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trevert's reviews
295 reviews
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
4.0
A wonderfully original world and concept populated by interesting characters that aren't the usual stereotypes. My only gripe is that all this world building and character focus sometimes forgets that it's good to have a story happening too, and it bogs down in the first half in info-dumping. Nonetheless, totally worth reading and a very neat concept. If I had to lug around an externalized conscience, I'd want it to be a sloth too.
Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization by Alex Irvine
4.0
The reader does a really good job with it. No annoying FX or music, and he doesn't do silly female voices. Spreading the story out to 9+ hours improves it a great deal. I loved the between-chapters technical and historical info-blurbs on the history of the world, the tech specs of the Jaegers, the various monsters, etc. While the fight scenes do not have the giant screaming impact overload of the movie version, they are clearly explained and easy to follow, which actually made them tenser for me because I didn't suffer that "drift" effect I get from CGI overload. The Hong Kong bay battle was killer. Other aspects were improved by the expanded format as well, particularly the sense of time passage at the beginning and the political situation. More world details are cool, including such oddities as the Church of the Kaiju, with people who believe the kaiju are messengers from god and who assemble to pray at the bodies of fallen monsters.
My absolute *favorite* detail of the book over the movie? The descriptions of drift aftereffects, particularly the stories of haunted Jaegers. I totally dug the idea of there being a weird connection between pilots and Jaegers even after being disconnected, and thought it added a sense of the classic Showa-era feel that made the Jaegers seem a little bit magical and "personality-ed" instead of big vehicles. The images of Jaegers twitching in the launching bays when their pilots have troubled dreams far away, that was very cool. The idea of Jaeger psyches being haunted by the leftover ghosts of dead pilots was beyond cool.
My only demerit is that Raleigh is just as much of a plank in the book as he is in the movie. Seriously, Luke Skywalker may have been a whiner, but at least he had a personality. Raleigh is just... there, to move the plot along. I actually think the whole story could have been improved if they'd told it entirely from Mako's perspective instead of Raleigh's. Bitch bitch.
Still, GREAT audiobook, IMHO. Well worth the listen if you liked the movie, but even more so if you were meh on the movie.
My absolute *favorite* detail of the book over the movie? The descriptions of drift aftereffects, particularly the stories of haunted Jaegers. I totally dug the idea of there being a weird connection between pilots and Jaegers even after being disconnected, and thought it added a sense of the classic Showa-era feel that made the Jaegers seem a little bit magical and "personality-ed" instead of big vehicles. The images of Jaegers twitching in the launching bays when their pilots have troubled dreams far away, that was very cool. The idea of Jaeger psyches being haunted by the leftover ghosts of dead pilots was beyond cool.
My only demerit is that Raleigh is just as much of a plank in the book as he is in the movie. Seriously, Luke Skywalker may have been a whiner, but at least he had a personality. Raleigh is just... there, to move the plot along. I actually think the whole story could have been improved if they'd told it entirely from Mako's perspective instead of Raleigh's. Bitch bitch.
Still, GREAT audiobook, IMHO. Well worth the listen if you liked the movie, but even more so if you were meh on the movie.
The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex: What's Wrong With Modern Movies? by Mark Kermode
4.0
Agree on nearly all of his points. Also, he has one of the most wonderful, vicious, funny, and dead-on-point dissections of the Sex & the City movies that I've ever read. A really good book for anyone interested in the history of film, the state of modern movies, blockbuster fixation, and where it all might be going.
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
4.0
Excellent, really excellent. I wish I'd waited till Christmas to read it as it's a wonderful holiday horror story, but I guess Autumn will do too. Great characters, a wonderfully twisted villain, and a rip-roaring climax. Somebody make this a movie, please, as it would fit right onto the holiday film shelf nicely next to Gremlins and Black Christmas.
The Night Eternal by Guillermo del Toro
3.0
Entertaining but lukewarm close to the Strain trilogy. My biggest objection is that it throws out all the interesting scientific analysis of vampirism of the previous books in favor of a literal deus ex machina featuring angels and divine powers. A shame, because the first book started so spectacularly and I still think it's a marvelous modern day rendition of the classical Dracula story.
The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson
4.0
Cheerful, upbeat sort of horror... Kind of an "Indiana Jones meets the Wolfman" story. Repairman Jack is immediately likable thanks to being introduced in the middle of a James Whale movie festival, and it rolls from there. Ancient Indian monsters are being used by a madman to settle an age-old score, and Jack gets pulled into the middle of it when he's asked to find an old lady's stolen necklace. Daring-do, fisticuffs, and square-jawed heroics ensue. Very enjoyable.
The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker
5.0
Lots of fun, despite periodically wanting to strangle Nora, especially in the latter part of the book. The Ice Demon needs its own spin-off series.
I'm Dreaming of an Undead Christmas by Molly Harper
3.0
A cute holiday vampire story. I enjoyed it, which was surprising since I usually can't stand these sorts of books ("Vampire romance", as targeted to women). This one was equal parts fun and funny, though, without any real plot other than the ludicrousness of getting together for Christmas with a family that's partly composed of vampires and werewolves.
Joyland by Stephen King
4.0
Excellent, really excellent. NOT a horror novel but more a coming-of-age story about a brokenhearted young man who gets a job in an amusement park in 1971, and all that happens to him there. It's about changing times and growing up, as well as learning to grow out of stupid relationships. There's also a ghost and a serial killer and a whole lot of fairground atmosphere. Mostly, though, it is moving, inspirational, and emotional. Don't go into it expecting a horror novel full of scares and plot and twists, or you'll be disappointed. What it's really about it the weird magic of fairgrounds, learning to help other people, and growing up.