trilbynorton's reviews
286 reviews

The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This first trilogy in Bakker's Second Apocalypse series ends on a high note. The philosophical discussions here are quite engaging and serve to crystallise the ideas Bakker has been working with. I was reminded of Frank Herbert's later Dune books and their examinations of history and government. There's more than a little of the Kwisatz Haderach about Kellhus.

What struck me the most was how bleak and almost nihilist the series is. Bakker is exploring themes of free will versus determinism, truth versus faith, and a mechanistic universe versus a transcendental one, and constantly advocates for the more depressing sides of these coins. His world is one in which people are slaves to their passions, and those passions can easily be predicted and controlled by someone with right tools. I'm curious to see how this thoroughly materialist world view extends to the more explicitly fantastical elements of his world Bakker keeps teasing.

The Warrior Prophet by R. Scott Bakker

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

A good continuation of the first book. The battle scenes get old after the first couple, but the characters are developed in engaging and surprising ways. The treatment of religion and faith is surprisingly deep.

The Darkness That Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

At the classier end of grimdark fantasy. Bakker's prose is evocative but also full of lots of unwieldly character and place names. The worldbuilding is impressive, but it remains to be seen if the series can stick the landing.

Box Office Poison: Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops by Tim Robey

funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

A great little book that charts the history of Hollywood, not through the masterpieces we all know, but the bombs we often don't. Starts right at the beginning with D. W. Griffith's unwieldly Intolerance (1916) and goes all the way up to the nightmare that is Cats (2019). They're not all duds; along the way, Robey looks at some of my favourites, including Sorcerer (1977), Synecdoche, New York (2008), and Speed Racer (2008). The pace is breakneck, with sections being short and snappy. For the most part it works - who wants to read more than a few pages about Gigli (2003)? - but it would have been nice to have some more detail on some of the films mentioned.

Engine Summer by John Crowley

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Like many of John Crowley's books, this is a story about story. In this case, it is a story about how we live through stories. About how people find a sort of immortality in the stories we tell about them. And how our selves are nothing more than a story we tell to ourselves.

Beasts by John Crowley

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This is advertised as a dystopian novel about genetically engineered animal/human hybrids, but that's only the initial premise. Instead, the book is a series of vignettes examining our relationship with animals. Not so much in an ethical or moral way (although that is occasionally a concern), but more in the way we anthropomorphise animals, and in the way we zoomorphise ourselves.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Science!

I didn't read anything about this before starting it. I just jumped right in knowing that it's by The Martian guy and that The LEGO Movie guys are making a film of it with Ryan Gosling. So when

the alien turned up and became my best friend

I was surprised and delighted.

The Deep by John Crowley

adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Feels like a heavily condensed Game of Thrones until the perspective shifts towards the end and it's revealed as something altogether stranger.

Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road by Kyle Buchanan

emotional funny informative inspiring fast-paced

4.0

Mad Max: Fury Road is one of my all time favourite films, so I hugely enjoyed this oral history of its troubled, decades long production. I'm not entirely convinced by the "talking heads" structure of the book, though; I feel that incorporating the interviews into prose could have made a more engaging book.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Are all the characters supposed to be utterly detestable?