Fool Moon

Fool Moon (2001) is the second book of the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. The book opens up in McAnalley’s pub. Mac, the owner of the pub, has no magical abilities of his own, but somehow he ended up with this pub which has become neutral territory for various factions of magical and other mythical (or thought-to-be-mythical) entities. (after all, it is hard to call a creature mythical if he is sitting at a table drinking a beer with you.) Even warring factions agree not to fight in the pub. It is like Switzerland with beer. Oh yeah, I guess there is beer in Switzerland, too.

Harry meets with a young woman who should oughta know more about magic, given the depth of trouble she is about to get herself into. As soon as this unsuccessful meeting ends, Karrin Murphy arrives. She is the head of the Special Investigations unit of the Chicago Police Department. Murphy hires Dresden as a PI more than anyone else does, since her unit gets stuck with cases involving supernatural explanations, and the CPD doesn’t really want to acknowledge the supernatural.

Of course there is a murder spree, and of course there are supernatural forces behind it. Harry and Karrin set off to solve another case together.

Butcher continues to build his main characters and the relationship between Dresden and Murphy. Butcher is a strong writer in that his characters and their relationships are never static. Things change, for better or worse, in every book. Murphy is one of the most important characters in the series.

One of Butcher’s more amusing bits is this concept that wizards of great power and technology do not get along. The magical fields around the wizard just natural disrupt nearby technology. Sometimes Harry can use this to his advantage. Often it is an incontinent and unplanned event. Most of the time, it is humorous.

Bob the Skull’s role grows in Fool Moon. Bob is a spirit that inhabits a skull, and has been around for millennia. He knows more about the supernatural world than one human can comprehend. Harry may not be able to use the internet, but Bob stand in – and is actually better than the internet, because his info is reliable. Bob is also horny (don’t ask me how that works since he lacks a body), opinionated, not always cooperative, self-indulgent, and tends towards laziness. Aside from that, he is a perfect assistant.

As always, Butcher’s plots are complex enough to keep you reading, but not so much as to cause confusion. This book is probably a little slower to get going than all the other Dresden novels but the further you get into the book, the harder it is to put it down. Predictability factor is low – which is a good thing, of course.

Characters are rich. Humor is genuine; deriving from situations, foibles, irony, and Harry’s persistent wit and sarcasm. Fool Moon gets a 99 from me. I’m giving it a 99 for two reasons.

1. A bit of a slow start up on the plot, early on.
2. Having already read the entire series, I’m pretty sure this is the only one that is not getting 100 from me, and I want to appear to be at least somewhat unbiased. At least one of the Dresden novels has to get less than 100.

L!fe , the Un!verse and Everthing

The process by which Adams un-stranded Ford and Arthur from Earth, two billion years in the past was a little weak. Not unlike the rescuing of Captain Jack Sparrow from the netherworld in Pirates of the Caribbean III. There could have been a lot of better ways to do it.

But after that, the book really improves. Adam’s cleverness is at its best in this book. His description of Somebody Else’s Problem as a phenomenon is a dead on parody of real human nature. I was very happy to see Slartibartfast back again, and this time in a major role. I didn’t feel like we saw enough of him in the first book. Slartiblartfest’s ship operates on Bistromathics, a concept which, as far as literature and humor goes, is almost as good as the Improbability Drive (although according to Slartibartfast it is better as far as ship drives go).

The entire story of Krikket, and the involvement of the Krikket wars in the Heart of Gold actually ties in multiple aspects of the plot, the characters, and the story lines from all the book quite well. Much better plot and subplot cohesiveness than book two.

The mattresses that grow on Sqornshellous Zeta is one of the best bits in the entire series. One that I actually remembered from when I read the books twenty years ago. It is another example of how, in Adam’s twisted world of parody and ludicrous concepts, there is an element of plausibility behind much of it. In an infinite universe with infinite possibilities, it certainly would be reasonable to think that there is a planet somewhere that grows mattresses and screwdrivers. We are talking about infinity, after all, so why not? To say it isn’t so places limits on infinity, which is itself oxymoronic. So while the entire concept is a joke, then again, there is some kernel of logic behind it all.

Life the Universe and Everything is at least as good as the first book, and in some ways even better, because of the nice subplot tie-ins and the further development of certain characters, such as Sartibarfest. The humor is impeccable, deriving from characters, situations, irony, and poking fun at humanity.

There are a couple of points in the book where logic in the plot is sacrificed for the sake of a joke.  Okay, I know the entire series is a satire, and it's purpose to poke fun at human dogmas and our own flaws in reason. I'm okay with bizarre events and marathon-lenght stretechs away from reality. In fact, that is part of the funl
But, there are a few stretches that are beyond reasonable maladjusment that become a part of the plot.  And that is what bothers me. If it is too bizarre to be acceptable even for me, and my standards are pretty low for accepting the ludicrous, then don't let plot-dependant events rely on these silly abberations.

For this, I take away only 2 points. He made a good recovery in book 3 from his marginal mediocrity in book 2. I'll give L!fe a nearly perfect -- 98

Phule’s Company

Phule’s Company (1990) by Robert Aspirin is a pleasant three hours of mental escape. It’s better for your brain than drugs, and easier on your liver than alcohol. Set well into the undetermined future, Phule is a self-made billionaire and a military officer failure. The races are predominantly human, but like any respectable science fiction look into the future (i.e. that which does not contradict the principles of Star Trek), we have mutli-planetary federation.

Captain Phule commands the Omega Crew of the Space Legion. All of the soldiers under his command are failures, too. This story is about his recovery from failure. This is about how Phule leads the men and women under his command, and how he inspires them. It is his leadership that brings them all back from the role of failure. Phule is a commendable character. He has his weaknesses and foibles, but don’t we all.

One can’t make a blanket statement about Aspirin’s character development. The primary characters are dynamic, complex and imperfect, which is of course, what we want. But his secondary characters trend towards stocks and stereotypes. I guess you cant have it all, and Phule has such a large cast of characters, it would have to be a much deeper and thicker book if everyone were well developed. He is also good at setting up a story for laughs; humor from situations, from quirky characters. Phule’s Company is compelling enough to keep you reading, although the plot is somewhat predictable and drags on now and then.

With the caveat that this is brain candy, I'll give Phule's Company a 96. Losing points for the weaknesses in plot and secondary characters, it is a fun read, and I reccommend it in spite of minor flaws.

Robert Aspirin

Robert Aspirin was a very clever and creative Fantasy/SciFi writer. None of his books were brilliant, but they were mostly entertaining. He is most well known for three series: Myth-adventures, Phule, and Time Scout.


Aspirin consistently starts out each series with great humor, wit and creativity. They are full of quirky characters, pleasant surprises, interesting notions. His characters are mostly dynamic.

Aspirin’s biggest weakness is failure to plan ahead. Invariably, the first three books of a series are clever, creative, humorous. They are worth the read. They are light fun. They are not deep. But when you continue to read any of his series, he obviously begins to confuse himself. It appears he never really thought he would sell more than three books in any given series. He writes himself into a corner every time, in terms of character evolution and plot. As the publishers offer him more contracts to continue these series, we find Aspirin writing convoluted and uncompelling plots to force a story to happen.

My advice in regards to Aspirin: read the first three novels of any of his series, then stop. Expect the entertainment level to be on par with a very good sitcom, like Seinfeld or That 70s Show, but not on par with a philosophical discussion with last year’s valedictorians from half a dozen Ivy-League schools.

Healthcare in America

I worked 2 years in private practice, 2 for an HMO, and 3 for the VA; which is a government run, basically socialized medicine program. As a physician, I feel greater freedom in the VA to make my own decisions that I did in the private sector. I felt the insurance companies breathe down my neck more than the government does. I also see that the government monitors the quality of our outcomes, They reward us for improved blood pressure, and light a fire under us about poorly controlled diabetics. My other settings NEVER monitored that…they only monitored the money.
It is a fallacy to think that doctors in America control their decisions right now. As a profession we gave up our decision making when we began allowing the 3rd party payer system. I will attest that I have much more control over my decisions as a physician, working for the VA, than I ever did in the private sector. Insurance companies controlled my decisions more than the VA does.
Insurance companies do not care about the health of their policy owners. They care about profit. Capitalistic medicine is driven by money, federal healthcare by positive outcomes.

Voters have more control over their government than consumers do over private insurance companies. Who do people want to be in control of their doctors? For-profit companies, or a democratic government that answers to them? We ARE the nation. We are the voters. We have the power to change government because we have the right to vote. We do not have control over our insurance companies -- they are privately owned.
I do not understand the resistance to healthcare reform. Our country is not 100% capitalists. Water, sewer, fire, police, Pell grants, the Army…and so on. We pay our governments to provide services. These services are not for profit, but they could be if we wanted them to. Why does healthcare have to be for profit any more than city water? Why not privatize the armed forces? People would find these suggestions absurd. Of course we want the government to manage these public concerns. should not be for profit. Public health is more philosophically pure and more in keeping with the Hippocratic oath. You want your doctor to make decisions based on your health, not on profit.
The capilazation of medicine is not sacred.

Grand Rapids ArtPrize 2009

We spent the day at the ArtPrize today. It was so much larger than I ever imagined. It is hard to describe how huge this thing is, it is impossible to comprehend unless you go yourself, and even when you go yourself, it is still hard to fathom the immensity of this event

We started at the Riverview Building. It is next to the fish ladder, on the corner by the 6th street bridge. Within the Riverview Building alone there are 50 artists. Sandy’s WHAT art club had their contribution there, so that was where we started. Then we reviewed the rest of the art in the building; phenomenal paintings in multi-media, sculptures of light and form, one artist who did a complex tribute to 9/11. He told me he was on the street when it happened, and was trapped for two days. It still haunts him, and he tries to heal through art.

Then to another building, then to art in the streets and on the sidewalk, then to another building, then to art in parking lots and in tents and in parks. Huge sculptures that I hope the city bought to keep and lawn paintings, and art in the river; a large mobile on an island, and a sculpture by the fish ladder called “Nessie.” (The scuplutre was called Nessie, not the fish ladder.) You assume correctly; it is supposed to be a Loch Ness monstor representation.

Art that tried to make a statement, like the ton of compressed smelly plastic trash in cubes, creating a maze. The billowing globe with a recording playing about how global warming is a farce. (Of course I think that’s moronic. Yes, we landed on the moon, yes, there was a holocaust, and yes, there is global warming.) There was another artist who thought that the “Green Movement” was just propaganda by the capitalist to try to make more money, and a part of his display was surveying the passer bys. I told him I thought that capitalists have fallen short in any attempt to make money off the green movement, that it should be the next big thing, but we have not seen anything yet, and it was the lack of capitalist interest in anything green because oil is cheap and easy, that has caused this environmental problem.

Really. I said all that too him. I don’t think he liked it.

There was a performance artist who melted glass pop bottles and draped the melting glass in a net. There was a “Grand Rapids Family Tree” for you to write your name or sentiments on a ribbon, and tie it on the “tree.” Quite nice, actually; very colorful. There was a performance artist who’s performance was to paint oils painting of posing models while he and his brother sang and played musical instruments simultaneously.

There were sculptures everywhere. One of the most amazing pieces was the giant chairs and table by wicks (very similar to Sandy’s work.) The table and chairs is 4000 pounds, and rests on top of one of the pedestrian bridges across the Grand. It sets as a crown on top of the bridge.

The display that caused me the most pause, the one that I had a hard time pulling myself away from, was the juxtaposition of two paintings; one of Abraham Lincoln holding a wounded soldier on a Civil War battlefield, next to one of President Obama, our first black president. Either painting alone was beautiful piece of work. It was the juxtaposition that caused the pause.

The bottom line is, there was such a large volume of art and such a wide diversity of media that you literally cannot see it all in one day. If you live in the area, you need to come see it. It is mind-boggling.

Chair  a Bridge

Fabric Mosaic

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

I think that The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980) was the weakest of the series, but a necessary read to get to Life, the Universe and Everything, which is fantastic. Not unlike the fact that let’s face it, folks, The Empire Strikes Back was a major yawn at best, but The Return of the Jedi was awesome; and Back to the Future II outright sucked and should not have only been made, as a ten-minute public service announcement so that we could properly enjoy Back to the Future III, which was at least as good as the first and in some ways even better.

That’s my opinion, anyway. You know what they say about opinions…or you do if you’ve read my earlier posts.

Zaphod sucking antidepressants off of Roosta’s towel isn’t nearly as funny as Adams thought it was, but maybe it was in 1980. No, I remember the 80's. I'm pretty sure it wasn't funny then, either. A cow that invites you to eat itself; the hyperbole of snooty people picking out their lobsters at snooty restaurants—maybe that is funny to you, but it didn’t really work for me. On the other hand, the “songs” in chapter 22 are brilliant.

The IDEA of the restaurant is much funnier than its execution. The fact that it was the closest place, temporally, which means Marvin was waiting millions of years…now that I thought was both brilliant and hilarious.

As far as literary quality, this is Adam’s weakest. As far as humor, the same. The rest of the series rocks.

Even though I dream of somday channeling Douglas Adams*, even though there are reasons why The Hitchiker's Guide is an important and ingenious breakthrough in SciFi/humor, there are weakness in this particular book in the series. In fact, this is the weakest of all of them. Sometimes I can forgive weakness in style for the sake of the humor, but in this book, the humor is not good enough to compensate for the literary weaknesses.

In pains me to give my hero less than a 90, but this book gets an 86.
My advice? Read it. Read it because the rest of the series is worth it.

*Adams and I are (were) both atheists, so  find the likelihood that I will get to channel him to be somewhat slim, but given the opportunity, I would gladly do it anyway.

Another Catatonic Day

April, 2009


Abby had a seizure at midnight. Seizures come on abruptly, are tonic-clonic (what used to be called Grand Mal) and start with a particular gasping type vocalization that we recognize immediately. When I awoke at 6:00 for work, and her light and TV were on, and she was staring blankly at the TV, I knew that this meant her internal body clock was screwed up. She had no idea what time of day it was, or even that this was a school day. It did not surprise me when I got home from work and learned from Sandy that Abby had another seizure at 7:00, and that she had spent the day essentially vocally non-responsive. She moves real slow on days like these. She cannot connect one word to the next in a sentence. She cannot independently follow one-step commands on these days. Sandy made her a bowl of ramen, and it took Abby 3 hours to eat it.
Days like this are why Sandy had to quit her doctoral program. She had finished all the coursework, and just needed to do the dissertation. One of us had to quit academia, and I was in medical school, which would lead to a more lucrative career than Sandy’s higher admin Ed.D. So sandy paints chairs and teaches an occasional class on ethics at Davenport.
We never know on these days if Abby will have more seizures, or how long these partial seizures will last. There is nothing we can do but stay on edge.

Emotional Extremes and Epilepsy

May 2009


Abby is 19. Today we had her final IEP. Her teachers talked about how sweet she is, how kind and gentle she is. Then we had to focus on what is she capable of. She has poor stamina. She is not strong enough to open a pop-open can of chef Boyardee. She makes very few independent decisions, and require s frequent prompting. She moves very slowly. You would not believe it if I told you how slowly. So no, I do not think she is capable of work (not to mention seizures on the job). I see other handicapped people bagging groceries, and the like, and I think how fortunate are they, that they were skilled enough to be able to hold a job, and that someone loved them enough to train them and coach them. Unfortunately, during the meeting, I had a flashback of when Abby was normal. She was articulate, reading above grade level, and more independent than she is now. We absolutely knew grad school was in her future. You’d think after all these years, I’d be through with the grieving. But losing her potential is not a grieving can get over. I take care of her every day.
On the flipside, I have a 16 year old son who I couldn’t be prouder of. He is in a couple AP classes, and doing well. He takes fencing and skis in the winter. He is smart, athletic, and witty. He is going to be able to go to Europe with HS foreign language dept; France and Spain. He plans on going to WestPoint. (How ironic, me a pacifist, working for the VA, with a son heading to Westpoint)
I am not bipolar, but I feel like my life is. Such huge emotional extremes from my children.
This has not been one of my better days.
I will try to get back into the class this week.

I want to read Anne and Marge’s work, and give feedback. I want to do it thoughtfully, so I want to take time. in the meantime, I am also busy preparing for the next assignment . I am still studying Miki’s instructions on my last assignment. Actually, I’ve been through them all, just no time to rewrite accordingly. (for my own purposes, not for reposting).
I wish we had more than two weeks. I think by the weekend, I’ll be through this emotional turmoil, and will finally be caught up at work after taking a couple days of for family reasons. This class is one of my favorite outlets right now I’m sorry I haven’t contributed much lately.

Yet Another Seizure in the Shower

Spring, 2009


Sandy had an art show, and Abby really needed a shower. So I told her to take one, and I would stay right out the door if she needed me. She called, and I went in. "What is it Abby?" She was six inches in front of me, and collapsed into a seizure. It just happens that fast. Six inches away, and the fall to the concrete is too fast for me to catch her. She crashed to the tile floor, and there was blood everywhere, washing down the drain with the flowing water. It looked like a scene from CSI.

Three inch gash right under her right eyebrow, deep. Past the muscle tissue. I called Ben, and his best friend Levi. They came up from the basement. Ben held her in place while Levi held a light so I could see what I was doing while I sutured her eyebrow in the shower. My hands don't normally shake while I suture, but the were this time. 8 sutures. It isn't the most plastic-surgeon worthy suturing I have ever done, but given the circumstances, I don't feel that I did too badly. I have her laying on ice to minimize the swelling, but her right upper lid is already quite swollen.

There is no time for modesty in situations like these. My twenty year old daughter with the mind of a 5 year old, wet and seizing, the seventeen-year old boys helping me with an unconscionable situation. They are not boys now, but respectable young men coming to a medical age with the respect and judgment worthy of any trained adult.

I have had to suture my daughter more times than I can remember. People tell me that god doesn’t give you more than you can bear, but they don’t know how unbearable this is. Please keep the platitudes to yourself. Everyday, I grieve the loss of what my daughter could have been. I don’t begrudge your right to believe in a god, but I find him or her hard to find through the density of this pain.

The Pain of Losing Your Daughter’s Mind

February, 2009

Until Abby was about seven, she was bright, precocious, pretty, charming, easily understood by strangers, and we fully expected her to become a medical doctor or an engineer. She had febrile seizures as an infant, but our doctor assured us that this was common, and 97% of all children grew out of this. At the end of the first grade, her teacher told us she was the brightest child she had ever had; far ahead in reading and math skills. She was cute and charming, strangers would often tell us “she ought to be in commercials.”
The summer before I began medical school, and Sandy was working on her doctorate, we bought a run-down house in a nice neighborhood in Louisville. Abby started having more seizures, and we were not always sure that they were associated with fever. By our third visit to the same ER doctor he knew us by face and first name, and he became justifiably angry with us for not taking her to a neurologist by then. We hadn’t because, after all, we knew she would grow out of it any day now. It was the beginning of a long road of denial. We had just begun the Elizabeth Kübler Ross’ stages with this disease. We have been through them all now.
For 8 months, she was well controlled on Dilantin, although it did cause some gingival hypertrophy. We finally adjusted to this. “Okay, she has epilepsy, but she is well controlled on meds, it is like any other disease that is controlled on meds.” Then, at the end of the first grade, she had a sleepover at a friend’s house, and they were up all night. Sleep deprivation is a common trigger for seizures. From that point on everything went downhill exponentially. Ultimately, Sandy had to give up her doctoral program. I stayed in med school, obviously. Our son who was 3 years younger than Abby got less attention than he deserved, regardless of the fact we continuously reminded ourselves not to do that to him. (He has turned out fine, and is well adjusted in spite of this.) We continued to remodel the house because we had little choice if we wanted to sell it at the end of med school.
From there, and through the next several years, Abby seizures steadily worsened. Her seizures are tonic-clonic, secondarily generalized (or what most people would call “grand mal”). She can be in the middle of a sentence and drop to the ground, convulsing. I’ve stitched her scalp at home twice, and her chin once, (and the chin once, by and ER doc). She lost her right upper incisor three times. The third time, it could no longer be replaced. As an older teenager, she went for over a year with that incisor missing, until we could finally get a permanent bridge.
We have tried every seizure medicine there is, in every combination, in every dose. She has been overdosed on seizure meds a few times, to the point that is like being with someone who is stoned. She only goes into status epilepticus about 4 or 5 times a year now, but it used to be more often. Status epilepticus is a seizure that lasts more than 5 minutes, or having several in a cluster, without recovery in-between, over the course of several hours. When this happens, we have a form of valium that we administered rectally in order to interrupt it.
We have tried Chinese herablists, faith healers, and a homeopath. She was on the ketogenic diet, and has a vagal nerve stimulator implanted. She was ruled out for brain surgery at two different time in two different cities, by two different neurosurgeons.
Now, on good days, she is hard to understand due to diction. She still has 3 or 4 seiures a week. She will be in a mental fog for hours or even days after a seziure. She can shower herself, but it took years to teach her that, and Sandy still has to help her sometimes. She can dress herself, but it takes her about an hour. There are a few snacks she can make herself with the microwave, but obviously, she is not allowed to use the stove. She talks and moves very slowly. She is in special Olympics bowling, but does not have the coordination to ride a bike or go skiing. She has a special recumbent three wheeler bike she enjoys. She lacks in physical stamina and normal strength for a girl her age. She watches Nickelodeon a lot, and Disney feature films. In the last couple of years, the meds have caused a horrible case of acne; one of the worst I have ever seen (after ten years of practicing family medicine, mind you), and I am sure it is going to scar her face.
Even after all these years, a sudden seizure can send the adrenaline rushing through our bodies, and having just two or three in the night can ruin a good night’ s sleep.
We know that she will never be able to live on her on. She is primarily a happy little girl, and good natured, for the most part. She is 19 now, although she is still 6 mentally and emotionally.

Storm Front

Storm Front (2000) is the first book in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. I’ve read every Dresden book, and wait perpetually for the next to arrive.

Storm Front introduces us to Harry Dresden, Wizard, Private Eye. Harry is complicated because he is fully immersed in the world of magic and the world of men. His private eye business is barely floundering, and most of his work comes from Chicago P.D.’s “Special Investigations” unit. (i.e. the cases that are too bizarre to have natural explanations, but the CPD is afraid to admit as much).

Lieutenant Karrin Murphy is Harry’s friend, and in charge to the S.I. unit.

There are murders that have to be solved and explained to the satisfaction of officials who only believe in the natural world. But the undercurrent of supernatural forces behind the killing spree is the real problem that needs to be solved, and unfortunately Harry doesn’t get paid what he is really worth.

You will love Harry because we all feel for the person who is the only one in the room who really knows what is going on, and we always feel defensive for people who are misjudged or falsely accused. And because when it comes down to it, he is one of the most powerful beings in this story even if it doesn’t always seem that way to Harry.

Butcher’s humor is fantastic. Harry is sarcastic and quick witted. Bob the Skull is irreverent. Karrin is irritable. The characters are natural sources of humor, and the irony of life is as well. It is hard to put a Dresden book down, because the plots never slow down, from the beginning of Storm Front, to the end of whatever is on Butcher’s laptop right now.

Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1)

My score? 100. It doesn't get better than this.

My only complaint about Butcher is that he writes too slowly.

But then, I only mean that tongue-in-cheek, Jim; I understand thtat quality takes time. I’d rather you keep writing at this level of excellence than speed up and write garbage.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This year, I learned that Adams had written a 5th book to the series. I decided to re-read the whole series, since it had been so long since I read them, so that I could have the proper mind set when reading book 5.

Reflecting as I read is what inspired me to start this blog.

I loved the movie, by the way, but as is usually true, the book is astronomically better than the movie. Whether or not you liked the movie; if you like SciFi and humor, this book is a must read. It was a revolutionary piece of work in 1979. But I talk about that in my critique of the series, and this is about the book.

I don’t think I’ll give away too much plot to tell you that it starts with Arthur Dent trying to stop the road crew from tearing down his house to make way for a by-pass. This is, of course, simply a metaphor for what is about to happen to Earth.

Fortunately, his good friend Ford Prefect is really an alien from Betelgeuse. This is fortunate for Arthur, because Ford rescues him from death at the moment of Earth’s destruction. (Arthur didn’t know about Ford’s origins until about the same time as the earth was destroyed.)

Ford was on the planet as a journalist, contributing to a galactically popular reference book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Ford had spent a decade on Earth to update the HHG’s entry about earth. He managed, in that time, to update the entire description of Earth from “Harmless.” To “Mostly Harmless.”

The rest of the story is a haphazard adventure of Arthur, Ford, the only other Earth survivor, Tricia McMillian, the President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox, and a chronically depressed robot, Marvin.

A lot of the humor is fish-out-of-water (i.e. Arthur off planet). Adams also does a very nice job of poking fun at the foibles of humanity and being British. Bizarre characters and situations add to the humor. He uses the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a very clever literary device; the book itself is a voice of omniscience. It knows just about everything about the universe, and Arthur and Ford often refer to it.

Weaknesses? Sometimes Adams meanders a bit, and his writing could be a bit more concise sometimes. To some extent this can be blamed on the farcical style of his writing, but I think mostly he could just get away with it in 1979, since he was writing on a new frontier; farce/humor/SciFi.

I'll give the book a 98. If it weren't such a ground-breaking book, I'd probably lop off a few more points for the literary weaknesses mentioned, but I have to give Adams a break for his courage to break new ground. Besides, the severity of his shortfalls is mild.

One for the Money

The first of the Stephanie Plum Series, 1994.

This is a hilarious first-person narrative. The plot never stops, the pace and rhythm can keep you up all night finishing this book in one setting. Evanovich’s characters are funny, diverse, and well developed, and of particular importance to me, dynamic.

Stephanie is a nearly-broke out-of-work retail lingerie buyer. When she finds out how much money bounty hunters make, she blackmails her shit-head cousin Vinnie for a job. He owns a bonds and bails business, and employs a number of basically free-lance bounty hunters who track down the scumballs who try to skip bail.

Stephanie is skinny, untrained, and if it weren’t for the fact that she was born and raised and still resides in Trenton, NJ., you wouldn’t call her tough. She does have that natural jersey toughness about her, and a quick wit, and good friends, all of which manage to keep her alive.

Of course she is in over her head, of course there is a murder, and of course the bad guys would like to get rid of her. After all, these are the things that compel us to read books like these.

Evanovich nail 100% from me in every way. Everything I look for in a good novel. The characters are rich and believable with unique voices, the dialogue flows like real life, the situations are complicated enough to keep you guessing but not enough to be ridiculous.

The humor is dead-on; derived from the foibles of humanity, Stephanie’s wit, ironic situations and stupid people. Evanovich clearly achieves her goals of writing a funny, well-paced, suspenseful mystery with rich characters.

One for the Money gets 100 from me. I haven't read anything by Evanovich that would get less than a 99.
 
If you've never read any Plum, I highly recomend the 3-book starter set.

The Stephanie Plum Series By Janet Evanovich ---- 100

To The Nines was the first Evanovich book I ever read. I've read most of them now, as well as the Motor Mouth series. Evanovichis one of the best comedic novelists writing today, and one of my favorite authors.

Stephanie Plum has come a long way from out-of-work lingerie buyer in One For The Money, to accomplished bounty hunter in Two The Nines. Stephanie is smart and courageous and as always, out of her league. She isn’t built for this sort of business, but that hasn’t stopped her yet. It’s a good thing Ranger, Morelli and Lula do have the build for it.

These are first person narrated stories about how Stephanie learns to become a bounty hunter. She is just as much detective as bounty hunter really. Every book in the series is loaded with humor. I love the scenes where Stephanie is talking to low-lifes and their various creative failures (or successes) at evading her attempts to take them in for back child support or other bad debts. While there is always a good laugh or two at these little cases along the way, there is also always a big case, and a complicated murder to solve.

Morelli is her on-again off-again police detective boyfriend. Her mother is always after her to get a real job and a real boyfriend. Her grandmother, Grandma Mazur, thinks Stephanie is just fine, and would like to join her on her ass kicking sessions. Grandma Mazur reminds me of a New Jersey version of Estelle Getty from Golden Girls.

Lula is an ex-hooker, very large black woman who joins Stephanie as a never-official partner after just a couple of books into the series. She more or less ingratiates herself into the position, which is a very Lula thing to do. Ranger? Well, you’re safer not knowing, but he always manages to help, and he owns lots of weapons, has lots of skilled friends, and drives heavily armored vehicles.

This series gets 100 from me without hesitation. Evanovich is an excellent writer, very skilled, the plots are all compelling, the characters are interesting, dynamic, and original, and the plots; well, it is hard to put an Evanovich book down.

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Stephanie Plum Series

Adams, Substitute Gods, and the Liberation of Half My Brain

Douglass Adams changed my life in 1985. One of my college roommates, Darrell recommended The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to me. I had never heard of the book before, which amazed Darrell. That was amazing, really, because I have always loved satire, particularly British. I have always been a fan of Monty Python. I had a short Bombeckian-style satire column in a local paper. (Short lived because I was too damned lazy to keep it going, and to stupid to realize the potential in an opportunity like that).


Amazing, too, because I have always been a fan of SciFi as well. I look at the world through science fiction colored glasses. (same say nerd, I say viewpoint).

By 1985, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had just become what was at that time being referred to as a “4-book trilogy.” The unabashed incorrectness of that alone was enough for me to read it.

Adams changed my life because I never knew that humor and SciFi could go together. I thought SciFi was the sacred stage on which we challenged dogmas and spat at narrow minds. I didn’t know we could do that while also asserting the truth to outlandish oxymorons and poking fun at poor Arthur Dent for being such a primitive species. I hadn’t owned a babelfish yet. But I still didn’t realize that humor and SciFi could go together outside of the world of Adams. It was the 80’s. I thought humor belonged to Steve Martin and Robin Williams, and SciFi belonged to Star Trek.

So I continued to read voraciously; funny writers like Donald E. Westlake, Lawrence Block, and SciFi thrillers by Crichton and Robin Cook. All the while thinking that Douglass Adams was a rare and special gift to mankind.

Then in the early 90’s I discovered Red Dwarf, and nearly bust my spleen laughing. And it occurred to me that SciFi could be the bastion of better ideas and dogma-rattling proposals, and be funny too. I realized that if other people besides Douglas Adams could do it, then I could too.

But by the time of this realization, I was in medical school. My dad prevented be from being a writer, because I had to go do something I could make a living at. That doesn’t have a lot to do with the current train of thought, other than the fact I like to blame my dad fo my failures now and then.

So at the time of this realization, I was in medical school. It wasn’t like I had time to write a book. Medical school and residency is 100 plus hours a week of using the left side of your brain. After 7 years of this, I walked with a lisp to the right in compensation. In spite of the system’s efforts to stifle my creativity, I did have an idea for a satire about the origin of everything. Substitute Gods has been in my head for over a decade now.

It has been on paper (electronically) for about a year, now. I’m about to look for an agent.

So in 1985, Douglass Adams changed my life, and in 2009, I am finally acting on that epiphany.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series changed my life. I know it bounces around a bit, but not as bad as some Pratchett novels, and satire gets a little bit of grace when it comes to judgment. Satire has different goals than serious literature. I know Adams has a few weaknesses in literary style, but he saved the right half of my brain. The HHG series gets a 100 from me.

When I review the books individually, I will try to be objective as possible.

5 Categories of Evaluation

I will give a book a score between 0 and 100, and the score is mostly gestält. Basically, every book starts at 100, but a very rare book will end at 100. I am more interested in promoting books with humor than those without, for philosophical reasons stated in my post on “What I Report on and Why.” If there is virtually no humor in a book, then it loses 5 points off the top. So if it is otherwise perfect, it is a 95 point book. I’ve read some books that I have loved that lacked humor. When I review them, they might just get a perfect 95. Some of my favorite books that are very funny have lacked high literary standards. So while Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s series changed my life, they won’t be getting 100’s. Likewise, I will remove points for books that are notably lacking in any of the areas noted below. At the end of each review, I will post the score, and why I gave it. Mind you, these are not bullet points that each author has to hit in every book.

1. Humor

-Balanced/Appropriate
-Non derogatory
-Irony
-Pokes fun at human nature
-Derives from quirky characters
-Derives from situations
-Clever dialogue

2. Characters

-Not stock
-Dynamic
-Dimensional
-Interesting
-Emotionally connected to reader
-Background
-Realistic dialogue
-Staying in voice

3. Plot

-Believable yet unpredictable
-Pace
-Subplots and tie-ins
-No pointlessness meanderings

4. Philosophy

-Does it make me think?
-Is it one of those books that I will tell other people about/think about years from now/spark conversations with other intellectuals?
-Does it make me re-think?
-Does it offer a new point of view?
-Does it meet the writers apparent goal?
-Is the story consistent with the philosophy?


5. Style

-Distinctiveness of authors voice
-Prose
-Metaphors and simile
-Descriptions
-Turns of phrase
-Head popping
-Balance of dialogue and prose

Moon Called

I was a little disappointed with Moon Called (2003). First of all, according to Kirchinger’s Principle #4, Moon starts off at a 95. There is not enough humor in the book to count. But as promised, I am also reviewing non-humor books, especially SciFi and Fantasy.


I’ll tell you why I am disappointed. The book started off with a bang. It started out with deep, mysterious, interesting characters who obviously had inter-relationships that would take us awhile to get to know. Brigg’s take on shape-shifters and werewolves is interesting and original. Her writing style is fantastic. She knows how to use words, turn phrases, write great dialogue, keep characters in voice, keep a story intriguing.

I have high praise for Patricia Briggs as a writer. Very high praise. I’d give her a 95 (see principle #4).

But then half way through the novel the plot just disappears. The tension falls out. I’m sitting in my easy chair drooling cause nothing is happening. The main character, Mercedes takes an injured friend to her hometown for a quiet place to heal. Unfortunately, the trip home becomes a prolonged journey of introspection for Mercedes. When this happens, the book turns from an intriguing work in fantasy to the kind of book my wife would like; an exploration in relationships and a person’s past. It becomes a chic-flick, an emotional journey.

Sorry, Patricia, I couldn’t get past the middle of the book. And whoI am I to give you a mediocre score? I’ve only just completed my first novel, and haven’t sold it yet. (Of course I haven't tried yet). And here you are, a successful serial novelist. I'm sure you have more credibility than me. I know you keep selling books in this series, so it must be good, but I can’t get past the middle. Too much toucny feely introspecion and retroscpection. I stopped caring in the middle of the book, and I put it down and forgot where I put it.  Maybe I'll try another one from the Mercy Thompson series later.

86 -- not very funny, plot sags in the middle and loses focus. On the positive side, Briggs has a lot of talent as a writer.
Maybe you would disagree with me on this book. Briggs is a very good writer, and this book might appeal to you more than me. There are a lot of good things about her writing..  You might think about trying it.

The only Three Types of Humor Books that Matter

There are 3 types of humor books that are worth reading. Everything else that claims to be humor is trash.

These are the only three types of humor books that you will find me reviewing.

Kirchinger's Three Types of Humor Books:

1. Humorist's Tale--


The humorist who writes a story. These are people like Douglass Adams (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), Terry Pratchett (Discworld), and Grant Naylor (actually two people who could never get along well enough to write sequels to Red Dwarf) These books could get a ten out of ten from me even though they might have weak literary qualities. But that is because they achieve what they set out to do; make us laugh. Their work is funny, and literary quality is a part of the price they pay to write in these styles. But I believe that is what the author intended.

2. Humorist's Ramblings--


The humorist who writes commentary about life. These are not really novels, but they are funny; usually very funny. Laurie Notaro, David Sedaris, Erma Bombeck; these writers who tell stories about their lives, stories that are probably largely more or less mostly true, but invariably make us laugh. These are human being that are naturally gifted with the ability to see the funny side of life, and so they simply have to talk or write, and they make us laugh. You know people like this in your life, and you know they can diffuse tension.

These are also people like Ellen Degeneres, David Letterman, or Bonnie Hunt, and these are people who should be revered the most in our world, because laughter is much better than war.


BUT…their writings are not novels, nor do they pretend them to be.



3. Humorist’s Fiction--


The novelist who writes a funny story. These are people like Jim Butcher, Janet Evanovich, Lawrence Block, Donald E Westlake, Carl Hiaasen……and many many more. Unlike the Humorist’s Tales, these writers actually write well. They write quality prose and good fiction. The quality of their writing could stand up against any other contemporary writer, even the ones that want to scare us or make us cry or make us think but not laugh. But these authors are better becaus they are funny. Often very funny. This is clearly the most intellectual of the three types of humor books. It takes much more planning and a very smart person to write this kind of a book; a book that is both good fiction and full of intelligent humor.

Think about it. Not only do these writers pay attention to character development, dynamic characters, voice, point of view, foreshadowing, plot, subplots, motives, etc etc etc….but they can build humor, set up jokes and deliver punchlines all at the same time.

I think these writers are among the smartest people on the planet, and it would be one of the biggest highlights of my life just to have lunch with any one of them.

The Color of Magic

Because of Kirchinger’s Principle of Choosing Fiction #1 (There are more good books than you can read in a lifetime. Therefore life is too short to read mediocre books.) I sometime choose not to complete a book I have started. I stopped reading The Color of Magic (1983). Twice


I can’t explain why I started again, either time. The first time I put it down after reading about a third of it, and I put it down for nearly a year. No one told me to pick it up again. I’m in my 40’s, so I don’t read on assignment. I’m a medical doctor, so reading fantasy is not required in my profession. I had no friends or relatives raving about the book, other than when I first picked it up, my sister had told me she thought it was hilarious. But she did not stand behind me all those months of non-reading, telling me to “pick it up. Read it Dave. Pick it up Dave.” She didn’t know I had tried and put it down, and I doubt she would have cared.

Yet there was something curiously drawing me back to The Color of Magic. I picked it up again, and gave up on it even sooner the second time.

Oddly, the nagging voice inside my read telling me I have to read it became stronger this time. Before, it was just an occasional stray thought that could have been brushed aside as flatulence or allergies, but now it was an extra voice in my head telling me to read The Color of Magic. A couple month later, I was sick of the voice. I picked up the book, and I did not put it down until I finished it.

Wow. I’ve never had an experience with a book like that. I’ve never been haunted by a book that I chose not to finish, and I have rarely read one from cover to cover in one setting.

WARNING

Discworld is mind twisting and addictive.

If you like fantasy, humor, and forcing your mind to think in new ways, I highly recommend the Discworld series. It is one of the best there is. The Color of Magic is the first book of the The Discworld Series

The Color of Magic is harder to follow than any of the others. The Color of Magic is book one, and The Light Fantastic is book 2. Terry Pratchett says that none of the books have to be read in any particular order. I’ve read half the series, and I agree with Pratchett…except for the first two books. The Light Fantastic makes much more sense if you’ve read The Color of Magic first. I would also say that the entire series is much easier to understand if you read those two first. After that, read in any order.

The Color of Magic is hilarious. It is also disjointed at times, but eventually the disjointedness explains itself, more or less. The main characters are Twoflower, Rincewind, the luggage, and Death. Twoflower is a traveler from the other side of the disc, and is persistently oblivious to danger, which always seems to work in his favor. Rincewind is a failure of a wizard; a wizard with no magical power at all, who has been assigned to be Twoflower’s guide. The luggage is made of sapient pearwood, and thus has a mind and personality of its own. It doesn’t talk, but people often knows what it is thinking, none-the -less. Death is, well, Death, and is after Rincewind, but things just keep going wrong.

I'll give The Color of Magic a 93.  It loses points for plot confusions; it is a little scattered at times. And while Pratchett is a comedic and creative genius, this first book of the Discworld series has some literary weaknesses; loss of point of view "headpopping," prose that waffles between very good and "someone should have read this before printing." The problem is, I think that sometimes Pratchess reaches too hard for the joke.

Sick Puppy

I’ve read several of Hiaasen’s books. Reading all of his books is definitely on my “bucket list.” In case you have not read anything by Hiaasen then let me tell you the basics. Hiaasen is a genius when it comes to characters. I wouldn’t even care if his books lacked a plot, his characters are so interesting. You will meet the strangest people on this planet in Hiaasen’s world. But don’t worry, his plots are deep, too. Hiaasen’s stories are always in Florida, and there is always something environmental going on.

In Sick Puppy (1999), the pro-environmental protagonist (of course) is Twilly. Twilly is more than just recycling advocate. He is a borderline lunatic with sociopathic tendencies, all in the name of the environment, of course. The wrong grease-ball land developers decide not to take him seriously, because while Twilly seems like a very mild and at worse scatter-brained threat at first glance, he can actually be quite calculating and purposeful and, well, even dangerous.

You will get some laughs when you read Hiaasen, because of the hyperbole of his characters, his use of irony, and the protagonist usually gets what coming in the end. It never comes easy though, and watching Twilly wind his way through his form of vigilante environmental justice is good fun. There are a handful of easy-to-hate antagonists in this one, but Palmer Stoat is the chief amongst them. Watching this bloated self-important jackass learn to become paranoid is good for a few laughs.

The plot has a fair balance between that which you would expect, and a few game changers.
Hiaasen scores 100% at clarity of purpose and quality of prose, and Sick Puppy is just one of many that achieves this for him.

I think this was one of Hiaasen's best. Not all of his books will get 100 from me. Sometimes his "rich" characters are a little too far over the top. In this book, he finds the balance between bizarre and believable, which makes it highly entertaining. Sick Puppy gets a very rare 100 from me.

Road to Ruin

As far as I am concerned, Donald E. Westlake was one of the best novelists of all times, especially in regards to novels that will make you laugh out loud. He published almost one book per year from the beginning of his career in the early 60’s until 2008. Mr. Westlake died January 2, 2009. Westlake made it a point to never write to Dortmunder novels in a row. The only exception he ever made to this was the two most recent Dortmunder novels, which he wrote back to back: Road to Ruin (2004) and Watch Your Back! (2005)

The Dortmunder novels are the only books that you could truly call a series by Westlake, which is incredible given his pronounced prolithicness. It is hard for me to pick a favorite Dortmunder novel, and his last two were among his best. Road to Ruin was one of my favorites. It was particularly fun because Westlake managed to take his motley crew of thieves and modernize them with GPS and computers and high tech security. When we first met Dortmunder’s squad, it was the 60’s, and none of these things existed.

Westlake’s strength is plot over character, and Road certainly has its bends and twists. Westlake’s character’s are fun, but I can’t give him a hundred percent on characterization, because they are usually fairly static. His characters are interesting, deep, original, and quirky, but they don’t change much. In fact there is an absolutely despicable fat rich hermit in this book that you will just love to loathe. As far as dynamic characters, there aren’t any “hero’s journeys” in a Dortmunder novel, but then Westlake never meant there to be any.

If you like capers, humor, plans that always go wrong, complicated plots and funny characters, you will enjoy this book.

I'll give this book a 95. Westlake loses a few points where he usually does; while his characters are deep, they are also unfortunately static. And his plots get a little contorted sometimes; somewhere between suspense and "once again, I have to flip back 3 chapters to figure out what/who the hell he is talking about. Westlake is one of my favorite novelists. I think his work brilliant and he most have been an exceedingly intelligent man.

Yet these weaknesses are consistent throughout most of his books. But who am I to criticize? He made an excellent living and lived well in high-priced New York for several decades, all from his novels. I'm 48 years old and unpublished. Who am I to criticize?

The Dresden Files

For my first post I’d like to pay homage to one of the best contemporary fantasy novelists. Jim Butcher. If I had to pick a favorite fantasy novelist, which I would rather you not force me into that situation, it would be Jim Butcher. Well, let me just say that maybe it would be Jim Butcher. I’m qualifying it with a maybe because until someone actually forces me, I’m not going to commit. BUT, if at some point between this posting and your reading thereof, I have, indeed, been forced, then Butcher is the answer.

The Dresden Files is the BEST fantasy series still being written today. Absolutely my favorite series, my 17 year old son's too.

Butcher has raised the standard for fantasy writers. In Dresden, Butcher writes complex characters. They are never static and never dull. They continue to develop, as real people in real life do, from book to book. He does not use the same characters in every book. Some will come and go in various books, in non-chronological order. Some you will grow to love, some you will grow to hate more than you did before, and some will die when you least expect it. The characters have their own interwoven pasts with one another that complicate the emotions and the plots of the books.

The humor is impeccably appropriate. This is not a humor series for humor’s sake, but Butcher does an excellent job of lightening a tense seen with a clever quip or unexpected bit of irony. The main character, Harry Dresden, is quite sharp tongued and quick witted. Of course, this gets him in trouble sometimes. I’m sure there are times that Harry would have wished he kept his mouth closed.

Not only is he a wizard of great skill, he is a private detective and often contracts with the local Chicago Police Department for the more "unusual" cases. Sometimes it is hard to be the only person in the room who understands everything that is going on -- both natural and supernatural. Harry is not a perfect person, and he struggles with his imperfections, and evolves throughout the series.

Harry’s wit is not the only source of humor. There are quirky characters, ironic situations, and plenty of humorous plays off the contrasts between the fantasy world of magic and the real world we live in.
As far as plot? Well let me just say, Butcher’s books are hard to put down. And while you see some things coming, you don’t see everything coming.

Each book is stand-alone, and you do not have to read them in order, BUT ----- I highly advise that you do, because you will understand the characters and situations with much greater depth if you do. Which book is my favorite? Whichever one he wrote last because each one just gets better than the last.

If you like fantasy, scifi, wizards, magic, action, adventure or humor in your fiction, then you are missing out on one of the best on the market today by not reading the Dresden series.

This series is one of my absolute favorite out of dozens of series. 100 points for me

If you like humor, suspense, mystery, wizards and magic, deep characters that are dynamic, surprises and unpredictability and a world of its own (like Harry Potter) set in a real world (Chicago), then you HAVE TO read Dresden. In fact, if you try the first three books and really do not like it, I will personally guarantee your purchase. Send me your receipt and your books, and tell me why you did not like each book, with convincing specifics (because I am not likely to believe you), and I will send you a check for the price of the books. Offer good for the rest of 2009 and 2010.

How to Use This Blog

I want this blog to be useful to you. If you are considering between one or two new authors, and haven't heard much about them, then I want to be one more friend that offers you an opinion. I've been standing in the aisle at Barne's and Noble, passing new authors from hand to hand, wondering if the book is as good as the synopsis sounds, or if I really just want to buy the book because of the really hot woman in the nightgown on the cover. Look to my blog before you consider starting a new book or new author. I’ve read hundreds of books. It will take some time, but I plan to review them all. Right now, there are only a few reviews up, but eventually there will be hundreds. That means eventually, this blog will be useful to you, if you are interested in the same kinds of books as me.

I will give a book a score between 0 and 100, and the score is mostly gestält. Basically, every book starts at 100, but a very rare book will end at 100. I am more interested in promoting books with humor than those without, for philosophical reasons stated in my post on “What I Report on and Why.” If there is virtually no humor in a book, then it loses 5 points off the top. So if it is otherwise perfect, it is a 95 point book. I’ve read some books that I have loved that lacked humor. When I review them, they might just get a perfect 95. Some of my favorite books that are very funny have lacked high literary standards. So while Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s series changed my life, they won’t be getting 100’s. Likewise, I will remove points for books that are notably lacking in any of the areas noted below. At the end of each review, I will post the score, and why I gave it. Mind you, these are not bullet points that each author has to hit in every book.

If you taste is similar to mine, then read the books that score 90 or higher

If you taste is different than mine, then read my review and decide for yourself if this sounds like a book you'd want to read.

I will try to make easy links to Amazon for everybook I review, just in case one really piques your interest.

Structure of this Blog:

Most postings will be novel critiques. I don’t see any reason to write new synopses when the authors and editors have worked so hard on honing them down to the precision they want. I'm not blogging to give you sparkish notes or a book report. I'm blogging to hopefully give you some idea of whether or not you might actually like the book yourself, to give you a litmus test as to if you would want to spend your time and money on the book. Consider me a screener. If you find you agree with me, or generally disagree with my opinions, either way I hope you find my reviews useful as a guide.

I will also write comparisons and contrasts of individual books, authors, book series. I will also write a commentaries on some of my favorites in regards to these.

While I am not here to write summaries or synopsis, it is hard to achieve my objectives without some degree of summary about the book. I'm here to give you my very carefully thought out opinion and reasons behind those opinions. You can take them or leave them. Like my dad always said; opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. But then, I never really liked my dad very much, and he died young from alcohol abuse and tobacco excess. But he was right about opinions.

What I Report on & Why:

Three Categories of Novels:

1. Books with humor. See my Principles of Choosing Fiction #4


2. Science Fiction/Fantasy. See my 4 Mutations Short of Perfection post.


3. Medical Fiction: Because I am a medical doctor, I have more credentials to critique this than other genres. I don’t read as much of it as others, so you won't see as many critiques on it.

Priniciples of Choosing Fiction

David Kirchinger's Four Principles of Choosing Fiction

1. The Principle of Inverse Fiction Proportions:
There are more good books than you can read in a lifetime; therefore, life is too short to read mediocre books.

2. The Principle of Fiction Taste:
We don’t all agree on what constitutes good fiction. That doesn’t make either of us right or wrong.

3. The Principle of Universal Fiction Quality:
While tastes may vary there ARE characteristics of fiction that can be universally evaluated in any genre, by any writer, of any age or language, to judge the quality of the fiction


4. The Principle of Sadness and Humor:
My life has been too full of sadness already. At the age of 48, I've had more sadness and soul-emptying disappointments than anyone needs. A book that make me laugh are twice as good as a book that doesn't. If a book doesn't make me laugh, it damned well had better be incredibly mind-blowing fantastic in every other way.


How are my principles useful to you?

While we will not all agree on whether or not a particular piece of fiction is worth reading, literature can be evaluated judged, and compared to standards, and rated as to value. In the end, you may not agree with my judgment, but if you know the criteria that I judge by, then you should have a reasonable likelihood of finding my evaluations useful to you; whether as a guide because you agree with me, or as a guide because you think I am an idiot, and you decide to follow the opposite of what I recommend.

4 Mutations Short of Perfection

Humanity would be a perfect race if we could just go through at least 4 more mutations:

1. Lose our ability for bigotry and hate
2. Lose our thirst for violence
3. Increase our aptitude for patience -- good things take much longer than we like
4. Increase the median intelligence to the same point which is the current top ten percentile.


So what does the 4 mutations of humanity this have to do with my science fiction/fantasy fiction blog? Because in my opinion, the most important value of SciFi is to make us stop and think about what could be. Good SciFi fiction asks big "what if" questions, and challenges our dogmas and stereotypes. What if we overcame those lack of mutations, or even just one of them? I think this is the best genre to broaden our minds. This speculation often leads to dark and pessimistic views on the future, but not always. Take Star Trek, for example; humans learn to live cooperatively with each other, and other species. Nothing is more optimistic to me than the thought that humanity could someday overcome its 4 missing mutations, and SciFi helps me to visualize that, if only for a moment.



The same should be extended to all types of fictions. I just personally believe that scifi/fantasy is the best genre to achieve this.