Book Review: Cold Days by Jim Butcher

Cold Days, Book 14 of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

Why this series means so much to me, AKA Why I will always be slanted to liking it.


2008ish was dark times for me.  Without going into details, I had some personal issues that now seem kinda laughable and easily fixed, yet at the time were painful as hell.  Some aspects I guess still are, but hey, what's drama without a little lasting pain, right?   

As I always have at times of stress, I withdrew into worlds of fiction.  Call it a coping mechanism, a distraction, whatever, I have always found solace in make believe.  At other times, I have found authors like Stephen King, J K Rowling, Rick Riordan, Mark Twain, Neil Gaiman and William Blake to talk me through my pain.  In 2008, I found Jim Butcher.

He had been around way before then.  He was already nine books into the Dresden Files (or so, right around the time of White Night) and halfway done with the Codex Alera series.  Never being a huge fan of high fantasy, I dove into the Dresden Files rather than Alera, but eventually read them all within a single month.  

Why am I telling you this?  To give a little context to my review and my devotion to this series.  Is the Dresden Files perfect?  Sometimes.  Do I have problems with it?  Sometimes.  Will I have every book that Jim Butcher puts to paper waiting in my pre-order box until either he or I dies?  Yes.  In every way, yes.  Mr. Butcher helped me get through a dark time and for that I will always be grateful and very fanboyish.  

After stating the above, I hope that you see that what I am about to say is a less than objective opinion, but it is as close as I can come.  Reading what Mr. Butcher has written always fills me with joy, even when the English major in me is catching every little bit of purple prose and "said bookism" (he said, fanboyishly).  

Also, this is the thank you I wish I had told to Mr. Butcher when I met him at DragonCon a few years back.  He is a very nice and talented man, adept at dealing with fanboys like myself in a gracious manner.  At least I did not make a fool out of myself like I did with Eric Powell.

***Warning! spoilers ahead, for this book and the series as a whole.  It's the 14th book in the series, folks, there's just things I am going to need to talk about.***

Summary

Harry Dresden, professional wizard, is back (from the dead) in this 14th installment of the Dresden Files.  As the Winter Knight, Harry is tasked to do the bidding of fairy queen Mab.  Her first order: assassinate an immortal.

What I liked

All things Dresden

If you are a fan of the Dresden Files, you know what I mean by that.  The pop culture references, the pithy dialog, the hell yeah fist pumping moments, the clever turns of tropes, the clear descriptions and noir feel that make up the Dresden Files.  Wrap that up in a supernatural taco topped with familiar creatures behaving in wild and unpredictable ways and you have a fun read.

Character interaction

Some major stuff has happened in the last two books of the series, and this is partially our pay off.  With Harry dying at the end of Changes, every reader wondered how this would affect everyone in Dresden’s life.  We got to see the spiritual side of that in Ghost Story, but here we see the physical reactions as Harry walks up to people and says “hi.”  Most act in heartwarming and entertaining ways, from Mouse’s tackle and slobber to random paramedics “Huh, though I heard you died.”  Plus, we finally get at least a moment of Karrin and Harry being happy with one another, if only for a moment.

Pacing

This book moves like a frieght train, each word connecting to each other forming a chain that just. Does. Not. Stop.  Then it does because otherwise it would require a kid named Bastion and a little girl named “Moon Child” to round out the cast.  Harry bounces around from one person to the next, taking his moments before being attacked by new and exciting monsters that pose more of a threat than ever before.

I still care

Long running things suffer.  That’s par for the course in any medium.  Television shows do the “it was all a dream” episode, video games become rehashes or failures of the same old formula, and George Lucas decides to have a comeback tour in cinema.  Mr. Butcher somehow still makes his characters and situations interesting and his plots engaging, though.  I still want to see how these characters go about their lives, and Mr. Butcher seems to, too.  That’s saying something.

What I didn't like

Mired in backstory

If you have never read a Dresden Files novel, then I have two things to say to you: 1) why are you reading this review? and 2) Why would you ever think about reading this book first?  I can not answer the first question, but the second answer is “because you do not know any better.”  The reason you do not know any better?  Because the book makes every effort to tell you that.  After we get through Harry’s recovery, nearly every chapter has an introduction to someone we have seen before and an explanation or mention of a past event from the previous 13 novels.  As much as I praise Mr. Butcher for staying consistent, this also leads to a heavy case of continuity lock-out of new readers.  A new reader would both have tons of information spoiled for them that could have been written more vague and at the same time lose the emotional weight that goes along with gaining that information the long way.  I get that this series is heavy in continuity, but that’s why we have the internet now.  Author’s do not have to do all the heavy lifting, they just have to make it engaging.  In the next book, I suggest a fuckton of footnotes or employing the services of a Marvel comics editor to interject with “Check out Novel X for that story, true believers” instead of telling us the story.

Dull tropes

This almost feels nit picky, so I am not going to go very far with it, but... Does every woman that tries to have sex with Harry early on in a book turn evil or at least morally gray?  Does he have to believe them every time?  Did we need the damsel in distress quips (poor Andi)?  There are somethings that need to be left behind with the private investigator title, Mr. Butcher.

Overtly sexual and adult

This series has never shied away from strong language or sexual behavior.  There have been “f-bombs” and naked people writhing in every way possible, but they never felt... This book almost made me blush, and I am a single man with a high speed internet connection, loose morals and a lot of time on my hands.  The indulgence may have been the intention, to show Harry’s new place in the world, but if it was at times it went a little overboard.  The same with use of the word “fuck.”  I do not have a problem with it, but in earlier books it was a true “f-bomb,” meant to prove that someone was really serious about their feelings on a situation.  Now it seems casually thrown around, either because everyone is really serious all the time which lessens the impact, or because Mr. Butcher said, “to hell with it, grown people cuss.”  I’m fine with either, but it seems rather ambiguous given the language in the previous books.

Who would like this?

Urban fantasy readers.  Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman readers.  If you read through the last 13, then this is on your reading list.  If you have not, go back to Storm Front, get through that (It is not bad by any stretch, but the series does not get really fun until the prisoner says “Daaaaammmn” in Fool Moon), then make your way through the series.  My advice?  Do the world a favor, find that sixteen year old that sneers at everything but secretly reads Harry Potter and slip it in his or her backpack.  

Was it banned?

I could not find a case where this series has been banned, but the use of magic, challenges and direct references to religious views, and adult nature of these books make them a shoein to be a teenager’s favorite and a stick-up-their-ass principal’s nightmare.

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Movie Review: Cabin in the Woods

Four friends go to a cabin in the woods for the weekend but things go horribly wrong due to the machinations of a higher power.

What I liked:

The concept of the story is great

This movie has a background concept where it deconstructs the horror genre without parodying it. Smartly written and directed, the movie has many things audiences have seen before portrayed in a whole new light.

Buckets of blood and surprises.

Make no mistake, even as a deconstruction, this is a horror movie and not for the feint of heart. Where Scream was also a horror deconstruction but rather tame, this goes all out and paints the walls red.

What I disliked:

"Twist" is told too early

I would have enjoyed a hold out of what is happening behind the scenes to the characters, but I can see how that would have annoyed audiences. A little more mystery would have gone a long way.

Some turns in character are too easily done.

As with the twist, this movie assumes a lot from the audience's suspension of disbelief. The filmmakers had me pretty early agreeing to go along with whatever they decided to do, but too easily could someone sit back and poke holes in various elements.

Hard to describe to others

Is it horror? Yeah, but not really. Like Scream? No, but kinda. Is it funny? Yeah, but really dark. Would I like it? I have no idea, but you should see it.

Who would like it:

Horror movie fans that like a meta concept.

Movie Review: Skyfall

 Movie Review: Skyfall 

James Bond is back in his twenty something outing as a super spy out to stop a bad guy from terrorizing the world.  Insert more generic James Bond plot information here.

What I liked:

Acting

The actors in this movie are giving it them all to create emotional and engaging characters. Daniel Craig is believable as an aging super spy beaten down by his job but still devoted to queen and country. Judy Dench is simply Judy Dench, full stop great acting that gives gravitas to her character's difficult portrayal by the screenwriters. Javier Bardem???? creates an engaging and enigmatic villian that holds his own against some of the best of the James Bond villains, a credible threat using dubious methods.

Visuals

A beautiful movie shot very well. Establishing shots are sweeping, character moments are surrounded by well crafted sets, and the action is clear and immediate.

Action

Speaking of the action scenes, they take even the most unbelievable situations and make them exciting and tense. If the movie did anything right, it was making the threats and the heroes active and violent without going over the top.

What I disliked:

Story

I am a James Bond fan and fan of spy films in general, so I am used to world in peril plots, but this movie fails to deliver. Halfway through, the plot gets almost thrown away and we are shoved into a movie about something else entirely.

Characterization

Ever wanted to watch a James Bond movie and utterly hate James Bond? This is the movie for you. Sure, he’s stood by and watched the people (i.e. Bondgirls) die before, but not like this, folks. This is super casual Bond-Don’t-Give-A-Shit.

Themes vs What happens

This movie is all about what happens when you live too long with a licence to kill. I think that’s what they were trying for, anyway. It becomes a violent, over-the-top kill fest with a less than memorable bad guy and a few twists that could have been avoided by turning off a flashlight.

Who is this for?

Die hard James Bond fans that don’t care about story.

Really excited for Iron Man 3 and Django Unchained. Will watch DH4 and Gangster Squad. Red Dawn will be great on TBS.

24 Television Review

What if Die Hard were a soap opera? Kiefer Sutherland’s only long running television appearance, 24 tells the story of Jack Bauer as he goes through the eight worse days of his life. Each episode passes in real time for 24 episodes to make a full day each season as Bauer and his team race to stop some terrorist threat.

What I liked:
Action - The action in this show is top notch and is the star of the show. Between the interpersonal conflicts and long winded speeches there are almost movie level gunfights full of one liners and full on “that guy just died for real” moments.
Characters - Jack Bauer is Dirty Harry and everyone around him better get the hell out of the way. Over the eight seasons, other characters come and go and most of main cast (especially Marylynn Riescub as Chloe) make a huge impact on the viewer, but how Bauer makes an impression on each of them is priceless.
Twists - There are some truly good twists that I did not see coming. Good guys become bad guys, Bad guys become good guys and folks just die out of nowhere. Add that to the cliff hangers that occur between episodes and you get for some long viewing periods.

What I didn’t like:
Dialog - The dialog in the first couple of seasons and often beyond is laughable and noticeable with exposition. “Yes, I just walked into the area and I don’t like that guy.” “Why not, Jim?” Because, Steve, just last hour he shot my dad and in the next hour he’s gonna blow up LA with a radioactive bomb?” How do you know? “Because he told me when we were having dinner this morning when we still worked together.”
Repetitive - If you watch the seires like I did, streaming or on DVD, straight through, you notice a lot of the same tricks pulled out of the same bag. At this point, some dude will turn out to be evil. Around midseason, everything you thought you knew was wrong?! Also, Jack gets repeatedly beat to hell, but you know by the ticking clock that he’s still got X amount of time to make it somewhere.
Coincidence - There are some points where everyone almost randomly goes to the same place, or two factions seem to need the same thing and use the same guy to get that thing. I was only casually watching the series, so some plot threads may have eluded me as I drifted away, but often it seemed like things coincided on this show at really helpful or unhelpful moments. “You mean the president is in town with his incompetent assistant the same day that the shipment of the virus is coming in. Thanks, guy who just happened to know all this!”

Who would like this?
I dunno. If you liked Die Hard, I’d say put it on in the background while you exercise and have fun. There’s some good moments and enough of them to keep you interested. The only problem may come when streaming or on DVD as each episode ends with a cliffhanger that continues immediately on the next episode. Can become editing.

Mark of Athena Book Review

I read the new entry in the Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus universe by Rick Riordan, Mark of Athena. Here’s my opinion:

What I liked:
Realism - The book and the series as a whole is filled with real people that do realistic things in the face of adversity, i.e. heroes.
Relationships, unromantic. Since all the characters have been introduced in previous books, I was delighted to see how these personalities clash and conform to each other throughout the book. I wished more attention was dealt to the group as a whole, but I feel that will come with later entries as this gives a more fragmented view as how
Detail - As in all of Rick Riordan's books, tons of myths and callbacks from previous books are evident. I found myself looking up more information on these old gods as much as I did looking up references to the other books.

What I didn’t like:
Relationships, romantic. There are great moments of romance in this book, but they rest squarely between Percy and Annabeth. Without giving spoilers, there are three moments spread throughout this book that show how these two characters have grown to both support and care about each other. And that’s the key word. Show. The other characters romantic relationships are just told to us through passages of internal narration that leave little to be desired.
Shifting narration - As Riordan’s other series, The Kane Chronicles, I think this book suffers from having a central narrator. I see why he would want to show multiple viewpoints, especially with such a diverse cast, but something is lost as it feels we get less in the way of following a story and more plodding from one place to another.
Pacing - Tied to the shifting narration is the choppy pacing of the book. One location to the next, jumping from action to long periods of quiet contemplation. This works at times, but the focus on all the various characters in their own narrated chapters breaks the book into fight/wait, fight/wait, instead of keeping the plot moving.

Was it banned?
No, it’s new. So far, I can see no particular instance of banning of this series, but parents may have issues with some of the relationship things, however chaised they are, the dark elements of the books and the violence.

Who would like this?
Teens and older who liked the Percy Jackson series or Harry Potter, boys and girls alike. The same attention to detail and humor with likeable characters exists here, just get ready when the power of love does not solve everything. Anyone who digs greek and roman mythology. Possibly comic book readers, as these kids have awesome powers. Aquaman can be cool.

Kitchen Confidential Book Review

Summary
An autobiographical tale of one man's love obsession with food and the business of making food. Anthony Bourdain, famous chef of television and New York kitchens, gives an unflinching look into the business of food.

What I liked
Writing Style. Bourdain's story is told in a rambling, disjointed style that comes across more like a diary or book of short stories than a narrative memoir. This has positive and negative effects, the positive allowing the book to feel like a stranger telling you stories at the end of a heavy nights drinking at the bar.
Characters. The stories are filled with a cast of disjointed, eclectic individuals that make a prison yard look like a kindergarten. Punctuated with stories of success and excess, these people carry the stories as you learn their strengths in the kitchen and their weaknesses in life.
Honesty. The book is unflinching in the sex, drugs and rock and roll that Bourdain lived in. The candid nature of the text made me at times look back at my own time in kitchens and the reasons why I would go back and the reasons I ran screaming.

What I didn’t like
Sometimes distracting food porn. This book is as much about food as it is about Bourdain's life. This book has more food porn than the Hunger Games as the chef goes into detailed lists of various dishes in various languages. This can sometimes break the narrative or derail it entirely, sometimes distracting to the point that this reader had to stop and make a sandwhich or two to stop a growling stomach. This gives points to the effectiveness of his descriptions, but can stop the reading cold.
Broken biography. As I stated above, the writing style has negative moments. Like the food porn, jumping from story to story, life point to life point can be frustrating for the reader as it interupts the flow of the narrative. This might be just me, but when a writer gives candid and detailed descriptions in most of his text, the "boring" parts that are glossed over are just that more apparent.

Why was this book be banned?
I have no evidence of this book being banned from a school or library, but do not expect this book to be handed out at student job fairs. Graphic language including tales of sex, drug use and all around debauchery fill this book with a sometimes delightful glee.

Who would like this book?
Liberally minded foodies will also enjoy the obvious love of food in these pages. Adults who also indulge in books about rock stars cutting loose will enjoy the hell out of this book. I fear and hope that some teenagers out there get this book into their hands, as I believe as much as this book fills me with nostalgia it would prepare those who would venture into kitchens either as temporary employment or as a career.

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The Red Pyramid Book Review

The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1) by Rick Riordan

An extension of the Percy Jackson universe, gods, magic and heroes live among us in this tale of the Kane children, Carter and Sadie, as they learn they are the descendants of Ancient Egyptian magicians.

If you or your children liked the Harry Potter books, these may be the natural extension of that type of world and myth building. By bringing ancient myths into the present day, this tale of action and adventure teaches as well as entertains.

Now that all the boring stuff is out of the way, what did I think really?

What I liked

• Myths and legends of Ancient Egypt are really cool. Riordan’s interpretation of these figures in modern day settings makes for some fun and entertaining moments, such as the cat goddess grooming herself and other things that sound creepier than they are. Also, pointing out all the little Egyptian artifacts that are still in use today makes walking to the store all that more exciting.
• Riordan does not talk down to the audience. This book is kinda mean in the way the characters (preteen children) are knocked around, beaten down, and straight up told they are going to die more than once.
• Small nods. There are various small nods to both the Percy Jackson books as well as other mythologies, the biggest being Moses. I am excited to see if Riordain expands on this. (I really, really want him to write a Norse myth series.)
• F-Yeah moments. More than one time you will find yourself raising your fist as Carter and Sadie rise to an occasion, beat a bad guy silly, or just get off one good line.

What I did not like

• The characters are a little stale and oddly defined. As mixed race children, more than once it is mentioned that Carter is African American and Sadie looks more European American and was raised in London (complete with an British accent) but this rarely comes through in the story. This is an interesting choice, but part of me thinks it was wasted and the other part of me thinks it was done to give depth the kids did not need. I would have liked this choice better if it had been handled with more subtlety rather than the odd mention or use of British slang terms as this would have given each character a unique voice rather than the same voice with different terms.
• Alternating chapters. An extension of the last point, as each sibling hands off the story to the other, the effect is either jarring or simply “man, I was having fun with him/her.” The effect is used in other fiction (Game of Thrones) to give alternating perspectives on the same events or “what was also happening while...”, but here (with few exceptions) both children are present for every event and have the same perspective. Each of their voices is nearly the same, asking why this had to be written this way.
• Use of Egyptian Names. This could have bothered me more than in the Percy Jackson books because I am more familiar with Greek/Roman mythology, but each time I was given the name of this god or that, I forgot it. Notice how above I keep mentioning “cat god?” No idea what her name was and she was my favorite character. Saying this and also saying that it teaches me stuff (above)... well, I am old and do not really care. I do see this making children go running to Wikipedia, though. (God help us.)
• Setting. Hogwart’s. Camp Halfblood. Sound familiar? Because these are home base. They are a safe harbor and a known entity. Children’s books need this place, a comfortable setting, because they give the audience a place to return to where everything in the book can operate with the book’s world rules. I am fine with Indiana Jones running around the world, but Harry Potter better get his ass to Hogwart’s at some point. This book does not have that, or at least introduces then destroys at least two. It keeps the story loose and moving, but this also takes away something for the audience to connect to.

Why was it banned? Justified?
I could find no instance of the Red Pyramid being banned in a school or library, but that does not mean it could not happen. The abundancy of mentions about worshiping the gods (not Christian) and mention of Christian mythology may lead more religious parents to dislike this book, if not for the blatant mention of magic. Some parents may also not wish their children to be introduced to the idea of mixed race children (however poorly handled) until the child (and parent) is ready to tackle the idea of racism (or they could just be bigoted assholes. Yeah, I’ll judge you on that.) A wild number of murders and deaths also happen in the book, mostly offscreen, that may make some parents want to hold off until the kid is older.