Scalzi, The Human Division Eps 8-10

Welcome to the latest installment of reviews for John Scalzi's serialized novel The Human Division. In case you are just getting on board, here are my reviews for Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4 and Episodes 5-8. To summarize, "book good/interludes growing on me/generally quite funny but with occasional snark overload." Through eight chapters, the book has a cumulative score of 7.57/10. So how are the next three?

The Meats and the Maths

Episode 8: The Sound of Rebellion

Episodes 6 and 7 sort of inverted my prior feeling that stories featuring the central characters are inherently better than the interludes in which they don't figure, and The Sound of Rebellion continues that trend. True, there's no Harry Wilson, Ambassador Abumwe, Captain Coloma or Hart Schmidt here, but there is a very interesting story about kidnapped CDF soldiers suffering "enhanced interrogation techniques," to use the Cheneyspeak euphamism for torture. Regular readers of this blog will know by now how I feel about excessive cruelty in SF/F, and may wonder if a story about torture can manage to be compelling without falling into the grimdark pattern of moar moar blood plz. So let's all give Scalzi a hand for proving that it can be done, and done well. Plus we get some cool insights into the things that make CDF soldiers special without the dreaded infodumps most genre writers can't seem to live without, and some hints about the conspiracy at the heart of The Human Division while we're at it. Top shelf stuff, if ebooks could be put on shelves.

[INPUT 8/10 (+1 for doing torture without the bloodporn; +1 for showing not telling; -1 for it's another interlude, and even if they are getting better, there are a whole lot of them) OUTPUT 9/10]

Episode 9: The Observers

Of course, on the flipside of the interlude episodes' improving fortunes lie diminishing returns for the chapters featuring the flagship characters. The Observers, in which the Clarke plays host to a set of dignitaries from Earth only to find some black ops at play, isn't bad--far from it. But we have kinda sorta already been down this road in Episode 5, and for my money, that one did it better. Plus the scenes in which Wilson interacts with his potential love interest Danielle Lowen are too zippy by half. Though Scalzi is generally great with dialogue, at times he veers into the kind of excess quotability Charlie Jane Anders warned us about. 

[INPUT 7/10 (+1 for returning to the main story; -1 for being at least 40% retread; -1 for excess zip and snark) OUTPUT 6/10]

Episode 10: This Must Be The Place

This Must Be The Place focuses on Hart Schmidt, who to date has primarily served as Ambassador Abumwe's affable assistant and Harry Wilson's only real friend on the Clarke. Now we find out he's the wayward scion of the major political family on the Phoenix colony. Dad wants Hart to come home and follow in his footsteps, only Hart prefers making his own way in the CU's Department of State. You'll recognize this plot from a lot of TV shows, but it's generally well done, if still relatively light filler material. Did I enjoy reading this one? Sure. Did I love it? No. Scalzi, for the record, seems to have anticipated this kind of reaction. Who knows--maybe this one ends up more vital to the plot than it seems like it is right now?

[INPUT 6/10 (+1 for focusing on Schmidt, a very likable character; -1 for being filler material that doesn't seem to advance the plot much) OUTPUT 6/10]

Cumulative Score - Episodes 1-10: 7.40

Guest Microreview [book]: The Passage, by Justin Cronin

We are excited to present a fantastic guest microreview by SF/F aficionado Zhaoyun. Today he reviews Justin Cronin's apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic novel, The Passage.

The Meat

First things first—if the word 'vampire' makes you swoon in teenage love angst, then you might want to skip this genre-shaker. But for those tired of the recent Edward/Stefan, love-will-overcome dynamic in depictions of the supernatural, find yourself a copy of The Passage and watch helplessly as it sucks you in, leaving you drained and feverish for more. Despite being almost 900 pages long, it's truly a page-turner, and summoning the mental effort required to put it down before one is finished is surprisingly difficult. 

There is a romance of sorts, but no absurd vampire-human liaisons; instead, The Passage is science fiction at its most intriguing, an exploration of what might happen to human civilization if the thymus gland, which atrophies in adults, were re-activated via a weird virus taken from a certain flying mammal in South America (spoiler alert: things don't end well). With many post-apocalyptic stories, for example The Walking Dead, it's hard to imagine such listless, easily dispatched foes really overrunning the world; fortunately, The Passage doesn't have that problem. The creatures of The Passage are truly terrifying, with only two real weaknesses, and don't make nice with the enticing blood bags they see all around them. That whole Babcock thing, in particular, chills the blood. 

In a rarity for a book on vampires, it's exceptionally well-written, combining moments of almost lyrical beauty in its descriptions with an appealing, Hemingway-esque minimalism in the dialogue, which saves it from descending into melodrama. The first part of the book, in which the human world is a frog sitting placidly in a pot just seconds from full boil, is the best—indeed, it's one of the most compelling descriptions of the beginning of the end in any apocalyptic fiction I've read. 

Yes, Cronin begins The Passage in spectacular fashion, succeeding in drawing the reader all the way in to this doomed world, and making us feel powerfully connected to the characters he has described so well...and then he pulls a Battlestar Galactica. Just as we are fully engaged with this world he's created, he decides to skip ahead, to a very different situation in space, time and vibe, with largely new characters and new challenges. Cronin's decision to skip ahead will probably be just as controversial as BG's 'let's skip ahead a year and let Lee Adama get married and fat (not necessarily in that order) and slap a mustache on Olmos' dice-roll. 

As a consequence of said time-leap, for hundreds of pages after the end of part one I kept reading mostly out of almost clinical curiosity over how Cronin was going to suture these two very different stories together. Yet along the way, I found myself becoming immersed in Cronin's second "world" just as I had with the first, pre-apocalypse human world. Gradually I began to realize that the only way to manage such a splice was—you guessed it—to pull much the same trick again, and drag the reader kicking and screaming out of that second world, a fascinating post-apocalypse setting, and into a third world—basically consisting of everywhere not in the second setting. It was this third environment that proved a bit disappointing, reminding me of J.K. Rowling's ill-advised venture away from her winning Hogwarts formula in HP and the Deathly Hallows (there's even camping in the woods). 

Some might be put off a bit by a certain key female character (you'll see who and what I mean when you read it), as though the only way girls can be cool is via uber-empathy a la the lame "Heart" power from the ancient American animated series Captain Planet. This is a book Cronin has said was inspired by his daughter's request for a book where a girl saves the world, and although said girl certainly has an interesting role to play, she's no Sarah Connor. 

Nonetheless, Cronin brings it all together in quite a satisfactory way, and any who continue reading past the book's stellar first section will ultimately find their faith rewarded. In short, I laughed, I cried—it was way better than Cats and also better than the vast majority of either vampire or post-apocalyptic fiction. 

The Math

Baseline Assessment: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 for excellent character development, +1 for its intricate construction of not one but two fully realized settings, +1 for Babcock

Penalties: -1 for pulling a Battlestar Galactica time-skip, -1 for Amy's 'Heart' vibe

Final Verdict: 9/10 "Standout in its category"

[Think our scores are too low? Read about our scoring process here, and learn why we say "no" to grade inflation.]

Bejeweled Blitz

Addictive mobile goodness!

I've decided to change tack a bit today and go with a mobile gem (pardon the pun). I thought I should write about something that less hardcore gamers are likely to have played and enjoy. I've gotten a lot of "I had no idea what you were talking about but I really enjoyed your writing" responses from friends and family with regard to my reviews. Hopefully a few more people have played Bejeweled Blitz than beat Dead Space 3.

Bejeweled Blitz is a relatively new version of PopCap's breakout hit Bejeweled and its sequels, Bejewewled 2 and 3. If you aren't familiar with Bejeweled, it's a game where you match gems of similar color in order to score points. There is an eight-by-eight grid of gems. You can match strings of three, four, or five gems, which give increasing rewards as you up the count. If you match three gems, they disappear and your score rises as more gems fall in to replace them. If you match four gems, a gem of the same color is created that, when matched later, explodes and destroys a 3x3 patch of gems. If you are lucky enough to match five gems of the same color, a gem will be created that takes out an entire row and column going out from the gem when matched. 

looks like tetris

Bejeweled Blitz definitely pays homage to the greatest of all grid games, that Russian classic Tetris. However, Blitz adds several levels of depth when compared to Tetris' perfect simplicity. For one thing, there are purchasable power-ups that can help you along the way. You can buy the power-ups using money you've won while playing the game itself, in a slot machine that you get a free play on each day, or by buying extra tokens and winning more in-game money in the slot machine. With the tokens, you can buy:

• Mystery Gem - Start the game with a random gem
• Detonator - Detonates all special gems once per game
• Scrambler - Scrambles all gems on the board twice per game
• +5 Seconds - Adds five seconds to the end of the game
• x2 Multiplier - Start the game with a x2 multiplier gem

There are also REALLY expensive power-ups that don't require much skill. They just wipe out large portions of gems at the end of the game. The Phoenix Prism (above) is the most expensive and most powerful, but it feels a bit unfair to use it. For 75,000 coins, you're essentially buying around a quarter million points. I usually save my coins for the smaller power-ups that I can control unless I've recently hit a huge jackpot on the slot machine. In that case, I'll occasionally blow way too much cash on one of the overpowered "cheater" attacks. 

why is it so fun?

Blitz is a change from its predecessors in that the game sessions only last one minute instead of three, thus the name and its implied time rush. It boasts Facebook compatibility so you can compare scores with friends. Don't worry, you can turn off the app's ability to post on your wall. I'm a bit of a Facebook freak when it comes to limiting the content of my posts. I heard dozens of social media horror stories when I was working on my master's in communication and they scared me to the point I don't put anything up there besides family photos and occasional concert or sporting event attendance pics. 

The previous games were hectic, but this one is downright anxiety-inducing. I still find myself freezing up when I can't find a match and I've been playing this game for close to a year. It's got that perfect mix of replay-ability and simplicity that make for a best-selling puzzle game. Add to that the quick, one-minute time limit and you can literally squeeze a quick game in anywhere. If you haven't tried any of the Bejeweled games, I highly recommend you give one a look. Blitz is the fastest and most helter skelter by far, so be warned. You should also be aware that it is highly addictive. If you're a fan of puzzle games, or just want to try something other than Angry Birds on your mobile device, give this one a look. It's free and it's fun!

the math

Objective Score: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 for its simplistic yet addictive design.

Penalties: -1 for making me feel like an idiot when staring blankly at the screen, unable to see the next set of matching gems even though they're right in front of me!

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10. Well worth your time and attention.

Thursday Morning Superhero

One of my friends has been giving me a hard time because I rarely pick a superhero comic as my pick of the week despite the title of this feature.  It looks like he is going to win again because another issue of Saga dropped.  In addition to that, Brian K. Vaughan, author of Saga, partnered with Marcus Martin to release The Private Eye, an online only, pay what you want, title.  You can pick up the first issue for whatever you are willing to pay here.  Set in the U.S. in a future that has no internet, Martin thought an online only distribution made the most sense.  I like his style.

As for superhero titles, I currently don't like the direction that Marvel is taking with the Avengers or Captain America, but love Daredevil, Hawkeye, Deadpool, and have been really enjoying Age of Ultron.  From the other big publisher, the Batman titles are quite strong, but I honestly didn't have the budget to try as many of the New 52 titles as I would have preferred.  I enjoyed where Swamp Thing was headed and Animal Man, but had to make tough cuts to keep the weekly costs down.  I also feel that the lack of superheroes taking the top spot speaks to how the industry has grown creatively in recent years.  On to the pick of the week!

Pick of the Week:
Saga #11 -  While I absolutely love the pacing, the plot, and the characters, I am starting to think that the art of Fiona Staples makes this title.  The language is vulgar, some of the scenes are disgusting, large alien creatures are often fully nude, yet Staples has produced the best looking book on the market.  This issue featured more pages void of dialogue than previous entries, but maintained the same level of humor, emotion, drama, and further connected the reader to the characters.

Another element that makes this title so successful, is that clearly the reader cares about the star crossed lovers and their child, but even the individuals that are seeking the bounty on their heads are complex and quite likable.  I feel like this title exists almost exclusively in the grey and that is what makes it so intriguing.  The comic medium also feels like the perfect fit for the world and characters that Vaughan and Staples have created.

The Rest:
The Private Eye #1 - Fast paced first issue for a series that feels reminiscent to Frank Miller's Hard Boiled and was a pure joy to read.

Deadpool #6 - The Deadpool vs. Zombie Presidents mini-series comes to a humorous and gory finale that was quite satisfying.

Daredevil #24 -  Daredevil is dealing with heavy issues in addition to trying to solve the mystery of who is trying to replicate his powers in what is my favorite superhero title on the market today.

International TableTop Day

Time to check your calendars nerds, because in t-minus 10 days International TableTop day will be upon us!  International TableTop Day is a holiday to celebrate everything that involves gaming.  Announced on February 27 by Geek and Sundry, Felicia Day's hit YouTube channel, International Table Top day has gathered momentum and new events are popping up daily on their map.  In fact, new events have been showing up so fast that the map went down shortly after the announcement.  No event near you?  Then create one!

The gaming community is already on board with Asmodee Editions, Steve Jackson Games, Days of Wonder, and many other publishers are providing promotional items to support local events.  It is a great excuse to break out some old and new games and socialize with fellow human beings.

As I mentioned, the Geek and Sundry show TableTop inspired International TableTop Day.  The show is hosted by the lovable Wil Wheaton and features a new game and different celebrity guests each episode.  The show has taken a toll on my wallet, as I have ordered many games seen on TableTop.

If you are like me and plan on hosting an event then you need some good games to entertain.  Here are five games you should consider as featured on TableTop.

For the nerds who like to screw over his or her friends:
Munchkin by Steve Jackson Games

For the cartography nerd:
Ticket to Ride by Days of Wonder

For the hypochondriac nerd:
Pandemic by Z-Man Games

For the resourceful nerd:
Settlers of Catan

For the nerd with a short attention span:
Zombie Dice

Microreview [film]: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

The Meat

Let's be honest, even the best horror movie is only millimeters away from being a comedy. In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, after a lunatic murders all of her friends, the lone, teenaged survivor is made to, you know, sit down to dinner with the killer's family. In Rosemary's Baby, a New York social climber sublets his wife's uterus to Satan. Suspiria is about a coven of witches that run a dance academy, for Pete's sake. So I like it when filmmakers are able to smartly foreground the humor -- gallows humor, to be sure, but humor -- inherent in the horror genre. That's a big, dumb, pretentious way of saying I like me a good horror-comedy.

But good ones are hard to find. I made one, which was far more comedy than horror, so I know how hard it is to strike the right balance. But Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is just such a rare bird. In it, a group of rich kids head out to the woods for a fun party weekend, and encounter two "scary-looking" blue-collar guys at a gas station on the edge of town. These two are Tucker and Dale, who are themselves heading out to the woods to start renovations on the vacation home Tucker just bought. In their rush to cast Tucker and Dale as the murderous hillbillies of so many horror movies, the kids misinterpret the situation when Tucker and Dale rescue one of the friends from drowning. They quickly decide that the hillbillies must have kidnapped, killed, and likely eaten their friend. Hilarity ensues. Bloody, bloody hilarity.

Seemingly every horror movie with a teenager in it involves a series of increasingly poor decisions that result in increasingly violent deaths at the hands of whatever evil entity is on hand -- serial killer, resurrected hockey player, etc. But in Tucker and Dale vs. Evil the only evil entities on hand are stupidity and unfair stereotyping. Part of the fun, then, is watching how the kids' increasingly poor decisions result in their increasingly violent deaths at their own hands. As these kids start dropping all around them, Tucker and Dale believe they've stumbled upon some type of college suicide cult, and that the kids are also trying to kill their own friend Allison, the girl Tucker and Dale saved from drowning and who is mostly unconscious inside the vacation home.

The leads are uniformly great. Tucker is the awesome-in-everything Alan Tudyk (of Firefly fame), Dale is played by Tyler Labine (from the under-appreciated and short-lived Reaper), and Allison is Katrina Bowden (the hyper-vacant Cerie from 30 Rock). The three of them bring a surprising amount of credibility to the actual emotional storyline.

The Math

Objective Quality: 7/10

Bonuses: +1 for actually having an emotional storyline; +1 for the cast; +1 for the line "I should've known if a guy like me tried to talk to a girl like you somebody would wind up dead."

Penalties: -1 for a third act that goes a little too over the top; -1 for an odd pre-credits sequence that confuses me.

Cult Film Coefficient: 8/10. "Well worth your time and attention."

[For an explanation of our scoring system, head on over here.]

Microreview [book]: The Twenty Year Death by Ariel S. Winter

The New Pulp landscape is littered with tributes to the dead masters of the genre. But banking the fame of classic source material is a difficult trick to pull off. After all, why would I want to read a second-rate Chandler when I can just read Playback for the ninth time? And as far as paeans to Jim Thompson are concerned, well, you can just ask Philippe how those are going.

Fortunately, Ariel Winter's The Twenty Year Death [2012, Hard Case Crime] isn't just an homage to the classics--it's three. "Malvineau Prison" is straight Simenon. While Winter's prose lacks the architectural minimalism of the original Maigret novels, pretty much everything else is spot on. The second novel, "Falling Star," is Philippe Marlowe reimagined. Paradoxically, this was both my favorite and least favorite of the three. That is, I enjoyed it the most, because Chandler is my favorite crime fiction author (and arguably the best writer genre fiction has ever produced), but it was also the least successful at capturing the magic of the original source material. I guess reading it felt a bit like watching a really fucking good Joy Division cover band: for a while you can almost pretend it's really Ian Curtis up there on stage, but then the little things remind you that it's not, and instead it's some other dude who sounds like him but lacks that certain something that made him so special in the first place. But of course, who does?

"Police at the Funeral," by contrast, is a remarkably successful rendering of Jim Thompson. Hell, Philippe might even appreciate it. Of course, I'm not as big a Jim Thompson fan as he is, but this one did make me feel tense and grimy and flipped out just like The Killer Inside Me.

If that was all there was to it, I'd rate the three novels that make up The Twenty Year Death as solid, enjoyable books suitable for most noir fans. But Winter ties these three homages together with a meta-narrative that serves as both commentary on perspectivity in crime fiction and on the evolution of the genre across the three decades of its golden age. American writer Shem Rosenkrantz serves as the linchpin, and we watch his role evolve from witness to victim to perpetrator. The effect is subtle enough  not to take away from enjoyment of any of the book's constituent parts, but provides significant rewards for the reader when all is said and done.

...and kudos to Winter for demonstrating that experimental fiction can still be accessible.

The Math

Baseline Assessment: 7/10

Bonuses: +1 for getting so many things right about the source material; +1 for the meta-narrative, which ties everything together in such a nifty and original way.

Penalties: -1 for the unavoidable "why am I not just reading The Big Sleep again moments."

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10. "Well worth your time and attention."

[To learn more about our non-inflated scoring system, in which the average is a 5/10, click here.]