Christopher G. Nuttall's Blog, page 46
September 20, 2019
Review: Kingdom of Souls
Rena Barron
Kingdom of Souls is one of those books that is quite difficult to review.
It was actually mentioned to me by someone who read The Zero Blessing, with a suggestion that Rena Barron copied my work. That isn’t true. Save for skin colour and (apparent) powerlessness, Caitlyn and Arrah – the heroine of Kingdom of Souls – have very little in common. They come from different worlds, have different backgrounds, different magics … in short, they’re not the same.
Kingdom of Souls is set in a very African setting, with elements drawn from all over north and west Africa. The heroine comes from a line of witch doctors, powerful magic users. But she fails at magic, fails to call upon the ancestors and can’t even cast the simplest spell. Her mother, who is terribly abusive, is incredibly disappointed in her. Many of her peers openly mock her. However, when children in the kingdom begin to disappear, Arrah undergoes the dangerous and scorned process of selling years of her life for magic. This leads her to discover the sinister truth behind the missing children, a deadly plot for revenge and – ultimately – that she is all that stands between her world and utter destruction.
There’s a lot I liked about the book. Arrah does not give up, even when the odds are stacked against her. She has no qualms about fighting bullies, even bullies with magic; later, when forced into semi-servitude, she finds loopholes that allow her to fight back and eventually break free. She has friends and a warm relationship with a boy who is practically her boyfriend, although this is stained – later on – when he’s tricked into having sex with the villain. Arrah is willing to take the ultimate risk, even to cut herself off from her community, to safeguard those she loves.
The book is also a grim warning of just how far someone can go in their quest for revenge. The villain – Arrah’s mother is the first villain of the book, although she’s not the last – is ready to tear down just about everything, including her daughters, to take her revenge. Perhaps she has reason, Arrah thinks as much. It doesn’t excuse everything she does and Arrah makes no bones about it. What seems, at first, to be a simple story becomes something greater along the way.
At the same time, however, there are two weaknesses. The background is stunning, but it is often obscure. It’s hard to keep track of who’s who, what’s what and a lot of other details you need to follow in order to read the book. Like most ‘diverse’ books, we don’t have an instinctive understanding of the setting and need more explaining; the book could have benefited from a detailed outline of the setting, perhaps as an appendix where it wouldn’t have impeded the storytelling.
A more serious problem is that the story seems to swing around a lot, as if the author wasn’t sure where she intended to go before settling on a course. Things change, oddly; it starts with Arrah making a bargain for power, then finding herself battling her mother and an entity who may be the worst. May. Questioning everything you’re told is a theme in the book. Really, I expected it to stick with Arrah making the bargain, discovering the downsides, probably being kicked out for it and, finally, coming back in glory. There’s probably a story there, if someone wants to do it.
Overall, Kingdom of Souls reminds me of Children of Blood and Bone, although the storylines are very different. In some ways, the setting is better. In others, it’s a little too different. In both cases, however, the stories are YA; suitable for teenagers, less suitable for older and younger readers.
September 17, 2019
To Slip The Surly Bonds …
September 14, 2019
Updates
It’s been an odd few weeks.
As you know, we spent six weeks in Malaysia, after a brief layover in Istanbul (very interesting city, with lots of history) before flying back to the UK so my son could return to school. This time, the jet lag was a real killer. I felt like I had chemo brain for a week, which is worrying as my last chemo treatments were actually eight months ago . However, I was able to complete The Family Pride and the first draft of Mirror Image while we were away and have nearly completed Favour The Bold once we returned and I recovered.
Mirror Image – as people keep asking – is currently going through its second edit, while waiting for a cover. I’m hoping to have it out in a few weeks, but I can’t guarantee anything yet.
The audio version of Cursed will go live on Oct. 8th, hopefully. Watch the blog, facebook page or MEWE.
My current plan for the next few months (he says, with some trepidation) is this:
-The Ancient Lie (The Unwritten Words 2)
-Their Last Full Measure (A Learning Experience 6)
-The Artful Apprentice (SIM19) or Debt of War (Kat 8)
-The King’s Man (Zero 7)
The Artful Apprentice (SIM19) or Debt of War (Kat 8)
Let me know what you’d like to see.
I’m still irked at losing Windows Live Writer – so far, every blog program I’ve worked with has been unsatisfactory. Doing it through wordpress itself is a headache – the formatting is a pain, the colour is hard to manage and the whole system is basically a reminder of why I hate replacing my computer, even if it was clearly reaching the end of its life.
Chris
September 3, 2019
BREXIT Points Of View
Few people ever think of the differences in culture between themselves and those in other wealth brackets. It is always assumed that others lead essentially the same life, just with finer or poorer trappings associated with it. The extremely wealthy cannot visualize the relative expense of basics such as food to someone on a subsistence-level income and the poor view the rich as having more disposable income without any additional operating expenses, social obligations or risks.
-Michael Z. Williamson, Freehold
A week or so ago, a guy I know on Facebook posted a photo of a household that, through putting up a Pro-BREXIT sign, had made its political afflictions strikingly clear. This was followed by a considerable amount of vitriol directed at Leave voters, a tiny fragment of the vitriol directed at them over the years since the referendum was held. I pointed out, rather waspishly, that the poster might know nothing about the people who lived in that house, let alone why they might feel the way they do, and – in any case – talking to people as if they’re idiots is not a good way to convince them to join you. People resent that sort of treatment, you know?
In any case, it led to an interesting discussion.
It’s quite easy, these days, to get caught in an information bubble, where all your news comes from sources with the same or similar political views. If you live inside such a bubble – and you may not even be aware of it – it’s easy to start thinking that you’re right and everyone who disagrees is either ignorant or wilfully wrong (i.e. they know the truth, but deny it because they’re evil or stupid that way.) This tends to manifest on both sides of the political divide, but it seems to be worse for the Left because the Left has a near-complete stranglehold on mainstream media, social media and so on. People caught in a bubble can say, with all sincerity, “I don’t know how Trump won, I don’t know anyone who voted for him” without ever realising that there was a whole country of people who didn’t agree with their view of the world.
But if you want to be a writer, you cannot live in a bubble. You have to teach yourself to see the world through other sets of eyes, even if – perhaps especially – you don’t agree with them. You have to understand their thoughts and feelings, you have to understand the options open to them, if you want to create three-dimensional characters. Indeed, most of the ‘inexplicable’ decisions of human history become quite explicable if you look at matters through their point of view.
I’m not saying that you have to agree with them. But you do have to understand them.
For example, a teenage boy without much cash in his pocket might have the bright idea of inviting the girl he fancies for a walk in the park, which will let them spend time together without putting too much of a strain on his wallet. This is quite understandable from his point of view. But it is also understandable that the girl will say no, because – from her point of view – he’s trying to get her alone. He may have good motives. He does have good motives. But why should she take it on faith?
The Remain activists insist that there are no valid (in the sense that they can be argued reasonably) reasons for leaving the EU. And, from their point of view, they’re right. But, from a Leaver point of view, there are good reasons to Vote Leave.
If you happen to have any historical awareness, you might feel that the EU is a vast unaccountable, undemocratic bureaucratic state that will ride roughshod over the people in order to enact its version of European union. Worse, it’s unwilling and/or unable to reform itself. Given time, the inherent flaws in such a structure will destroy it (in the same manner the USSR collapsed.) In short, it might be better – from their point of view – to get out and/or defuse the ticking time bomb before it explodes.
Historically speaking, attempts to unite Europe have always failed. Europe is not the United States of America. It is a continent composed of a number of different countries, each one having its own cultures, factions and historical scars. Britain was never occupied by Hitler, but the French were occupied and the Germans were the Nazis. And, to the East, Poland and the remainder of Eastern Europe traded Nazi Occupation for Soviet (i.e. Russian) Domination. It has already proved difficult, to say the least, to get all those factions moving in the same direction. Multiethnic empires have never fared well.
If you happen to have any economic awareness, you might feel that the EU made the dreadful mistake of allowing the PIGS countries (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) to join the Euro without doing anything resembling due diligence first. Put crudely, they gave a set of spendthrifts an unlimited credit card and allowed them to spend recklessly until the bill finally came due. If a teenager has a credit card and spends madly, who is to blame? The teenager? The indulgent parents? Or both? The EU’s response to this crisis has, in many ways, made matters worse. A tightly-controlled economy is asking for trouble.
If you happen to be a low-wage worker, you might feel that free movement (and immigration in general) is a serious threat to your livelihood.
This probably requires some elaboration. If you’re a doctor, you probably don’t have any reason to fear foreign competition. You might welcome immigration. But, if you’re on the other end of the scale – no real qualifications, no realistic hope of getting them, trapped in zero-hour contracts, you regard foreigners as competition, people competing for scarce jobs and houses and suchlike … when you’re permanently on the edge, painfully aware that losing your job could be the end of the world. Why on Earth would you welcome people who might take your jobs? ‘British jobs for British workers’ makes a lot of sense if you’re afraid of losing your job and/or being unable to get one because of foreign competition.
Someone who read my original post pointed out that zero-hour contracts are a British problem, not something mandated by the EU. This is, as far as I know, true. But they intersect with EU-related issues, such as free movement, to make life harder for the working poor. Wages are governed, like so much else, by the law of supply and demand. If the supply goes up, and demand remains roughly stable, wages go down. From this point of view, the EU makes things worse for British workers.
And, if you happen to believe in democracy, you might feel that the results of the Referendum – as unfortunate as you may feel them to be – should be honoured. Throwing a tantrum because you didn’t get your way is childish, hardly the sort of act that makes people want to respect you (let alone trust you with power.) You might also note that the EU, far from grasping the nettle and working to come to a deal that won’t be too bad for either side, has been recklessly implacable. ‘No Deal’ looks likely because the EU has been stubborn at the worst possible time.
Think about it. Britain and Europe are connected in hundreds of ways, some obvious and some not. Britain crashing out of the EU will do a lot of damage to both sides. It is beyond belief that anyone with an eye to the future could just let things slide, on the faint hope of Parliament somehow cancelling BREXIT. For example, when the French deployed troops to fight insurgents in Mali, Britain provided logistical support. What happens when the French need our help next time and we are unable or unwilling to provide?
Now, you may not find any of the four arguments above to be convincing. I’m not expecting to change any minds. They are, however, valid arguments. They are not ‘Angela Merkel is secretly Hitler’ or ‘The EU is run by vampires’ or anything that can easily be dismissed without much effort. It does a grave disservice to the cause of democracy to dismiss people when they have valid arguments … and if you refuse to even consider them, why should they consider yours?
The difference in viewpoint – and lived experience – between Leave and Remain is staggering. To put this in some context, I know a Remain voter who went abroad on school trips and spent her gap year in France. I, on the other hand, had precisely zero prospect of going abroad while I was at school and never took a gap year. Her world was much larger than mine, which was, in turn, far larger than someone who lived in the poorest regions of the country. I watched a documentary about Britons working in Spain who complained, bitterly, that they’d been betrayed. But, if you think about it, the popular perception of Britons living in Spain is of rich expats, criminals, or both. The fact this isn’t true doesn’t matter. All that matters is that people believe it.
If you want to understand (most) of the people who voted for BREXIT (or Trump), understand this. The benefits of social progress, technological development, immigration and globalisation have NOT been spread evenly. The people who benefited had no reason to rock the boat. The people who lost out, or saw themselves as losing out, had every reason to want to reshuffle the deck. And successive generations of politicians ignored this until it was too late. In doing so, they created hordes of dissatisfied voters who threw their support to populists who promised to take their concerns seriously.
And, from their point of view, this is the right thing to do.
They might be wrong. But treating them as if they’re idiots will not convince them to consider your point of view.
August 29, 2019
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Season Two
She-Ra and the
Princesses of Power Season Two
It is politically incorrect, in this day and age, to say
that boys and girls are attracted to different kinds of TV shows (and books,
comics, etc) but it is true. At one
extreme, a boys show features action and adventure; at the other, a girls show
is effectively a light soap opera, focusing on romance and personal
interaction. It is also true that girls
will watch a boys show, but it is rarer for boys to watch a girls show. Works that appeal to both genders try to find
a balance between action and soap opera (and leave plenty of room for fan works
focused on both, such as Harry Potter.) The original She-Ra largely managed to avoid being treated as a girls show
because, despite featuring a largely female cast, it remained focused on action
and adventure.
The first season of She-Ra
and the Princesses of Power found its balance quite nicely. On one hand, there was the constant war
against the Horde; on the other, there was the complex relationship between Adora,
Catra and their abusive (adoptive) mother, Shadow Weaver. Both Adora and Catra won free of their
mother: the former by finding the sword that allowed her to transform into
She-Ra and realise that the Horde was evil; the latter by besting Shadow Weaver
at her own game and rendering her (seemingly) powerless. By the end of the season, the situation had
changed remarkably: Adora had managed to reform the Princess Alliance, while
Catra had become Hordak’s right-hand-cat (a pun no one seems to make.)
However, in season two, the balancing act started to go
off the rails. Instead of thirteen
episodes we get seven, ranging from the brilliant Roll With It to the rather tedious Signals and Reunion. The overall plot inches forward slowly – with
a little regression in places – while some episodes are hampered by their soap
opera focus on the characters rather than the action. It’s nice to see Scorpia and Sea Hawk bond,
despite being on opposite sides, but it isn’t what I want to watch.
This isn’t to say that the season is bad – there are a
lot of brilliant moments – but they don’t go together as well as they
should. In some ways, there is a slight lack of serialisation; this would be a
strength, under some circumstances, but here it’s a weakness. A couple of episodes switch back and forth
between both sets of characters, instead of focusing on the main
adventure. Others stay focused and
reward their viewers.
The core of the series lies, as before, in character
development … and here, the villains come out ahead. Catra is a wonderfully-conflicted character,
although – as she grows into her new role – I find myself having less sympathy
for her. This works out quite well in The Ties That Bind, where Glimmer (after
finding that Catra makes a nightmarish prisoner) slaps her down by snapping “Adora didn’t run away from the Horde, she
ran away from you!” It doesn’t work
out so well in White Out, where Catra
is ready to let herself be killed rather than see Adora win. Scorpia is a curious mixture of likable girl,
heroic (if only for the wrong side) warrior and teenager with a crush on
Catra. Entrapta comes across as far more
interested in scientific research than morality, joining the Horde and
befriending Hordak rather than remaining true to the Princess Alliance.
That said, the villains do have weaknesses too. Hordak degrades as a character – switching
his favour from Catra to Entrapta – as he grows more desperate to get home (or
bring in a new army – it isn’t clear which).
It also isn’t clear just how much he cares
about conquering the world. To some
extent, he leaves fighting the war in Catra’s hands while working on his own
projects – a mistake, as Catra isn’t ready for the post. Shadow Weaver is given a more sympathetic
backstory that degrades the original character, to the point of practically
having her driven to do something
incredibly stupid by her former superiors.
It seems that people are prepared to try to humanise someone who is, at
base, the most despicable character in the series.
The princesses definitely come off worst in the character
development stakes. In some ways, they
go backwards. Glimmer finds herself
treating Frosta like an irritating kid sister (how her mother treated her), while Frosta herself shifts from
super-mature to kid heroine. None of the others really grow … and Swift Wind
is a joke that’s no longer funny.
First prize for funniest episode probably goes to Roll With It, which is based around the
premise of the main characters trying to plot out an attack on an enemy
fortress. Adora’s planning session
promptly degrades into an RPG game, with imagine-spots of various versions of
the characters; Glimmer portrays herself as a super-spy, Bow envisages the main
cast as their 80s incarnations, etc.
What sounds like a daft idea actually works quite well, with the cast
actually noting the cringe-worthy humour that would otherwise let the story
down considerably. (Bonus points for
Adora fretting over how Catra would defend the fortress, only to discover –
when the attack is actually launched – that Catra is nowhere near.)
There are also odder moments as the scale continues to
veer between relatively small-scale operations and adventures that take place
all around the globe. It’s hard to tell
just how quickly the action can move from one place to the other, suggesting
the planet is smaller than Earth. A
flicker of reality pops up in one episode, where the Horde is starting to grind
to a halt … not because of She-Ra, but because Catra has been neglecting the
‘minor’ logistics issues of running a large army. It’s odd, though; Shadow Weaver solves
Catra’s problem, but surely she should have had a staff? One logistics officer, no matter how
brilliant, could not keep an army running.
Hordak should have a whole army of people dedicated to keeping the Horde
functioning. (Although, that said, it
wouldn’t be out of character for Shadow Weaver to keep all the power in her
hands.)
Overall, the second season is something of a mixed
bag. Individually, most of the episodes
are great (particularly if you tune out the digressions from the main
plot.) Collectively, however, the season
doesn’t have the punch of the first season.
The increased focus on characters weakens the series and, while it does
have some nice moments, it makes it harder to enjoy the action. YMMV, of course.
