Fargo Rock City
I've read this book before (entry missing due to db hacker)
Klosterman's aim with this book was, to quote, 'to show why all that poofy, sexist, shallow glam rock was important'. You know what? He totally failed
Klosterman is a talented writer with a witty personable voice that makes it feel like he's talking to you one on one.
The major flaw with the book is that while he obviously loves his metal, he's also deeply insecure about how unhip it is to like it.
Maybe it's his position as a music critic (a profesion full of hipper-than-thou people) that's made him so defensive, I don't know. He spends too much time trying to defend the genre with regard to sexism etc., using incoherent, poorly thought out arguments when he should just acknowledge that it existed. Of course it existed. However, a lot of the point of metal for it's creators and fans over the years has been that it pisses people off. That's all he really needed to say.
The book works when it acts as a biography and talks about how the music soundtracked his life and he should have spent more time on that.
One point that continues to hack me off is his bizarre snobbery about 80's underground music that appears in the epilogue. He gets all het up at the notion that you had to be a bit more adventurous to discover the stuff than metal. It's just fucking true. These bands sold next to nothing, had minimal radio play and ended up meaning a bit too much to the people who loved them. Get over the fact that you liked popular music. Embrace the idea.
I've watched two documentaries about the history of metal and the metallica doc recently and this book doesn't do it's subject any justice compared even to those deeply flawed projects.
The book is frequently funny, it's just that it's frequently wrong-headed too. Go in expecting that and you will get the best out of it.
The Final Reflection
Mike Ford died aged 49 on September 25, a man of prodigious talent, formidable intelligence and remarkable wit. I only knew him from a few online forums that we happened to both frequent. In my own small way this re-read is my tribute to the man. Other re-reads may follow.
This is one of the most remarkable Star Trek books ever written, being the first written from the Klingon perspective and the first to portray Klingons as more than bloodthirsty warriors.
The book barely qualifies as a Star Trek novel, spending so much time outside of the canon and only spending a handful of pages on the Enterprise with Kirk & co as a framing device.
It's a thoroughly enjoyable book that makes you wish that men of such imagination were responsible for more of Star Trek's output - being prone to bland platitudes as it is.
I'd recommend it as a nice piece of science fiction, especially to more Trek skeptical audience and as an eye-opener to how it could be done better to die hard trekkies/trekkers out there.
M*A*S*H
The original source material for the film and subequently the very long running sitcom.
Set during the Korean war in a mobile army hospital this book follows Hawkeye Pierce, Duke Forrest and Trapper John as they try to stay sane working as field surgeons.
The book is funny, laugh out loud in places, but also satisfyingly dark at times. The only flaw is it's brevity.
I'd recommend this one if you find dark humour particularly appealing, or are just curious about the starting point of a cultural phenomenon.
Time Enough For Love
This is late period Heinlein. That means lots of right-wing libertarian politics, sex and glorification of the pioneer.
This is less of a novel than a series of short stories and novellas about the life of Lazarus Long - an incredibly long lived human being.
It takes in far-future human colonization and the First World War as part of it's sprawling mess.
It's quite mental and has no real focus to it, but it's still one of the more enjoyable reads that Heinlein produced in his later years. I mean in comparison to I Will Fear No Evil it's a top notch book!
If you loved Heinlein circa The Moon's A Harsh Mistress then this is something worth checking out. Otherwise I couldn't honestly recommend it to anyone.
Wintersmith
This is the third of the Tiffany Aching books.
In this one she steps into a dance she shouldn't and the Wintersmith - the spirit of winter - falls in love with her.
So somehow Tiffany has to save the Discworld from perpetual winter while continuing her novice witch training.
This continues the high standards set in the previous Aching books, The Wee Free Men & A Hat Full of Sky.
Pratchett continues to be on beautifully bittersweet and humourous form while Tiffany grows up to fulfill her destiny as a witch of remarkable power.
I wouldn't read it as a stand-alone (though you probably could) it really does work best as part of the sequence.
In that case I wouldn't give a moment's hesitation in recommending anyone to read this book
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