards since the beginning was to become a paladin knight and the experience gained in the first book as well as the experiences in the first two thirds of the second validate her character "moving to the front of the line" as it were when being chosen to train for her lofty goal.
The story remains human-centered; Paks-centered. But along the way we see more of the other fantasy races, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Orcs - how they interact and which gods they serve. I particularly liked the emphasis on the imperfection of how Dwarves and Gnomes speak the common language. It added flavor to the standard model. Bad Elves are also a nice touch. The mythology is close to Tolkien's. He set a bar that few can alter because it works so well. Paks has to find her place in a world that's bigger than she realized as a child and her growth in this installment is more complex than simply learning how to fight and advancing those skills. The style of detailing her day to day activities is exchanged towards the end for vignettes occurring over weeks and months that affect the more weightier matters she must ponder in regards to serving the patron god of warriors.
Eventually the adventures of the book are tied together to set up the climactic events that result in tragedy for the heroine. This is the second of a trilogy, so it is bound to end on a low note. Paks is left to wander aimlessly with a fantasy version of PTSD that is completely debilitating to her abilities and devastating for her and all who know her. However, the end also reminds the reader that these first two books (which seem like separate stories for the most part) are actually connected in an overarching story that will have to be resolved in the third book to come. Blink and you'll miss it, but it's an important promise that assure the reader that the slow build of world and characters within will pay off and that it's not over for the heroine of the story just yet.
I'm looking forward to reading the final installment. I'll probably get it over Christmas. I hate the artwork on this book. But, looks aren't everything.

Cover Art: A Wrinkle In Time

I was looking at an article that was about the cover art of "your" favorite books. Except the books listed either weren't my favorites or else I wasn't interested in them or hadn't even heard of them. So Iooked up the different covers from some of my favorite books and I was surprise at how many different covers some of them have had. It was hard to pick a favorite with so much art to choose from.

 The last one I pick will be A Wrinkle In Time. The first one is the copy I have and I gotta say, it's my favorite. I also have the Time Quintet which begins with this one and they all have different but matching artwork as represented by the second picture. I don't care for this one as much. 

 The most popular item to place on the cover is Mrs. Whatsit in her winged centaur form, but the others that I have here aren't as attractive to me as that first one. It's not an easy thing to draw believably. Other classic covers feature the Happy Medium or just the children being transported through time and space. I like that one. I even like the new cover that was made in connection with the new movie (which I refuse to watch because it looks like they screwed it up like movies do with most books.) 

 But I was surprised that my alternate favorites were the last 5 or so. They have a kind of cheesy look to them, but they're compelling in a way that I've mentioned before - science fiction before the science caught up to the fiction. The old fashioned look goes really well with this story. It's a shame the sequels weren't as wonderful as this book.

Cover Art: Watership Down

I was looking at an article that was about the cover art of "your" favorite books. Except the books listed either weren't my favorites or else I wasn't interested in them or hadn't even heard of them. So Iooked up the different covers from some of my favorite books and I was surprise at how many different covers some of them have had. It was hard to pick a favorite with so much art to choose from.

 Today I have covers from Watership Down one of my all time favorites. The first two are of copies that I have/had. The first one was a copy I had growing up and I don't know what happened to it. The second one is my replacement. They are my favorite covers as well.

 The third one is artwork that ties in with the movie and would be cool to have. I think the fourth one also is representative of the movie; at least, it looks similar to Fiver's vision and it would be another neat collector item. 

 There aren't too many covers I don't like with this one. The sketching quality of the next two aren't the best. One is rough, and the other looks more like a caricature. Very homemade looking. There's nothing wrong with it, but the professional looking ones are more attractive.

  I prefer the more realistic looking rabbits. The following four are a good example to add to the first two.

  I have to say I like that last one a lot though. It has a classic look to it that's quite appealing. I want almost all of them!

Cover Art: Treasure Island

I was looking at an article that was about the cover art of "your" favorite books. Except the books listed either weren't my favorites or else I wasn't interested in them or hadn't even heard of them. So Iooked up the different covers from some of my favorite books and I was surprise at how many different covers some of them have had. It was hard to pick a favorite with so much art to choose from.

 Today, Treasure Island, the book that hooked me on reading. I only have a couple more of these cover projects to go. I was just too tired to post yesterday. There are a ton of creative covers for this book. None of which I have. I couldn't find my own cover in the plethora of artwork out there, but that's alright. Mine is kind of boring compared to these. It's a simple cover and in this rare case the simple covers aren't as appealing to me.

 The diversity of artwork for this story is very impressive. Of course, there's depictions of characters and scene from the story. Some a little dated looking but others are very nicely done like Hawkins on the coracle or the marooning of the last of the mutineers. These character depictions don't look cheesy or cartoonish, including Captain Flint the parrot. 

 There are flamboyant covers that look like movie posters and others that simply capture the theme with the pieces of eight, a treasure chest or the bones of a former crewman left as a marker to find the treasure. It's really hard to pick a favorite out of all the wonderful choices out there.I like these last three the best though.

Cover Art: Out of the Silent Planet

I was looking at an article that was about the cover art of "your" favorite books. Except the books listed either weren't my favorites or else I wasn't interested in them or hadn't even heard of them. So Iooked up the different covers from some of my favorite books and I was surprise at how many different covers some of them have had. It was hard to pick a favorite with so much art to choose from.

 Today I chose covers from Out of the Silent Planet, a book that stole my heart. The first two are the copies I have/had. The first one was the copy that my love brought home when he used to work recycling. Somebody had thrown away a bunch of science fiction books; this was among them. I didn't like the picture at first and shelved it for a while but once I read it I continued to read it over and over until it fell apart. So I replaced it with a cover that looks almost like it. The original picture framed in binary. I'm not sure why since computers never really entered the story at any point in the trilogy. After seeing other covers I've decided that this is my favorite. It's the best rendering of the planet Mars as envisioned and described by Lewis and the characters are small enough to leave lots to the imagination, which you need when reading this story.

 Like other classics, there were more covers than I cared to save.There are other attempts at artwork depicting different scenes focused on Ransom's flight and his time spent with the Hrossa. I even tried my own hand at drawing scenes from this book as well (none posted.) 

 My second favorites are the last three. They have that classic sci-fi artwork flavor to them and focus on the ship which, in the story, was a sphere. Just one of many reasons that I love the old science fiction before the science caught up to the fiction.