Carl Alves's Blog, page 13
March 5, 2019
Descendant by Graham Masterton
Descendant is a decidedly old school type of vampire novel. Whereas these days, the type of vampire that dominates fiction is either the sparkly type or the dashing bad boy type, the strigoi in this novel are clearly more of the monster variety. The concept of this novel is really neat. The nazis in World War II have reached a deal with the Romanian government to not take over their country in exchange for enlisting strigoi to their cause. An American, Captain James Falcon, is recruited by the Allies to hunt down the strigoi, including Dorin Duca, the head vampire. Years later, Dorin, thought to be dead, is killing people all across England, and James is brought back to the UK, where he will once again go toe to toe with Duca.
This is a terrific novel, one of the three or four best vampire novels I have ever read, and I consider myself a bit of an expert since I have written a vampire novel myself. The writing is masterful. The plot is tight. There is very little wasted space, which makes it stand out in comparison to some of the bloated novels I’ve read recently. The characterization is strong, both on the protagonist and antagonist side. And just when I thought the novel was over, there was more to it, and the ending proved to be rewarding. This is a must read novel.
This is a terrific novel, one of the three or four best vampire novels I have ever read, and I consider myself a bit of an expert since I have written a vampire novel myself. The writing is masterful. The plot is tight. There is very little wasted space, which makes it stand out in comparison to some of the bloated novels I’ve read recently. The characterization is strong, both on the protagonist and antagonist side. And just when I thought the novel was over, there was more to it, and the ending proved to be rewarding. This is a must read novel.
February 26, 2019
World War Z by Max Brooks
My first exposure to World War Z was watching the movie starring Brad Pitt. For better or worse, watching the movie shaped the way I viewed the novel. The adaptation of the book was so radically different from the novel version that it was a bit jarring. The format of the book, a series of interviews conducted by the narrator after the successful completion of the war against the zombies, although interesting, completely robs it of any real drama. It’s just a series of people recounting their own version of the events that happened. The movie was a linear story with a protagonist that followed a chronological order from the beginning of the zombie apocalypse to the point where the humans were winning the war.
I preferred the movie version. Dramatic and exciting beats interesting. It’s distinctly possible that I may have felt differently had I read the book before watching the movie. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the book. The retelling of events through a variety of people who had different roles in the apocalypse and subsequent war was pretty cool. I also like the concept. Almost every zombie story these days has the human race falling to the zombie horde, and then telling the story of the people surviving on the edges. An organized military should absolutely be able to take out a zombie hoard. But for some reason, the military always fails so easily without a fight, yet the survivors destroy the zombies on a regular basis. It doesn’t make a bit of sense if you think about it logically, but that is the trend in zombie fiction. For that, I give the novel credit, but overall it was solid but unspectacular.
I preferred the movie version. Dramatic and exciting beats interesting. It’s distinctly possible that I may have felt differently had I read the book before watching the movie. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the book. The retelling of events through a variety of people who had different roles in the apocalypse and subsequent war was pretty cool. I also like the concept. Almost every zombie story these days has the human race falling to the zombie horde, and then telling the story of the people surviving on the edges. An organized military should absolutely be able to take out a zombie hoard. But for some reason, the military always fails so easily without a fight, yet the survivors destroy the zombies on a regular basis. It doesn’t make a bit of sense if you think about it logically, but that is the trend in zombie fiction. For that, I give the novel credit, but overall it was solid but unspectacular.
February 23, 2019
The Fireman by Joe Hill
The Fireman is a post-apocalyptic novel, where the culprit is a spore called Dragonscale (a bit of a Game of Thrones ripoff for the name although the disease is far different). Dragonscale causes those who carry it to light on fire under stressful conditions and propogates itself by transferring the spore to others through the ash. It’s really kind of an ingenious spore. This wipes out much of the population and brings out the worst in people. The infected are in a camp in New Hampshire trying to survive but they also learn how to control the spore, which has its pluses and minuses.
I thought this was probably the best Joe Hill novel that I’ve read, which have been a little hit or miss. The writing is strong and the characters are well-developed. The disease brings out the worse of the survivors. By and large, they are trying to kill the infected, without having a full understanding of the disease. The worst character is Harper Willow’s husband. Even before she contracted the spore, he was a total nitwit. The only redeemable characters in the novel are a small circle of those close to Harper, including the Fireman, a British microbiologist who has complete mastery of the spore and can even manifest it out of his body. Both the concept of the execution of the story are good. I did have a couple of issues with the novel. For one thing, the whole stone in the mouth thing at Camp Windham was supremely irritating. Also, it was a bit too dim of a view of humanity for my liking. I would think some of the non-infected would be redeemable. But on balance this was a strong novel that I would recommend.
I thought this was probably the best Joe Hill novel that I’ve read, which have been a little hit or miss. The writing is strong and the characters are well-developed. The disease brings out the worse of the survivors. By and large, they are trying to kill the infected, without having a full understanding of the disease. The worst character is Harper Willow’s husband. Even before she contracted the spore, he was a total nitwit. The only redeemable characters in the novel are a small circle of those close to Harper, including the Fireman, a British microbiologist who has complete mastery of the spore and can even manifest it out of his body. Both the concept of the execution of the story are good. I did have a couple of issues with the novel. For one thing, the whole stone in the mouth thing at Camp Windham was supremely irritating. Also, it was a bit too dim of a view of humanity for my liking. I would think some of the non-infected would be redeemable. But on balance this was a strong novel that I would recommend.
February 18, 2019
Stranglehold by Jack Ketchum
Stranglehold is a gritty, visceral novel that is totally Jack Ketchum. Ketchum pulls no punches in his fiction. His writing is not for the feint of heart, and this novel certainly fits that bill. In this novel Lydia McCloud marries Arthur Danse, thinking he is the man of her dreams. Things are good with them for a time, and they have a child. But Arthur is the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing. As time goes by, she starts to see just what kind of monster he is when she suspects that he is molesting their son.
One of the really hard things to get right in fiction is the villain. It’s rare to find a good villain, and most of them are these one dimensional cartoon characters that don’t resemble real people. But Ketchum succeeds with Arthur Danse, who is one of the most utterly vile and despicable characters I have ever encountered in a novel, yet at the same time he’s well-developed and multi-dimensional. In Ketchum’s fiction, the humans are the monsters, and you don’t get more monstrous than Danse. I found myself rooting for his demise and hoping that it would come in a terrible way. To get the reader to care about a character, whether positively or negatively, is a job well done by the author, and I salute the late, great Jack Ketchum.
One of the really hard things to get right in fiction is the villain. It’s rare to find a good villain, and most of them are these one dimensional cartoon characters that don’t resemble real people. But Ketchum succeeds with Arthur Danse, who is one of the most utterly vile and despicable characters I have ever encountered in a novel, yet at the same time he’s well-developed and multi-dimensional. In Ketchum’s fiction, the humans are the monsters, and you don’t get more monstrous than Danse. I found myself rooting for his demise and hoping that it would come in a terrible way. To get the reader to care about a character, whether positively or negatively, is a job well done by the author, and I salute the late, great Jack Ketchum.
February 12, 2019
Fade to Black by Francis Knight
Fade to Black was a good but not great novel. It paints a good picture of a bleak, dystopian world. In a city where electricity and power comes in the form of magic provided by pain mages, who draw their power from physical hurt, either their own or that of others, the lowest of the low class live under ground. The higher up people are in wealth and class, they literally live higher up in buildings that are built massively huge, piled on top of each other. There is a deep, dark conspiracy afoot, one in which Rojan Dizon finds himself right in the middle of. Rojan is a pain mage and bounty hunter, who keeps his magic a secret, although it’s not a very well kept secret. Rojan is forced to go to the pit, where the lowest of the low live in search of his kidnapped niece.
There were things I liked about the novel and things that didn’t work for me. On the plus side, I think the author successfully builds a nice bleak atmosphere to the novel. The writing fits the mood and works well. There are some good plot turns, and decent conspiracies. On the negative side, Rojan is a pretty bad character. It’s hard to have much respect for him when there were so many obvious things happening that should have been obvious to him and he was completely clueless about. It’s hard to get into a novel with a weak protagonist who I found to be generally unlikeable. The novel ends with a bang. I also liked the whole simulated fighting that they had in the pits that reminded me of pro wrestling with weapons. I would give this novel a thumbs up, but not an enthusiastic one.
There were things I liked about the novel and things that didn’t work for me. On the plus side, I think the author successfully builds a nice bleak atmosphere to the novel. The writing fits the mood and works well. There are some good plot turns, and decent conspiracies. On the negative side, Rojan is a pretty bad character. It’s hard to have much respect for him when there were so many obvious things happening that should have been obvious to him and he was completely clueless about. It’s hard to get into a novel with a weak protagonist who I found to be generally unlikeable. The novel ends with a bang. I also liked the whole simulated fighting that they had in the pits that reminded me of pro wrestling with weapons. I would give this novel a thumbs up, but not an enthusiastic one.
February 9, 2019
Movie Review: Birdbox
I watched the breakout Netflix movie without having read the novel by Josh Malerman. There was a lot of hype surrounding the movie. There was some good parts and bad parts in the movie. Unfortunately, its long lasting impact will be the ridiculous and asinine Birdbox challenge which is a vehicle for the stupidest amongst us in society to prove just how stupid they are, but I digress.
As for the movie, it flashes back from present to the start of the apocalypse, where a very pregnant, Malorie Hayes, played by Sandra Bullock, takes shelter in a house as the rest of society has lost its collective mind and gone either suicidal or homicidal, depending upon their mental inclination. It is not known why this is happening, nor is it ever fully explained in the movie. The only thing that is clear is that if one looks at whatever it is that is causing people to go haywire, they will soon die or be gripped by madness. So what is a person to do who is trying to survive the Birdbox apocalypse? Wear a blindfold, of course. That is what the survivors do when they venture out of their protective shelter.
There was some good tension in this movie. It was an interesting scenario presented, but it wasn’t always executed well. For one thing, the whole drive in the car to the grocery store while not being able to see a damn thing was both unrealistic and even a bit silly. The way some of the characters acted was often foolish and annoying, but far and away the most irritating thing in the movie was that our protagonist names her two children (one biological and one not) Boy and Girl. That was so utterly dumb and unrealistic that it affected my enjoyment of the movie. There is some payoff at the end and an interesting twist. My final verdict is that the movie was decent but did not quite live up to expectations.
As for the movie, it flashes back from present to the start of the apocalypse, where a very pregnant, Malorie Hayes, played by Sandra Bullock, takes shelter in a house as the rest of society has lost its collective mind and gone either suicidal or homicidal, depending upon their mental inclination. It is not known why this is happening, nor is it ever fully explained in the movie. The only thing that is clear is that if one looks at whatever it is that is causing people to go haywire, they will soon die or be gripped by madness. So what is a person to do who is trying to survive the Birdbox apocalypse? Wear a blindfold, of course. That is what the survivors do when they venture out of their protective shelter.
There was some good tension in this movie. It was an interesting scenario presented, but it wasn’t always executed well. For one thing, the whole drive in the car to the grocery store while not being able to see a damn thing was both unrealistic and even a bit silly. The way some of the characters acted was often foolish and annoying, but far and away the most irritating thing in the movie was that our protagonist names her two children (one biological and one not) Boy and Girl. That was so utterly dumb and unrealistic that it affected my enjoyment of the movie. There is some payoff at the end and an interesting twist. My final verdict is that the movie was decent but did not quite live up to expectations.
February 5, 2019
Movie Review: Glass
My expectations of Glass were sky high since I was a big fan of Unbreakable and Split, the first two movies on this trilogy. For me, this was a tale of two movies. The first two thirds of the movie was compelling and filled with tension, accompanied by strong character development. I enjoyed the build up and was riveted. Then the movie unravels in the last third of the movie.
The highlight of the movie was James McAvoy. His not winning or even getting nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Split was the crime of the century. Perhaps if he was more outspoken in the correct politics favored by Academy voters like inferior actors such as Christian Bale and Leonardo Dicaprio, he would have a closet full of Oscars by now, but I digress. Anyway, McAvoy was terrific in this movie, rolling in and out of distinct characters as if he truly had a split personality. He once more deserves an Oscar but will have to play second fiddle to one of the above named inferior actors. The three lead actors were all excellent in this movie.
Now for the bad. The secret society/conspiracy in the movie was really weak. The movie promised this epic finale clash and didn’t deliver. Not only did it not deliver, but the clash and ending they provided wasn’t remotely satisfying. The epilogue, if you will, after this finale also didn’t make much sense. All of that doesn’t sink the movie. Overall, I would give it a thumbs up, but this movie could have been so much more, so in that sense, it was disappointing.
The highlight of the movie was James McAvoy. His not winning or even getting nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Split was the crime of the century. Perhaps if he was more outspoken in the correct politics favored by Academy voters like inferior actors such as Christian Bale and Leonardo Dicaprio, he would have a closet full of Oscars by now, but I digress. Anyway, McAvoy was terrific in this movie, rolling in and out of distinct characters as if he truly had a split personality. He once more deserves an Oscar but will have to play second fiddle to one of the above named inferior actors. The three lead actors were all excellent in this movie.
Now for the bad. The secret society/conspiracy in the movie was really weak. The movie promised this epic finale clash and didn’t deliver. Not only did it not deliver, but the clash and ending they provided wasn’t remotely satisfying. The epilogue, if you will, after this finale also didn’t make much sense. All of that doesn’t sink the movie. Overall, I would give it a thumbs up, but this movie could have been so much more, so in that sense, it was disappointing.
January 20, 2019
Devil Said Bang by Richard Kadry
I picked up Devil Said Bang because of the concept of the character and the amazing blurbs by well-known authors. Unfortunately, the novel fell well short of my lofty expectations. Sandman Slim is the main character and has been made the new Lucifer, in charge of Hell after the last Lucifer no longer wanted the job. Sandman Slim wants nothing to do with the job and is only interested in going back to Los Angeles.
For me, this novel was all style and little substance. It felt like the high school kid with the hot rod car trying to impress everybody. For starters, the narration was over the top. I didn’t care for the first person, present tense point of view, which is all of the rage these days, but makes no sense from a story telling standpoint. You don’t tell a story as it happens. You tell it after it happens. The novel felt very repetitive. After about the eighth time, I lost track of all the assassination attempts on the main character. It was one after another after another and became dull after a while. There were way too many characters to keep track of, and the characters had little meaning because it seemed as if there was a constant flow of new characters in every scene. The novel felt disjointed since the first half of it took place in Hell and had little to do with what would come later. It should have been two separate novels. There wasn’t much that I liked about it. I would recommend skipping this one and reading Tim Marquitz Demon Squad series, which is similar in theme but far superior in quality.
For me, this novel was all style and little substance. It felt like the high school kid with the hot rod car trying to impress everybody. For starters, the narration was over the top. I didn’t care for the first person, present tense point of view, which is all of the rage these days, but makes no sense from a story telling standpoint. You don’t tell a story as it happens. You tell it after it happens. The novel felt very repetitive. After about the eighth time, I lost track of all the assassination attempts on the main character. It was one after another after another and became dull after a while. There were way too many characters to keep track of, and the characters had little meaning because it seemed as if there was a constant flow of new characters in every scene. The novel felt disjointed since the first half of it took place in Hell and had little to do with what would come later. It should have been two separate novels. There wasn’t much that I liked about it. I would recommend skipping this one and reading Tim Marquitz Demon Squad series, which is similar in theme but far superior in quality.
January 14, 2019
Phantom Evil by Heather Graham
Phantom Evil is the first book in the Krewe of Hunters series, a group led by skeptic Jackson Crowe that consists of individuals from different backgrounds who have some level of paranormal ability. In this novel, a state senator from Louisiana requests their services after his wife is killed in a house inhabited by ghosts—at least the senator wants to prove there are ghosts and that his wife didn’t commit suicide. Angela, the former cop who has an ability to see the dead, immediately makes a connection with the ghosts of the house, many of whom were killed by a serial killer from the post-Civil War era.
There were things I liked about this novel. I liked the mix of characters that composed the Krewe of Hunters. I liked the setup to the story and the mystery that they had to solve. Where the novel really falls short is in believability. The believability issues have nothing to do with the paranormal elements. It’s the real world aspects of it that make it fall apart. Namely, the cast of characters surrounding the senator, their actions, motivations, and the fact that the news media in Louisiana or the police could not even get a sniff of some of the things that they were doing strike me as being a bit ridiculous. I could only stretch my suspension of disbelief so far. As things unfolded, I had a hard time staying in the story because it was too hard to swallow.
There were things I liked about this novel. I liked the mix of characters that composed the Krewe of Hunters. I liked the setup to the story and the mystery that they had to solve. Where the novel really falls short is in believability. The believability issues have nothing to do with the paranormal elements. It’s the real world aspects of it that make it fall apart. Namely, the cast of characters surrounding the senator, their actions, motivations, and the fact that the news media in Louisiana or the police could not even get a sniff of some of the things that they were doing strike me as being a bit ridiculous. I could only stretch my suspension of disbelief so far. As things unfolded, I had a hard time staying in the story because it was too hard to swallow.
January 5, 2019
Fated by SG Browne
The thing about Fated, I really loved the voice. It was so distinctly S.G. Browne. I’ve read every one of his novels, and his story telling is so distinct. I wouldn’t so much classify it as humor. It’s more light-hearted. It’s got a nice flow to it. Normally, the use of present tense in story telling irritates the hell out of me. I find it to be a major pet peeve, but with Browne, I hardly even notice it.
But enough about the writing. Let’s get into the story. The concept behind the story is really cool. The main character, Fabio, is Fate, one of the host of immortals in this novel. Other immortals include Sloth, Gluttony, Greed, Destiny, Truth, and of course, there is Jerry, who is God. Each of the immortals has a job to do. Fabio assigns the fate to most human beings, and often has to reassign it because of the stupid choices that the humans under his umbrella make. All of that changes when he meets Sara, a human he falls in love with. Then he gets soft and starts trying to help the humans—a bad mistake as it turns out since Jerry is non too happy when the humans’ lives change, and not necessarily for the better. He knows that being with Sara could get him into serious hot water, but he can’t help himself. Love is love, after all.
I really enjoyed this story. The one negative was the ending. It didn’t work for me and I didn’t find it to be very believable. If the ending had been good, this would have been an easy five star rating, but I had to take it down a notch as a result. Still, this is well worth reading.
But enough about the writing. Let’s get into the story. The concept behind the story is really cool. The main character, Fabio, is Fate, one of the host of immortals in this novel. Other immortals include Sloth, Gluttony, Greed, Destiny, Truth, and of course, there is Jerry, who is God. Each of the immortals has a job to do. Fabio assigns the fate to most human beings, and often has to reassign it because of the stupid choices that the humans under his umbrella make. All of that changes when he meets Sara, a human he falls in love with. Then he gets soft and starts trying to help the humans—a bad mistake as it turns out since Jerry is non too happy when the humans’ lives change, and not necessarily for the better. He knows that being with Sara could get him into serious hot water, but he can’t help himself. Love is love, after all.
I really enjoyed this story. The one negative was the ending. It didn’t work for me and I didn’t find it to be very believable. If the ending had been good, this would have been an easy five star rating, but I had to take it down a notch as a result. Still, this is well worth reading.
