Ender's Game
Genre: Sci fi
Ender's Game is the harsh tale of a group of hyper intelligent children, bred solely for military use. Earth has been attacked by the same alien race twice already and the human race almost wiped out - the next war must be won. Which raises the question: How exactly do you fight against a race you know nothing about?
Ender's Game is amazingly well-written. Not a sentence goes to waste. Orson Scott Card introduces his science fiction world with a certainity that will leave deep marks in your mind. I dare even say it will change your way of thinking.
If you have not already read it I suggest you do, sci fi fan or not.
The Death Gate Cycle
Genre: Fantasy
Series: The Death Gate Cycle
This is original, high-quality, mind-blowing fantasy - the kind of fantasy you badly want to read but so seldom find. The same authors also gave out The Dragonlance Chronicles - a series that is widely known and a lot more famous than Death Gate, for some inexplicable reason. Don't get me wrong, Dragonlance is fine, but compared to Death Gate... nothing.
I can't give these books unbaised reviews. I am baised. I love these books.
To be perfectly honest though, the three last books are very disappointing. The first four books are awesome in every way and the story could easily have ended with Serpent Mage - leaving the Cycle at one book for each element and a horrible, foreboding open-to-interpretion ending. Take a second to think about it, when you finish Serpent Mage. It would be an excellent ending.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Genre: Horror
Had any other author than Stephen King written this book, it would have been forgettable. Why? Because it is a story about a nine-year-old girl who gets lost in the forest. And I think we all read at least one extremely boring book on that subject - when we were nine years old.
So how can King take this passé subject and turn it into an exciting book for adults? The answer is he's an unpredictable son of a bitch. He keeps the reader at the edge at all times - in a constant state of worry. He has a habit of writing books where anything can happen and any character will drop down dead at his call. Seldom do you feel as helpless while reading.
Catch-22
Genre: Satire
Catch-22 is a political satire on World War II, but it might as well be a satire about human life in general. The book is aweinspiring in its hopelessly confused logic. Each chapter is written from a different person's perspective, totally misplaced on the timeline - often you find yourself recieving the punchline of a joke several chapters before anybody even tells you the joke.
That Joseph Heller even managed to stitch together all the little bits and pieces is admirable indeed, because Catch-22 is without doubt one of the most absurd books ever written.
One of the best as well.
The Dark Elf Trilogy Omnibus (comic adaption)
Illustrator: Tim Seeley
Original author: R.A. Salvatore
The comic adaption of the three books (Homeland, Exile, Sojourn) describing the beginning of the drow Drizzt Do'Urden's life. Written under close supervision of Salvatore it is illustrated with a great care for details. And it is oh-so-pretty. I walk over to my bookcase just to pet it every now and then. Matrealistic bliss at its best.
Batman by Brubaker
The Man Who Laughs
Story: Ed Brubaker
Illustrations: Doug Mahnke
The first Batman comic I ever read, so bear with me. It is a very short one (under 70 pages) about the first time Gotham meets the Joker. Batman has been fighting evil for some time, but is still not a well-established super hero in the city. The intro of the story is excellent, as are the illustrations, but the ending feels a bit sudden and pointless.
Made of Wood
Story: Ed Brubaker
Illustrations: Patrick Zircher
Another story by Brubaker in the same album, taking place several years later. A couple of unsolved murders that happened 50 years ago resurfaces and Batman takes help from the Green Lantern to solve them. Waaay too much of this storyline is about the Green Lantern and he is a boring motherfucker of a super hero, to be honest. If you, like me, lose interest for the plot, it sure is not worth it. I spent most of the story wondering why neither Batman nor the Green Lantern were old men, which they should have been after all this time(?)
A Man Without a Country
Genre: Short story collection
By writing books like Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut guaranteed himself a lot of fame. For over fifty years he wrote about modern society with a dark, yet playful, sense of humor. A Man Without a Country is a collection of short stories that was published in 2005, making it the last book Vonnegut wrote before he died in 2007.
A Man Without a Country is Vonnegut's take on living in America/the world during the Bush regime and the ongoing oil crisis. It is a simple, easy read - short short chapters broken down by quotes as seen above (the giraffe one for example). He rants a bit about people being stupid, but he does so with a shrug of his shoulders. "I am an old man", he seems to say, "If the world is fucked up... well, at least it is not my problem anymore."
I can imagining him smiling as he types down the last few pages.
Sucka mitt hjärta men brist dock ej
A collection of short texts by Mark Levengood, a lot of them very entertaining in a homely sort of way. Levengood has an (according to me) unfortunate habit of getting overly philosophical sometimes, which ruins part of the collection. But when his goal is comedy, he delivers.
Divided Allegiance
Genre: Fantasy
Series: The Deed of Paksenarrion (2nd of 3 books)
It is over six years since I read the first book is this trilogy (this I know because of a book review for my English class). It took me six years to get my ass over to the library and borrow the second part. And I am sure it will take me another six years before I finish the trilogy.
E v e r y t h i n g t a k e s s u c h a l o n g t i m e . . . The book is a million pages long and NOTHING happens.They talk and they talk and there are flashbacks to the first book and page after page explaining what happened in the first book in case you missed it and the main character is stuck in this unnecessary little village for FOREVER and then she t r a v e l s and then they talk some more and hey, neato, another flashback!
Lolita
Genre: Tragicomedy
Lolita is one of those famous classic books. It is famous because millions of people read it over the years and found it utterly disturbing. I can understand why.
Lolita is about this full-grown man who during his whole life is attracted to pre-teens, until he ultimately falls in love with 12-year-old "Lolita". This is not the reason why the books is disturbing.
The disturbing part is that the whole book is written from the man's perspective, which makes the reader relate to him. You will find yourself cheering for him, thinking: "oh my god, just kiss her already!" And that, my friend, is disturbing.
Do not forget to take some French classes before reading Lolita, because Nabokov keeps putting in words and long long sentences completely in French. I took German. I am annoyed.
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Artemis Fowl (4th of, so far, 6 books)
Did you by any chance know that "Eoin" is pronounced "Owen"? Now you know. This is the fourth book I read about Artemis Fowl and now I know that I am too old for this. Oh well...
Brilliance of the Moon
Genre: Historical fantasy
Series: Tales of the Otori (3rd of 5 books)
This is the third book in the Tales of the Otori trilogy. I will be honest right away and tell you than none of the two first books struck me as very exciting, and this one did not either. I do not know why, but I am not intrigued by this. The trilogy has touch of "fantasy" in it; a small amount of people have special powers. Other than that it takes place in a normal feudal (17th century) Japan and is all about typical 17th century power struggles.
Lian Hearn has my outmost respect for all the research he made on the time and place he set his story in, very admirable. He never compromises with the story's setting in order to make his main characters look good. Authors often do the mistake of forcing modern standards on their heroes - even if the story takes place in the 17th century.
Main character Otori Takeo is admittedly a bit less harsh than the others, but he still tortures his enemies, slaughters their families and gets absolutely furious when his most beloved wife leaves the house without his permission. Good job Lian.
Ett tal till min systers bröllop
Anybody ever notice how English-speaking people Write Titles with Upper-Case Latters while Swedes seem to prefer the dull lower-case ones? Just an observation. Ett tal till min systers bröllop left me feeling very upset - in the sense that I would pace around my room muttering things under my breath until I got depressed and pessimistic with the world. I don't know about you, but I don't like to feel that way over a mediocre book. Really.
The Black Magician Trilogy
Genre: Fantasy
Canavan's trilogy is about a world more or less run by magicians. Our main character is a mere street urchin, who surprisingly turns out to have great magial potential. So great in fact that she is not able to control it. The first book is all about the magicians' hunt for this girl, as they try to save the city they live in from getting burnt to rubble by her renegade powers. The cool thing about this book is how there is not any legible badguys. The main character is nice enough, the magicians mean well... no badguys, which is strangely refreshing.
I would say that The Novice is the weakest link in Canavan's trilogy. It is the typical boarding school story, you know the ingredients: the hero does not fit in, the teachers are unfair, there is this one student who is really mean to her, but that is okay because our hero has a nice mentor that she likes... It all gives you a bit of a Hogwarts-feeling. Unlike Harry Potter though, The Novice is not completely PG-13 (thank you!).
The strength of Canavan's trilogy is the constant twists and turns it takes and all the unconventional material (ironically enough, fantasy is often very conservative, don't you agree?) Here we get gay male love and women who shag multiple partners, which feels extremely liberating in the genre.
Those lapses you get in personal judgement sometimes...
Author: Emma Hamberg
Genre: Junior highschool ick
Linas Kvällsbok 1 is a very typical example of Swedish junior highschool (högstadium) literature. Meaning the main character is a mousy-haired girl with small boobs and non-existant self esteem who whines about how she has never gotten kissed and everybody else is so cool boo-hoo. Linas Kvällsbok 2 is a bit less typical and well-suited to read one of those boring days when you have nothing better to do. But... whatever.
Where Rainbows End
Author: Cecilia Ahern
Genre: Chick lit
Where Rainbows End tells its story exclusively by the letters, mails, text messages (et cetera) that the main characters send to each other. Cecilia Ahern is good at taking advantage of this, leading to some pretty funny situations. Except from that little originality, the book is typical middleaged lady litterature and not much more than a book to read on the beach a sunny day.
Vägen till Jerusalem
Genre: Historical novel
Series: The Knight Templar (Crusades) (1st of 3 books)
Vägen till Jerusalem is the first book in Guillou's famous trilogy about the Swedish Crusaders. We get to know a little boy named Arn as he grows up at a monestary, whereafter he leaves it as a teenager. Totally oblivious about the viles of the outside world, he accidentally manages to get robbed, accused of murder and guilty of having "dubious connections" with two different women. Poor little Arn...
Author Jan Guillou writes the book in an old-fashioned way and, seriously, the book is worth reading solely for the language. This is, in Swedish. If you are not Swedish or if you do not find templar knights to be very fascinating, you can skip it without a bad conscience.
The Orc King
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Transitions (1st of 3 books)
The Orc King is the first book in a brand new trilogy ("Transitions") by Forgotten Realms writer R.A. Salvatore. It starts where The Hunter's Blade trilogy ended - the orc invasion having been brutally crushed. The orc leader has started his own kingdom and intends for his people to live peacefully side by side with the dwarves... The other orcs are not amused. The dwarves most certainly aren't. So what now? Is the mere idea of orcs cooperating with other races that absurd? Well, uh... yeah.
The Orc King is a much needed trilogy in the fantasy world. At least I am pretty tired about orcs being utterly evil and stupid and hating everything and each other (honestly, how do they survive as a race?) R.A. gives the orcs names, faces, heroes... hey, even women and children! I am looking forward to much on this subject in the upcoming Transition books.
Orcs not your cup of tea? Then consider Drizzt Do'Urden and company, because they are in here too, along with an epilouge set a hundred years into the future <--- way cool!
Eldest
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Inheritance Cycle (2nd of 4 books)
When reading Eldest, I am constantly bugged about Paolini's way to write - probably because he makes the same mistakes I did, as a 12-year-old. The Swedish translation really does not help either - the guy who did the translation needs to choke on a sharp object.
Eldest is awkwardly written and horribly predictible at times, but it still tells a good story and I will stay around for the third and final part as well.
Pet Sematary
Genre: Horror
When the family cat Church gets run over by a truck, Louis finds an ancient burial ground and buries him there. The next day, Church is back. But Louis soon discovers that there is something slightly off about Church, like he came back wrong... Soon after, Louis' own son also gets hit on the highway. And you can not just leave a dead toddler boy dead. Can you?
Pet Sematary has received a lot of positive attention - and it is not hard to understand why. Stephen King is a brilliant author who delivers first-class suspense that will keep you looking over your shoulder for a while. Before you read Pet Sematary you might want to make sure there are no cats or toddlers in your house (if there are, lock them in the basement by night).
It would be a waste not to read King's forewords first, since they add a certain "a-ha!"-feeling to a lot of details in the book.
2008 statistics
Kept track of my cultural intake 2008.
Note: An asterisk* means that I have not yet finished reading/watching something.
Note 2: Of course I haven't written down anything that I re-read/watched. Only new stuff!
Books
001. | Pet Sematary | Stephen King
002. | Eldest | Cristopher Paolini
003. | The Orc King | R.A. Salvatore
004. | Vägen till Jerusalem | Jan Guillou
005. | Linas Kvällsbok | Emma Hamberg
006. | Where Rainbows End | Cecelia Ahern
007. | The Magician's Guild | Trudi Canavan
008. | The Novice | Trudi Canavan
009. | The High Lord | Trudi Canavan
010. | Ett tal till min systers bröllop | Linda Skugge
011. | Brilliance of the Moon | Lian Hearn
012. | Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception | Eoin Colfer
013. | Lolita | Vladimir Nabokov
014. | The Deed of Paksenarrion: Divided Allegiance | Elizabeth Moon
015. | Sucka mitt hjärta men brist dock ej | Mark Levengood
016. | A Man Without a Country | Kurt Vonnegut
017. | The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon | Stephen King
018. | Ender's Game | Orson Scott Card
019. | La nuit de l'erreur | Tahar Ben Jelloun
020. | Dreamcatcher | Stephen King
021. | American Psycho | Bret Easton Ellis
*022. | Der Prozess | Franz Kafka
023. | The Cystal Chard | R.A. Salvatore
024. | Mysic Warrior | Tracy & Laura Hickman
025. | Streams of Silver | R.A. Salvatore
Comic books
001. | BATMAN: The Man Who Laughs by Ed Brubaker (story) & Doug Mahnke (illustrations)
002. | BATMAN: Made of Wood by Ed Brubaker (story) & Patrick Zircher (illustrations)
003. | The Dark Elf Trilogy Omnibus by R.A. Salvatore (story), Andrew Dabb (writer) & Tim Seeley (illustrations)
004. | Batman & Son by Grant Morrison (story) & Andy Kubert, Jesse Delperdang and John Van Fleet (illustrations)
Movies
001. | I Am Legend | 2007
002. | 27 Dresses | 2008
003. | Catch and Release | 2006
004. | The BFJ | 1989
005. | Underdog | 2007
006. | Sicko | 2007
007. | Serenity | 2005
008. | 40-year-old Virgin | 2005
009. | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | 2007
010. | The Devil Wears Prada | 2006
011. | Die Hard 4.0 | 2007
012. | Knocked Up | 2006
013. | Spider Man 3 | 2007
014. | The Golden Compass | 2007
015. | Alien vs Predator - Requiem | 2007
016. | American Beauty | 1999
017. | Känd från TV | 2001
018. | Little Black Book | 2004
019. | Sex and the City | 2008
020. | Phenomenon | 1996
021. | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian | 2008
022. | Equilibrium | 2002
023. | Batman Returns | 1992
024. | The Gift | 2000
025. | Resident Evil: Extinction | 2007
026. | The Dark Knight | 2008
027. | 10,000 BC | 2008
028. | The Fatastic Four | 2005
029. | "Beck" Lockpojken | 1996
030. | "Beck" Mannen med ikonerna | 1997
031. | The Punisher | 2004
032. | Patrik 1,5 | 2008
033. | Psycho | 1998
034. | The Bourne Supremacy | 2004
035. | Hellboy 2: The Golden Army | 2008
036. | Into the Wild | 2007
037. | Transsiberian | 2008
038. | Dawn of the Dead | 2004
039. | The Boondock Saints | 1999
040. | Me and You and Everyone We Know | 2005
041. | Quantum of Solace | 2008
042. | Little Miss Sunshine | 2006
043. | Dead Fish | 2004
044. | "Beck" Kartellen | 2001
045. | Little Miss Sunshine | 2000
046. | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | 1993
047. | Rec | 2007
048. | The Aristocrats | 2005
049. | Dude, Where's My Car? | 2000
050. | The Crow | 1994
051. | All the boys love Mandy Lane | 2006
052. | Shrooms | 2006
053. | Death at a Funeral | 2007
054. | Mad Max 2 | 1981
055. | Låt den rätte komma in | 2008
056. | The Rules of Attraction | 2002
Shows
001. | Firefly |
002. | Nip/Tuck | Season 2
003. | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Season 1
004. | Lost | Season 4
005. | Entourage | Season 1
006. | Entourage | Season 2
007. | Kyle XY | Season 1
008. | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Season 2
009. | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Season 3
010. | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Season 4
011. | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Season 5
012. | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Season 6
013. | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Season 7
014. | Gilmore Girls | Season 1
015. | Gilmore Girls | Season 2
016. | Gilmore Girls | Season 3
017. | Angel | Season 1
018. | The O.C. | Season 3
019. | Scrubs | Season 3
020. | Scrubs | Season 4
021. | Scrubs | Season 5
022. | Scrubs | Season 6
023. | Angel | Season 2
024. | Scrubs | Season 2
*025. | Grey's Anatomy | Season 1
*026. | CSI: New York | Season 1
*027. | Wire in the Blood | Season 1
028. | House M.D. | Season 2
029. | Dexter | Season 1
*030. | Planet Earth |
*031. | Heroes | Season 3
