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Will Sargent reviewed What Should I Do With My Life? The True Story Of People Who Answered The Ultimate Question by Po Bronson

Po Bronson: What Should I Do With My Life? The True Story Of People Who Answered The Ultimate Question (Hardcover, Thorndike Press)

Review of 'What Should I Do With My Life? The True Story Of People Who Answered The Ultimate Question' on 'Storygraph'

2 stars

Eeesh. It's rather embarrassing to even admit having read this. But I feel better, because at least I'm not in the position of having written this book. Having to read about Bronson's bald fantasies about being a writer and sleeping four hours a day so he could write more... I am in awe at the object lesson that Bronson provides. He has become a writer and fulfilled his dream, but only so he can write about himself. The people he writes about are backdrop, filler, to the quest that Bronson provides for himself. And it's also obvious that the people who Bronson writes about are those most like himself. All in all, a fairly nauseating experience.

Will Sargent rated Gourmet cooking for dummies: 4 stars

Charlie Trotter: Gourmet cooking for dummies (1997, IDG Books Worldwide)

Gourmet cooking for dummies by Charlie Trotter (--For dummies)

Trotter's book stands equally alongside the works of Julia Child and James Beard. -- Library Journal Cooking a gourmet dinner …

Will Sargent reviewed Banner of souls by Liz Williams (Bantam Spectra science fiction)

Liz Williams: Banner of souls (2004, Bantam Books)

One of Mars's most elite warriors, Dreams-of-War, must travel to Earth. where she has been …

Review of 'Banner of souls' on 'Storygraph'

1 star

I had a hard time reading this book. It's one of the few science fiction books where I couldn't hold my suspension of disbelief.

Forget the haunt-tech bringing the spirits of the underworld back to life to serve in machinery. I'll buy that, I'll buy a time travelling 9 year old, I'll buy that all the males are dead and that people on Mars believe that they colonized Earth rather than vice versa.

But. This is a civilization which can jump from Pluto to Earth, and they don't have ubiquitous e-mail. Or cellphones. Or anything resembling a police force that would like to notice these interesting characters running around with guns. Not are there barely any characters surrounding the protagonists, there's barely a sense that the world reacts to their presence. It's a backdrop.

And looking at it more closely: what in this story had any science behind it, or …

I had a hard time reading this book. It's one of the few science fiction books where I couldn't hold my suspension of disbelief.

Forget the haunt-tech bringing the spirits of the underworld back to life to serve in machinery. I'll buy that, I'll buy a time travelling 9 year old, I'll buy that all the males are dead and that people on Mars believe that they colonized Earth rather than vice versa.

But. This is a civilization which can jump from Pluto to Earth, and they don't have ubiquitous e-mail. Or cellphones. Or anything resembling a police force that would like to notice these interesting characters running around with guns. Not are there barely any characters surrounding the protagonists, there's barely a sense that the world reacts to their presence. It's a backdrop.

And looking at it more closely: what in this story had any science behind it, or any kind of scientific thinking? You could transplant this story very effectively into a Lord of the Rings type setting and be none the wiser -- the ghosts would still be ghosts, the one dimensional warriors would still be one dimensional warriors, and the kind nursemaids, the plucky young girl with mystical powers and the evil monsters would all be exactly intact. And it would be more believable.

Anyway. The plot is forgettable, the characters hackneyed, and the world ridiculous. Apart from that, it's great.

Will Sargent reviewed Monkey Portraits by Jill Greenberg

Jill Greenberg: Monkey Portraits (Paperback, Little, Brown and Company)

Review of 'Monkey Portraits' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

Lifechanging. Those funny monkeys!

Will Sargent rated The Faery Reel: 4 stars

Ellen Datlow, Charles Vess, Emma Bull, Kelly Link, Terri Windling, Charles De Lint: The Faery Reel (Puffin)

The Faery Reel by Ellen Datlow, Charles Vess, Emma Bull, and 3 others

A collection of stories and poems about faeries in all parts of the world by a variety of authors.

Will Sargent rated The R. Crumb coffee table art book: 3 stars

Robert Crumb: The R. Crumb coffee table art book (1997, Little, Brown)

The R. Crumb coffee table art book by Robert Crumb

Will Sargent reviewed Water: a view from Japan : text by Bernard Barber

Bernard Barber: Water (1974, Weatherhill)

Review of 'Water' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

My godfather's book. :-)

Will Sargent reviewed Bedlam Planet by John Brunner

John Brunner: Bedlam Planet (Paperback, Del Rey, Ballantine Books)

A story about colonists on an alien world, and the psychological effects thereof.

Review of 'Bedlam Planet' on 'Storygraph'

2 stars

I don't know what it is, but the more John Brunner I read, the less I'm impressed. The writing is just so... 1950s. The characters are cardboard cutouts, the plot is derivative, and the payoff is contrived.

It's not awful. But it's not The Shockwave Rider or Stand on Zanzibar by a long shot.