Where I Deduce that the Title Is Ironic

Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun book, and I enjoyed it. Fast read. I started my Christopher Moore journey with his most recent books, which I loved, and so I wasn't sure how I'd feel about his first book. Well, not surprisingly, it isn't quite as satisfying as his later novels (IMO), but also not surprisingly, it's funny and witty and has a rough version of the author's later voice--so good, overall.

A demon is coming to Pine Cove, and we get to know quite a few of the odd folks in that town while they deal with the mayhem and disappearances. They're sort of modern-day versions of Dickens characters; more realistic, perhaps, but still eccentric and highly varied. Other novels take place in the same town, and that makes sense. He's invented a fully realized town of oddballs and might as well make use of them.

The demon and other supernatural elements of the novel give this a sort of fantasy feel, but it's always closer to a comedic novel than fantasy. (I like both, so... whatever; it works.) It reminds me of John Scalzi's Agent to the Stars, which is a SF book but has the same sensibility. Both are humorous sort-of action novels where the main characters are aware of unusual goings-on, but the rest of the world is ignorant, and in both the comedy comes largely out of interactions with the alien/demon. The tone is light, but the action still has consequences and stakes for the main characters.

I bet he coulda made it longer, but I'm glad he didn't. This was a pleasant read, funny and engaging, and it didn't outstay its welcome. What it did to is make me look forward to reading the other three books I have by Christopher Moore but haven't read yet. (Not to mention the new one out in hardcover. Anxious to get ahold of that one.)

Recommended for those who like their action with quirky characters and a nice touch of comedy.

Like me.



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Where an Old Man Enjoys Some Kid Stuff

The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Volume 1 by Don Rosa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a Father's Day gift from my son, who apparently listens when I rant and also has a "read whatever you enjoy" ethos, two qualities I admire.

As far as comics go, I prefer stories that are contained in a single issue, with unambiguous art, boundless creativity, and a generally positive outlook toward the world and life. Kids' comics like Uncle Scrooge (and Richie Rich and Hot Stuff, things like that) are more to my taste than most superhero comics or other "sequential art"--even though I am officially quite old and haven't looked at them much since the 70s. I shared this opinion (about comics, not about being old) as we wandered around the local convention, and my alert son hunted down this volume for me.

Worked out pretty good--I really liked it.

Don Rosa's Scrooge, a European version of the familiar Disney character and comic, is well done. He tells Scrooge's biography in a way that answers some questions and makes the character more sympathetic than ever, with engaging art and fun stories. I'm not really sure who the audience is supposed to be, but I liked it, and I'm eager to find others by him.

Sometimes you just want to read about a prospecting duck riding an emu across the Outback, you know?

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Where I Finally Read the Second Book, Remembering How Good the First Was

Hexed by Kevin Hearne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's a fast read because it's good. (Gripping action + sympathetic characters + great language + amusing banter + entertaining plot + cool magic = "good." It's just math, really.)

I've been reading a lot of first books lately, and gave myself permission to get going on second books. Finally. This is one of those second books that picks up where the first left off, in terms both of plot and momentum, and only improves on the first if anything.

Atticus O'Sullivan, the last druid, is a compelling, sympathetic character who is fun to watch. Kevin Hearne does an amazing job making him both modern and ancient, kind and brutal, funny and serious. He stays true to his motivations, as do the other characters he encounters--witches, werewolves, Coyote the trickster, Lady Madonna (ISYN--and sorry, ~spoiler) and others. I love how his supernatural characters wear their nice clothes and enjoy their local entertainments and drive their fancy cars around the East Valley and still party like it's 999.

Lots going on. Atticus is trying to train a new druid, watch out for the nice old neighbor lady, take care of his dog (love his dog!), make a truce with a bunch of witches, repair his relationships with a few friends, and survive a slew of enemies. And fix a stretch of dead, charred ground from the previous novel, because that's what druids do.

Well written. No sour notes. Lots of fun. And, by me, highly recommended.

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Where Old Guys Kick Ass

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love the rock-n-roll cover. That's what drew me in, originally. I only held off buying because my TBR pile, and the investment thereof, was unsustainably high. Then I learned the author lived in the college town in Canada where I spent two good years, and I hadta have it.

Glad I did. (I was gonna say "By turns blank and blank," the blanks being "funny" and "heroic," but Benjamin Dreyer blew that formulation out of the water. Dang.) This novel works on many levels, particularly as a straightforward action fantasy. Old fighter dudes come out of retirement to save the adult daughter of one of the guys. They face monsters and dragons and bad guys and hazards of all sorts, getting beat up and hurt and keeping on, all of it in a kick-ass, non-ironic, heroic fashion. In this way, it owes a lot to D&D and sword and sorcery and similar books that deal with that kind of action.

It's not light, though. There is actual drama, with a number of empathetic characters. I have no doubt that Clay adores his wife and would do anything for his daughter; Matrick genuinely, deeply cares about Moog, who is still grieving a lost love; Gabriel is gambling everything to try to save his daughter. You want to see them succeed. These characters are people we care about.

But it's also funny, and it works as a comic adventure. Because the characters read as real people, not caricatures (a type of fantasy humor that doesn't work for me) the laughs come from the interactions, mostly, though there is also excellent banter. (The humor is more Deadwood than Friends--if you get me. "That's so Al!" and "Oh, Johnny!" becomes "That's so Ganelon!" and "Oh, Moog!") The laughs season what could otherwise be a pretty grim story (but, you know, in a good way), moving it along, keeping it fun, and the emotional contrast makes for a satisfying read.

The coolest thing about the novel is its central conceit, which is that bands of fighters in that world are stand-ins for rock bands in our world. They are beloved and indulged celebrities, living lives of excess while riding high and even after the fame evaporates. Young bands come up, earning praise for destroying rampaging monsters, and replace the old guys who are no long idolized. Managers direct their careers, steal their money, and earn the resentment of the bands they do it to. Kids emulate them, dreaming of someday living the same life. It's funny, but it's clever and it works, giving the story a quirky resonance.

Well plotted, nicely paced, funny and dramatic by turns (damn! I did it anyway), with wonderfully salty language, it shows an author with a deft touch and lots of creativity, and it is a great pleasure to read.

Recommended.

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Where I confess my preference for fun books

Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read the original "Little Fuzzy" back in the 70s when I was a kid, and I remember that I liked a lot. Cute, quick read, fun. I'm pretty sure I read the second book, but I don't remember much about it, so who knows... But I was totally up for the reboot by one of my favorite authors as soon as I saw it, and I should have known about it years before. How'd I miss it? It's cool, everybody, I finally found it. Even if I'm late to the party, I enjoyed it, and Imma tell you why.

This is a fun book, and I put a lot of stock in that. I was reading five other books (you know, a piece of each every day, like a well-balanced diet) when I grabbed this, and it shouldered all the other books aside. Some of those are very good books, too, but this one was more fun. "I'll read just to page 150 and turn out the light," became, "Wow, I'm way past that now. Well, ten more pages."

Sometimes you read for moral improvement, and sometimes you read for fun, because you remember life is short and boring is long. It's okay to read something that entertains you. Seriously.

So, fun how? First of all, it's funny, which is practically a given with a John Scalzi book. Although the main character, Holloway, is likable and sympathetic and has the best lines, he is kind of an ass. In a brief exchange in court where he is discussed, secondary characters are given a few good lines:

"What's your general opinion of Mr. Holloway?" Meyer asked.
"Am I allowed to use profanity?" Bourne asked.
..."Just hit the highlights," Meyer said.
...[Bourne lists his shortcomings]...
"Any positive qualities?" Meyer asked, slightly bemused.
"I like his dog," Bourne said.

All accurate. He pisses people off, and he does have a good dog.

Besides being funny--it's a good story. It's straightforward in both the original and the reboot: humans are extracting mineral wealth from the planet Zarathustra with the belief that there is no sapient race on the planet, and the Fuzzys' existence, if they can be shown to be sapient, undermines the corporate claims to the planet's resources. It's not a complex plot and doesn't need to be, although it still addresses a lot of themes in an entertaining way. The original book was quite sweet and cute for science fiction (and loved in part because of this). While this version has more grit and conflict than the original, giving the reader a little more to chew on, it does so without doing violence to the source material. It achieves this mainly by roughing up the main character and his backstory rather than by introducing anything scandalous or salacious. (Mind you, I like scandalous and salacious fine. But it wouldn't fit this book.) He was a good steward of the Fuzzy tradition.

And, like all of this author's books, it is cinematic. It is easy to imagine this being filmed with a nicely glib smart-ass actor like Harrison Ford/Jamie Foxx/Robert Downey--or someone younger than that whose name I probably don't know yet. (Mindy Kaling? Out-of-the-box casting!) The book has that cool flow, quick read, action-with-humor vibe that makes a good book and a good movie, and even though it's not heavy, dramatically or thematically, (well, spoiler, this book does contain all the emotions, somewhere) it's not flyaway light; there's an effective and satisfying combination of character and plot driving the novel.

When readers say, "I like to read but I'm between books," or "Lately, I've been in a reading dry patch," what they mean is that they're choosing dull and dreary books that sound better than they are. Quit punishing yourself, people! Remind yourself what made you into a reader all those years ago. Read a good book. A fun book.

Hey! Here's one!

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