Tyson Adams's Blog, page 87
February 18, 2013
Book Review: Arctic Floor by Mark Aitken
Arctic Floor by Mark Aitken
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
There is nothing quite like a marketing executive, especially when they work in publishing. These are the people who come up with the fantastic ideas like: dog on the cover because dogs sell books, no dogs in the book; bright and cheery cover art, book about a serial killer; quotes recommending the book by famous authors, authors that have the same publisher. In this case the marketing department came up with a brilliant idea: Matthew Reilly is an Australian author who sells a lot of books, let’s mention him on the cover, despite the fact that the two authors write in a completely different style.
I grabbed Mark’s book from my local library because I saw he had a new book out, the third in a series, and I hadn’t heard of him previously. A fellow Aussie author, with a comparison to Matthew Reilly on the cover: this should be gold. Needless to say, the marketing people drew me in with false advertising. Mark’s book is a thriller and was a decent read, but he was more Cussler or Archer than Reilly. In fact, I was more reminded of Sahara (swap baking temperatures for freezing cold) than I was of Ice Station.
False advertising aside, this is quite a decent thriller. Worth a read, if you are after a James Rollins or Clive Cussler style novel. I’d expect later books in this series will probably “grab” the reader more, so maybe check out Mark’s new one.
Tagged: Action, Army, Book review, Books, climate, Clive Cussler, Ice, James Rollins, Mark Aitken, Matthew Reilly, Oil, Reading, Right What You No, Suspense, Thriller, Tyson Adams
February 14, 2013
February 12, 2013
February 10, 2013
February 9, 2013
Book Review: How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely
How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Satire is always fun. There is something so rewarding about taking the piss out of someone, something or society. The problem with satire is either that the target often doesn’t have much of a sense of humour or that the joke is just dragged out too far. One of the greatest works of satire, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, is a great example of how writers can sometimes labour a joke/point too much, whilst being absolute geniuses.
Steve’s satire of the literary industry is right on the money. From the biting examples of literary drivel, to the examples of writers and the claims by industry figures that no-ones knows anything about books, Hely has hit the mark. I’m sure if I actually read much literary fiction I’d even recognise the books and writers who were satirised.
So it pains me to give this book only 3 stars, but I really had to. There were bits I had to skim over, especially in the second half of the book. Some of the literary satire pieces were too close to the truth for me, essentially making for boring reading. And, as I have already alluded, the book relies on one joke. This is still very well done, an enjoyable read, but it does suffer the fate of many pieces of satire, hence only 3 stars from me.
Tagged: famous novelist, Gulliver's Travels, Humor, Humour, Jonathan Swift, literary satire, Literature, Novel, Reading, Right What You No, Satire, sense of humour, Steve Hely, Tyson Adams
February 7, 2013
February 3, 2013
Tyson Adams’ 2012 Book Awards: The Awesomes
Last year I instituted my best reads of the year, The Awesomes. I’ve read a few books this year (+90) and have decided that I needed to talk about my favourites of 2012 and award this year’s Awesome™.
As you will have noticed, my reviews of books are more about my impressions of the book and talking about how much I liked the book, rather than a recap of the plot, etc. My reasoning behind this is simple, I want to say “read this book” to people rather than fall into my bad habit of spoiling the ending, or being a bitch about books I didn’t enjoy. My list is based upon what I have read this year, so obviously some great books have missed out due to lack of reading hours in the year. Also my read list does include some books that were published prior to 2012. There were some categories that were sadly under-represented and some that had some very intense competition.Also, the fact that I finished a book shows that it was worth reading. I have my reading rules that stop me wasting valuable reading time on books I’m not enjoying. This means that any books on my read list are entertaining (well, unless I was particularly disgusted with the crappiness of the book in question).
Awesome of 2012
Nathaniel Cade series – Christopher Farnsworth
Night Angel Trilogy – Brent Weeks
Blasphemy – Douglas Preston
Temple of the Gods – Andy McDermott
Temple – Matthew Reilly
McGrave – Lee Goldberg
And the winner? Blasphemy by Douglas Preston.
Awesome Literary Fiction
There were no nominees in this category this year. Better luck next year.
Awesome Mystery & Thriller
Temple – Matthew Reilly
King City and McGrave- Lee Goldberg
First Drop – Zoe Sharp
Blasphemy – Douglas Preston
Temple of the Gods – Andy McDermott
Relic – Preston and Child
Nathaniel Cade series - Christopher Farnsworth
Tough category, but always hard to go past Matthew Reilly.
Awesome Crime
Assassin – Tara Moss
Vodka Doesn’t Freeze – Leah Giarrantano
Black Echo – Michael Connelly
Sunset Express – Robert Crais
Thirteen Hours – Deon Meyer
Another tough category this year. I’m going to have to give this one to Leah, with Tara, Michael and Robert close seconds.
Awesome Fantasy
Night Angel Trilogy – Brent Weeks
Awesome Paranormal Fantasy
Nathaniel Case series - Christopher Farnsworth
Awesome Science Fiction
There were no nominees in this category this year. Better luck next year.
Awesome Horror
Nathaniel Cade series - Christopher Farnsworth
The Kult – Shaun Jeffery
And the winner? Nathaniel Cade kicked arse!
Awesome Romance
There were no nominees in this category this year. Better luck next year.
Awesome Humor
Right What You No – Tyson Adams’ blog
I’m allowed to be self-congratulatory. Plus I didn’t read any funny books this year.
Awesome Nonfiction
This is an oxymoron, so it is invalidated as a category.
Awesome Graphic Novels & Comics
I didn’t read any 5 star graphic novels this year, but two series came to an end that were worth a mention: The Boys by Garth Ennis and Irredeemable/Incorruptible by Mark Waid. Both series were very strong and explored interesting aspects of the superhero genre.
Awesome Indie
King City – Lee Goldberg
Awesome Poetry
I still try to avoid poetry as much as possible, mainly because of ee cummings.
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Tagged: Andy McDermott, Books, Brent Weeks, Christopher Farnsworth, Deon Meyer, Douglas Preston, douglas preston and lincoln child, Leah Giarratano, Lee Goldberg, lincoln child, Literature, Mathew Reilly, Michael Connelly, Nathaniel Cade, Night Angel, Right What You No, Robert Crais, Shaun Jeffery, Tara Moss, The Awesomes, Tyson Adams, Zoe Sharp
January 30, 2013
I may be spending too much time in front of my computer
It seems that my work, my hobbies, my break time and even my writing all bear an uncanny resemblance.
I listen to music, usually from iTunes.
I watch TV shows, usually streaming.
I catch up on the news, usually via live streaming.
I read up on the latest science, usually on science blogs.
I play guitar, with the computer backing track and music on the screen.
I catch up with friends, on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
I phone family and friends, using Skype.
I work on my latest work in progress; think it is time I started using a typewriter.
Tagged: Computer, Funny, Humor, Humour, Life, Right What You No, Time, Tyson Adams
January 28, 2013
Book Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I normally hate literary styles books. They normally take all the fun stuff out of the book and replace it with tedious exposition masquerading as deep and meaningful prose. Award winning books are usually weighed down with this superfluous fluff.
This is a harsh statement, I know. Just because a book has won a literary award that doesn’t mean it has to suck. But it all comes back to some training I had in communication sciences at university. No-one cares about the methods, or process, or how long you spent doing this, and especially not how much research you did, they only care about what’s in it for them. Boil that down to a simple: readers are reading your book to be entertained. So all of that exposition is just getting in the way of entertaining the reader.
Gone Girl is as close to a literary styled novel I have read (to completion) in almost a decade. I used to read persevere with them all the time, now I have learnt my lesson. What makes Gillian’s book different is that she hasn’t forgone the plot, nor drawn out the story. So fans of crime novels will be captivated and literary fans might admit they need to read more genre books.
I put this novel off for a long time, buying it because of all the rave reviews and awards, then hearing it was very literary and baulking. I can see why this novel has been the big thing of 2012, it deserves the praise.
Tagged: award winning books, Book review, communication sciences, Crime, crime novels, Genre, genre books, Gillian Flynn, harsh statement, literary fans, Literature, Psychological, Reading, Sociopath, style, Tyson Adams, Writing
January 25, 2013
Movies that needed claws
Hugh Jackman is a genuine movie star and his recent Oscar nomination for his role in Les Miserable is well deserved.
But, and there always is a but, Hugh has appeared in some films that could have been greatly improved with one simple addition. I give to you the list of movies that would have been improved if Hugh had popped the adamantium claws and gone berserker.
Van Helsing
Let’s face it, anything would have improved this schlocky mess of a movie. Instead of Hugh turning into a werewolf toward the end, if he had turned into Wolverine and shniketied some vampires, this would have been watchable.
Australia
Wouldn’t it have made more sense to have Wolverine living in outback Australia? Then he could have taken on the invading army during the WW2 scene.
Scoop
Imagine a Woody Allen film with Wolverine in it! Imagine the boat scene with Hugh going Wolverine on Scarlet Johansen’s character, and Scarlet going Mystique on him!
Deception
Imagine if this film didn’t suck. I think adding Wolverine to the mix would have done wonders for this lame movie.
Real Steel
Wolverine versus Robots. I rest my case.
Swordfish
Who else wanted to see Hugh decapitate John Travolta in this film?
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Wouldn’t it have been great if Hugh was playing Wolverine…… Wait a minute. This movie sucked even with Wolverine in it.
Tagged: Australia, Awesome, Deception, entertainment, Hollywood, Hugh Jackman, Les Miserable, Movies, Oscar, oscar nomination, oscars, outback australia, Real Steel, Right What You No, Scarlet Johansen, Scoop, Suck, Swordfish, Tyson Adams, Van Helsing, Wolverine, Woody Allen, woody allen film, X-Men Origins
