{"id":9630,"date":"2006-05-22T18:03:47","date_gmt":"2006-05-23T01:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2006\/05\/22\/quickie-book-reviews.html"},"modified":"2006-05-22T18:03:47","modified_gmt":"2006-05-23T01:03:47","slug":"quickie_book_re","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/05\/22\/quickie_book_re.html","title":{"rendered":"Quickie book reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Recently read books.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div class=\"img-shadow-right\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.amazon.com\/images\/P\/0380789019.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg\"><\/div>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0380789019\/davedoesthebl-20\" target=\"_blank\">Neverwhere<\/a><\/em>, by Neil Gaiman:  An everyman putz&#8217;s good deed elides him from the mundane London Above to the mythic, murky, miserable London Below, where only magic, bravery, and craftiness can foil a heinous plot of cosmic import.  An urban fairy tale in a world of angels, assassins, homeless, Beasts, vampires, rats, and the ever-present Underground (and its various metaphorical stations).  And it&#8217;s a hell of a lot better a tale than that sounds.  Based on, and marvelously fleshed out from, the abortive TV series.  (Re-read)<\/p>\n<p><br style=\"clear: both\"\/><\/p>\n<li>\n<div class=\"img-shadow-right\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.amazon.com\/images\/P\/0060934719.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg\"><\/div>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0060934719\/davedoesthebl-20\" target=\"_blank\">Stardust<\/a><\/em>, by Neil Gaiman:  A promise to retrieve a fallen star for his lady love leads a young man of mysterious heritage into a quest across Faerie.  Easy enough, if the same star were not also sought by an evil witch-queen, vying scions for a throne of power, and, well, a number of other charming and chilling characters &#8212; and if the star didn&#8217;t have intentions of her own.  Typically marvelous Gaiman fairy tale magic &#8212; and if I had the opportunity to make a cautionary horrible deal with some magical creature to write such things as well as he does, I&#8217;d doubtless take it &#8230; and Gaiman would write as brilliantly of the result.<\/p>\n<p><br style=\"clear: both\"\/><\/p>\n<li>\n<div class=\"img-shadow-right\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.amazon.com\/images\/P\/0743499115.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg\"><\/div>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0743499115\/davedoesthebl-20\" target=\"_blank\">Gods and Androids<\/a><\/em>, by Andre Norton: Repackaging of two books.  In <em>Android at Arms<\/em>, the princely protagonist awakens in prison with other worthies from a dozen worlds and over decades.  Have they all been replaced at home by androids &#8212; or are they the actual simulacra?  And, ultimately, what does that really mean?  In <em>Wraiths of Time<\/em>, a modern scholar is grabbed across dimensions to where the ancient Nubian matriarchy never fell, but now faces a threat from dark science &#8212; a threat only the displaced archaeologist can combat by pretending to be the crown princess and mastering the position&#8217;s psychic powers.<\/p>\n<p>(Both of the books in this collection are noteworthy for having an African background to their societies.  Andas&#8217; world and culture was clearly founded by African emigres from Earth, and Tallahassee Mitford&#8217;s parallel world is one where the legendary Upper Nile realm of Meroe never fell.  It&#8217;s a refreshing change from generic European or even Asian backgrounds &#8212; and it&#8217;s highly ironic that the wretched cover art makes out Andas to be Caucasian, not to mention having the worst picture I could imagine of a Salariki &#8230;)<\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently read books. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman: An everyman putz&#8217;s good deed elides him from the mundane London Above to the mythic, murky, miserable London Below, where only magic, bravery,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-books"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30096,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/05\/a-re-read-of-neverwhere-by-neil-gaiman.html","url_meta":{"origin":9630,"position":0},"title":"A Re-read of &quot;Neverwhere&quot; by Neil Gaiman","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 5-Sep-12 5:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A damn fine book, even on yet another re-read. Makes me want to (a) revisit London, (b) have someone make a new video adaptation [or go back in time and gift the BBC with a few million dollars for theirs, rather than the pittance they filmed the miniseries on], and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4885,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/12\/12\/fantastic_voyag.html","url_meta":{"origin":9630,"position":1},"title":"Fantastic voyages","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 12-Dec-03 4:11pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Two media reviews, a few minor of spoilers, proceed at your own peril. The Two Towers and Neverwhere....","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Lord of the Rings \/ Hobbit&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Lord of the Rings \/ Hobbit","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/lord-of-the-rings"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12266,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/06\/11\/the_lost_rivers_of_london.html","url_meta":{"origin":9630,"position":2},"title":"The Lost Rivers of London","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 11-Jun-08 7:10pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I remember Gaiman talking about these in Neverwhere, and I've picked up a few other references here and there. Here's a map of pretty much all of them....","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Travel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/travel"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8794,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/04\/13\/anansi_boys.html","url_meta":{"origin":9630,"position":3},"title":"Anansi Boys","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 13-Apr-06 8:05pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman (as read by Lenny Henry) Finally finished reading -- well, that's not right, finally finished listening to Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys. I've had the hardcover...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-books"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11619,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/07\/28\/bt07_two_i_really_wanted.html","url_meta":{"origin":9630,"position":4},"title":"BT07 &#8211; Two I really wanted to like.","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 28-Jul-07 2:26pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Whew!\u00a0 2 o'clock and all is (so far) well! Manhunter: Trial by Fire, Vol. 2\u00a0(DC) [collects #6-14] w. Marc Andreyko; a.\u00a0Various Writing New reader? Art Non-comics reader? I really keep...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogathon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":28558,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/07\/13\/an-untold-tale-of-morpheus.html","url_meta":{"origin":9630,"position":5},"title":"An untold tale of Morpheus","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 13-Jul-12 6:41am","format":false,"excerpt":"As Neil Gaiman's \"Sandman\" series approaches its 25th anniversary (!), Gaiman will be telling a new tale (or, rather, a previously untold \"prequel\" tale) this coming year. \u00a0Coolness. \u00a0Reshared post from +Comicbook.comNeil Gaiman is returning to DC Comics to write a brand new Sandman mini-series. Embedded Link Neil Gaiman Returning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/images0-focus-opensocial.googleusercontent.com\/gadgets\/proxy?container=focus&gadget=a&resize_h=100&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F07%2Fneil-gaiman-returns-to-sandman-199x300.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}