Mark Reece's Blog, page 7

Review- La Traviata (opera)

I recently watched a second opera by the Welsh national opera- La Traviata. With beautiful costumes, an excellent location at the Birmingham Hippodrome, and outstanding singing, it was a wonderful experience.

The story had a classical nineteenth century feel, focused around a love affair doomed by the social mores of the time, which snobbishly and hypocritically damned the central character, Violetta, who falls in love with an aristocrat.

The social satire was done with a light touch, the central character largely accepting her fate and accepting suffering as a religious virtue.

There were subtitles to enable the audience to better follow the story.

It was a great experience, and I hope the Welsh national opera return to the Hippodrome again soon.

Story reading

I recently read two short story at the 'City Voices' event hosted by Offa's Press.

https://offaspress.co.uk/events/

Many of the people have been doing the event for years; it was pleasant to see them again after a long time.

Review- the age of the horse

The Age of the Horse: An Equine Journey Through Human History by Susanna Forrest

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book gives a history of horses, broken down into sections where the author talks about the different ways in which humans have interacted with horses, including the ways in which horses have been used in war, for food, and how they have been conceived culturally.

There are many interesting sections, although in several places, the book becomes highly discursive, the author giving her experiences of travel, in ways that are both boring and irrelevant to the subject matter. It's still worth reading, although I skim read some parts. The book is in need of a good editor.



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Review- The well of ascension

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this second book in the mistborn series. The lord ruler, who commanded the world with his almost divine power, was killed at the end of the first book, and the second book deals with the consequent fallout, in which various factions vie for power, including the crew of thieves involved in the revolution described in the first novel.

'Allomancers', who can ingest metals to gain a series of extraordinary powers, such as enhanced strength and sensory perception, play a major part in this world. This has a tendency to dominate the plot to a greater extent that I would like, as the powers described are so strong that some characters can fight armies almost single handedly, which has the potential to make other plot points irrelevant. Nevertheless, the author does a good job of keeping the story focused on the political aspects of the novel, describing the instability caused by the collapse of a dictatorship. Despite the fantasy setting, this feels realistic.

Although a long book, it is very well written and readable, meaning that I finished it in a small number of sittings. The characters are vibrant and memorable, despite there being many of them. I'm very likely to read the remaining four books in the series.



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Review- The dungeon anarchist's cookbook

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The third book in the series sticks to the same formula as the first two books. I'd have liked the novel to have spent more time in the meta story outside the game, and the premise of this floor- a series of interconnected train tracks- didn't come across clearly. I was confused by a lot of the descriptions. Nevertheless, the premise of the book is still original enough to make it fun to read, and I want to know what will happen to Carl and Princess Donut.

I'm sticking with this series.



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Review- D&D monster manual

Monster Manual by Mike Mearls

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I read this alongside the player's handbook to get a sense of how to play D&D. The monster manual is a good guide, and I liked the illustrations, which gave a fuller sense of what the monsters were like. There is enough content to populate many campaigns.

I didn't get much of a sense about how the D&D world is thematically coherent. This is a place in which fantastical creatures exist alongside dinosaurs, intelligent but evil races, and also animals such as bears and wolves. It often seems like a lot of creatures thrown together with little thought to the wider world building, but perhaps that could reflect the extensive nature of the D&D world.



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Review- D&D player's handbook

Player's Handbook by James Wyatt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm going to start playing D&D for the first time soon, and have been reading about the rules and lore in preparation. This book focuses on the mechanics of gameplay and character creation.

The system is mostly intuitive, particularly for anyone who has played RPGs before. Not having played the game previously, I couldn't say whether it counts as an improvement on previous iterations. I thought more imagination could have been applied to the races that populate the world. Too many of them seemed to be either 'solid community' types, or 'wild tribesman'. I often think that not enough thought is given to social setups in fantasy settings, where a great variety of ways of living should be possible. I'd imagine this is why many players create their worlds.

Overall, the book provided a good manual for new players.



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Review- letters to a young scientist

Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book contains gives some practical advice, but is mostly concerned with emphasizing the joys and excitement of the life of a research scientist, and in that respect, it is a success. Wilson's anecdotes of his career are interesting and entertaining, and he explicates the scientific mindset well.

Some of the worldview seems to posit a romanticized view of academia, and Wilson's thought on non-scientific fields are much less developed. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable read.



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Review- Eden

eden by Jim Crace

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The 'Eden' of the title is a place where immortal humans labour under the supervision of angels, who are beautiful and intimidating, but who have few powers other than the ability to fly and discipline the workers by pecking them with their powerful beaks. The society of Eden is one of moderate comfort and little danger, but that requires obedience to a series of strict rules, such as to avoid the area near its walls. The society is apparently ruled over by a lord that the head angel reports back to, but the lord never appears in the novel, raising the possibility that they do not exist.

Outside the garden are other human settlements, whose inhabitants lead difficult but freer lives, and who are mortal. The central plot of Eden occurs when one of its human inhabitants, Tabi, disappears, with the assumption that she has escaped into the outside world.

Eden is riven by political intrigue. One of its human inhabitants, Alum, works as a snitch to the angels, constantly informing on them and inferring wrong doing from scanty evidence. It is unclear how the hierarchy between the angels has come about, but it is very evident, with the lowest of them in low prestige positions, such as overseeing bodies of water. The significance of tiny actions in a closed society is very well depicted, with people turning up late or even glancing in the wrong direction having great significance when viewed by Alum.

Despite the Christian language used in the novel, the plot could be interpreted in a number of ways. Most straightforwardly, Eden could be considered a demonstration that eternal life would be undesirable even if it was possible. Alternatively, the book could be considered a satire of an institution such as the Catholic church, with the angels being the clergy, the leaders of which pretend to serve a god that does not exist. Many elements of the novel could be considered a critique of authoritarianism guised in religious terms, a celestial 1984.

In any case, although the characters are often somewhat generic, as necessitated by them living in a place where expression is severely limited, the novel is well observed and beautifully written, with several features, such as the angel's blue wings, being vivid and evocative. I read it quickly and thought that the pacing was good, despite most of the substantive events occurring near the end of novel. This is another fine, original work by the author.



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Review- The final empire

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this novel and will definitely read more of the series. The story is set in a society dominated by the 'Lord Ruler' and a small number of aristocratic families. The majority of the population are comprised of the 'Skaa', who carry out manual labour and are subject to terrible mistreatment. They seem to form an underclass based on social position, although there are hints of a racial difference.

A small number of people have a power known as 'allomancy', which involves ingesting different types of metals, each of which gives the user a type of power. For example, using tin gives the user enhanced senses. An even more select group, known as mistborn, can use multiple metals, and those skilled in doing so are very powerful.

Although the Skaa are highly repressed, a small number of them become either resistance fighters or part of thieving gangs. The final empire concerns the actions of one of these gangs, which joins with the revolutionaries to attempt to overthrow the state (known as 'The Final Empire'). The leader of the group is called Kelsier- a powerful mistborn, and includes Vin, a Skaa thief who has been subject to abuse for most of her life.

The final empire is a long novel that doesn't feel long. Sanderson has a strength for characterization; despite the number of people within the Skaa gang, some of whom play a minor role in the story, all are memorable, and the conflict between them is meaningful. Furthermore, there is skillful world building; the fantastical nature of the allomancy premise is well incorporated into the world, with a lot of memorable details, such as the soldiers trained to fight allomancers who do not wear metal, to avoid the material being used against them.

I thought there was a weakness in the overall plot, which comprised of two parts. Firstly, that the allomancy power was limited to a small number of people was never explained, giving the novel a superhero film feel at times. Not only did an explanation feel required, but it made the social class structure a little odd, as surely those members of the aristocracy with allomancy powers would be an elite within an elite in a more formal way. Secondly, the idea of a group of super heroes creating a social revolution didn't make much sense. Except perhaps in wartime, successful social movements, let alone revolutions, aren't created and directed by small bands of conspirators. Those types of movements are routinely crushed by oppressive states, such as that depicted in The final empire, undermining the coherence of the plot in places. It seemed very unlikely that the law enforcement didn't have far better levels of surveillance and informants, for example.

All of that being said, the quality of the writing, and the evocative, interesting setting, still made this a book well worth reading, and its sequels too.



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