Dune #2: Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

Read: 2007

The Atreides star has risen. Paul is emperor and rules the universe from his seat on Arrakis, transforming the empire into a theocracy. And yet Chani, the imperial concubine, has still not produced an heir.

Dune Messiah was not nearly as good as Dune, but it was still very interesting. Paul's reaction to becoming Muad-Dib - a kind of prophet - have greatly shaped my views on religion and on those who seem eager to speak on behalf of a god. This book does suffer from some sequelitis (trying to be both the original and it's own book, but failing to strike the right balance between the two), but it's still very much worth the read.

Dune #1: Dune by Frank Herbert

Read: 2006

The Atreides are strangers to Arrakis, called Dune. The planet is the only place where spice - the most valuable commodity in the universe - can be produced. Their presence re-ignites an ancient conflict with House Harkonnen, bitter enemies of the Atreides. Amidst political intrigue, a sisterhood called the Bene Gesserit try to breed a superhuman they call the Kwisatz Haderach, and the desert people, the Fremen, look on at the universe that fights over their dunes.

The series, taken as a whole, scores only slightly above "meh." But the original, Dune is a masterpiece. While fantastical, the fictional universe is just similar enough to our real world to provide a great deal of food for thought. The setting is enchanting and the characters are interesting. This book captivated me right from the start and I still think of it as one of my favourites.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

Read: 2006

Rachel Verinder has inherited a priceless diamond from her uncle, a corrupt and misliked British officer who had been stationed in India when he died. But shortly after she wears it for the first time, the diamond goes missing from her bedroom. A search for the missing diamond, and for its thief, ensues.

The Moonstone is the progenitor of the modern detective novel. It is, as T.S. Eliot described, "the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels." This isn't, of course, your average poolside detective fic. The Moonstone is filled with social commentary (some of it truly hilarious, such as Drusilla Clack reverse thievery of religious tracts). Collins's treatment of Hindus is years ahead of its time.

The novel is memorable. Franklin Blake's mad rant about the objective versus the subjective is still oft quoted in this household. Highly recommended for fans of Victorian literature who also enjoy a good whodunnit.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Read: 3 February, 2012

Hazel has terminal cancer. She sits in her Cancer Kid Support Group rolling her eyes as she listens to the other children, children who will get better, who will beat their cancer, who will grow into adulthood. She's tired of being told how brave she is. She's tired of the refusal of those around her to face mortality.

Then she met Augustus Waters.

John Green doesn't believe in epiphanies. It was odd reading a book about the intersection between love and terminal illness without a tidy epiphany to pull the narrative threads together at the end. That's not to say that nothing is learned. The characters grow and change, they touch the lives around them and are touched, but there are no epiphanies.

I don't want to go into more detail out of respect for the author's wishes that no plot points be revealed. But I will say that this isn't your average tear-jerker that relies on the inherent emotionality of the set-up to play at depth. Rather, The Fault In Our Stars is legitimately clever and thought-provoking (and, of course, very sad). I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys books that stay with you and keep you thinking long after the final page has been turned.

As an aside, I've been watching John Green (and his brother Hank) on YouTube for quite a while. It changed the experience of the reading, in that I could spot some of the influences Green was drawing from in creating his fictional world (such as the goat milk soap detail), and I felt that I had some insight into his opinions and arguments that he was fictionalizing. I feel that this enriched my experience of the book, allowing me to see a broader dimension than just what found its way onto the page.

The Walking Dead #1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore

Read: 1 February, 2012

I'm enjoying AMC's The Walking Dead TV show, so I thought I'd give the graphic novel a try. The beginning of Days Gone Bye is very similar to the beginning, although differences do start to creep in.

The artwork is gorgeous. Tony Moore's work is at once realistic and expressive. The zombies are rendered in far more detail than the living, making their grotesqueness stand out from the page. Injuries, rot, flies burrowing under skin, all is meticulously drawn for maximum effect. Walking Dead isn't a "jump out and get you" horror, but the artwork adds a creepiness to the zombies that drew me in to the story and to the fear felt by the main characters.

I was a little disappointed by the lack of depth. The TV series gives far more time to each episode and allows for more character exposition, while the graphic novel seems to glide through at a much faster pace. As a result, I'm not feeling like I know the characters the way I did while watching the show.

It's a good series and I'll definitely be reading more.

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson

Read: 27 January, 2012

It was hearing that Psychopath Test was coming out that got me interested in Jon Ronson. At the time, the only of his books my library carried was Men Who Stare At Goats, a book that had been sitting on my reading list for some time. So I read that, enjoyed it, and put Psychopath Test on hold as soon as it came out. As it turned out, I wasn't the only one and it took a really long time for my turn to get it.

Like Men Who Stare At Goats, the writing is a real trip. It's not so much as exposé as it is a journey - a meandering journey that occasionally slips in time and subject. Rather than an argument of a thesis, it reads more like a discovery.

It straddles the line between non-fiction and fiction, between history and personal experience, and between the logical and the totally insane.  There were times when I couldn't believe that what Ronson was reporting could be true, that people really said what he said they said in interviews, for example. But pull up the original articles and there it is, in all its glorious craziness.

It's an interesting (and quick!) read with complicated conclusions. Ronson explores the Scientology-styled anti-psychiatry and he looks at those who believe in it so much that they diagnose and medicate 4-year-olds with bipolar. Never are the issues presented as simple or one-sided, and Ronson is very good at leading his readers down one path and then veering in a very different direction. It's interesting and refreshing.

I can't close without commenting on how perfect the cover design is for this book. I don't often see a cover that is so memorable and perfectly suited for the subject!

Amelia Peabody Mysteries #18: The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters

Read: 20 January, 2012

Every good detective needs a special trait. Adrian Monk has OCD, Nero Wolfe is overweight, Gilbert Cunningham takes place in Medieval Scotland... Peters' Amelia Peabody is an Egyptologist working in the late 19th - early 20th century.

I've long been something of an amateur Egyptology aficionado (and, in fact, was set on a career in the field for years before the insecurity of puberty put me off any "hard" careers), so I was quite excited to give this mystery series a try. Also, I like to start series at the beginning, but I picked this but up at a sale so I thought I'd give it a try anyway.

In this adventure, a widow and well-known author presents Peabody&co with a "cursed" statuette and claims that a mysterious black afrit killed her husband and is coming after her.

The mystery was fairly blah. The detectives do very little detecting; instead, they spend 2/3 of the novel having things happen to them, and then the culprits confess everything. In the final chapter, it's revealed that Peabody had everything figured out much earlier, but she gave no indication of this at the time.

And, frankly, it's not like the detectives didn't have the chance to do some real detecting - they just sucked at it. For example, two of Peabody's party spend days trying to track down fugitives before they even think of the possibility that the fugitives might not be using their real names!

The writing  form was also rather confusing. Some sections were titled "From Manuscript H," but no indication was given as to what this might refer to. I suppose it's possible that this was established in an earlier book, but it was rather weird, especially since there were no other section titles. Peters also made the odd choice of switching back and forth between first person and third, without any real reason for the choice.

All in all, I'd say that this is a fine detective story for a poolside read, but it's not worth seeking out.