I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did.
I didn't like the protagonist. I didn't like the manic pixie dream girl love interest. I didn't like portentous Uncle Harry. I didn't like the false dichotomy. I didn't like the superpowers. I didn't like the intrigues of the art world. I didn't like the ending.
There's a statement about books that I like from lithub.com/men-explain-lolita-to-me/
"Paying attention is the foundational act of empathy, of listening, of seeing, of imagining experiences other than one’s own, of getting out of the boundaries of one’s own experience. There’s a currently popular argument that books help us feel empathy, but if they do so they do it by helping us imagine that we are people we are not. Or to go deeper within ourselves, to be more aware of what it means to be heartbroken, or ill, or …
Reviews and Comments
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Will Sargent reviewed The sculptor by Scott McCloud
"David Smith is giving his life for his art--literally. Thanks to a deal with Death, …
Review of 'The sculptor' on 'Storygraph'
2 stars
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did.
I didn't like the protagonist. I didn't like the manic pixie dream girl love interest. I didn't like portentous Uncle Harry. I didn't like the false dichotomy. I didn't like the superpowers. I didn't like the intrigues of the art world. I didn't like the ending.
There's a statement about books that I like from lithub.com/men-explain-lolita-to-me/
"Paying attention is the foundational act of empathy, of listening, of seeing, of imagining experiences other than one’s own, of getting out of the boundaries of one’s own experience. There’s a currently popular argument that books help us feel empathy, but if they do so they do it by helping us imagine that we are people we are not. Or to go deeper within ourselves, to be more aware of what it means to be heartbroken, or ill, or six, or ninety-six, or completely lost. Not just versions of our self rendered awesome and eternally justified and always right, living in a world in which other people only exist to help reinforce our magnificence, though those kinds of books and comic books and movies exist in abundance and cater to the male imagination."
The Sculptor is about an artist rendered awesome. He doesn't listen. He doesn't grow. He doesn't see. He doesn't imagine experiences outside his own. Instead, he suffers dramas, and creates Great Art. It's an artist's self-indulgent wish fulfillment.
Apart from that, it was okay.
Review of 'A.D.' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Good, but the format is off and there is not as much on the page as I would like. There could have been more overview and context to place these stories and talk about the dome and the larger picture.
Will Sargent rated Ms. Marvel: 4 stars
Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson (Marvel now!)
"From the moment Kamala put on her costume, she's been challenged. But nothing has prepared her for this: the last …
Will Sargent reviewed Lumberjanes by ND Stevenson (Lumberjanes -- 02)
"Five girls become instant best friends when they go to camp and discover there is …
Review of 'Lumberjanes' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Is funny. There are dinosaurs. And Zeus makes bad Dad jokes.
In this alternative version of J.K. Rowling's famous tale, Petunia Evans marries the biochemist Michael …
Review of 'Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Neat, in the places where Harry Potter is realistically a 12 year old boy, especially his interactions with Hermione (who, all things considered, still could have done with more agency.)
In the places where Harry Potter talks about defeating death, it reads as a bullshit extropian transhumanist tract. Death isn't a touchstone for Harry. He doesn't remember his biological parents. He wasn't touched by death as a child, unless you consider his pet rock. I understand that there's some plot magic, but it just doesn't ring true.
Will Sargent rated Young Avengers: 4 stars
Will Sargent rated Young Avengers: 5 stars
Will Sargent rated Young Avengers: 5 stars
Kieron Gillen: Young Avengers (2014, Marvel)
Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen (Marvel now!)
T+
They say you can never go home. For the Young Avengers, that's not true. They can go home--it's just …
Will Sargent rated Wicked + the Divine Vol. 2: 5 stars
Will Sargent reviewed Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch, #3)
For a moment, things seemed to be under control for Breq, the soldier who used …
Review of 'Ancillary Mercy' on 'Storygraph'
2 stars
I know I should like this book. But I don't.
I get tired of the talk of breakfast and tea. The voyeurism of private conversation and personal heartbreak. The totally unprofessional military officers. And I can't believe the AI are that stupid. It just doesn't work for me. It's like The Culture crossed with Downton Abbey.
Will Sargent reviewed Wuvable Oaf: Blood & Metal by Ed Luce
There are metal-heads, cat lovers, and bears (oh my!) in Luce’s sequel to his successful …
Review of 'Wuvable Oaf: Blood & Metal' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
James Sime did not sufficiently warn me about this book. It was described as "an adorable book about a man who is incredibly sweet and loves kittehs."
Which is true, but this is a book about a gay man, a "bear" and his friends, and their love lives. Which involve everything up to golden showers, a band called "Ejaculoid" that performs sets while moshing in a paddle pool full of mud, and... well... there's a Titangiasaur. Yes. No, I'm not explaining. In that respect, it's a bit like Sex Criminals or the Filth, if all the protagonists were exclusively gay.
While the art is lovely and all the kittehs are very adorable, it's also more explicit than Sex Criminals. We're talking Omaha the Cat Dancer or Black Hole here. It makes a great read, but you can't really read this in public.
Review of 'The Traitor Baru Cormorant (Baru Cormorant #1)' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Is good book. Reminded me of Use of Weapons, only set in medieval age -- no-one is an idiot, and the world is dangerous.
Will Sargent reviewed The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
"The legendary novel of extraterrestrial war in an uncaring universe comes to comics, in a …
Review of 'The Forever War' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Is good book.
Will Sargent reviewed The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Best book ever
Review of 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
This is the rare book that is as good as everyone says it is. Unlike Patrick Rothfuss's books.