“Warriors of Mars” by Michael Moorcock (aka Edward P. Bradbury)

Annotation:

Physicist Michael Kane finds himself inexplicably transported to an ancient Mars. With no way back to Earth he resigns himself to his fate, forever changing the face of Mars.


Summary:

The author, “Mr. Bradbury” happens upon one Michael Kane while on an ocean cruise. Kane seems disturbed, and opens up to the author about why he seems out of sorts. Michael Kane proceeds to tell the author about what has happened. This same exact plot device was used by Edgar Rice Burroughs in The Moon Maid, but since this a pastiche of/tribute to Burroughs, it works and it makes the vital connection to suspend belief for the audience.

As he relates his tale, Michael Kane finds himself upon Mars, or Vashu as the locals call it, and makes the acquaintance of the beautiful (most Martians appear human) Shizala, princess of the city-state Varnal. She tutors him in the Martian dialect and customs, soon Kane falls in love with her. It is not to be however, as she is betrothed to the prince of an allied kingdom. Kane has little time to sulk though, as the Argzoon, 12-foot tall, blue giants lay siege to the Green City Varnal.

After much fighting and swashbuckling, Kane presses the attack to the giant’s camp using an ancient flying machine only to find out that a human woman is somehow coercing the giants to attack Varnal. No sooner does she get away, than Kane discovers that Shizala has been kidnapped. On he presses to the caves of the blue giants.

After several more capture/escape/capture/escape scenarios, Kane rescues Shizala, reveals that her betrothed was actually a traitor, and is about to marry her, when he is somehow returned back to present day Earth by his colleagues.


Review:

Let’s establish this from the beginning, this is not Moorcock’s finest work, but it isn’t meant to be. It knows what it is, a tribute to pulp sci-fi Mars stories. That said the book is fairly enjoyable as a pure adventure story.

The book starts off with realistic, in-story technology and ideas. The transportation to a Mars millions of years ago is original and allows for greater creativity by escaping the contemporary Mars which would have been overshadowed by Burroughs’ Barsoom stories. The creatures, people, and cultures are fairly interesting, and the Argzoon (blue giants) are also an interesting addition.

The addition of an ancient and advanced race, the Sheev and the Yaksha, that disappeared from ancient Mars even further back adds to the mystery of the planet. Unfortunately these threads are never fully explored.

Ratings system:

I would like to have a 5 star rating system, but I don’t know how to put the stars on here yet, so instead I will give a score out of 5 until I figure out the stars. I will also justify my rankings. If you disagree, please comment, I won’t change my rating, but it will be fun to discuss these things.


1) Readability/Pace - Warriors of Mars was a fairly quick read, and interesting enough to finish rather quickly. 5/5 Stars. The language is also fairly easy to understand, and the text is not too dense. It was pretty enjoyable read.

2) Plot – There was not a large amount of plot, more or less it borrowed many plot devices from the pulps. The outlander assimilating into the alien culture, falling in love (usually with a princess), and having many captures and escapes. He also manages to befriend an enemy in typical fashion, this friend ends up to assist the hero at the most unexpected time. All in all, a pretty good take on a very Burroughsian plot.

For fans of the Sword and Planet Genre, or someone who has never read one, I would give this 3.5/5, but for anyone looking for a great piece of literature probably 2/5. It’s an adventure story through and through, don’t expect anything else.

3) Characters – Michael Kane’s only real growth is in learning the customs of Mars. His background is also fairly interesting since it explains how he happens to be an expert swordsman. Michael Kane is not terribly well developed character-wise, he is somewhat of a typical action star in a Schwarzenegger movie. Characterization, I’ll give 2.5/5 because many characters seem to fit into the genre’s archetypes.

4) Random Trivia – Since this is a tribute to Burroughs, theoretically, one could pull a “Den Valdron” and even mesh this story in with Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom, especially with information given in later novels.

Firstly, Michael Kane is a scientist working on a sort of teleportation machine. Now in Burroughs’s actual stories, I did not see any such device, but in Mahars of Pellucidar by John Eric Holmes, there is a teleportation machine that is being made. Could they be related? It would be interesting to further explore the links.

Secondly, the main character relates his “true” story to the author, who then publishes it as fiction due to the unbelievably of the tale. In this case, Kane meets “Bradbury” on an ocean cruise, much like in Burroughs’ Moon Maid.

Lastly, the riding animals that are used, daharas, are described as something like an ape-like creature. Since this Mars is millions of years in the past, one could argue that evolution causes these creatures to become the Rykors used by the Kaldanes in Burroughs’ Thuvia Maid of Mars. This is speculation at this point.

There could be more trivia related to other Mars fiction, so if you can point it out, that’d be great to see.

NEXT TIME: Blades of Mars

Still Under Construction!! Futher Details

All of the reviews will be based on my own opinions. I admit that I have a particular bias, so there are going to be points where you and I disagree. Here is a break down of what this Blog will accomplish:

Title of the Book

annotation: Brief, catchy description of the book's plot

Brief summary of story

Review, discuss what I like, and did not like.

Rating of the following pieces. This will be on either a 1-10, 10 being the best, or a 5 star scale.

1) Readability/Pace - Did the book keep my interest? Was it fast paced? Did it seem to take forever to read it.

2) Plot - how was the plot?

3) Characters - Are the Characters interesting? Annoying? Do they have growth?

4) Interesting Facts/Trivia - ANy interesting trivia that I can find

See you soon!

!!!Under construction Notice!!!

Hi everyone, thanks for checking out my blog, and hopefully past blogs as well. I have just finished my Young Adult Literature class, hopefully with a good grade. That said, I will continue to review books on this blog, but the format will change. I will start to focus on several facets of greatness while writing a review. Here's what you can hope to expect soon:

* a wider focus on novels apart from YA titles. There will still be review of those, but there may be less.

* I plan to read a wider variety of novels, but for a time at least, I will be focusing primarily on Science Fiction, fantasy novels with a particular focus on Sword and Planet, Star Wars, and Vintage 1930's - 1970's Science fiction.

* I will also review comics. This includes undiscovered talents from the online comics world, because darn it, they need to be recognized!

* I will also try to squeeze in actual literature as well.

* I may be doing other blogs about restaurant reviews, movie and music reviews, and Other things.

* I will also try to review up and coming undiscovered gems.

* Lastly, things being reviewed will not necessarily be the latest and greateset, but will also encompass "Blasts from the Past," and underappreciated releases from a while ago that you may have missed.

OK, that's it for now. I will be contemplating review criteria, if you have any suggestions for a review criteria, let me know. I have some ideas, but nothing solid.

See you soon!

Passionate Plea Fiction

I most passionately plea that you read and vote for Jumper, by Steven Gould. Each page that you turn, will only pique your interest to read the next one. Gould’s narrative keeps you guessing, and raising the stakes ever higher. As Davy gains control over his powers, his challenges become greater. He first escapes from his father’s abuse and from being raped by truckers by teleporting accidently. But as he learns to control his powers, he escapes from police detection, robs a bank and eludes detection for a time. At this point his biggest risk is his girlfriend or the police discovering his ability. During this time, he is also growing from a young man to full self sufficiency as he consciously decides to stop relying on his father’s support (Davy uses his power to facilitate food theft) and hack it on his own.

After a family catastrophe, Davy trains to develop his powers to take on terrorists, but as he becomes a nigh unstoppable force for vengeance, the NSA begins to hunt him down. As this part of his growth unfurls, his girlfriend is held hostage to ensure his compliance. In the midst of all of these breathtaking events, Davy struggles to find his identity and independence. He searches for maturity, and struggles with his morality.

Jumper is as much about Davy’s growing up, and leaving the shadow of his abusive past as it is about his ability to teleport. Jumper hits the highest amount of developmental flags of all the books I’ve read this semester. It’s also got the protagonist going against steep odds, and a large sense of uncertainty. Read Jumper, you won’t regret it.

Passionate Plea Non-Fiction

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor truly has it all. Being Bruce Campbell’s autobiography, his voice rings true when reflecting on his younger years while successfully bringing us to his adulthood. Bruce begins with his childhood in suburban Michigan highlighting some of his adventures from childhood and adolescence. Along the way, he hits several of the developmental areas, chief among them being independent at such an early age. Some of his hijinks include an elaborate fort/tunnel system, wanton destruction of green army men, and using paper lanterns to create a UFO sighting. These adventures lay the foundation for his further life, that of becoming an actor.

During his adolescence, he and his friends over come the odds and make an 8MM film for their local community. With their quasi success, they are inspired to go further and make an actual feature film in their early adulthood. Bruce and Co. raise money, find actors, film in grueling conditions, lose actors, and must gain more money to distribute the film. In short, they overcome huge odds to make and sell their film, Evil Dead. The remainder of the book focuses on Bruce’s struggles to make a living as an actor.
While the early half of the book focuses on the developmental areas, and becoming independent, the second half serves as a great roleplaying experience for teens to read. Acting is not always glamorous and it’s definitely not easy. Reading about it from the eyes of an “everyman” like Bruce Campbell, with a relatable growing up experience, Bruce makes the life of an actor something anyone can relate to.

"Witness" By Karen Hesse

Annotation:

Small town in Vermont takes on dramatic changes when the KKK slime their way into authority by using their most common weapons. Fear and intimidation. Perseverance, and mercy are the only weapons to fight back with.

Justification for a Neutral Stance:

Leanora Sutter, and Esther Hirsch; African-American, and Jewish teens respectively are already eyed suspiciously by the townspeople, except a few kind souls in the town. When the KKK worms their way into town, they become the targets of hate, and discrimination.

The Klan also affects many other people in the town, many do not wish to be a part of it, but some jump at the chance. One, a grocer, decides to join as a way to boost sales in his store, despite his wife's protest. The other, the local Reverend of all people joins for his own reasons.

Through several plot twists, an unlikely assassin makes an attempt on Esther's father, while another is ordered to poison the well water at Leanora's place, but due to an attack of conscience cannot bring himself to do it. The insanity of the Klan's reign of terror come to an abrupt end when Calvin Coolidge is elected president.

This book I can neither reject, nor nominate for several reasons. First I will do the unpleasant thing, and announce it's shortcomings. The story of "Witness" is a bit hard to follow, it's obvious how the Klan comes to town, but I could not really determine why. Second, the Klan leave with no reason that I could discern in one reading. Third, as a YA novel, it does not delve much into the adolescent developmental process. Lastly, the story didn't really "grab me." It's a good story, but in my opinion it was not great.

The things this book does well, is it offers up a few interesting characters, and there are some themes that while not Young Adult themed, should be learned by YA. First, the characters, Iris Weaver, the local booze runner, is interesting as a free spirit but appears to have no actual purpose in the story, or with the Klan.

Merlin van Tornhaut is kind of sympathetic, but not very. He gets implicated as a murder suspect in a shooting case, but he couldn't have done it. He was about to poison some body's well that night, luckily he didn't make it. His only redeeming quality is that his cnscience kept him from being an effective Klan member.

The preacher was just a creep, mainly because a Christian man should be preaching peace, but he was a hatemonger, and pedophile.

Esther, by far my favorite character, was incredibly innocent, and she was just an endearing presence of love in a maelstrom of hate.

I think the themes in this book also are a redeeming quality, and may be of interest to YA. Firstly it will allow them to explore how ignorant racism is, and show that victims of hate could be someone like you or me. Second, "Witness" shows what happens when peer pressure gets out of control until reason has left everyone.

Although there are some good themes addressed in this book, and some of the characters are of note, "Witness" is a good book that could have been better. The characters and situations are a great start for a great story, but the story feels like it's missing a few things. It failed to draw me into the story in any significant way, and resolved events too cleanly and quickly. I cannot nominate this book for our award because it lacks many qualities that it should possess, but nor can I reject it because it does bring up some pertinent issues.


Genre: Verse novel, Historical fiction

“Fat Kid Rules the World” by K.L. Going

Annotation:

Super-self conscious “Fat Kid,” meets apathetic skinny street-rat. Skinny Kid saves Fat Kid and hi-jinks, near beatings, illness(s), and punk music ensue.

Justification for Nomination:

Troy Billings, New York “Fat Kid” extraordinaire is tired of people laughing at him for being fat, so he decides to do something about it. He contemplates suicide by jumping into the path of a subway, but is rescued by quasi-homeless Punk Rock genius, and fellow student, Curt McCrae. The two discuss things over dinner, and before long, a friendship has grown. Troy’s father at first doesn’t approve, but decides to give Curt a second chance. Soon, Curt decides he wants Troy as a drummer.

Curt smooth-talks Troy into skipping school on Mondays to go practice, their first session takes them to the home of Curt’s mother. They listen to old albums until it begins to get dark. Curt bolts out of the house leaving Troy alone in a strangers house. Troy barely escapes without being caught. Throughout the next few weeks, Curt is somewhat unreliable nearly getting Troy into trouble. Eventually real practice starts, and Troy must balance doing the right thing by going to school, and meeting Curt’s random schedule for practice. They eventually play a gig, with not-so-good results.

Troy sinks into depression and refuses to have anything to do with music, until he finds out that Curt has been sleeping on the streets near him. He finds Curt, and agrees to get back together for the band, but Curt soon falls seriously ill. Troy helps Curt to get well, and overcome his drug addiction, leaving only time to tell if Curt truly recovers, and they go on to become punk rock legends.

Nearly everything in this book is Troy’s narration, or observation, and he is incredibly honest. Troy has a self deprecating wit, and seems to have come to terms with who he is as “Fat Kid.” He even has come to a point where he can laugh at himself, and is not afraid to describe himself when he huffs, and sweats. He is very real, and as such it is easy to relate to him, and empathize with him.

Troy’s father deserves some credit, being an ex-marine, and into athletics, especially with his active son Dayle. He decides to support Troy’s decision to get into music, despite not approving at first. He eventually caves in and even buys Troy a drum set.

This book is nomination worthy because it hits many of the developmental YA areas. Troy is aware of who he is, but at the same time is discovering things about himself that never dreamed of, such as his ability to play drums. Troy also has an idea of who he is in relation to everyone else; to other kids, he is a joke; to his dad, a disappointment; to girls, a repulsive sight; to his younger brother, an embarrassment. Despite this, he also discover something new about himself like his ability to play drums, to “live” the unpretentious punk life, to actually be popular to others because of his talents.

“Fat Kid” also hits the point of a quest, in that Troy has a quest to become a sufficient drummer. Troy doesn’t seem idealistic, at least in the sense that he can “do anything,” quite the opposite in fact, he is convinced that he has no redeeming points. He does however stick to what he believes in. He stops skipping school for practice, and desires to at least respect his father. To me, that is pretty idealistic in our day.

Troy also has incredibly high awareness of his sexual development, noticing just about every hot girl, which shows that he is developing. Troy is also extremely self conscious, and introspective. Troy also tries to solve Curt’s problem of homelessness and illness, is uncertain about his musical ability, and eventually overcomes the odds to become a decent drum player. In short, Troy is a very realistic teen character that I found easy to empathize with.

Suggestions for improvement:

This book is pretty good, but the amount of swearing was pretty high, in addition Curt’s possible drug use was kind of alarming. In a sense though, this is art imitating life, and Going definitely uses these two points to make believable characters. Descriptions of things could have also been better, but since it’s the observations of a teen, who is preoccupied with a lot of other stuff I think it’s excusable. In this case, I name Troy an unreliable narrator, and cannot place the fault on the author.