All Consuming : mortaine

A review of "The Pride of Chanur" (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 16:26:57 GMT

by C.J. Cherryh

There were editing problems with this novel, but it was fairly short and a good intro to the series. The editing problems spanned from simple typos to some dialect issues. See, I don’t mind dialect in my fantasy fiction. I can even deal with “poor/simplified language due to the limitations of machine translation” kind of thing, and “shorthand lingo because we’re in space.” In both cases, the author has chosen to express this dialect as a lack of articles (the, a, etc) and a looseness of structural similarity to the human language of English (so we have “I no go” instead of “I won’t go”).

What I cannot deal with are:

characters who speak in the same shorthand between two members of the same species who are standing next to each other.
expository paragraphs using the same shorthand/translator-speak
a matrix of communication that is supposed to represent the thoughts/sentences of an alien species and which is a crucial piece of information and which the protag immediately knows what it’s supposed to mean, even though it’s really unclear whether “help help help help help help help” is a command, a statement of intent, or a request.

Otherwise, it was an entertaining book, and I just kind of skimmed over the parts that got to be too non-English, and the rest I read them as if I were reading a piece written by a non-native-speaking Freshman.

A review of "The Masque of the Black Tulip" (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 16:25:08 GMT

The Masque of the Black Tulip

by Lauren Willig

An audiobook. Very enjoyable. The sequel to The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. They’re historical romance mystery/spy novels. Enjoyable, a little “fluffy,” but good beach reads. I’ve been listening to this one for several weeks, so it is nice to finally finish it.

Very good fantasy novel (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 16:22:27 GMT

Elantris

by Brandon Sanderson

A standalone (? I suspect a sequel will be forthcoming) novel set in a world with broken magic and major political upheaval. It’s an interesting story, well-written, and the love story is secondary to the rest of the novel. My one complaint is the use of non-English words for things we have perfectly useful equivalents, but he limits that to mainly cultural things (like priestly ranks and, more annoying, friend-relationships). It’s a good book if you like fantasy novels. It reminded me very strongly of the video game Planescape: Torment, in the sense of the main character being somewhat not-alive.

A review of "Money For Content and Your Clicks For Free: Turning Web Sites, Blogs, and Podcasts Into Cash" (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 16:19:52 GMT

Money For Content and Your Clicks For Free: Turning Web Sites, Blogs, and Podcasts Into Cash

by J. D. Frazer

A book all about making money as an independent Internet content creator. Good advice, lots of nuts-and-bolts stuff, and not too focused on the cartooning side (JD is a web cartoonist).

A review of "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation" (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 16:18:40 GMT

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

by Lauren Willig

An amusing historical adventure/romance novel set in post-Revolutionary France.

A review of "This Side of Married" (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 16:16:41 GMT

This Side of Married

by Rachel Pastan

A very nice mirror to Sense & Sensibility, about three daughters and their quest for marital and familial happiness.

Great Lunchtime Reading! (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 16:10:55 GMT

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

by Mary Roach

OK, look. I read books when I’m at lunch by myself, right? So, loudly cracking up and laughing isn’t uncommon for me. But with this book, I actually had someone lean across the aisle and ask me what I was reading. When I told him “it’s a book about dead bodies” he quickly left the cafe….

It’s hysterically funny, but also touching and respectful and lovely. If you are squeamish, there are passages that might be a little too much, but overall, it was quite good and straightforward. I am prone to nightmares, but had none while reading this book.

A story about "This Book Will Change Your Life"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 17:29:14 GMT

This Book Will Change Your Life

by Benrik

This is an awesome book, lots of fun. If you are a typical blogger looking for ideas, grab this book and run with it. I did, and am videoblogging my journey at mortaine.blogspot.com!

A story about "Million Dollar Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 23:09:50 GMT

Million Dollar Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Yes, I cried. Yes, it’s a beautiful movie. Yes, I wanted to beat the crap out of the bitch 2 rows in front of me who turned to her companions and said “THAT won an Oscar?” And then went on to complain “I thought it was a boxing movie!”

Well, no wonder you were disappointed, lady. This was as much a boxing movie as Rocky (another Oscar winner) was before every other sport movie that came after it copied it.

A story about "Dawn of the Dead (Widescreen Unrated Director's Cut)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 23:08:42 GMT

Dawn of the Dead (Widescreen Unrated Director's Cut)

I knew watching the opening credits that this would give me nightmares. But it’s a good one for Halloween!

A story about "Open Water (Widescreen Edition)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 23:07:13 GMT

Open Water (Widescreen Edition)

by Chris Kentis

This is a good one for DVD. It’s a very Blair Witch SCUBA dive….

A story about "Eurotrip (Full Screen Edition)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 23:05:32 GMT

Eurotrip (Full Screen Edition)

by Jeff Schaffer

To be honest, this is a silly “summer vacation” movie that knows what it is, but it also has a lot of smart moments, too. I was pleasantly surprised. Also, “Scotty doesn’t know” is the best song evar. And Lucy Lawless as a dominatrix is just well worth the price of admission.

A story about "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Harry Potter 3)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 23:03:21 GMT

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Harry Potter 3)

by Alfonso Cuarón

I didn’t get it. I was horribly confused. About half of the story was amputated, and the movie was still too long. Seriously—there was no dramatic tension, and absolutely no love developed between the audience and the characters. They raped Draco’s character with the sniveling moment—it made absolutely no sense and would have been fine if he’d sneered at her and called her an ugly Mud-blood before she punched him. Would have made more sense and you wouldn’t have had to change any thing else in the scene.

A story about "Lost in La Mancha"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 23:02:19 GMT

Lost in La Mancha

by Louis Pepe

Lost in La Mancha is a documentary, a “making-of” movie for The Man who Killed Don Quixote, a film by Terry Gilliam that was never finished (Acts of God basically swept in to destroy the set and one of the actors). Johnny Depp was cast in the movie, so there are some great scenes of him in rehearsal and a marvelous scene with him screaming at a fish.

A story about "The Ring (Widescreen Edition)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 23:00:41 GMT

The Ring (Widescreen Edition)

That’s all. It was terrible.

A story about "Office Space (Widescreen Edition)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 22:59:41 GMT

Office Space (Widescreen Edition)

Whenever my job gets to be too stressful and I can’t handle my bosses, or I get Yet Another Boss piled onto my org chart, I pull this baby out and watch it. At one point, I was watching it weekly….

A story about "Real Women Have Curves"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 22:47:07 GMT

Real Women Have Curves

by Patricia Cardoso

I really enjoyed this movie. I thought it was one of those Great movies you see once in a while. You know, the kind that makes you sit up and say “hey! That’s a terrific movie!” It’s the kind of movie you want your 13 year old daughter or neice to see. The kind of movie you wish you’d seen when you were fifteen.

A story about "Men in Black II (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 22:43:11 GMT

Men in Black II (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

I saw Men In Black on Tuesday, and I have to agree with the professional reviewers out there—it was too much like the first one. I mean, on the one hand the first movie was really excellent, and the one addition to this one was something I really liked (the memory-loss thing, because we’re playing that in my RPG right now). But the overall movie was definitely lacking in anything new or “fresh,” even from the Fresh Prince, one of my favorite actors.

A story about "Coraline"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 22:30:01 GMT

Coraline

by Neil Gaiman

Grade: A+ One of the best books I’ve read in a long, long time.

A story about "Dragonseye"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 22:30:01 GMT

Dragonseye

by Anne McCaffrey

Grade: C- Wait for video.

A story about "At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mortaine) — Wed, 25 May 2005 22:30:01 GMT

At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror

by H. P. Lovecraft

Grade: B Well-written, with some flaws or predictability that makes it less fun to read.