Derik's Bane is by MaryJanice Davidson, whom you might remember from the Dead and Unwed and Dead and Unemployed books. Those books where really, really funny. Derik's Bane is funny as well but not everything I wanted it to be.
Derik is a member of the Wyndham werewolf pack and just recently turned alpha. In this reality, packs can only have one alpha at a time. Sometimes, a wolf will turn alpha for no apparent reason. This will lead to either the wolf leaving the pack or a fight to the death for dominance. Michael, the current alpha, is Derik's oldest friend and understandably Derik doesn't want to kill him. In comes the pack's seer. She gets a vision that the world is going to end in a week if Derik doesn't get out there and do something about it. He has to go to California to meet up with Dr. Sara Gunn (PhD in Nursing) because she is the reincarnation of sorceress Morgan Le Fay and the reason behind the earth's destruction. They meet up and go on a road trip to save humanity. Not surprisingly, love is found on the way.
I had some problems with the book. The chapters were too bloody short. A book that is only 298 pages shouldn't be broken up into over 30 chapters. You know, you can combine parts, especially if all the author is doing is jumping to another character's point of view of the same scene. A good way to do this is just leave a couple of blank lines and then have at it. I find it a little jarring always starting a new chapter, especially a book I finished in one night.
Another problem is that all the characters are bloody beautiful and of course, they don't know it. You know, this really gives the beautiful people a bad reputation for being dumb. At least write characters with some self-awareness. Otherwise, it starts to reek of a Danielle Steele heroine.
One last problem and I promise this is the last one I will bitch about tonight. I found that it was all surface and no depth. But then, I'm not sure if that is really a problem of the book or not. Part of the problem is that after reading the last HP novel, which has 6 books worth of depth, it is hard for any other book to compete. The deal is, MaryJanice has created a really cool werewolf world but we don't get to experience. I want to really get into it and feel like I'm a fly on the wall, experiencing their customs, getting to know what it is that makes this pack tick. We don't really get to see as much as I wanted and that left me feeling a little frustrated (and not in a good way ...)
MaryJanice writes great dialogue but it could have used little more angst. It is a good summer read, light, fluffy, sexy, funny, etc. Just don't go into it thinking you will get any more than that.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Normally I wouldn't write an InCoHerEnt review of short stories but I'm bored and this one has a little story.
My parents moved into a new house and it needed a lot of renovating. They worked one whole summer throwing out junk, tearing off wallpaper, painting, re-wallpapering, refinishing the hardwood floors. Lots of work. And it does look nice now that they have it done. But I'm not a big fan of their choice of wallpaper in the guest bedroom. It looks like a meadow puked all over it... and that meadow had very, very tiny flowers. Basically, it has these green vines, or stems, and these little dark blue flowers. If you stare at the wall long enough, it looks like the wall is moving and you will get nicely dizzy. It doesn't seem to have a pattern that you can focus on so you end up just feeling a little seasick after a bad acid trip. You wonder that if you stare long enough at it, you might get lucky enough to see a 3D image like a sailboat in one of those posters from the mall, but it never comes through. Messes with the head, it does. (And I have learned to never make fun of the wallpaper as Mother seems to love it and will take offense.)
Anyway, a friend of mine came over the other day and she got to experience the psychedelic fun of the guest room which is really my room as I am the only one to visit. She told me about this story and she dared me to read it in there. And boy, did that add an interesting effect to the story.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is about a woman, an author, who is sick and is made to rest in this room to recuperate. She is not allowed to write and all she is has to focus on is this horrible yellow wallpaper. They are only going to be there for three months which is not long enough to go to the expense of re-wallpapering. She starts seeing something in the paper that starts moving and then that something seems to be able to escape the paper and creep along outside during the day. At night, that something looks like it is trying to escape.
Very creepy story. Very good. One of those American classics that everyone should read. (Go here if you want to read more about Charlotte Perkins Gilman.) It reminded me a lot of The Hours, it had the same tension, not sure who was going to die, the same feelings that make me think of depression. Reading it in the crazy wallpapered room and the effect of the story left me feeling a little woozy. Not sure if I'll do that again but I will read the story again. Very cool.
My parents moved into a new house and it needed a lot of renovating. They worked one whole summer throwing out junk, tearing off wallpaper, painting, re-wallpapering, refinishing the hardwood floors. Lots of work. And it does look nice now that they have it done. But I'm not a big fan of their choice of wallpaper in the guest bedroom. It looks like a meadow puked all over it... and that meadow had very, very tiny flowers. Basically, it has these green vines, or stems, and these little dark blue flowers. If you stare at the wall long enough, it looks like the wall is moving and you will get nicely dizzy. It doesn't seem to have a pattern that you can focus on so you end up just feeling a little seasick after a bad acid trip. You wonder that if you stare long enough at it, you might get lucky enough to see a 3D image like a sailboat in one of those posters from the mall, but it never comes through. Messes with the head, it does. (And I have learned to never make fun of the wallpaper as Mother seems to love it and will take offense.)
Anyway, a friend of mine came over the other day and she got to experience the psychedelic fun of the guest room which is really my room as I am the only one to visit. She told me about this story and she dared me to read it in there. And boy, did that add an interesting effect to the story.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is about a woman, an author, who is sick and is made to rest in this room to recuperate. She is not allowed to write and all she is has to focus on is this horrible yellow wallpaper. They are only going to be there for three months which is not long enough to go to the expense of re-wallpapering. She starts seeing something in the paper that starts moving and then that something seems to be able to escape the paper and creep along outside during the day. At night, that something looks like it is trying to escape.
Very creepy story. Very good. One of those American classics that everyone should read. (Go here if you want to read more about Charlotte Perkins Gilman.) It reminded me a lot of The Hours, it had the same tension, not sure who was going to die, the same feelings that make me think of depression. Reading it in the crazy wallpapered room and the effect of the story left me feeling a little woozy. Not sure if I'll do that again but I will read the story again. Very cool.
Friday, August 5, 2005
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Anywho, the poor book The Red Tent by Anita Diamant is the next book to be given the InCoHerEnt treatment. Again, this is another book I wouldn't normally pick out for myself. (A theme you might notice with about half of the books I read.) A woman at work lent it to me with the words, "Take all the time you need to read it. No hurries." That was said close to a year ago now and I was getting to the point of having to read it or give it back unread. Truthfully, I would rather sit through a book I hate then give one back that I've borrowed and not read. Easier to say that it wasn't my thing than to look like I didn't even try.
But I've finished it and the last third was the hardest to get through. Not that it was a difficult read by any means. The book was broken up into three parts all told from the point of view of Dinah, Leah's daughter. Leah was the first wife of Jacob who was the son of Rebecca and Isaac and grandson of Abram. Those names will only mean anything to you if you are familiar to the Old Testament. I thought I knew the Old Testament but to be honest, that is only from bible stories that were safe to be told in Sunday School class. There are some good stories in there if you can get past the not so fun stuff. But I digress, this is not a critical review of the Bible and I use the term "critical review" loosely.
The first part of the book is dedicated to Dinah's mother and her aunts or Jacob's other wives (four of them in total.) Basically their story is of how Jacob shows up and falls for Rachel, ends up marrying Leah instead and then marrying Rachel afterwards. Then he also gets the other two sisters out of the deal as well. Leah and Rachel sort of have this sibling/wife rivalry thing going on which is quite interesting to read. Jacob, with his many wives, has many sons. The problem with sons is that they can help in the fields but they are not much help with the domestic stuff like cooking for all those men or weaving or whatever. Having sons is a burden on a woman. (Just ask my mother. Can she get my brother to clean a dish? I don't think so and ever since he moved back in, that is all I hear about.) But at long last, here comes Dinah to be the daughter long hoped for by Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah.
The second part of the book is Dinah's story as she grows up. She acts as witness to the going ons of her clan and mysteries of the Red Tent. Normally only those who have their monthlies are permitted into the tent but as only daughter she is allowed to witness the rituals that take place in there. She is present for births and learn the secrets of the midwife.
The third part of the story takes place after Dinah leaves her home for Egypt. I won't get into the details here as to why she leaves for Egypt because I don't want to ruin the last interesting thing that happens in this book. I think the problem with third part is that it looses its two most interesting characters Rachel and Leah. The first two parts are almost completely about them and their dynamic with Jacob. That was interesting. Then Dinah leaves for Egypt and I suddenly don't care anymore. The third part just felt like a really long conclusion that neatly ties up all the strings.
Another problem that I have with the book is that it floats in very middle ground. It could have been really nice and sordid but it never goes there. Or it could have been an interesting (but less read) nonfictional study of the role and lives of women in whatever B.C. Nope, don't really get that either cause its all fiction.
I thought the first two parts of the book were a good read. After that, I didn't care. The thing is, it isn't as if there were any information in Genesis 34 as to what type of person Dinah was. She could have been far more interesting although I have to give her props for the curses she brought down on evil men. I like my main characters written to dare me to dislike them as much as I love them. You don't get that here.
But I've finished it and the last third was the hardest to get through. Not that it was a difficult read by any means. The book was broken up into three parts all told from the point of view of Dinah, Leah's daughter. Leah was the first wife of Jacob who was the son of Rebecca and Isaac and grandson of Abram. Those names will only mean anything to you if you are familiar to the Old Testament. I thought I knew the Old Testament but to be honest, that is only from bible stories that were safe to be told in Sunday School class. There are some good stories in there if you can get past the not so fun stuff. But I digress, this is not a critical review of the Bible and I use the term "critical review" loosely.
The first part of the book is dedicated to Dinah's mother and her aunts or Jacob's other wives (four of them in total.) Basically their story is of how Jacob shows up and falls for Rachel, ends up marrying Leah instead and then marrying Rachel afterwards. Then he also gets the other two sisters out of the deal as well. Leah and Rachel sort of have this sibling/wife rivalry thing going on which is quite interesting to read. Jacob, with his many wives, has many sons. The problem with sons is that they can help in the fields but they are not much help with the domestic stuff like cooking for all those men or weaving or whatever. Having sons is a burden on a woman. (Just ask my mother. Can she get my brother to clean a dish? I don't think so and ever since he moved back in, that is all I hear about.) But at long last, here comes Dinah to be the daughter long hoped for by Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah.
The second part of the book is Dinah's story as she grows up. She acts as witness to the going ons of her clan and mysteries of the Red Tent. Normally only those who have their monthlies are permitted into the tent but as only daughter she is allowed to witness the rituals that take place in there. She is present for births and learn the secrets of the midwife.
The third part of the story takes place after Dinah leaves her home for Egypt. I won't get into the details here as to why she leaves for Egypt because I don't want to ruin the last interesting thing that happens in this book. I think the problem with third part is that it looses its two most interesting characters Rachel and Leah. The first two parts are almost completely about them and their dynamic with Jacob. That was interesting. Then Dinah leaves for Egypt and I suddenly don't care anymore. The third part just felt like a really long conclusion that neatly ties up all the strings.
Another problem that I have with the book is that it floats in very middle ground. It could have been really nice and sordid but it never goes there. Or it could have been an interesting (but less read) nonfictional study of the role and lives of women in whatever B.C. Nope, don't really get that either cause its all fiction.
I thought the first two parts of the book were a good read. After that, I didn't care. The thing is, it isn't as if there were any information in Genesis 34 as to what type of person Dinah was. She could have been far more interesting although I have to give her props for the curses she brought down on evil men. I like my main characters written to dare me to dislike them as much as I love them. You don't get that here.
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