108.
Title: [Reaper Man]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: December 29, 2016
Rating: ****

The character of Death in Terry Pratchett's Discworld is a fan-favorite, just outside of human existence enough to ask probing existential questions, just robotic enough to be interestingly uncanny, yet familiar and human enough to garner sympathy and interest. Death is not something (or someone) to fear, but a force (and personality) that is simply there, no matter what. Reaper Man is the book in which this personality is most fully developed for the first time, building on his last appearance as a master taking an apprentice, and focusing on Death as a primary character.

Concerned about his force of personality - the fact that he is a he at all - the Auditors of the universe decide to force Death's retirement, introducing his own life timer, and sending Discworld into undead disarray. With time on his hands for the first, well, time, Death rides off to experience life, settling in as a farm hand while trying to work out this whole existence thing. Meanwhile, the rest of Discworld is noticing a stasis of life, with people and things dying ... but not going anywhere. Such is the case with Windle Poons, a wizard who achieves 130 years and dies on appointment, only to get up a bit later when the afterlife isn't quite what he expected. After all, there's nothing there, and for the first time in awhile he has the force of will to walk and talk.

Under the care of Archchancellor Ridcully, the wizards are far more endearing and entertaining, a first look at the undead offers a good chuckle to fans of horror, and the true character of Death shines.

The book puts me in mind of another piece of Pratchett's writing: his 2010 essay My Case for a Euthanasia Tribunal. I used this in the college classroom to teach rhetoric, which Pratchett uses beautifully, but I also enjoy his writing for the thing itself. It also speaks to how and why Pratchett creates his Death character as he does.

Back to write reviews, because the holiday is over and now I can.

104.
Title: [Moving Pictures]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: December 18, 2016
Rating: ****

Moving Pictures is the first in the "industry" sub-genre of Discworld, and satirizes the rise and fall of a HollywoodHoly Wood
empire.  The Alchemists have learned how to turn light, not lead, into gold, and set out into the desert, away from the oppressive gaze of Wizards who may call it magic, to do just that.  Around the Discworld others feel the pull and draw of Holy Wood, and set out to fill their niches.  What none realize, however, is that the untimely death of a hermit priest, who never found time to train a successor, has released an unusual magic into the social sphere, and its this menacing force which is luring people out and into a world of fantasy.
The sarcasm and satire of Moving Pictures carries a narrative of forgettable characters, and serves as a solid stand-alone book for those who enjoy old Hollywood, and Pratchett's brand of snark.


105.
Title: [The Reptile Room]
Author: Lemony Snicket
Genre: Children's
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library
Date Completed: 12.19.16
Rating: ****

After the discovery of Count Olaf's nefarious theatrical plans, the orphans are withdrawn from the proffered peace of a life with the Judge, and instead taken out into the countryside to another very distant and hitherto unknown relative.  They are relieved to find that this relative is rather well suited to their emotional and intellectual care, as a portly scientist who is rather fond of movies. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny feel almost guilty in their relief and happiness, and look forward to the expedition on which they are scheduled to depart with their cheerful new guardian.

That is, until the new assistant arrives.

The second installment of Unfortunate Events is perhaps even more charming than the first. Reading much like a short story to an adult audience, the pacing is strong, the narrative voice is compelling, and the predictability contributes rather than detracts from the story's overall success.

106.
Title: [Hyperbole and a Half]
Author: Allie Brosh
Genre: Graphic Memoirs
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library
Date Completed: 12.20.16
Rating: ****

Even readers who are unfamiliar with likely know the work of Allie Brosh, if only for the saturation of meme culture and the use of her "All the Things." 

The Original:


And homages/appropriations:
 

Brosh's book is a collection of short essays and narratives, most (if not all? I'm not entirely sure) available on her blog, but perhaps more satisfying in physical textual form for reasons only my nerdy-lizard-hind brain understands. Her self-awareness and self-deprecation serve as both a point of sympathy and understanding for the reader, and as a defense mechanism for the author, and the end product is a collection of narratives which turns discomfort into something ultimately positive.  No knowledge of her blog is necessary to enjoy Brosh's writing, and it may make an interesting segue into the world of graphic texts/memoirs for those who are not traditionally fans of the genre.

107.
Title: [A Christmas Carol]
Author: Charles Dickens
Genre: Ghost Story
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition:
Date Completed: 12.22.16
Rating: *****

In deference to long nights, foreboding weather, and a general desire to cozy up to their fellows, the Victorians enjoyed a publication tradition perhaps a bit unusual today, but one which I would love to see revived: they marketed ghost stories for Christmas.  Literary magazines would publish special "extra" editions in December, and featured both serialized and whole works of fiction of the gothic or horrific bent, like Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Body Snatcher," published in December of 1884. The popularity of the macabre is a well-known nineteenth-century cultural institution, and as they invented Christmas as we largely understand the celebration today the Victorians maintained their investment in the cult of mourning, the macabre, and a hyper-awareness of the tenuous nature of life.

Charles Dickens' short novel A Christmas Carol is a fantastically constructed cultural capsule, delightful in its prose, familiar in its story, and charming in its narrative. It is the Christmas Victoriana known and assumed today, and while Victoriana is itself far more complicated than this, one could do worse than Scrooge, ghosts, and a Dickensian Christmas.  I attempt to read the book every December, and it's no laborious task - and I'm not one who generally enjoys Dickens.

103.
Title: [A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning]
Author: Lemony Snicket
Genre: Children's
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library
Date Completed: 12.12.16
Rating: ****

The Baudelaire children, Violet (14), Klaus (12), and Sunny, are privileged, intelligent, and loyal figures who are very quickly orphaned by a catastrophic fire, and whisked off to live with a previously-unknown relative, Count Olaf. Olaf, of course, has eyes only for their fortune, and begins some dreadful scheming as soon as the bank solicitor Mr. Poe informs him that no one can tough the fortune until Violet is of age. Intended for early readers, the plot of this novel is quick and simple, without being simplistic - Lemony Snicket does not make the mistake of underestimating his readers, and instead shows that he believes children can handle unsavory narratives and new vocabulary with just a little help. The story is built on themes such as sibling bonding, research, self-sufficiency, and the absolutely ludicrous culture of adulthood which favors strange legalities over happy endings.  I will certainly suggest this one to my own offspring, and will seek out the second for myself.

102.
Title: [The Girl With All the Gifts]
Author: M.R. Carey
Genre: science fiction
Medium: hardback
Acquisition: Library
Date Completed: Gave up after 250 pages
Rating: **

Released as a film in September of 2016, Carey's The Girl With All the Gifts seemed to be a fresh take on the dystopian zombie genre, offering fresh ideas and dynamic characters in a thoroughly saturated market. The protagonist is Melanie, a young girl with no memories other than the compound in which she lives, and understanding the world outside only through the lessons she and her fellow children receive from a handful of questionably-qualified instructors. As the novel progresses, or if the audience has already seen the trailer, it becomes clear that Melanie is actually a zombie child, and that the facility is testing zombie children who retain some semblance of mental prowess in order to distill an antidote, or vaccine.  The strength of Carey's novel is in Melanie herself, whose complexity is balanced with her naturally childlike innocence and demeanor - here is a zombie one would want to shelter and protect, whose IQ is higher than most of the living adults around her. She's fascinating, and not just to the likely-psychopathic Dr. Caldwell who has collected these zombie children as test subjects to be dissected and discarded.

And after 250 pages I just couldn't push through any further.  I really wanted to like this book - it holds such promise. Ultimately, though, I found the secondary characters to be wooden, the plot plodding, and the push for differentiating too ludicrous.  Take, for example, the vocabulary of this dystopian world: zombies are called hungries.  Hungries.  Because the obvious "zombies" is too ... banal? And "hungries" is so much more ... I have no idea. It's a juvenile departure from canon that disrupts the attempts at scientific and humanistic approach, suggesting a sophomoric and nearly hispter approach that is unnecessary for the progress of the text. The characters are trite to the point of exhaustion, and after so long I just couldn't care any longer. While I would love to know what happens to Melanie, I just couldn't invest any more time in the book.


A point of curiosity from the film preview: they've swapped races. Melanie, blonde-haired and blue-eyed in the novel, is played by Sennia Nanua; Helen Justineau, described as an overwhelmingly beautiful woman of African descent in the novel, is portrayed by Gemma Arterton. While I'm inclined to posit theories and offer cultural analysis, I'm resisting the temptation without seeing the film. Still, it seems like a potentially charged decision to change the race of the captive, dangerous, at-times bestial zombie, held in captivity by militant white figures.

101.
Title: [Eric]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: December 10, 2016
Rating: **

The most favorable feature of this books is its length, coming in at just 197 pages and utilizing a larger-than-usual font. A young demonologist tries to call a hell-bound slave to satisfy his three wishes, and in a plot twist never believably developed ends up with the lamentable Rincewind instead. Rincewind is a coward, dislikes the current situation, and tries to run. The end.

100.
Title: [Guards! Guards!]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: December 7, 2016
Rating: *****

Some of the most memorable characters in AnkhMorpork are on the Watch, and this is the first novel which introduces them to readers. Sam Vimes is the mostly-drunk Captain of the Night Watch, whose primary function is to yell "all is well!," and who quickly run the other way when it isn't. Vimes, though, possesses an ingrained sense of "right" which is at war with his drunken lethargy, inspired by the cruel mistress that is the city he loves, and which is ultimately brought to the forefront by an enthusiastic new recruit, Carrot, and the Patrician's assurance that the (extinct/imaginary) dragon Vimes claims to have seen could only be a large wading bird.  And that's the tip of the iceberg.

As Vimes attempts to unravel the mystery of the dragon, readers follow the actions of secret societies, watch a developing monarchy, and meet Sybil Ruskin, the posh warrior-esque woman who raises small swamp dragons. Full of wit and satire, and driven by strong characters, Guards! Guards! is a particularly enjoyable Discworld novel, and a clear favorite for fans.

99.
Title: [Pyramids]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: November 29, 2016
Rating: ***

This rather plodding and repetitive novel follows Teppic, the prince and later kind of a strip of dessert kingdom known for building pyramids, never changing, and being the one division between two far larger and more prosperous countries. Following the request of his deceased wife, Teppic's father allows his son to attend the School for Assassins in Ankh Morpork, where wealthy citizens often send their children, as the school boasts an excellent and thorough education - for those who survive. After Teppic's final exam mystic events call him back to the country of his birth, which he recognizes as exceptionally backwards and uncomfortable, especially under the control of the head priest Dios, who resists change like the proverbial unmovable object.  Though Teppic may be sympathetic for his role as young leader with new ideas, facing the same obstacles as every other younger generation attempting to wrest control and inspire change from the last, his only interesting qualities come from his role as an assassin, which is far too limited. The book as a whole is entirely predictable, and not in an overly enjoyable way, with most of the interest being left behind once Teppic journeys home. I'm not sure if I dislike this book as much as I dislike the first two, but it's not one I'd want to return to a third time, and serves here as only a checked box in my determination to read all of Discworld in order. It still earns three stars for being a Pratchett, which means fantastic one-liners, and general superiority to others of the genre.

Feeling super cruddy, so after a morning of chores I finished this one in the bath.  And as soon as I drained the tub my partner came dashing in to tell me that a pipe has busted, pouring my bath water all over the bathroom below.

Sigh.

98.
Title: [Wyrd Sisters]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: November 27, 2016
Rating: ****

It's particularly easy to describe the plot of Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters: it's Macbeth. Largely. With humor, big personalities, and a whole different kind of magic. Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Margrat are three Ramtops witches held together in a familiar but not always warm friendship that is inevitable when mixing big personalities and trying to introduce new ideas to traditionalists.  But when a king is murdered, and the land makes it clear that the new ruler is unacceptable, the makeshift coven works together to try to set things, if not to rights, at least back to a familiar peace.

A master of character-driven narratives, Pratchett gives readers a cast that is nearly uncanny - familiar, and yet apt to behave differently than one would expect. The hijinks are enjoyable, and the familiar story is made surprisingly cheerful and humorous for a plot of murder, intrigue, and madness.  While not my favorite, the witch books generally do not disappoint.

97.
Title: [Die Like an Eagle]
Author: Donna Andrews
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: November 25, 2016
Rating: ****

It's time for Meg Langslow's twins to start baseball, and who else would step in as team mom, as Michael coaches the young Eagles? New to the league, Meg and Michael are quick to learn of the reigning terror of Biff Brown, whose Draconian mismanagement of the league and grounds has caused quite a bit of disquiet.  When Biff's brother ends up dead in a ball field outhouse everyone assumes the killer got the wrong guy - or that Biff himself may have done the deed.

In the past I've had some difficulty reconciling Meg's constant movements and subsequent detachment from her immediate family, from whom she spouses her identity derives. This book, though, does much better in establishing a sense of reality, improving the suspension of disbelief needed in fiction, and further humanizing many of the characters. Although the neighborhood is growing in a series already saturated with big personalities, many of Meg's family fall back to make room, and Andrews establishes a good balance of old and new characters without overwhelming the reader. The mystery, too, is very well paced, and offered some turns and developments I did not expect, even given my experience with the series. A fun mystery, and one I'd recommend for fans of the series.

96.
Title: [Sourcery]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: November 23, 2016
Rating: ***

<>Here we go again...
Everyone knows that Wizards must avoid relations with women ... unless they're cooking their food or working stains out of their laundry, of course. But some years ago a wizard fell in love, was booted from Unseen University, and proceeded to father eight sons.
And thus Coin, the first sourcerer in thousands of years, is born, and the magic of Discworld threatens to return to its earlier state.

A third Rincewind novel, this follows his adventures with new but not entirely unfamiliar company, as propelling forces, including his own conscience, lead him in an awkward attempt to save the Disc from the disaster of the previous Mage wars. Like other Rincewind novels, and perhaps Wizard novels in general, the novel fell a bit flat for me. Though the humor is better than the earliest books, I think I just can't find interest in people Wizards behaving stupidly, even when they demonstrate their own better knowledge.

The rising action, climax, and conclusion are all resoundingly familiar, following the same pattern as the other Rincewind novels, and collectively showing very little development in character or narrative complexity. Unless one is a strong fan of Rincewind or Disc wizards generally, I wouldn't enthusiastically recommend this installment.

94.
Title: [Equal Rites]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: November 16, 2016
Rating: ****

The Eighth Son of an Eighth Son is destined to become a wizard, and a dying wizard may choose, as he nears death, to pass on his magical lineage to another when such a one is born. Equal Rites opens with a wizard traveling with just such a behest in mind, approaching a blacksmith as the blacksmith's wife is busy bringing their eighth child into the world. Thinking that it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have a wizard in the family, the blacksmith doesn't hesitate to drag the midwife out with her bundle the moment the child is born, and neither man listens as she protests the rites of magical staff passage to the infant, followed by the wizard's immediate and expected demise.  And thus the first female wizard is made, Granny Weatherwax is quick to retort, huffing at the mess these men have made.

At a time and place where witches are (women) useful members of society, curing ills, serving as midwives, and generally seeing to the natural order of things, and wizards are (men) magical intellectuals fretting about ceremonies and dinners and copious amounts of tobacco, a young girl starts to shake things up. Caring for her, Granny Weatherwax at first takes on the girl to train her as a witch, but as her powers grow Granny sees that Unseen University, the school of wizardry, is really the one place for her to learn to control her powers.

Equal Rites is the first book in the series to introduce Discworld Witches, Granny Weatherwax specifically, and the small communities of the Ramtops. It tackles gendered professionalism and education with wit and understanding, and establishes immediately and lastingly one of the biggest personalities of the series, who will continue to be a favorite throughout the sub-genre of Witch novels. With each novel the Discworld becomes more refined and just a tad sharper, and as the novels focus on characterization the charm of the canon is quickly developed.  A great read.

95.
Title: [Mort]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: November 17, 2016
Rating: *****

On a cold night in a small town Death approaches the last remaining boy seeking an apprenticeship, just moments before the hiring day concludes.  Seeing the  ANTHROPOMORPHIC PERSONIFICATION as he truly is, the boy Mort nonetheless accepts the offered indenture, as his father less-clearly agrees to allow his son to accept an apprenticeship as a mortician. Flying away on Death's magnificent horse Binky, Mort sets off on an adventure that takes him from AnkhMorpork to Klatch to Death's own realm, learning the scythe, shoveling horse manure, and generally bickering with Death's adopted human daughter, Ysabel.  Hijinks, adventure, and general comedy ensue.

The character of Death, not unlike Granny Weatherwax of the last, is a great favorite of the series, here growing from his earlier abrupt appearances into a distant yet invested figure at once separate from humanity, and yet occasionally curious about the human condition. Taking on an apprentice sets him adrift, and as Mort struggles to find his dead-sea-legs, in the business, Death finds himself with time off for the first time, and tries to figure out what all the hullabaloo of life is really about.

This is the first of my re-reads as I work though Discworld in order of publication, and I was just as charmed the second time as the first. Death is likely my favorite character in the series, so it was a relief to come to the character I know, as opposed to the far more aggressive figure in the early Rincewind novels.

93.
Title: [The Light Fantastic]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: November 13, 2016
Rating: ***

In the first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, readers are introduced to Rincewind, a failed wizard whose head holds a spell so frightening that all of the other spells he attempts to learn are too frightened to be remembered. This one of Eight Great Spells serves as a major catalyst for The Light Fantastic, which sees Rincewind on his return journey with companion-tourist Twoflower, as a blazing read star appears and frightens the inhabitants of their space-swimming world.

Rincewind is not one of my favorite characters, but the cast that Pratchett builds is already beginning to resemble the Discworld inhabitants I know and love so much - most notably, Cohen the barbarian. With strong pacing and good comic timing, The Light Fantastic is already a narrative improvement over the first, and shows the promise that the series will develop by its end.

92.
Title: [The Long Halloween]
Author: Jeph Loeb
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: November 8, 2016
Rating: ****

The Long Halloween tell the story of a mob-drenched Gotham City, and Batman's tenuous relationship with Gordon and Dent as the triad attempts to subvert the control of professional criminals. But when these criminals start dying by assassination, the media dubbing the serial killer "Holiday" for his/her preferred time of executions, doubt begins to creep in, and even the more colorful rogues of Gotham show interest in putting things to rights. The primary characters of interest here are the mobsters and Dent, the focus being the struggles against principles and necessitous action carrying the narrative through, with only brief interventions of the cowled hero in a well-paced examination of right versus wrong. The success of the book hinges on its careful pacing and strong characterization, ultimately rendering the book a success for its development of the Batman canon, and resistance to relying on the ex machina of the titular character.