Review: Eric

Eric by Terry Pratchett
View book info on GoodReads

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
First Published: January 1990
Read from: February 04 to 19, 2014

This parrot is NOT dead, but very much alive. And VERY funny.

The British TV series Monty Python’s Flying Circus had a famous sketch about a dead parrot that is very funny. This story, like much of Pratchett’s Discworld novels, reminds me a little of Monty Python. And Eric even has a parrot in it. While not dead, the parrot, and the book as a whole, is very funny.

Eric is a want-to-be demon-summoning “hacker”. In an attempt to summon a demon, he summons instead Rincewind the wizard who was trapped in the Dungeon Dimensions in a previous Discworld novel. The two of them, Eric’s parrot and Rincewind’s sentient Luggage commence to bumble into one adventure after another.

Read My Full Review →

Review: Elminster in Myth Drannor

Elminster in Myth Drannor by Ed Greenwood
View book info on GoodReads

My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
First Published: January 1997
Read from: January 30 to February 01, 2014

Much better than I thought it would be. Had a few minor issues with it that I won’t bother to go into, mainly because what this book did well, it did very well indeed… Namely keep me entertained and wanting to find out what would happen next.

View all my reviews

Music: Beethoven’s Response to a Critic

Beethoven composed a short (15 minutes long) orchestral work called “Wellington’s Victory” or “The Battle of Vitoria” (Op. 91) in 1813. Wellington’s Victory is now often compared to another famous “battle piece”, namely Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture”, as both call for the use of a large “percussion battery” including muskets and artillery, and by opposite “sides” of the orchestra playing the national themes of the opposing armies.

Like a lot of Beethoven’s work it has been called a hodgepodge of styles and an “atrocious potboiler”. I of course love it! You can listen to it here (with full muskets and cannons, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the Herbert Von Karajan,) and judge for yourself.

The reason I bring it up is that I happened to discover a response by Beethoven to similar criticism to this piece that he was receiving in his day. Read on for Beethoven’s Surprising Response→

Swan, not Pig.

“These people who expect to be saints in heaven, though they were not on Earth, have ignored the wisdom of the founders of the great religions. This wisdom is that the kingdom of heaven is within you and that you do not go to heaven unless you are already in it. The magic must be wrought by you and you alone. God has no fairy wand to tap the pig and turn it into a swan.

People ignore this. And those who believe in sinners burning in hell are, perhaps, not so much concerned with going to heaven as with being sure that sinners-–others-–roast forever in the flames.”
― Philip José Farmer

Horatius at the Bridge

History Lesson Part 2

As mentioned in my previous post Future History Lesson, a passing quote in the science-fiction novel “Starship Troopers” by Robert Heinlein piqued my interest on two events in real history: ‘Horatius at the Bridge‘ and ‘The Death of the Bon Homme Richard‘. What I discovered in both cases I found so rich in story, that I had to explore them further. Below is what I discovered about Haratius. The surprising story of Bonhomme Richard can be found in Part 3 (coming soon).

Horatius at the Bridge

Publius Horatius Cocles and Two Companions Defend Tiber Bridge by Augustyn Mirys (mid 1700’s Polish painter)

When first digging I could not find a specific work with this title, but there was a lot of information to be found on the person and the event. I eventually discovered that “Horatius at the Bridge” was the title of some editions of the narrative poem “Horatius“ by the Victorian Era historian Baron Thomas Abington Macaulay which was published in his book “Lays of Ancient Rome“ in 1842. It was very popular in England at the time, memorized and recited avidly, and taught in schools. Even close to a hundred years later Winston Churchill recalled memorizing it. You can download a free public domain digital ebook of the entire “Lays of Ancient Rome” via Project Gutenberg, available in multiple file formats. Continue reading Horatius at the Bridge

Future History Lesson

History Lesson Part 1:
Roman Soldiers & American Revolution Sailors as seen by Starship Troopers

I started reading “Starship Troopers“ by Robert Heinlein today and it inspired me to investigate a little real history.

First, I’ve been a big fan of Heinlein for awhile, but strangely had never read this novel which many regard so highly. I had seen the crappy movie supposedly based on it, but let me say that movie really holds no similarities to the novel except for some characters’ and alien species’ names. Worse the movie turns some of the deeper but controversial aspects of the novel on their head, and turns the entire story into a farce. For example Heinlein’s novel portrays a democratic society in which suffrage is earned by a term of government service – in the case of the main characters this happened to be military service. The movie version portrays a fascist society where the only road to citizenship was through the military — kind of like non-citizen inhabitants of the early to mid Roman empire who could earn citizenship only after serving 25 years in the Roman legions.

I’m getting off the topic, which isn’t so much about the future the novel portrays, but about detailing some things I learned from a “future history lesson” today’s reading inspired me to take. Continue reading Future History Lesson

Review: Dayworld

Dayworld by Philip José Farmer
View book info on GoodReads

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
First Published: January 1985
Read from: December 04 to 05, 2013

Dayworld – An Engaging and Exciting Read

“Dayworld” by Philip Jose Farmer (1985) has elements that remind me of a lot of other classic sci-fi books. For example, some of the police procedural, hi-tech dystopian world elements and pulp sci-fi & action story tropes of “Dayworld” remind me of “Bladerunner”, (the Ridley Scott movie more so than the “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” Philip K. Dick novel from which it was based). I guess its not that surprising as the visually-stunning and goundbreaking vision of a future dystopia that was Bladerunner came out in 1982, just a few years before Farmer published Dayworld. Continue reading Review: Dayworld

Review: Guards! Guards!

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
View book info on GoodReads

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
First Published: 1989
Read from: November 21 to December 04, 2013

Guards! Guards! This much fun must be illiegal.

Wonderful fun! Best of the Discworld series so far. Loved the characters, plot, humor and excellent prose. And underneath it all incredibly deep undercurrents with serious (but ironically funny) truths about life, love, civilization, patriotism, politics, evil and heroism. But all those serious thoughts are delivered in such a way that they only add to, instead of disturbing, the fun.

Read My Full Review →

Conscience, Morality, Civilization

Maybe it’s odd that a passing comment by a character in a Tom Clancy thriller got me thinking deep thoughts this morning, but it did…

“A conscience is the price of morality, and morality is the price of civilization.”
“Patriot Games” by Tom Clancy, Page 97.

I do not agree with this. Especially the last part about civilization.

Continue reading Conscience, Morality, Civilization

Review: Boneshaker

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
View book info on GoodReads

My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
First Published: September 2009
Read from: October 03 to 25, 2013

Boneshaker – More of a “Mind-number”

Very unusual for me, but only read half of this book. Just couldn’t get into it and had a lot on my plate at the time so finally gave it up as a lost cause. Nothing technically wrong with the writing, but considering all the fantastic elements it had to work with (steampunk, zombies, extended civil war era post-apocalyptic wild west,) it seemed very unexciting and unimaginative. I have read others’ reviews saying that the book started slow, but I believe I was close to, if not past, the half-way point and while some things were finally happening, even the “run for your life” scenes seemed…

Well, to put it in one word: “meh…” Continue reading Review: Boneshaker

This parrot is NOT dead, but very much alive. And VERY funny.

History Lesson Part 2

Horatius at the Bridge

History Lesson Part 1: Roman Soldiers & American Revolution Sailors as seen by Starship Troopers

Dayworld – An Engaging and Exciting Read

Guards! Guards! This much fun must be illiegal.

Boneshaker – More of a “Mind-number”

History Lesson Part 1:
Roman Soldiers & American Revolution Sailors as seen by Starship Troopers