Review: The Time of Contempt

The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Normally I consider comparing two different books to be unfair. As if one piece of work can't be considered valid without another. However, in a series, it's hard not to. Nay, impossible even. Especially when a series continues to insists on being one long story split up into separate volumes. leaving me with the simple review that it's gradually better than the first one as the stakes increase.

The book begins with a fairly large exposition dump, which is never a good sign. It continues the same narrative from before of inconsistent pacing and seemingly random danger. However, the book gets much better in its second half as the war ramps up and things that matter actually happen. It still suffers from the main characters being told about what's happening, but the book does a better job of telling the reader this by giving us the perspective instead of a current affairs exposition dump.

The plot isn't strongly multi-layered, which might be good or bad depending on your preferences. The characters are strong and well-told, but they aren't really given anything to do beyond servicing the main plot. Even the main character, Geralt, straight up disappears when the plot doesn't need him. This can be good if you are just wanting a singular story without any subplots, but bad if you want a more well-rounded story with characters you can attach yourself to.

The book, as the others in the series, remains strong in its prose despite its structural problems. An entertaining fantasy series that doesn't spend twenty pages describing a sunset. The lore is also rather rich even though and this volume, in particular, draws more from creativity and not old fairy tales. I'm already in this far, so I might as well finish it.

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Review: This Is How You Lose the Time War

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'll try not to be negative over a book I actually enjoyed. There are issues to be had of course. Stylistic choices to be argued, a plot that needs to be flogged, and a length that is fully undeserved. I'll get to that. I know I'm saying this at the top, but the bottom line is that you might not enjoy this book. I hate saying 'it's not for me/you' because good is good no matter who in the hell it was meant for. But I just wanted to say, at the front, that this is my opinion and not yours. Your level of enjoyment is yours and yours alone. Otherwise, stay out it.

To get my joyful noises out of the way first, the prose is insanely good. It can be vague and batshit crazy at times, but that doesn't get in the way of it being good. I really felt for the two characters despite not knowing that much about them. It's the evolution of their interactions that sell the story. Everything else is just a framing device.

I went into this with the impression it was just going to be a series of letters back and forth between enemies. When I saw how short the book is, I felt it confirmed my preconception. To my surprise, there is prose in this book. I understand that writing a book strictly to that concept would have been a daunting task, but life's too short not to fully commit to crazy ideas. While the book is satisfying in its own right, I felt the end product could have been more expansive. There doesn't need to be fifty megatons of world-building like a tome of high fantasy. It's just that everything that happens outside the letters feels like background noise. It's there, but it doesn't matter.

The plot. There isn't one. Well, technically there is, but it's just there to create the reasoning and conflict. As with the theme of this review, the plot doesn't really matter. It's like when a cable repair guy shows up at the beginning of a porno. His ability to fix the cable, or even the state of the cable itself, isn't anyone's concern. It's just the reason why everyone is there. The real story is strictly between Red and Blue.

All that being said, I enjoyed this book. It's well written and non-traditional, which are two things that spark my pretentious flint. My points of critique simply come from an area of respecting art. While I always have venom for garbage and cookie-cut commercialization, I hold art under the strictest banner. And this book is definitely a work of art.

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Review: Herding Cats

Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

File this under 'mostly liked'. There wasn't anything in particular that was unlikable about this collection. In the following paragraphs, you're going to see me be pretentious as I nick pick, so don't read further down if a star rating is good enough for you. Just know that I like it, and you probably will too.

The comics in this collection are almost entirely light-hearted self-deprecating jabs at the writer/artist, Sarah. It's charming and even clever at times. The collection itself isn't thematic, but still has a recurring sense of making the same few jokes in different ways. Being an artist is hard, being on the internet is hard, being human is hard. Thankfully the collection seems to be just the right length and organized competently before the repetition becomes annoying. At this point, it's just noticeable.

The collection is also heavily front-ended by random art before there is a more detailed outline of what Sarah's life is like. The latter portion of the book creates a deeper sense of her and her process. It even can be a little inspiring. However, the downside is that the front ended randomness could have been helped with a similar treatment. It doesn't hurt the collection in any real way, it just feels like two different books glued together.

I like the art. It's style matches the tone and the level of detail ramps up when it needs to. Going into the book, I thought the art would be minimalist, but that isn't the case. Sarah has genuine talent and it shows through her application of it. It's good art without having to show off just for the sake of it.

There isn't much else to say. I've seen Sarah's art before, mostly used on Facebook pages that have no affiliation with her. While such a method can introduce to an artist, it doesn't help much if you don't follow it up with taking a deeper dive into her work. A collection such as this is a good way to do it.

My Life, The Fan

Well, it's all really hit the fan now, hasn't it? I could go into a detailed rant of what happens when the general public is poorly educated combined with the inherent failings of democracy, but I'll spare both of us. For those who care, the wife and I are doing well. We've canceled pretty much all our plans and only go out when we need to. Both being thankful because there are so many people who have it so much worse and we're doing what we can to pay it forward.

With everything that's happened in the past month alone, what has gone on with my writing seems almost petty. But it still happened and I'm going to talk about it. First off, the conference didn't really go as planned. The agent in question behaved as if she was interested, but didn't do much to follow up on it. Another dead end. To top things off, the event gave me a stomach bug that put me down for two days. It's bad enough that I get jerked around and my money taken, but it literally made me sick.
There are a number of things about the conference itself that I could comment on, but I'll reframe beyond broad outlines. Saying more would make me look vindictive and petty. And I'm not petty, just bitter.

In better news, I've once again joined a writing group. We're meeting via Zoom, like every meeting happening this month. The group seems to be doing well. Hopefully, it'll last and will be beneficial for all.

I've somewhat started working on Colony Earth again. Step one is to get reacquainted with it. I've set a daily task to work on a chapter. I've only done it twice this week, but I should do it more once I remember how much I enjoy writing. Once the twenty chapters that I've already written are edited and updated, I'll start working on new material. I'll keep trying to sell the first book, but I need something new under my belt before I go crazy.

Nothing else to report. I was going to say that I've been trying to keep busy, but that isn't true. It's not staying busy that's the problem, its staying committed. The beginning of March really took the wind out of me, and I've just started to get it back. Half of me wants to become a successful writer just so I can go down the list of people who didn't believe in me and taunt them. Okay, maybe I'm a little petty.

Until next time, and at all times, be kind.