Very Hard Choices by Spider Robinson

This is a cross posting of a short review I did for Goodreads.

I'm having trouble thinking of a way to describe this book without giving away too much of the storyline. One thing I can say, despite the title, I don't believe the characters faced many hard choices. They face some incredibly painful choices, but those aren't quite the same thing.

As an example of what I mean that isn't an incident from the book, suppose one has a beloved pet that is dying in agony. What does one do? Surely the choice is painful, but is it difficult? The decisions that the characters make in the book strike me as similarly inevitable. They hurt, but given the set up in the story, I don't see how they could choose anything else.

Two more complaints are that I found the ending anticlimactic and the big plot twist predictable. I'm being vague so as not to give any spoilers. It's clear from the start, though, that potential plot twist is there. The only question is whether the author chooses to do it.

Another annoyance is the political tone of much of the book. Modern liberals will like it, especially those who still like weed. Free-market libertarians will like parts of it and feel picked on in other parts of it. Paleoconservatives will feel even more picked on. Neoconservatives will hate it.

I also think there is some paranoia on parade, but I don't know if it the author's paranoia coming through his characters or the characters' paranoia honestly depicted by the author. In any case, I found it absurd enough that my willing suspension of disbelief failed. The reactions of other readers will doubtless vary.

On the more positive side, I didn't hate the book. Spider Robinson's warm authorial personality still shines through, which rounds off the sharp edges of the many irritations. Although there are two or three places where a parenthetical statement gets so long that I forgot the opening of the sentence and had to go back and look, the writing is mostly smooth and clean. There is a lot of humor, some good jokes, a number of entertaining anecdotes, and a few painful puns.

Recommended Reading: William Poundstone

I've just found this blog owned by William Poundstone. He's one of my favorite nonfiction writers. I've read eight-and-a-half of his eleven books (I'm in the middle of reading one), and all of them have been good. He writes a lot about the implications of mathematical ideas, but it's in an entertaining way, not dry at all. He also likes uncovering inside information (secrets).

Recommended Reading: Life With Father by Clarence Day

Find it here. Laugh a lot.

Recommended Reading: His Dark Materials

I finally got around to reading the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. It was marketed as "young adult" literature--a marketing category to which I have never paid attention--so I didn't hear about it when it first came out. When I did hear about it, I was in no great rush to read it, but I eventually saw it being sold at a discount, picked it up on a whim, and added it to the to-read pile.

Now I have read it. If I hadn't known it was marketed for kids, I never would have guessed. It doesn't much read like books for kids, other than the most important characters being young. Furthermore, I'm surprised that the publishers chose to market the trilogy to children. The subject matter is heavy, and the message is strongly anti-religion.

Anyway, Pullman is inventive, and the narrative is absorbing. The third volume, The Amber Spyglass, doesn't tie everything together as tightly as I would have preferred, and I'm not convinced that some of Pullman's narrative choices were necessary, but the books are nevertheless excellent. To my taste, they are far better and more creative than Harry Potter, which I suppose, in its later volumes at least, is the most obvious fantasy series for comparison. (The Narnia books might be an even more natural comparison, but I haven't read them.)

Christians of a more dogmatic sort probably should avoid the trilogy. It will upset them. Also, despite the marketing, I would hesitate to give it to anyone under fifteen or so, and only to someone that young if they are relatively well read. Pullman draws upon Christian texts considered as mythology, Christian apocrypha, Greek and Roman mythology, Gnosticism, animism, archaeology, anthropology, modern physics, and no doubt stuff that I failed to recognize. Therefore, much in the books will be over the head of someone who has not done a lot of reading. For people who are familiar with most of the stuff in the preceding list, or have picked it up indirectly by reading the canon of fantasy literature, I recommend the trilogy highly.

Lack of Progress Report

My apologies to everyone who has been reading Magician's Integration. I feel tapped out physically and mentally and incapable of doing anything creative. I'm declaring the story to be on indefinite hiatus. Sorry.

I'm glad that I didn't leave it on a cliffhanger.

Chapter 10 Is Up

Chapter 10 of Magician's Integration is up.

Getting this one out was like donating a quart of blood, one drop at a time. I hope Chapter 11 arrives a lot easier.

Bunny Shop Ads

Is anyone being bothered by the Bunny Shop ads currently running beside the serial? I don't want to ban advertisers, but I also don't want to drive off readers. Thoughts?

Progress report: approx. 2000 words.

Progress Report and Recommended Reading

I have about a thousand words of Chapter 10 written. I don't know when it will be finished, but at least I've started to make some progress again.

If you are looking for something to read, Emma Bull is leading an interesting Web project here. I've read four of Ms. Bull's novels, plus one more she wrote with Steven Brust, and I enjoyed them all. The writing on Shadow Unit isn't as polished, but it's entertaining nevertheless.

What's Going On

I've been waking up tired and spending all day kind of drowsy. It has not been a condition conducive to writing. I have faith that it will pass eventually.

I have not abandoned the story.

Chapter 09 Is Up

Chapter 09 of Magician's Integration is up.

I started this one, and then I slept on it to make sure that it was going in the direction I wanted. I'm still not sure. I hope it doesn't blow up in my face.

Chapter 08 Is Up

Chapter 08 of Magician's Integration is up.

Chapter 07 Is Up

Chapter 07 of Magician's Integration is up. It took me longer than expected to get it finished tonight.

I've felt off all week, both physically and creatively, but I'm hoping to get at least one more chapter done before Monday. No promises.

I did manage to get some more of Magician's Merger re-edited, chapters 24-28. I've now given those and chapters 1-6 various amounts of rewriting and polishing. I want to get the whole thing done so that I can start making it available in assorted types of ebook. I'm strongly considering posting it on Smashwords.

If I do post it, it won't be offered for free over there, but I don't intend to charge a whole lot, either.

Progress Note

Chapter seven finally is coming along well. I'm going to try to get it up before I call it a night. Mistake catching is appreciated.

Bec by BarBar

I don't think I've recommended this yet: Bec by BarBar is webfiction of the highest quality. BarBar is one of the Web authors who is writing at a nearly professional level of competence. Actually, I've read conventionally published fiction that was much worse.

The novel is about an unusual adolescent girl, a protagonist that I doubt would put off anyone who has been reading my serials. The story is non-fantasy, but the title character is interestingly weird. So is her mother. Highly recommended.

The site linked is Storiesonline, and they publish some stuff that is frankly pornographic, so you might want to take that into consideration if you read at work. Storiesonline demands registration from their readers, but they've never spammed me. I suspect they do it as a form of self-defense, because of some of the material they have.

Bec itself, in my estimation, is probably suited for a teen audience and older. The sexual content is very mild.

Pssst, Brits

Would you normally say "trouser pocket" or "trousers pocket"?

Chapter 06 Is Up

Chapter 06 of Magician's Integration is up.

Visualization, But Broader

Does anyone know a word that is similar to visualization but inclusive of all senses simultaneously?

Chapter 06 is coming along well.

Chapter 05 Is Up

Chapter 05 of Magician's Integration is up.

I write this stuff, and I think to myself, This is getting boring. Someone should smack someone with a sword or throw a fireball or something.

Progress Report

My dad is out of the hospital. He still has some outpatient tests he needs to have done. He at least looks better than he has for a while.

I have about 1600 words of Chapter 05 of Magician's Integration written. I don't have any feel for its ETA. Methinks it needs some more action.

Chapter 04 of Magician's Integration Is Up

Chapter Four of Magician's Integration is posted.

Happy birthday, Arthur.

My dad had to go to the hospital Friday night with a low hemoglobin level. He was admitted, and of this writing, I don't know when he'll be released. We're all hoping that it was just an accidental overdose of warfarin. He's in the ICU, but he's lucid, and no one seems particularly worried. One suspects that tests are scheduled for tomorrow, but Dad wasn't sure. I imagine I'll know more tonight.

As one might expect, writing a Web serial wasn't a priority. Nevertheless, I managed to finish Chapter Four this afternoon, when my nerves settled down. Don't be overly eager for Chapter Five. :-)

It's for the Children

Children’s books burn, courtesy of the federal government.

I've heard that this might happen, and now it has started. If you care about books, reading, knowledge, and good stuff like that, you might consider spreading the word.

Blah

Insomnia last night has rendered tonight useless for writing. For what it's worth, yesterday I managed to write about 1100 words of chapter four of Magician's Integration.

Chapter Six of Magician's Merger has received a quick edit. It looks like Chapter Seven is going to take more extensive work.

Chapter 3 of Magician's Integration is up.

Chapter 3 of Magician's Integration is up. As always, mistake catching is appreciated.

Writing-Editing News

I've given chapters four and five of Magician's Merger an editing. They weren't bad enough to need a rewrite. (Yay!) I have a bit more than 1000 words written on chapter three of Magician's Integration.

Magician's Merger, Chapter 3, Rewrite

I've posted the rewrite of Chapter Three of Magician's Merger. I don't think the third chapter was as horrid as the first two, but it was still awful.