BOOK REVIEW: George R.R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons

After a long wait of nearly six years since the publication of A Feast for Crows, the fifth book in George R.R. Martin's award-winning, best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Dance with Dragons was released in July 2011.

The entire A Song of Ice and Fire series has had a higher profile lately, especially since HBO started airing a mini-series called Game of Thrones based on the first book, A Game of Thrones. Their intention is to shoot each season of the series roughly based on each book in the series. Peter Dinklage won a very important Emmy award (Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series) for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister, one of the fan's favorite characters.

A Dance with Dragons was reviewed by all the major papers of record (Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Time) as well as the usual suspects of media outlets online, generally positively. Among fans, however, the reviews are somewhat mixed, with the feeling that the latest book is closer to A Feast for Crows than A Storm of Swords. To me, that's to be expected because the timeline of events that occurred in A Feast for Crows occupy about half of the book in A Dance with Dragons, happily told from the perspective of the fan's favorite characters. The problem with this is that not much progress was made on the huge, series-spanning plots like: Daenerys' march to Westeros from Essos, John Snow's attempts to maintain the Wall against the invasion of Creatures of the Frozen North, Bran Stark's destiny to actualize his magical talents and whether the Iron Throne will be controlled by someone who actually deserves the power and cherishes the people they rule, just to name a few. (By some counts, there were around  11 central plots covered in just this book).

On extended reflection, I think my overall evaluation of the book is closer to the official reviewer' than the fans'. I've only read A Dance with Dragons once, but I would still rank it as the second best book of the series, behind the impressive A Storm of Swords which is still the best of the bunch with A Dance with Dragons close behind, followed by A Clash of Kings and A Game of Thrones (the less said about A Feast for Crows, the better).

I had the good fortune of only starting to read the series in 2011, so I have not had to experience the half-decade long wait for the next installment in the series. Sadly, now that I have caught up with Martin's production schedule, I will have to comfort myself during the long wait for Book 6 (widely reported to be titled The Winds of Winter) by re-reading the first five books and watching the excellent HBO television adaptations of the earlier books (apparently each season of the series will be an adaptation of the corresponding book). Hopefully the next book will be out before the television series catches up with Martin!

Title: A Dance with Dragons.
Author: George R.R. Martin.
Paperback: 1040 pages.
Publisher: Bantam.
Published: July 12, 2011.

OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.917/4.0).


PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A+.
WRITING: A.

WATCH: Trailer for 2012's The Hobbit

WATCH: Promo for Game of Thrones Season 2

BOOK REVIEW: George R.R. Martin's A Feast for Crows

I have previously read and reviewed the first three books of the now-classic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin, for this blog: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and A Storm of Swords.

A Feast for Crows is considered by some the red-headed step child of the series so far because even though it is the most critically recognized entry in the series (nominated for the Hugo, Locus and British Fantasy Society awards although notably it failed to win any of these) it is also the book in the series which is rated the lowest by actual readers. There's a definite reason for this. A Feast for Crows was first published nearly 5 years after the publication of 2000's A Storm of Swords and the expectations of Martin's burgeoning fan base were extremely high. A Feast for Crows became the first book in the series to debut as #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and be an international publishing phenomenon. This is somewhat surprising, because several of the most popular characters from the series do not make an appearance in A Feast for Crows. Martin structures his novels as series of chapters with intersecting and overlayed points-of-views from specific characters on the same series of events. Because A Feast for Crows grew so gigantic during the five years Martin spent writing it, at some point he decided to concentrate on some of the less popular (some would say more villainous) characters in A Feast for Crows and push the perspectives of the more popular characters (Arya Stark, Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen to name a few) into the still-to-be-written A Dance with Dragons (which despite this headstart still took an agonizing 6 years to be published).

You'd think that the 4th entry in a series which has been decreed to be no longer than 7 books long would be concentrating on reducing the scope of the story not expanding it. If you thought that you'd be wrong, because Martin introduces several new characters who of course come with their own plots and allegiances which somehow link up to the previously revealed plots and allegiances like a slowly growing intricate spider-web or moss spreading inch by inch over a stone tomb.

The theme of the book is about power, and of course we all know absolute power corrupts absolutely. The anti-heroine of the series, Cersei Lannister Barratheon is know fully ascendant at the seat of power in King's Landing, although due to the inherent sexism (some would say misogyny) of the culture she is not officially crowned and of course does not sit on The Iron Throne, as her husband and sons have. Cersei is the kind of character readers love to hate and Martin puts her in her place somewhat, saving the coup de grace for the next book, we hope.

The plots are too numerous to summarize here, but suffice it to say that the conflict which has animated the first three books, the War of the Five Kings is quickly hurtling to a conclusion and this book is about what people do after the war is over, and how the "winners" and "losers" are both affected in its aftermath.

The one good thing about Martin pushing all the story lines of the favorite characters into A Dance with Dragons is that it makes that book an even more desirable read, and one that I will try to review shortly.
Despite the slight lull that A Feast for Crows represents in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, it still points out how salient the stories and characters that Martin has created that even the secondary characters make for a compelling read, and promise that the next book should be even more so.

Title: A Feast for Crows

Author: George R.R. Martin

Length: 784 pages.

Publisher: Bantam.

Date: October 30, 2007.

OVERALL GRADE: B/B-.

PLOT: B-.

IMAGERY: B.

IMPACT: B+. 

WRITING: B-.

BOOK REVIEW: The Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hunger Games trilogy is the highest profile series of young-adult novels after J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. I read the entire series (see my reviews of the last two books: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and saw all the movies (see my reviews for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 and Part 2 and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix).

It's really not fair to compare the two series. For one thing, Harry Potter consists of seven books which are on average well over 500 pages each and take the main characters from a pre-teen innocence through teen-age angst and into full adulthood.

Here is how the author, Suzanne Collins, describes the Hunger Games:

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The Hunger Games.” The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When her sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place. 

By definition, The Hunger Games is a much more violent series of books than the Harry Potter books. There are deaths in both, but in The Hunger Games it becomes almost routine. Also, the fact that Katniss is 16 years old when the books begin makes the possibility of sex (or at the very least romance) a very real possibility.

The story revolves around the characters, starting with Katniss Everdeen and her little sister Primrose. Katniss has been feeding her family since her medicine woman mother was greatly affected by the death of her husband and Katniss' father. The relationships which animate the main plots in The Hunger Games is the (love?) triangle between Katniss and Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne. Although love triangles have been done to death in all sorts of fiction, Collins comes up with some novel ways of handling the tension, especially since life and death situations become involved.

A Wikipedia article says that the themes of The Hunger Games are "government control, 'big brother,' and personal independence." I'm not sure that I would agree, I would say that a more precise description of  the main themes are "deception, independence and authoritarianism." Basically, authoritarianism includes both the "Big Brother" aspects of the Capitol and the governmental control that it encompasses throughout the 12 impoverished districts of Panem.

The plot of the first book is based around Katniss and Peeta's experience in the Hunger Games, where the rules are kill or be killed. Obviously, at least one of them survives because there are two more books. What happens is that the scope of the books expands, although they still center around the actions of Katniss, the true goal of Collins is to demonstrate not just the change to Katniss, but also to her hometown and her whole country.

Overall, all three books are well-written and Collins skillfully maintains suspense even while the reader is pretty sure any of the characters we care about will not be killed, the body count is high, and not everyone we care about survives to the end of the third book.

Title: The Hunger Games.
Author: Suzanne Collins.
Paperback: 384 pages.
Publisher: Scholastic Press.
Date: September 14, 2008.

OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).


PLOT: A.
IMAGERY: B+.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A-.


Title: Catching Fire.
Author: Suzanne Collins.
Paperback: 391 pages.
Publisher: Scholastic Press.
Date: September 1, 2009.


OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).


PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: B+.
WRITING: A.


Title: Mockingjay.
Author: Suzanne Collins.
Paperback: 400 pages.
Publisher: Scholastic Press.
Date: August 24, 2010.


OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).


PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: B+.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A.

BOOK REVIEW: Leviathan Wakes

One of the best new hard science fiction reads of the year is Leviathan Wakes from James S.A. Corey. Corey is actually a pseudonym for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Surprisingly, both of these guys are known for their fantasy bona fides. Abraham is the author of The Dragon's Path, the first book in the Dagger and the Coin trilogy while Franck is George R.R. Martin's assistant. Martin, is, of course, the author of the wildly popular A Song of Ice and Fire series, whose first book the Emmy award-winning HBO mini-series Game of Thrones is based on.

It's interesting that with all this swords and sorcery experience that these two guys have written an absolute kick-ass hard science fiction classic. The universe of Leviathan Wakes takes place in a near future where humanity has established colonies on some of the solar system's planets and large asteroids. To be more precise, Mars, the Moon, and Ceres all have substantial human populations, with distinct and disagreeing cultures. The two big fish are Mars and the Earth, with the Moon and all the inhabitants of the Asteroid Belt (known as "Belters"). There are no aliens, but there are generations of humans that have only lived in non-Earth gravity and have been physically modified as a result.

The story that is set in this universe is a doozy. It is centered around two main characters: Jim Holden and Detective Miller. Holden is the "good guy," an idealist who runs into some Lovecraftian surprises in deep space of galactic significance. Miller is the hard-bitten detective who doesn't even have a first name who doggedly follows his hunch about a case no-one else cares about while history-altering events are happening around him.

The book is an interesting melange of multiple genres; it is definitely hard science fiction (there are space battles with sub-light space travel in the very first chapter) but veers sharply into horror (there are things called "vomit zombies") with a sprinkle of noir (Miller's character is clearly supposed to be some kind of 23rd century Sam Spade).

I don't want to say too much about the details except to say that the story hurtles along at breakneck pace, and although many issues are resolved, one can clearly see how this works as the first book of a planned trilogy. I can't wait until the next book in "The Expanse" series is released; if you read Leviathan Wakes, you will be hooked as well.

Title: Leviathan Wakes.
Author: James S.A. Corey.
Length: 592 pages.
Publisher: Orbit.
Published: June 15, 2011.

OVERALL GRADE: A (4.0/4.0).

PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A.
IMPACT: A+.
WRITING: A.

2 Weeks Until Season 2 Of Walking Dead!

This show was my guilty pleasure last spring when I discovered it, in repeats on AMC. I watched the entire first season in about a week. Hopefully, the second season which starts Sunday October 16th will be just as good.

Lost Producers Confess They Made It All Up Ad Hoc

Damon Lindelof (left) and Carlton Cuse were the showrunners on Lost

As you may recall, I was a huge fan of the television series Lost and was verklempt when it went off the air Sunday May 23, 2010.

The story was so complex that there was always a suspicion about whether the writers and producers really knew what they wanted to do all the time and was the intricacy intended genius or unintended confusion.

One of the main executive producers, Damon Lindelof, now admits it was more of the latter:

"The biggest issue with a desert island show was the audience is going to get very frustrated that the characters were not getting off the island," he said. "My solution was, hey, let's get off the island every week. And the way we're going to do that is we're going to do these flashbacks. We'll do one character at a time and there's going to be like 70 characters on the show, so we'll go really, really slow, and each one will basically say, here's who they were before the crash and it'll dramatize something that's happening on the island and it will also make the show very character-centric."

Abrams liked the idea, and also had another: "'There should be a hatch on this island! They spend the entire season trying to get it open. And there should be these other people on the island,'" Lindelof recalled Abrams saying. "And I'm like, ''We can call them The Others.' And he's like, 'They should hear this noise out there in the jungle.' And I'm like, 'What's the noise?' And he's like, 'I don't...know. They're never going to pick this thing up anyway.'"

Lindelof said the idea to tell the story out of chronological order came in part from "Pulp Fiction," in which John Travolta's character is killed about halfway through -- and viewers learn only at the end that he had failed to heed Samuel Jackson's speech in the diner about the path of the righteous man.

"That sort of flipped the switch in me, and was something that I really wanted to do as a storyteller and 'Lost' was really the perfect opportunity to do it," Lindelof said.

The most amusing revelation is that Lindelof really just wanted to get a job on J.J. Abrams' hit show Alias (which I also loved) which is why he originally met with Abrams and then was offered his new show while Abrams went off to direct movies like Star Trek  and Mission Impossible 3.

2011 Emmy Awards: The Winners

Tonight was a big day in Hollywood as the Emmy Awards for excellence in television were announced.
I had previously blogged about the nominations and made my choices known.

Here is the full list of winners of the 2011 Emmy Awards:

 Outstanding Drama Series: "Mad Men," AMC.
- Outstanding Lead Actress, Drama Series: Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife," CBS.
- Outstanding Lead Actor, Drama Series: Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights," DirecTV/NBC.
- Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones," HBO.
- Outstanding Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Margo Martindale, "Justified," FX.
- Outstanding Writing, Drama Series: Jason Katims, "Friday Night Lights," NBC.
- Outstanding Directing, Drama Series: Martin Scorsese, "Boardwalk Empire," HBO.
- Outstanding Comedy Series: "Modern Family," ABC.
- Outstanding Actor, Comedy Series: Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory," CBS.
- Outstanding Actress, Comedy Series: Melissa McCarthy, "Mike & Molly," CBS.
- Outstanding Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Julie Bowen, "Modern Family," ABC.
- Outstanding Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Ty Burrell, "Modern Family," ABC.
- Outstanding Writing, Comedy Series: Steven Levitan and Jeffrey Richman, "Modern Family," ABC.
- Outstanding Directing, Comedy Series: Michael Spiller, "Modern Family," ABC.
- Outstanding Miniseries or Movie: "Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)," PBS.
- Outstanding Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Kate Winslet, "Mildred Pierce," HBO.
- Outstanding Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Barry Pepper, "The Kennedys," ReelzChannel.
- Outstanding Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)," PBS.
- Outstanding Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Guy Pearce, "Mildred Pierce," HBO.
- Outstanding Directing, Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special: Brian Percival, "Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)," PBS.
- Outstanding Writing, Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special: Julian Fellowes, "Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)," PBS.
- Outstanding Reality-Competition Program: "The Amazing Race," CBS.
- Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series: "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," Comedy Central.
- Outstanding Directing, Variety, Music or Comedy Series: Don Roy King, "Saturday Night Live," NBC.
- Outstanding Writing, Variety, Music or Comedy Series: "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," Comedy Central.

The highlights for me are the husband and wife from Modern Family (Ty Burrel and Julie Bowen) winning Best Supporting Actor and Actress. The Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category was all four male leads from Modern Family  and Chris Colfer from Glee! Also, I'm very psyched that Peter Dinklage won for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, a role that could physically not be played by anyone else and is an amazing piece of writing by George R.R. Martin. I'm also glad that two other shows I just started watching, The Good Wife and the The Big Bang Theory had their lead actors, Jim Parsons (second consecutive year) and Julianna Margulies recognized for their excellent work.

I do not understand the obsession with Mad Men; to me it just looks some kind of Republican fantasy of life in the 1950s before all that damned "progress" of the 1960s (civil  rights for Blacks, equal rights for women and the gay rights movement) happened and "the good old days" were rocking. It's some kind of sick nostalgia fantasy for conservatives. The show has won 4 years in a row, every year it has been in existence. Even worse s The Amazing Race which has now won every Best Reality Series Emmy award ever, even though Survivor was first (and is still better).

Last but not least, congrats to Dame Maggie Smith. You, go, girl!!

2011 Hugo Winners Announced!

The 2011 Hugo Awards were announced last weekend at the World Science Fiction Convention in Reno, Nevada. Two of my favorites, Christopher Nolan's Inception and Commie Willis' Blackout/All-Clear won the major prizes of Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form and Best Novel, respectively. Willis becomes the second female author to win the prestigious Nebula/Hugo double for the same book twice. She won the Nebula award for Blackout/All-Clear earlier this year and had previously won the double for an earlier book in the series, Doomsday Book, one of my favorite books of all time. The only other authors to win the Hugo/Nebula double for the same book twice are Joe Haldeman (The Forever War, Forever Peace), Ursula K. LeGuin (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed), and the now-odious Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead).

Here's the full list and here's the list of the winners in the most important categories::

BEST NOVEL

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)

BEST NOVELLA

The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)

BEST NOVELETTE

“The Emperor of Mars” by Allen M. Steele (Asimov’s, June 2010)

BEST SHORT STORY

“For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s, September 2010)

BEST RELATED WORK

Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea (Mad Norwegian)

BEST GRAPHIC STORY

Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse,
written by Phil and Kaja Foglio; art by Phil Foglio; colors by
Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM

Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM

Doctor Who: “The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang,” written by Steven
Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)

What's nice about the Hugos is that they also release the detailed breakdown of the preference voting results every year as well. It would be incredibly awesome if other awards (Oscars, Emmys, are you listening?) did that as well.

Also, notice that the titles of the winners of Best Novella, Novelette and Best Short Story are hyperlinks. By clicking on the links you can see these award-winning pieces of speculative fiction for free. Enjoy!

MOVIE REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

The Other Half and I have seen all of the Harry Potter movies, and I have read all the books. The final installment in the movie franchise is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, which was also released in 3-D. I wasn't that enamored with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 but since I had read the books I knew that more than 2/3rds of the action in the book was going to happen in Part 2. We decided to splurge for the 3-D since it was the last time we would be seeing a Harry Potter movie in the theaters plus it was garnering rave reviews from most critics (96% on Rottentomatoes.com). 

Surprisingly, the last movie in the Harry Potter series is also the shortest in the series, coming in at a zippy 130 minutes. Also, another surprise about this installment is that it is basically a war movie. There are two competing armies, a large one on behalf of the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort and a small one on behalf of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, called Dumbledore's Army. This movie is so different from the early Potter films which were filmed with the hijinks of school children and featured games of Quidditch.

For the last two movies we have been following the quest of Harry, Ron and Hermione as they chase down magical objects called Horcruxes, which contain the soul of Voldemort. If the horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort will cease to exist. We think that there are six horcruxes, but one of my major quibbles with the the movie adaptation is that it doesn't really do a very good job of keeping the audience on track on how much progress is made on destroying all of the horcruxes.

Another aspect of the story is that when the audience discovers that Harry Potter must die (spoiler alert) we also see that he has the Resurrection Stone, but Harry drops the stone to the ground instead of carrying it with him to his death. It's unclear to the audience (or at least, me) why Harry couldn't just use the stone to die and then be resurrected and the movie doesn't do a good job of answering that question either.

There are several things that the film does do very well. I did think the 3-D effects were used sparingly but very effectively. Alan Rickman, as always, is excellent as Snape, although some have complained about the nature of his character's demise. My favorite character has always been Hermione, and Emma Watson plays her well. Daniel Radcliffe has most definitely grown into the leading role of Harry Potter. Rupert Grint has also grown, and is no longer cringe-worthy.

Overall, the final movie in the series works well as an action film and also has an excellent pay off for those of us who either read all the book or saw all the movies (or both). It is doubtful we will see a more successful adaptation of successful fantasy novels into successful fantasy films in my lifetime.

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.
Director: David Yates.
Running Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.
MPAA Rating: R for language and some sexual content.
Release Date: July 15, 2011.
Viewing Date: July 17, 2011.

Plot: A.
Acting: A-.
Visuals: A.
Impact: A+.

Overall Grade: (4.0/4.0)

A Dance With Dragons Arrives!

Slow blogging today as my 1,016-page copy of George R.R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons has arrived at my door!

Most preliminary reviews say that it is hella awesome, more like Book 3 (A Storm of Swords) instead of like Book 4 (A Feast for Crows) which was published 6 years ago and widely panned.

BOOK REVIEW: The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan

Richard Morgan has made quite a name for himself with his science fiction novels, winning several prestigious awards for his books Altered Carbon (2003 Phillip K. Dick Award) and Thirteen/Black Man (2008 Arthur C. Clarke Award). 

I have greatly enjoyed reading his Takeshi Kovacs novels, Altered Carbon, Broken Angels and Woken Furies.

The Steel Remains is Morgan's first fantasy novel, and it is pretty terrific. It is the first book in a series that is now to be called A Land Fit for Heroes. There are three main characters, Ringil Eskiath, Egar Dragonbane, and Archeth Indamaninarmal. Ringil is a war hero, the no longer young scion of one of the most important families in the city-state of Ishlin-ichan and a talented swordsman with a famous blade called Ravensfriend forged by aliens. Ringil also happens to be openly gay, which is not accepted culturally or legally. As a gay reader of the book, I was thrilled by this aspect of the character and the book. It is a huge credit to Morgan that he decided to make the most important character in the book, gay, and as a straight author included remarkably well-written (and explicit) sex scenes between this gay character and other men. This aspect of the book has been remarked upon (not often favorably) by mostly straight reviewers. The fact is that explicit sex scenes have been a part of all of Morgan's books that I have read and enjoyed, but as a gay reader I have grown accustomed to reading past those paragraphs. I completely applaud Morgan for creating a lasting (and compelling) work of fiction which will affirm gay readers of fantasy.

Egar Dragonbane and Archeth Indamaninarmal are the other two main characters that complete the trio of veteran warriors who get point-of-view chapters in The Steel Remains. Egar is a huge, muscular "savage from the North" who is well-known for killing (not one, but two) dragons. Archeth is a Kiriath-human "half-breed" who is over two centuries old but who was left behind when the aliens left the world. Archeth is also a lesbian, giving The Steel Remains not one but two main characters who are sexual minorities.

Unfortunately, although the reader might expect the story to be built around this heroic trio, it really is centered around Ringil, and although we get some, we don't get a full understanding of Egar's and Archeth's character. This is fine with me, because Ringil is pretty interesting and compelling a character as created by Morgan. Ringil does have some similarities to Takeshi Kovacs in that they are both extremely adept at meting out violence and they both seem to enjoy bravely picking fights against more powerful foes. They are also not exactly sweetness and light to be around, and have a generally jaundiced view of the world.

The plot of The Steel Remains is not as intricate as Morgan's science fiction masterpieces, but what Morgan does well is provide the setting, background and atmosphere of his novels which make them a fascinating and enthralling place to spend hours of your time. The basic outline of the plot here is what happens after Ringil is asked by his mother to find a cousin who has been sold into slavery and discovers that the criminal elements of the city have been employing an incredibly powerful ghost-like figure called a Dwenda. Ringil, of course, can not resist following the trail of clues to find his cousin regardless of how far afield it takes him or how dangerous the path is.

The Steel Remains  is highly recommended, especially for gay readers or fans of adult fantastical novels.

Title: The Steel Remains.

Author: Richard K. Morgan.

Length: 432 pages.

Publisher: Del Rey.

Published: January 20, 2009.

OVERALL GRADE: A (4.0/4.0).

PLOT: A-.

IMAGERY: A.

IMPACT: A+.

WRITING: A.

BOOK REVIEW: George R.R. Martin's A Storm of Swords

Which book in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire written by George R.R. Martin is the best? Many would argue that the third entry in the series, A Storm of Swords, is the most likely candidate. There is no question that it is the largest of the four books published to date; in fact, in England it was published in two volumes (Steel and Snow and Blood and Gold).

At Amazon.com  A Storm of Swords has 822 reviews, with an average of 4.50365 (90.07%) with 76.6% of reviews selecting the top 5 star review. The book preceding A Storm of Swords is A Clash of Kings and it has a slightly higher average review of 4.50857 (90.17%) but they are less numerous (700) and has a lower percentage of 5-star reviews (71.6%). The first book in the series, A Game of Thrones, is the most well-known, naturally, since it was published first. It has by far the most number of reviews, 1,840 with an average of 4.38587 with 71% being 5-star reviews. The fourth book, A Feast for Crows, is the least popular book of the series so far and most harshly reviewed (an average score of 3.206557 based on 915 reviews). The fifth, A Dance with Dragons, will be released on July 12, 2011.

I would generally agree with the crowd at Amazon.com that A Storm of Swords is the best book of the first four in the A Song of Ice and Fire series that I have read so far.

The book's impact is not just based on it's length, though, as in most things, size does matter. There are so many important, stunning and horrifying plot twists which affect the characters we have grown to love and hate that several times I had to re-read sections of the book because I was reading so quickly to find out what was going to happen I realized I had missed an important event that had happened.

In this third book in the series the story that began in A Game of Thrones has progressed in surprising directions. It is almost impossible to review this volume without giving away important plot developments which a first-time reader should really experience unspoiled. I can say that the structure of the book follows the form of the previous entries in the series, with point-of-view chapters from various characters following one another seamlessly to reveal the overall storyline. There are POV chapters from Lannisters (Jaime, Tyrion and Cersei), Starks (Catelyn, Sansa, Arya and Bran) and their associates (Daavos Seaworth, Samwell Tarly, Jon Snow). Daenerys Targaeryen also returns and makes progress towards establishing herself as a true Queen of Westeros far away in the East.

The main storylines (internecine political conflict in King's Landing, Jon's foray beyond The Wall to learn the truth about the wildlings, Daenerys' quest for an Army and a crown, the impact of the War of Five Kings on Westeros' citizens as experienced by several of our main characters) are told with expert deftness and intriguing suspense. You literally do not know who will survive or perish, even if they have a chapter named after them (hint!).

Some say that Martin is trying to dethrone J.R.R. Tolkien as the universally acknowledged king of fantasy, and it may be true. Others say that Martin may actually have higher aims such as joining Shakespeare in the canon of literature. I'll leave it up to future readers to decide, but the decision of whether or not to invest the time and energy to read these books should be an easy one for anyone who delights in the pleasure of fiction itself.

Title: A Storm of Swords.

Author: George R.R. Martin

Length: 1008 pages.

Publisher: Bantam.

Date: May 28, 2002.

OVERALL GRADE: A+/A (4.167/4.0).

PLOT: A+.

IMAGERY: A.

IMPACT: A+.

WRITING: A.

HBO's Game Of Thrones Renewed For Season 2!

Excellent news! HB0 has announced they have renewed their new fantasy series Game of Thrones for a second season. Game of Thrones is an adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, which is a planned 7-book fantasy series in set in the fictional land of Westeros where seasons can last years and civilization is basically at the Bronze Age of medieval times.

The plan is for each season of the HBO show to be based on each of the books. The first book in the series is called A Game of Thrones (click to see MadProfessah review). The second book (which is even better than the first) is called A Clash of Kings (click to see MadProfessah review) and immediately follows the events of the first book.

Overall, I have been very impressed with HBO's television adaptation of George R.R. Martin's work, for the most part. The books depict the fight for control of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros between members of several major houses. Martin analyzes many topics in thee very long books, among them the nature of gender in a feudal society, the irrationality of hereditary government, and especially the meanings of political power in a society where everyone carries a sword and "might makes right" is a generally accepted ethos.

The TV series has done an excellent job of animating these concepts by actually improving on Martin's plotting by adding scenes and interactions between characters which do not appear in the original text.
What the TV series has not done well is depict people of color. There is an important subplot in the series which involves action on a far-away continent (across the Narrow Sea from Westeros) called Essos where the Dothraki people like. The Dothraki are a war-like, nomadic people who have "copper skin and almond eyes." In the books, Martin is able to fully explain their specific cultural traditions and motivate their harsh and violent actions. In the HBO series the head of the Dothraki Khal Drogo is portrayed by a massively buff Jason Momoa who speaks in a  rough guttural tongue. The Dothraki are depicted as wild-eyed savages for the most part, without the  descriptive context the book supplies them. This is unfortunate, because the chapters of the books which involve the Dothraki and the blonde refugee from Westeros named Daenerys Targaryen who becomes their Queen (Khaleesi) are some of the best sections of the story. Martin won a Hugo award for a novella about Daenerys.

In the series there are some epic scenes involving Daenerys, the Dothraki and her dragon eggs which, if depicted badly, could ruin the entire series for me. Daenerys and the Dothraki are incredibly important characters, and it is disturbing that, so far, they have not been depicted as effectively as the other, predominantly white, characters. It's no coincidence that the upcoming fifth book is called, A Dance with Dragons. Hopefully, the series will make that far.