http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/13359 en-US Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:16:59 -0800 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 213678 Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:16:59 -0800
Beginning the tale of the protagonist, Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter (and what a freakin' Nordic mouthful that is), as she runs away from home to join a mercenary corps, Eliabeth Moon's crafting of this first book of her epic is first rate.

Sheepfarmer's Daughter is the story of the transformation of ... well, a sheepfarmer's daughter into a mercenary soldier in the service of Duke Phelan. Paksenarrion, or "Paks" to her friends in Phelan's military corps, experiences training and fighting that is rarely written about in this genre in such tactical and logistical detail.

The slow transformation of Paks from novice bumbler into hardened warrior is a pleasure to witness. Her ambivalence toward religion and magic is slightly evocative of (and perhaps a sly nod to) Howard's Conan. Characterizations of major players throughout are solid, however villains tend toward the one-dimensional, especially the chief antagonist; more could have been done with this character I thought without endangering the "grunt's point of view" the author is careful to maintain. Detailed descriptions of events come directly from Paks's point of view - we get to experience this strange world for the first time through her eyes.

One quibble I had with the set up of her world - and it's not exclusively a problem with Moon, as I've seen this done by other authors in comparable "period" fantasy work - is the seeming acceptance by what is essentially a feudal society of a rough sort of women's lib. Moon gives us the usual caveats about how "other" societies of her world don't guarantee the rights of women to the extent of the society that Paks finds herself in; nevertheless the historical record of sexual apartheid that "our universe's" western feudal age practiced (even up until mid-industrial age western society) belies the relatively easy sexual assimilation with which Paks works her way into her military milieu.

All in all, Sheepfarmer's Daughter is a worthy start to Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion cycle.]]>
author: Elizabeth Moon
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 03/09/07
shelves: fantasy
review:
The first of a series of books set in this world, Sheepfarmer's Daughter is a fine example of "bottom up" storytelling, and an excellent look at medieval military life from the ordinary soldier's perspective.

Beginning the tale of the protagonist, Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter (and what a freakin' Nordic mouthful that is), as she runs away from home to join a mercenary corps, Eliabeth Moon's crafting of this first book of her epic is first rate.

Sheepfarmer's Daughter is the story of the transformation of ... well, a sheepfarmer's daughter into a mercenary soldier in the service of Duke Phelan. Paksenarrion, or "Paks" to her friends in Phelan's military corps, experiences training and fighting that is rarely written about in this genre in such tactical and logistical detail.

The slow transformation of Paks from novice bumbler into hardened warrior is a pleasure to witness. Her ambivalence toward religion and magic is slightly evocative of (and perhaps a sly nod to) Howard's Conan. Characterizations of major players throughout are solid, however villains tend toward the one-dimensional, especially the chief antagonist; more could have been done with this character I thought without endangering the "grunt's point of view" the author is careful to maintain. Detailed descriptions of events come directly from Paks's point of view - we get to experience this strange world for the first time through her eyes.

One quibble I had with the set up of her world - and it's not exclusively a problem with Moon, as I've seen this done by other authors in comparable "period" fantasy work - is the seeming acceptance by what is essentially a feudal society of a rough sort of women's lib. Moon gives us the usual caveats about how "other" societies of her world don't guarantee the rights of women to the extent of the society that Paks finds herself in; nevertheless the historical record of sexual apartheid that "our universe's" western feudal age practiced (even up until mid-industrial age western society) belies the relatively easy sexual assimilation with which Paks works her way into her military milieu.

All in all, Sheepfarmer's Daughter is a worthy start to Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion cycle.
]]> 136647 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 21:37:17 -0800
One of the more complete studies of fictional psychopathy I have ever read, this book is, I think, most unique in its portrayal of the main character as "almost normal". Almost, except for his unfortunate penchant for diddling little girls.

A striking method of characterization in the novel is Nabokov's reliance on Humbert's absolute insistence of his "normality". How he completely rejects any censure but his own; and even that self-censure, like everything else in his life, is false and hollow. He experiences and notes the child's distress without any clear acknowlegement of his culpability - it is a brilliant dissection of self-absorption.

One final note - the well-documented "tic" that many child molesters have; of being "more sensitive", "more intelligent", "more understanding" of the world than those who "don't get it" is herein on full display. Witness his unflattering descriptions of adult women in comparison to his objects of lust. Humbert's delusion is effectively one of complete selfishness. He deserves what he wants because he is who he is - no other reason need be given.

And in the end - his inadequacy as a man transforms into an inadequacy as a human being as illustrated by the pathetic recounting of his almost botched, ridiculous revenge/murder plot.

I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys watching a character have a novel-length train wreck. (and I say that in a good way).
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author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1955
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 03/01/07
shelves: fiction
review:
Nabokov's portrayal of the pedophile in this novel is quite sinister. The banality of evil is fully on display here as the protagonist Humbert takes us on a guided tour through his unholy obsessions.

One of the more complete studies of fictional psychopathy I have ever read, this book is, I think, most unique in its portrayal of the main character as "almost normal". Almost, except for his unfortunate penchant for diddling little girls.

A striking method of characterization in the novel is Nabokov's reliance on Humbert's absolute insistence of his "normality". How he completely rejects any censure but his own; and even that self-censure, like everything else in his life, is false and hollow. He experiences and notes the child's distress without any clear acknowlegement of his culpability - it is a brilliant dissection of self-absorption.

One final note - the well-documented "tic" that many child molesters have; of being "more sensitive", "more intelligent", "more understanding" of the world than those who "don't get it" is herein on full display. Witness his unflattering descriptions of adult women in comparison to his objects of lust. Humbert's delusion is effectively one of complete selfishness. He deserves what he wants because he is who he is - no other reason need be given.

And in the end - his inadequacy as a man transforms into an inadequacy as a human being as illustrated by the pathetic recounting of his almost botched, ridiculous revenge/murder plot.

I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys watching a character have a novel-length train wreck. (and I say that in a good way).

]]> 113215 Tue, 27 Feb 2007 10:54:54 -0800
An unsatisfactory conclusion to the otherwise acceptable alt-history trilogy by John Birmingham. The ending was far too rushed. Several compelling story lines that had been nurtured in the first two books were simply abandoned in this one; seemingly for the sake of "getting to the good stuff", ie: the very graphic ahead-of-its-time introduction of the world to the nuclear age. It felt like three more books' worth of material was crammed into this on volume.

The Socio-political changes one would expect due to the deposit of a slice of fully-integrated "future America" - seismic in any society, but even more so in a pre-Jim Crow United States - seemed also to have been given short shrift in this book, abnegating the promise of the first two.

Characterizations mostly coast along from the first two books, as no major characters are introduced in this installment; or at least none who don't immediately die in variously gruesome ways.

The only thing that saves this final novel is the action; and even that is somewhat formulaic, with future technology standing in as a Deus Ex Machina device far too often.]]>
author: John Birmingham
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 01/07
date added: 02/27/07
shelves: sciencefiction
review:
Axis of Time Trilogy: a Next Generation United States Carrier Battle Group (next generation from the one in which we currently inhabit) ripped out of time from fighting a World War on Terrorism and Terrorist states and plopped down right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in World War II.

An unsatisfactory conclusion to the otherwise acceptable alt-history trilogy by John Birmingham. The ending was far too rushed. Several compelling story lines that had been nurtured in the first two books were simply abandoned in this one; seemingly for the sake of "getting to the good stuff", ie: the very graphic ahead-of-its-time introduction of the world to the nuclear age. It felt like three more books' worth of material was crammed into this on volume.

The Socio-political changes one would expect due to the deposit of a slice of fully-integrated "future America" - seismic in any society, but even more so in a pre-Jim Crow United States - seemed also to have been given short shrift in this book, abnegating the promise of the first two.

Characterizations mostly coast along from the first two books, as no major characters are introduced in this installment; or at least none who don't immediately die in variously gruesome ways.

The only thing that saves this final novel is the action; and even that is somewhat formulaic, with future technology standing in as a Deus Ex Machina device far too often.
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