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eor13. Bill Raney "Letters to Zerky"
I ended up with "Letters to Zerky" pretty much by chance. One of the vendors I use for van parts is located in Colorado, but the parts portion of the business was acquired from a guy from southern California. When I was buying some parts I looked in the sale section and saw a book about a couple who travelled the world with their young son in a VW van. So somewhat van related. My suspicion is that the prior owner of the parts business was a friend of Bill Raney and had bought a significant number of copies and kept them as inventory. Then years later the subsequent owners found all these copies in their inventory of "parts" and just wanted them out of their inventory. I got the book for less than $2 new.
The bulk of the book is a combination of letters Bill Raney wrote to later give to his infant son and journal entries from his wife. The former start out stilted and sporadic. Later in the journey we start getting the journal entries, which are much more spontaneous, but have reference to things which can't be deciphered. In it's base this story is inherently interesting. But the way the author decided to compile it makes a rocky road. I feel like with changes to what non-Letter/Journal narrative material was included and where could have smoothed out the whole thing. And honestly, I would have like to have seen the journal entries all the way through because they had the frequency and spontaneity which the letters lacked.
14.Jasper Fforde "The Eye of Zoltar"
I re-read Jasper Fforde's "The Eye of Zoltar" to remind myself where we left off before starting on the final book in the Dragonslayer series. Like the other books in the series, I think I enjoyed it more on the re-read than I did the first time around.
15. Jasper Fforde "The Great Troll War"
So after re-reading all the previous books I finally got to "The Great Troll War". I don't think there will be many people who anticipate the ending of this book. It wasn't my favorite, but it's fitting for the series. My absolute favorite part of the book was the nod to Alfred Bester's seminal work, I howled with laughter when I hit that bit. Good things I was home alone at the time. There were some other cultural references slipped in as well.
Now I see that there is a 2nd Shades of Grey book due out in the UK in early '23. I can't wait!
16. Frank Herbert "Dune"
This was my first read of "Dune". I think I'd avoided it before just because I'm contrary, it's one of the science fiction books that everyone reads. I avoid whatever everyone else is doing. But I had picked up a copy at a library booksale years ago and it was lingering on my bedside table.
I was surprised by how progressive this 1965 classic actually is. Admitted, despite Herbert's best attempt he can't seem to help falling into the stereotypes of male and female roles, it seems like he was really trying to get there. The primary themes are probably more relevant today than they were when it was written. I mean you can pretty much translate spice to oil and sit back with your feet up. The struggles among the different groups mirror many of the struggles our different countries and generations face today. We've got the old feudal lords hanging on to power by any means they can no matter what the cost to other people or the planet(s). Herbert's narrative spends a lot of time in the viewpoint of people who are less than nice and loving. It makes them and their motivations more real, but it's somewhat like if Tolkien spent significant time in the mind of Saruman, makes for a much darker milieu. I think I'll wait a while before reading George R. R. Martin's series.
I ended up with "Letters to Zerky" pretty much by chance. One of the vendors I use for van parts is located in Colorado, but the parts portion of the business was acquired from a guy from southern California. When I was buying some parts I looked in the sale section and saw a book about a couple who travelled the world with their young son in a VW van. So somewhat van related. My suspicion is that the prior owner of the parts business was a friend of Bill Raney and had bought a significant number of copies and kept them as inventory. Then years later the subsequent owners found all these copies in their inventory of "parts" and just wanted them out of their inventory. I got the book for less than $2 new.
The bulk of the book is a combination of letters Bill Raney wrote to later give to his infant son and journal entries from his wife. The former start out stilted and sporadic. Later in the journey we start getting the journal entries, which are much more spontaneous, but have reference to things which can't be deciphered. In it's base this story is inherently interesting. But the way the author decided to compile it makes a rocky road. I feel like with changes to what non-Letter/Journal narrative material was included and where could have smoothed out the whole thing. And honestly, I would have like to have seen the journal entries all the way through because they had the frequency and spontaneity which the letters lacked.
14.Jasper Fforde "The Eye of Zoltar"
I re-read Jasper Fforde's "The Eye of Zoltar" to remind myself where we left off before starting on the final book in the Dragonslayer series. Like the other books in the series, I think I enjoyed it more on the re-read than I did the first time around.
15. Jasper Fforde "The Great Troll War"
So after re-reading all the previous books I finally got to "The Great Troll War". I don't think there will be many people who anticipate the ending of this book. It wasn't my favorite, but it's fitting for the series. My absolute favorite part of the book was the nod to Alfred Bester's seminal work, I howled with laughter when I hit that bit. Good things I was home alone at the time. There were some other cultural references slipped in as well.
Now I see that there is a 2nd Shades of Grey book due out in the UK in early '23. I can't wait!
16. Frank Herbert "Dune"
This was my first read of "Dune". I think I'd avoided it before just because I'm contrary, it's one of the science fiction books that everyone reads. I avoid whatever everyone else is doing. But I had picked up a copy at a library booksale years ago and it was lingering on my bedside table.
I was surprised by how progressive this 1965 classic actually is. Admitted, despite Herbert's best attempt he can't seem to help falling into the stereotypes of male and female roles, it seems like he was really trying to get there. The primary themes are probably more relevant today than they were when it was written. I mean you can pretty much translate spice to oil and sit back with your feet up. The struggles among the different groups mirror many of the struggles our different countries and generations face today. We've got the old feudal lords hanging on to power by any means they can no matter what the cost to other people or the planet(s). Herbert's narrative spends a lot of time in the viewpoint of people who are less than nice and loving. It makes them and their motivations more real, but it's somewhat like if Tolkien spent significant time in the mind of Saruman, makes for a much darker milieu. I think I'll wait a while before reading George R. R. Martin's series.
