Braglio.com

Four years after the publication of the last book in the Wheel of Time series, the latest installment was released to much apprehension by the devoted followers of the books. The creator of the series, Robert Jordan, died in September of 2007 with his final book in the series still in the midst of the process. It was assumed by many that another author would be selected to continue the series and that perhaps was the cause of the concern. How could someone come in for what was essentially the last act of the play and finish the story? Anyone that has read the series can see that Jordan must have had massive quantities of notes for the story arc going back to the release of the original book in 1992. Despite the evidence of a superstructure for the story the individual treatment of themes, characters and side plots still left much room for disaster. Add to this the dis-satisfaction that many readers had begun to feel somewhere around book six, that the plot had slowed to a trickle, that many of the characters (female in particular) were flat and unchanging, the overly descriptive passages that were beautiful to read but did little to advance the plot, all of these things pointed to a possible implosion of the series with the new writer taking over the helm.

Thankfully this did not happen. Brandon Sanderson was the person selected by Jordan’s widow to take on this potential landmine. In his comments at the beginning of the book he provides his thoughts on the process, using an example of having a new director take over the filming of your favorite movie 3/4 of the way through the film. The viewpoint may change slightly but the characters and plot line are still the same. In my opinion he managed to do this quite well.

My wife picked up the book for me on Monday of last week. I was in the process of reading the first book in the series which is the only one I don’t own currently, my copy broke into pieces after reading it for the fourth time. As she predicted I ended up diving into the new book with abandon and left the first to sit waiting to be returned to the library. I began reading in earnest on Thanksgiving day and I finished it on Saturday night before I fell asleep.

I must admit that many of the issues that people would point out as flaws in the series (see above) were issues I could claim to agree with. I was certainly tired of the female characters showing little to no growth, the constant similar physical descriptions of them (if one more woman smooths her skirts I swear I will through the book away) in particular. Those happily are gone. Yes, there is still some knuckling of mustaches but for the most part the text of The Gathering Storm is dedicated to the story and advancing it instead of describing it. Reading this book felt more like watching an action movie instead of a soap opera. In order to prevent people from seeing things they haven’t read yet I won’t go into plot specifics. I will say that it was a huge plus to see plot lines resolve themselves quickly and with much impact. Sanderson wrote with the release of this book that he is currently fifty percent complete the next book. I think we might actually see this series resolve itself, which was in doubt by many.

Fatal Revenant is the most recent effort of Stephen R. Donaldson and part of a series that stretches back over thirty years, to the late 1970s. My father turned me onto these books originally and I was very surprised to see Donaldson revisiting this series. Donaldson is a writer that takes some getting used to. His writing has spawned web sites like Stephen R. Donaldson Broke My Dictionary. It would be impossible to pick this book up and jump right into the story, anyone interested in reading this series should begin at the very beginning. Be patient, the first 100 or so pages are difficult to get through but the premise for the series is set there and it is all worthwhile.

If you are one of the rare people that actually sits and reads, take a chance on this series. It’s worth the effort.

A few weeks ago I finished Robert Jordan’s latest work: Knife of Dreams and for the first time in a long time I put the book down thinking that something actually happened for a change. Jordan built a solid reputation with solid storytelling in his first 3-4 books in the series. Reported to originally be a trilogy, it has now exploded into 11 books with the 12th supposedly to be the conclusion.

This book has several plot lines move forward rather quickly and very few if any new ones started. It certainly seems that he is attempting to wrap this thing up soon. Some of the issues that have bothered me in the past 7 or so books remain.

His female characters still tend to be rather flat with no real changes exhibited over the course of the story. They still ‘smooth their skirts, tug on their braids and straighten their shawls’ way too much. His naming convention is horrible. Several female characters have names that are so similar I think their own mothers would confuse them. He still gets lost describing a scene instead of focusing on the story at hand.

Despite this the book is a good read and for anyone that has slogged through all 10 books you will find it a comfort to see some cliffhangers resolved and others apparently nearing resolution as well. After reading the book I believe he may actually finish the series before he dies.

Last weekend I completed Dreamer of Dune and put it down with mixed feelings. While I will give it high marks for Brian Herbert’s brutal honesty regarding his early relationship with his father it falls short in the one area that I believe many people purchased the book in the first place. Considering how much time the two spent together, going as far as collaborating together on a book, providing more insight into his father’s creative writing process should have been possible.

I was impressed with the overall growth in their father-son relationship. I imagine that many people (men in particular) that read this book will find themselves feeling a twinge of regret when comparing their own relationships with parents and or children when compared to the Herbert family. Frank Herbert is described as a person that could not relate to children. Despite the virtual enforced estrangement Frank created via his child rearing methods, he and Brian managed to reconcile and create a lasting relationship that lasted until his death.

The key to their friendship I imagine was their common interest in writing. This common thread tied the two of them together in the same way season tickets to a sporting event or a love of movies binds others.

How do people that are so different, so unalike, manage a bond like that?

I received Dreamer of Dune for Christmas and I am currently 1/3 of the way through the book. While it has not provided much insight into the actual mechanics of Herbert’s Universe it has surprised me with the intimate portrait of a family. Reading about the development of a father son relationship while not expected is interesting all the same.

Brian Herbert’s (Frank’s oldest son) descriptions of his childhood place him in the world of a highly creative man that strives to create a world of strict almost military style discipline in order to release his creative spirit. His emotions regarding the harsh rules he lived under are easily seen in his words. What I found remarkable is that after describing a childhood in which Frank Herbert is given freedom to wander hundreds of miles from home due to his parent’s alcoholism based neglect that Herbert almost becomes the negative image of his mother and father. I had to laugh when Brian describes the lie detector that his father would frequently threaten to use on him. I instantly thought of Meet the Parents.

While reading the original Dune series I was struck by the feeling of an immense universe that was created by Herbert. I appreciated a series that focused on a small sliver of time, affected by a fog shrouded past with an uncertain future. I was disappointed by the prequels written by Brian. I found them clearing up far too much of the fog that was put in place by Frank without creating further fog in the past. I would hesitate to recommend the prequels for this reason.

I have found the Dune series to be some of the best Sci-Fi I have ever read. The only series that compares to it in my opinion is the Foundation series by Asimov. Herbert addresses many issues including the impact of man upon the environment, the role of religion and the actions of the masses of humanity when presented with a savior. It takes time to read and almost demands multiple reads. I highly recommend it. At this point I would only recommend ‘Dreamer of Dune’ to people interested in reading about family relationships.

I am now a little over fifty percent through what is supposed to be the last book in the Dune pre-quells written by a team consisting of the son of the original author/creator and another author. While none of the books has lived up to the expectations of the original this one is at the least interesting and has a fast pace. This is also the first in this series to actually surprise me not once, but twice. If you have read the Dune series and never read these, you are not missing much. If like me you have nothing else to read at the moment it helps pass the time.

For the past two years I’ve tried to jump back and forth between a serious work of literature and a fantasy/sci-fi work. I’m really searching for some new reading material at this point. I’m thinking that I should look to some non-fiction books from the past 10 years or so for new material. Problem is, I don’t know where to start. Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.

I find myself, like many other people I’m sure, reading the latest Dune novel more for completeness than anything else.

The original books, written by the late Frank Herbert are among the greatest science-fiction I have ever read. Only Asimov and his Foundation series equal it. A study in religion/environment/politics along with an interesting take on prescience.

What sets the original Dune series apart from other books is the ‘mid-stream’ approach that Herbert takes with his characters and plot lines. The reader is left with much information just out of view. This lack of information only makes the universe he creates more believable. Reading the current series has done much to dispel this effect.

I don’t regret reading them; they won’t tarnish my view of the originals. I’m viewing them as one of those ‘other authors takes on familiar characters’ kind of books. Besides, much of the information in these books is taken from the extensive notes that Herbert kept regarding his creation.

I was first made aware of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle in my 11th grade high school history class. The teacher was covering the period of US history during which muckrakers affected public opinion of big business and the political machines that allowed them to operate freely in the US.

A great deal of focus in class was placed on Sinclair’s work. Portions of the book which outlined the horrendous work conditions were read in detail. Many people have compared present days Fast Food Nation I won’t go into the detailed description of unsanitary/unsafe work conditions here. At the time I thought about picking up the book on my own and never did.