Ed's Mini Book Review - Neuromancer

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Reviewing a classic can be a tricky proposition. If you agree with the general consensus, that the book is a bona fide classic, then you might seem like a band wagoner, just agreeing with the masses. If you don't agree with everyone else, you may not look like you are your own person with your own views, you may just seem like someone who doesn't know what they are talking about or doesn't know a great book when you read it.

So, where do I fit in with Neuromancer? I am on the side that would consider it a classic. My enthusiasm and zest is tempered a bit by reading it so many years after it was written. In the almost thirty years since it was originally published, let's face it, it has been ripped off a lot. Though, as an aside, I wouldn't consider the Keanu Reeves film, Johnny Mneumonic, a rip off since William Gibson wrote that, but I think you get the picture. From role playing games like Shadowrun, which I used to play, and the inevitable video game and novels that the RPG spawned, to films like The Matrix, which borrow heavily from Neuromancer. The ground breaking ideas, visuals and funky lingo that was used in Neuromancer, and was so fresh and new, has been all seen and heard.

All that being said, does it take away from the experience of reading Neuromancer for the first time? A little but not much. This is a book that is a visionary piece of work, not from the whole genre that spawned from it, but from a literary aspect in that is leaves indelible visuals imprinted in your mind as you read the description of Gibson's dystopian future. I also love that it is written as if the reader is familiar with this world, with the lingo, the places and its history. Because of this, the book can be difficult to follow at points and you may have to re-read some sections over to follow. Only as you delve further into the book, do you delve further into Gibson's world and you peel away the layers of this future and come to some understanding of it.

So, for those not familiar with (and I've held off using the word for as long as I could) Cyberpunk, think The Matrix meets Blade Runner. So jack in and go for an exciting ride. It's not always a smooth one but one well worth taking.

My Grade: A

LL

Summer Reading List

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Not sure how much reading I'll get done over the summer but here is what I have on tap so far.

Neuromancer by William Gibson

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Dexter By Design by Jeff Lindsay

Day by Day Armageddon: Beyond Exile by J.L. Bourne
Monster Island by David Wellington
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger


Edit: I keep adding new titles. Just added Catcher as I am determined to finish it this time.

Ed's Mini Book Review - Dexter in the Dark

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Next up is the third book featuring one of todays' favorite anti-heroes, Dexter Morgan. Now, I've been debating whether to consider Dexter a 'hero' because, well, you know, he is a serial killer. Especially now that I've started watching the TV show, just finished the first season, and the final scene of the first season really struck me with Dexter seeing himself as a hero of sorts. Maybe I'll delve more into the hero notion later before I get too sidetracked.

This go around we have Dexter looking into ritual killings that has his homicidal inner voice, the Dark Passenger as he calls it, spooked. So much so that the Dark Passenger disappears, which is a first for Dear Ol' Dexter and that has him, as you would guess, a bit perturbed. Add in his pending wedding to Rita and the 'blossoming' of her two children and our Dexter has his plate full, though not full in the way he (or the readers) would like it.

This installment read rather flat to me, with Dexter being more or less led around and not doing a whole hell of a lot with regard to the ritual killing case. I found the stuff with the kids and his dealing with the wedding more interesting. What? Yeah, I know. More kids and less ritual killing? Yes, please. The Dexter we all know and love is sharp, witty, and on top of things. Being without the Dark Passenger threw him into a funk that just didn't work for me.

My Grade: C+

LL

Ed's Mini Book Review - 13 Bullets

Cover of 13 Bullets

More vampires, that's what I always say. Ok, maybe I don't always say that and I probably shouldn't. Vampire books are an overcrowded genre to begin with (and that may the understatement of the millennium).

So, added to this almost beaten to death genre, is 13 Bullets which introduces us to Laura Caxton, reluctant vampire hunter. A Pennsylvania state trooper, who happens to stumble upon a vampire hireling, called half-deads, attempting to dispose of his masters' leftovers, Caxton is then teamed up with grizzled and cantankerous semi-famous FBI vampire hunter, Arkeley, to try and track down the lead vampire in the area.

Something that I really liked about this vampire tale is that the vampire here are monsters. They are vicious, vile, uber-deadly and have the looks of the Nosferatu-like vampires we've seen all too infrequently in recent years. The are dangerous predators, the top of the food chain and they know it. Kill a recently fed vampire? No chance, more likely he'll rip your arms off and drain from what's left of your arm stumps.

Beyond that, 13 Bullets takes some predicable twists and turns and in too many instances, you are waiting for someone, mainly Caxton, to do something intelligent instead of falling head first into the next dilemma. The writing is solid and the sections of the book are broken down nicely (if you read it, you'll see what I mean). Combined with some interesting plot elements that are hinted at but not fully resolved will make me want to pick up the next book in the series.

My Grade: B

LL

Ed's Mini Book Review - The Dragon Factory

Action. Check.

Kick assery. Check.

Science mumbo jumbo. Check.

Decent but not great follow-up. Check.

The second book featuring ass kicker extraordinaire, Joe Ledger, surprisingly picks up shortly after the events of our first encounter with Joe and the DMS (Department of Military Science), Patient Zero. The fist book was a fast paced, zombie-esque thrill ride that was a breath of fresh air to the zombie book genre. Away from the 'survival horror' themed zombie books, the first Joe Ledger book are like a mash-up of Splinter Cell and World War Z (perhaps called it a 'viral thriller'). Shortly after dealing with the zombie virus in the first book, we have Joe and his team facing off against competing genetic manipulators, one faction making super soldiers while the other is making gene based bio-weapons.

A lot of this book feels the same, villains backstabbing each other, the cloak and dagger of Mr. Church and the DMS, and, of course, lots of action. Another problem with this Ledger adventure, is that a lot of time is spent not knowing what is going on and our heroes do very little to figure things out, the machinations of the bad guys are literally just handed over to them which makes the end game seem like a bit of a cop out. Also, I had a real problem with the actions of the main villain at the end.

Did all this mean I didn't enjoy it? Hell no! Joe Ledger kicks major a$$ in a Jack Bauer sort of way (Legder is actually compare to Bauer at one point). Bad Jack stories are still good stories and bad Ledger stories are good ones as well. This one even isn't a bad story, it's just a flawed one and not up to par with Patient Zero.

My Grade: B

LL

I'm sorry I pimp slapped you into that china cabinet.

Cover of Black Dynamite [Blu-ray]

How the hell did I miss this?

And by 'this' I mean to pure awesomeness that is Black Dynamite.

Now, I grew up on the blaxploitation films of the 70's and this flick does the trick, ya dig? It manages to catch the essence of those films while keeping the parody edge without becoming too chessey or over the top, you follow?

With destined to be classic lines like 'And when you pop the top, the panties drop' and 'Kung-Fu treachery', Black Dynamite hits the spot solid.

So, go out and see this now or else I will not hesitate to lay the hammer down on any clown that comes around!

I said can you dig it!

Reading List - June

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Summer is upon us so the reading may be a little light with time spent on the beach and maybe a vacation or a stay-cation. Still there are some things I want to get to, just a matter if I do get to them.

The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Mayberry

Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay
13 Bullets by David Wellington

Fables Vol. 5 by Bill Winningham