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Continuing the little break from Discworld, next up is the Absolute Sandman, volume 3, by Neil Gaiman.

This volume collects the Brief Lives storyline, where Dream and Delirium go looking for their missing brother, and the World’s End story, where several strangers are marooned in a mysterious inn during a reality storm. It also contains some short, one-issue stories, including the story Ramadan where the caliph of Baghdad sells his city, as well as extensive galleries and the full script of Ramadan.

Neither of the two longer storylines are among my favourite Sandman stories. World’s End in particular, I feel is on the weaker side, I don’t care much about the characters involved, or about their stories, which only become interesting when there are fleeting glimpses of the larger mythology of the series. Only towards the very end does something happen which is of interest to me, so it took me quite some time to get through it, I kept taking pauses and reading other things along the way.

Brief Lives on the other hand, is quite good. Though I say it is not among my favourites, this has more to do with so much of Sandman being extremely good than Brief Lives being poor. Possibly, the reason I don’t go nuts for it is that it heavily features Delirium, whom I’ve never quite seen the attraction of. It is an interesting story, not least because it finally introduces us to the missing Endless, and for its connection to the Orpheus myth. And, of course, it contains important set-up for the rest of the series. In general I quite enjoy stories where the mundane is invaded by the fantastic, so I’m not really sure why this one doesn’t sit so well with me.

Ramadan, however, is one of my favourites. It is a beautiful story, written to resemble a tale from One Thousand and One Nights, and though it’s been a while since I last looked in a copy of that, it seems to me a very good emulation of the style.

The writing here is superb, and aside from some of the one-shots in World’s End, so are the characters. The drawings are beautiful throughout, I have no complaints at all on the art. And seeing Death and Dream as children is practically worth the price of admission.

As for the extras, I don’t really have any complaints, but I’m not singing praises either. The many gallery pictures are pretty, but I’m just not the type of person who enjoys looking at that sort of feature for long. The script for Ramadan is interesting in its way, I suppose, but I’m not sure why I would read the story in script form when it’s available in full-fledged comic form just a few pages earlier. I did however enjoy the little documentary pieces on Sandman merchandise, specifically the Little Endless statues.

Ultimately, this has to be seen as part of the longer Sandman story rather than a work in its own right, I think. It doesn’t make sense to recommend the third quarter of a story to people, so I have to recommend Sandman as a whole. And I do. Very strongly. Sandman is a fantastic comic, and you are definitely missing out if you haven’t read it.

And if you have read it, and are wondering whether the over-sized deluxe edition is worth it, I’d have to say yes. Not, perhaps, if you already own the series, but if you’ve been holding off on buying it, this is what you’ve been waiting for. The book itself is beautiful; large, heavy and bound in leather, and looking just as mysterious and inviting as a Sandman book should.

Taking a short break from all the Discworld, the next book I finished reading was How to Make Webcomics, by Brad Guigar, Dave Kellet, Scott Kurtz and Kristofer Straub.

The title of How to Make Webcomics pretty much sums up what the book is about. It is not so much about cartooning per se, it assumes the reader is already familiar with the basics, and focuses on preparing work for digital distribution, and on the business side of webcomics.

Personally, I have no plans or desires for making webcomics, certainly not for commercial gain. I bought this book for the same reason that I listen to the Webcomics Weekly podcast by the same group - the creators are extremely funny people. The book, predictably, is more down-to-business in tone and has fewer of the hilarious tangents they tend to go off on when in verbal discussion, but I still found it entertaining.

Coming to it from that perspective, much of the first half of the book is not really all that interesting, being about drawing and image preparation and such things, but if you are interested in attempting to make a webcomic yourself, I think the information found here would be invaluable help for a beginner. Later chapters, about things such as web design, branding and monetising your work, a are more easily adapted to other endeavours, and so are of more interest to me. There is plenty of good advise crammed into this book, I was actually a bit surprised at how much ground it covered.

Each chapter is written by one of the four authors, but the other three will occasionally chime in with words of support or dissenting views via speech bubbles. This is my favourite aspect of the book, it is where it gets the most interesting, and most funny, as the authors debate, argue and joke about the topics at hand. In addition, regardless of chapter author, they have all written smaller sidebars on topics related to the chapter topics, which are scattered throughout the book. These are often quite interesting and funny as well, I particularly enjoyed Straub’s four points on embedding sound in websites.

I also quite enjoyed the “hot seat” feature, in which each of the authors present a couple of their strips for critique by the others. It is interesting to see professionals talk about things like these.

Speaking of strips, the book is littered with them. Series by all four authors are present, usually strips which relate in some way to the subject being discussed. As mentioned, these are extremely funny people, who all make very funny strips, and there are plenty of them in each chapter.

If you are interested in making webcomics, this book is probably a godsend. If you’re like me, without any ambitions of cartooning whatsoever, you will probably still find it an entertaining read.

Forging forwards, the next book on the list of recently read is Moving Pictures, by Terry Pratchett. Can you tell how I’m on a bit of a Discworld binge?

The standard disclaimer for Discworld books applies here. I cannot help but filter my impressions of any one of the books through my impressions of the series as a whole. Your mileage may vary.

Moving Pictures is about the rise and fall of the Discworld film industry. Alchemists discover how to make an illusion of movement through showing several pictures very quickly, and go off to set up an entertainment industry in the remote area known as Holy Wood. Unfortunately, Holy Wood is located in a spot where reality is a bit thin, so the burgeoning industry threatens to breach the barrier and unleash untold horrors upon the world.

This is one of the very few Discworld novels which completely failed to grip me. In fact, I think there are only two I can say that about. I didn’t care much about the characters, and those I did care about, chiefly because they’ve appeared in more interesting books, had only small appearances. The plot is all right, but for some reason, I never bothered all that much about what would happen next, a rarity indeed when the cover bears the name Pratchett. Only towards the very end of the book did I start getting curious, when the Cthulhu-esque elements began to play a bigger part. The only thing I can’t fault is the humour, which as always is fantastic, and was here the only reason I managed to get to the end.

And, of course, you’ve got to like the implication that Hollywood is summoning demons.

There are a lot of references to the real world film industry in this novel, from characters modelled on real people to the many, many quotes from various films. This is fun, of course, when you catch it. Much, much of it I only learned of when reading annotations later. Perhaps I would like the book better if I were more of a film geek.

Like I said, I don’t care about the characters, possibly because I already knew that the main pair were one-shots. As for the major supports, they happen to be some of my least favourite Discworld characters, so I suppose I’ve just struck out on this one.

I cannot very well recommend the book very strongly after this review, but I suspect it might be more enjoyable if read in the right order, not knowing what turns the story will take in later chapters. If you do happen to be a movie buff, his might well be your Grail, but for me, it was more chore than enjoyment.

Continuing the summer reading project, I have recently finished Mort by Terry Pratchett.

As with any Discworld book I read at this point, I must qualify my statements by noting that my impressions are inevitably coloured by the rest of the series. Mort is a book I actually read once before, way back in the murky depths of the past. This was when I first tasted Discworld, reading the short-lived Norwegian translations, and actually reading them in order. Needless to say, I recall almost nothing of it, so rereading it now, in the original English was pretty much akin to reading it for the first time.

Mort is the story of the boy with the same name, who has trouble fitting in on his father’s farm, on account of thinking too much. His father takes him to the market to apprentice him to some trade, mostly just to be rid of him. After waiting hopefully for most of the day, he finally gets a master just at the stroke of midnight: Death. As Death’s apprentice he must deal with dour butlers, haughty daughters, a world made entirely in shades of black, and also the the whole bit about making people die. Predictably, he messes up, and endangers the fabric of reality.

This is the first of the Death books, one of my favourite subseries of Discworld, but it is not one of my favourite books. It is one of the earliest of the Discworld books, and you can tell that Pratchett hasn’t quite found the footing that makes the better part of the series truly great. Don’t get me wrong, it is absolutely a good book. It has a plot which is interesting enough, sets up characters that you really get to care about in later books, and it is of course very, very funny. Pratchett could probably write a plotless epic devoid of characters, and it would still be utterly hilarious.

But however funny it might be, it feels off to me. Probably because I am so used to his later works. One thing that felt very jarring was when he suddenly referenced our world in the middle of the text, pulling me out of the story. Again, it is quite possible this wouldn’t have bothered me at all if I wasn’t used to the style of the later books, but there you are.

Notice how I said it sets up characters you get to care about later? They too seem off to me in this book, they have also not yet found the mould which will make them fantastic. Death in particular seemed to be more of a rough sketch of what will become the true character in later books. Mort himself is entirely forgettable.

This is a book that should probably be read early, while you are new to Discworld, so that the changes in style will seem gradual rather than jarring. Having read and loved the later Death books, this one actually kind of disappointed me. Coming to it with the right expectations might make all the difference.

My Summer Reading Extravaganza (now with it’s crappy own logo) marches on, as I have just finished Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.

It is hard for me to review any Discworld book as a single work, and this book in particular will be difficult. I’ve pretty much read the Watch series of Discworld books backwards, which is no way to do things, I know. Rather than following Vimes from the gutters to the top, I started reading where he already was on top, and have now, finally, read of his beginning in the gutters.

Guards! Guards! follows the sorry remains of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, specifically the Night Watch, as the city is attacked by a dragon. The City Watch has dwindled into insignificance since the formation and legitimisation of the Thieves’ Guild, and at the beginning of the book, the Night Watch consists of just three members, led by the alcoholic Captain Samuel Vimes. For the first time in recent memory, a volunteer has joined the Watch, a young dwarf from the mountains called Carrot, who disrupts the life of the city by going around arresting people and enforcing laws. To make life even more interesting, a secret cult is summoning dragons as part of a plot to overthrow the Patrician and install a king.

Like I said, it is hard for me to review this as a work unto itself, I can’t help but filter my impressions through all the other Discworld novels I’ve read. Would it be as enjoyable without the love for the series and the world already established? I’m inclined to think: yes.

Pratchett is a master with the language. Watching a wordsmith like this play is pure entertainment. In addition to his firm grasp on the language, he is also a master satirist and humourist. I have yet to read a book by him that isn’t hilarious, and this one caused me to break down in laughter at several points. Some of his earlier books are heavy on the laughs and lighter on the plot, but this isn’t one of them, and remains suspenseful as well as funny.

As for the characters, I’m slightly at a loss. Having read backwards, I know how many of them turn out, and am not entirely able to tell whether I would have cared much about them if I read this cold. I suspect I would, Vimes at least is interesting whatever he does, though maybe somewhat less so here than in later books. Other characters are definitely well painted, such as the awesome Lady Ramkin.

Ultimately, it is hard to recommend any one Discworld book, they are all so intertwined and building upon each other (and yet, somehow, also completely able to stand alone). Having read the others makes this more enjoyable, but having read them in order would have made the others more enjoyable still. I cannot do anything but recommend it to everyone, though I would also recommend starting the series from the beginning if you haven’t read Discworld before.

SRE ‘08 (I’m tempted to make a logo) continues unabatedly, although not really, since I pretty much took a break while I was in London. Bought plenty of books, there though, so the momentum isn’t entirely lost.

Shortly before leaving, I finished reading The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie.

The Blade Itself tells the story of several characters scattered across the lands known as the circle of the world (of which we are never given a map, by the way, so impressions are slightly sketchy). The powerful nation known as the Union is surrounded by enemies. The scattered clans in the north have been united under a single king, who intends to conquer the Union’s northern provinces. While all of the Union’s attention is turned north, the previously defeated Gurkish empire moves again in the south, and a war on two fronts looms. In this unstable climate, we follow the lives of several people, destined to cross paths, including a Norse warrior, an escaped slave from the southern lands, a Union soldier, a high-born swordsman, an irate old wizard and, my personal favourite, a tortured torturer of the Union Inquisition.

This is the first book in a trilogy, and you really feel that as the end approaches. This is just the overture, the build up, throwing us only hints of the bigger story to follow. It made me feel slightly cheated at the end, as I realised that nothing much had really happened, in the way of big and epic events as the last page came to a close. Then I realised this meant that I had been completely captivated by smaller and mundane events all along, which surely bodes well for the bigger things to follow.

This was indeed a captivating read. Abercrombie knows how to craft characters, the book is brimming with people you want to know more about. As I’ve already said, my personal favourite was the torture victim turned torturer, Inquisitor Glokta, whose story seemed to be much more aside from all the others. I hope he will continue to play a big part in the story to follow.

When it comes to the world building, Abercrombie is also clearly competent. The mythology of this world is fascinating, and the clear references to geography and scenery conjure up vivid images. He clearly has his world mapped out, so it is frustrating that we don’t get to peek at this map, to get a clearer idea of how all these parties are situated in relation to each other.

The style of writing is, as the cover quotes boast, brutal and unpretentious. There’s lots of pain and violence, and lots and lots of dark, dark humour. The whole story feels cynical and cold at times, but never to such a degree that it stops being good.

As I said, this is merely the overture. The smaller stories of the individuals are all brought together in the end and given some closure, but the real story is just beginning. I have already started on the next book in the series, and can’t wait to see what happens next. This book is highly recommended.

Continuing my Summer Reading Extravaganza ‘08, I recently finished The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke.

The City and the Stars is the story of humanity’s last city, and the one man who wants nothing more than to leave it. The city, Diaspar, is a huge, enclosed environment, where the last vestiges of mankind has retreated after leaving the stars. Maintained by incredible and infallible machines, Diaspar has stood for a billion years, its immortal inhabitants living life after life, with periods of rest in the great memory banks of the city in between. Outside of the great barriers Earth has died, become nothing but a giant desert. Safe in the city, humans have lost their natural curiosity and cannot bear the thought of leaving the safety of their city. So it goes on, in stasis, until a man who has never lived before is suddenly brought forth by the computers, without the mental barriers, who goes about attempting to leave.

This story was a good enough read, but it never truly gripped me. Mankind has apparently edited out all the traits it found undesirable, so the characters all seem to be paragons of patience and understanding. While this is all well and good from the perspective of future society, it makes it harder to identify properly with most of them. The only flaw they seem to have retained is fear.

Clarke is masterful when it comes to describing the society of the future, however. The insights into the structure and machinery behind the city is inspired. I did at one point think that the insistence on the infallibility of the computers and machines was a bit too much, especially as the expectation was never reversed by a breakdown, but that’s nitpicking. The glimpses into the great forgotten past are the most interesting of all. As Alvin, the main character, finally gets out and about and stumbles over the remains of galactic civilisation, we are at Clarke’s greatest strength; the incomprehensible artefacts that clearly have much story behind them, but whose true purpose are never revealed to us. No one but Clarke can write mystery like this so masterfully, and I could easily get lost in the speculation.

Of course, this is also the most frustrating part of Clarke’s writing, knowing that the answers I so want will not come.

Overall, it is a good book, especially if your tastes lean towards the “science” part of science fiction. Clarke is a artisan at world building, but the characters leave something to be wanted.

Continuing with my post-exam reading frenzy (hurrah for hyperbole), I have just finished The Dreaming Void, by Peter F. Hamilton.

The Dreaming Void takes us back to the Intersolar Commonwealth from Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained. Well over a millennium has passed, and much is different. The monocultural Commonwealth we knew is no more, it has shattered into a myriad of worlds, many of which are only loosely affiliated with each other. On one of these worlds, a movement known as Living Dream is planning a pilgrimage to the mysterious Void, an artificial universe at the centre of the galaxy, which is slowly eating the surrounding stars. Living Dream believes the Void contains paradise, most others believe touching it is certain death. What’s worse, the pilgrimage might set of a massive expansion phase, devouring the whole galaxy.

It took me a chapter or so to get into this story. Hamilton mercilessly throws us into the middle of his world, and often takes a long, long time to explain exactly what all these acronyms and technologies and organisations actually are. As a result I felt quite disorientated for a while. Once I started getting my bearings however, there was nothing but enjoyment ahead. Hamilton is a superb writer who crafts an intriguing world filled with interesting characters, whose stories run parallel, interweaving and complimenting each other. We even get to see some of the characters from Pandora’s Star again, with a few glaring omissions. Ozzie is missed, but he is at least mentioned, unlike the SI, which is alluded to only in a single sentence in the appendix. Apparently, we will get to see more of it in the sequel though.

Interspersed with the main storyline we are also told the story from Inigo’s dreams. I enjoyed this story almost more than the main storyline, it was more reminiscent of a classic fantasy story than the science fiction which is so prevalent in the rest. This story is apparently also getting more focus in the sequel, a fact which has me salivating in anticipation.

The only thing that really bothers me is the ending. Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained didn’t feel like two books in a series, it felt like one book split into two volumes. This might be Hamilton’s M.O., as The Dreaming Void ends on a cliffhanger as well. Nothing is really resolved. I strongly suspect that when the entire trilogy is out, it can be read as one work to great enjoyment, but reaching the end of the first third leaves mostly frustration. There is a pay-off of sorts for one of the books main plot lines, but it barely has time to register, and certainly no time to explain itself, before something explodes and the book ends.

Despite this, the book is very enjoyable. Hamilton has conjured up not just one, but two deep and interesting worlds to immerse yourself in, filled with people you want to see more of. Frequent references are made to the events of Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained, but I think you could still follow the story fine without having read them. It is a book I enjoyed immensely, and I am greatly looking forward to the sequels.