Book Review: The Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

Reader #476 wrote: I recently finished reading The Dawn Treader by CSLewis, having read Prince Caspian I could not wait to read what happens next in the adventures of Caspian, the Pevensie children, and my favorite mouse Reepicheep. As they set sail to the end of the world, they experience amazing adventure both good and bad. I appreciated how often Aslan appears in this installment as he really plays a huge role in helping us realize that there might be a higher being looking after us, not just in our imaginations but in our reality. A lesson to be learned here is to face all or our fears head on knowing that we would never be given anything that we could not handle. Grade:B.

Book Review: Swan Peak by James Lee Burke

Librarian Tim wrote: Louisiana police detective Dave Robicheaux and his friend, private investigator Clete Purcell need a break from post-Katrina southern Louisiana, so the decamp to a friend's cabin in the Montana wilderness to fish and rest. That rest is short lived however, when Purcell accidentally wades into a trout stream owned by a wealthy family, and stirs up a hornets nest of trouble. When two students from the local college are murdered behind their friends property, Robicheaux and Prucell are pulled even deeper into a story involving a mysterious drifter, a lawman looking for revenge, a crooked preacher and a wealthy family that isn't all it is cracked up to be. It's interesting to read about Robicheaux and Purcell outside of their usual environment of the swamps and bayous of Louisiana. But the story is a familiar one for the series, actually tying up a loose end that has been fluttering since an earlier story. Burke is a natural storyteller whose affinity for the outdoors nearly borders on the poetic, with wonderful descriptions of the mountains and streams of Montana evoking the stories of C.J. Box. Fans of thought provoking crime fiction should enjoy this novel. Grade:B.

Book Review: The Dragon's Nine Sons by Chris Roberson

Reader #82 wrote:THE DRAGON'S NINE SONS by Chris Roberson is set in the same "Celestial Empire" alternate history universe as many of Roberson's other stories (including the Sidewise Award winner, "O One"). This universe supposes that the Chinese did not curtail their exploration in the 15th century, but went on to reach and colonize North America, and eventually expand to control almost the entire world. This story is set after Mexica has successfully broken away from the Han Empire, and during a space race/war between the two. It is sort of a "Dirty Dozen" in space (though with nine rather than twelve soldiers)--a band of misfits under death sentences sent on a suicide mission. As the first novel Roberson has written in the series, THE DRAGON'S NINE SONS suffers from some problems that one would not have in short stories. For example, there is (to my mind) far too much fore-shadowing at the ends of chapters (e.g., "That was the intention, at any rate. As with so many things, though, the reality fell far short of the ideal."). I also have a quibble with the method required to start the Mexic engines. (Without saying too much, let me just say that while it sounds plausible in theory, the exigencies of battle might cause problems if a ship is understaffed.) Given this method, however, the "practical joke" one Han character plays is so clearly stupid that one is reminded of Damon Knight's term, "idiot plot". Indeed, there seems to be a fair amount of coincidence and contrivance in the story. The most egregious, is how the characters justify the killing of women and children in a Mexic stronghold in their plan. Perhaps the idea is that the reader should *not* agree with them and should see it as an example of how the military rationalizes all its actions, however immoral they may seem. (On the other hand, one character explicitly condemns an action that directly copies a decision from World War II that most people accept as necessary--and no, it's not the atomic bomb.) And one final minor complaint: the copy editor at Solaris does not seem to know the difference between "flout" and "flaunt". The story itself has more of straight military science fiction and less of the "Celestial Empire" background than Roberson's short stories, and as such is a reasonably enjoyable read, even if not as "pure" an alternate history. Grade: B.

Book Review: Kissing Babies at the Piggly Wiggly

Reader # 97 wrote: The book is very predictable. It was ok but it is not memorable. I think the characters could be more interesting and the story more interesting. I would not recommend this book. Grade: C

Book Review: Wedding Bell Blues

Reader # 97 wrote: Very enjoyable love story. It delves into a lost love that returns after many years. You discover family secrets and a new found belief in the power of God. I would recommend it for a quick reading book that is uplifting. Grade: A

Book Review: The County Fair

Reader # 97 wrote: Very enjoyable book that shows the small town camaraderie and how everyone pulls together in a crisis. It has an uplifting ending. Grade: A

Book Review: Roasting in Hell's Kitchen by Gary Ramsay

Reader # 529 wrote: This was an interesting quick read for fans of Mr. Ramsay. It gave insight into his perfectionist nature and passion for food. Grade: A.

Book Review: Duma Key by Stephen King

Reader #529 wrote: This book started off a little slow. It did not get interesting until midway through the 600 plus pages. It was very reminiscent of his past books including an ending similar to The Shawshank Redemption. This was a little disappointing, however, any Stephen King fan would want to read this book anyway, as we are his "constant readers." Grade: B.

Movie review: Iron Man

Reader #83 wrote: A weapons manufacturer decides that the making of weapons is immoral, so turns himself into a weapon to combat bad weapons users. If you can get past the irony (or hypocrisy) of the central concept Jon Favreau's adaptation of the Marvel Comic is reasonably entertaining and uses its digital effects energetically. Robert Downey, Jr.--definitely not a Christopher Reeve type--plays the arms tycoon who builds a suit to give him super powers.

Spoiler warning: there are minor plot spoilers below. One spoiler is saved for the end of the review.

The first big blockbuster of the 2008 summer is IRON MAN. At a high level the story is fine as a Marvel Comic Book on the wide screen. Most of the lower level details should have been given more thought. Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) is sort of a modern-day Howard Hughes, part playboy, part genius engineer. He is a fabulously wealthy second-generation arms manufacturer. Tony Stark has a sort of popular celebrity status in much the way that arms manufacturers usually do not have in our universe. In Afghanistan he is promoting his company's new missile system--powerful enough nearly to nearly kill himself when he launches it (so who will he get to launch it?).

Shortly after he is captured by enemy meanies who want him to recreate his missile using as building parts the spare parts they have assembled in a cave. It must be a really well-equipped cave to rival what a major industrialist can do in the United States. They will watch him via cameras because it is higher-tech than putting one of their own people in the room with him. Then he builds an armored power-suit instead of a missile. Luckily his captors are not watching him closely enough to notice the difference. With his suit he has superpowers and he emerges as what will become Iron Man.

All superheroes need an Achilles Heel, even Achilles. Stark's weakness is that as part of the capture he ended up with metal shrapnel in his blood stream. If they reach his heart he will dies. He is being kept alive only by a strong electromagnet embedded in a port in his chest, one with lights on it so he can find his keys in the dark. He will die if he is without his magnet for any longer than the six minutes or so the film shows he can go without it. Meantime the shrapnel caught in this tug of war is apparently scraping out his arteries. How he is avoiding stroke is anybody's guess. With his power suit he is able to get out of his Afghan scrape, but his plan to vacate the arms business puts him into direct conflict with his father's old partner Obadiah Stane. (Wouldn't Charles Dickens have loved that name.) Stane is played by Jeff Bridges with a startling new look, a shaved head with a moustache and beard making it obvious he is sinister. Stark's main support comes from his counter-feminist factotum, Gwyneth Paltrow in the role of Pepper Potts, perhaps a step down even from her Polly Perkins in SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW.

The script by a large team of contributors raises and then ignores some moral issues. One is the question of whether one can bring an end to weapons by creating newer and more powerful weapons. Even in the film this strategy is less than totally effective, though we are expected to agree with Stark's beliefs. Stark does not kill for any motive but self-defense. But he hands a villain over to Afghan peasants who will likely not share his scruples. This is apparently his version of the United States policy of rendition.

Jon Favreau is an actor of the Ben Affleck and Vince Vaughn generation. Without the good looks of a Vaughn or am Affleck he is now behind the camera directing, and probably making better contributions there. Previously he directed MADE, ELF, and ZATHURA. In this film he directs but also has the tiny role as Tony Stark's chauffeur Hogan. Downey is pleasant to watch for his tongue in cheek characterization. He behaves like someone trying desperately to seem unflappable while he really is not, like he is watching events out of the corners of his eyes. Terrence Howard is around as Stark's friend and liaison to the military, but he does not have much opportunity to act. Notable is Shaun Toub of THE KITE RUNNER and TV's "Lost" as a fellow captive who becomes Stark's friend. Also in a tiny role is Stan Lee, the creator of Iron Man, who traditionally shows up someplace to get his face on the screen in many films based on Marvel Comics. Samuel L. Jackson plays another familiar Stan Lee character in a scene that is saved as a special reward for those who are loyal enough to sit through the credits.

This is a sort of a turn-your-mind-off comic book on the screen. It is clearly popular, but not one of the best few superhero films.

Spoiler warning!

Toward the end our Iron Man fights someone in a power-suit nearly twice as high as his is. It is supposedly his design, but just made bigger. But Stark's suit fits around him like a glove. His legs fit into the legs of the suit and his head fits into the helmet. Make a suit twice as large as its operator is and it would have to operate a very different way. The operator's legs could not reach to the legs of the suit so the legs would have to be fully robotic rather than just power-assists. Stark can kick his real left leg forward, but in the double suit that leg would be only at the level of the suit's belly. The double-sized suit really could not be based on Stark's suit. Grade: C.

News review: Sunday Advance (BB Guns)

Reader #521 wrote: A 20 year old may face a couple of years in jail because the officer that stopped him for speeding for speeding found a BB gun in his car. I understand why the cops would be upset about seeing what he thought was a real gun. A fine would do, but putting the guy in jail for a BB gun is a little too much, we have much bigger problems to contend with.