Book Report 52 Project: The Future of Us

Let’s pretend you can go 20 years a back in time, and you try to describe Facebook to them. “So, there’s this website, right? And we all log onto it, and we can see how anyone we ever met was doing. Even if we met them in passing!” It might be hard to explain to them just how it works. If you talk about looking at it on your phone they’ll look at you funny, because even if they have a cell phone, they don’t have internet on it. Myspace and Friendstr are still a few years off. Even logging on tot the internet in a way that doesn’t sound like a cartoon is a pipe dream, or it means you have sound turned down.

And watch out if someone wants to use the phone. That just won’t happen.

That’s the concept of the Future of Us, a young adult novel by Jay Asher (who also did the excellent 13 Reasons Why… and you should probably read that) and Carolyn Macker. Josh and Emma are typical teenagers in 1996, when Jost gets one of those free AOL CD-Roms that promised the internet. If you didn’t live back then, they started out seeming exclusive, but they were EVERYWHERE. We eventually used them as frisbees and to thatch roofs. Anyway, because it’s a Young Adult Novel, Josh has feelings for Emma, and they’re close friends. He’s already admitted this to her, and they’ve started to grow apart because of it. But, of course, his mom makes him bring over the CD-ROM so she can start using the internet. She boots it up and sees… Facebook. Of course, it doesn’t exist yet, so what they see is a glimpse into the future. Now, each decision will lead to a new and different life for them, including one where they’re no longer friends. 

I actually really enjoyed the concept of this book, even if it did hit a lot of the cliche marks about love  and time travel. I really enjoyed it more for the role of Emma, and I felt she should have been more the central character rather than focusing dually on her and Josh. The whole “he’s her friend, he has a crush on her!” thing was a little cliche, and it took away from the core of the story, which was Emma learning her destiny, looking into the future, and finding out… she wasn’t really happy.

We don’t think about that a lot abut whether we’ll be happy in the future. Back when I was studying how to be a teacher, I would sometimes fantasize about zipping ahead magically 2 years into the future and becoming a teacher. I can even look back at my own facebook statuses, which include in 2010 being happy when I got the acceptance letter telling me I made it into the program. I didn’t know what the next five years held for me, that it would take me down this interestingly rocky path.

Emma is like that. She keeps logging onto Facebook each time finding a new and different future in front of her, some of them kind of dark and full of loneliness. She keeps hitting that button, hoping to find something different, but doesn’t even as she works to make things happen. Josh, on the other hand, is working to make things happen, but his story kind of skips over his own revelations.

But it is this uncertainty towards happiness that sort of strengthens her as a character. I wish the focus wasn’t so much on how she was going to (spoilers) eventually end up with Josh. Sort of like a reverse “don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”. She would see different futures where he ended up with someone else, and her own life growing more and more miserable. I feel the whole “Josh” thing was a bit of a letdown in the long run, because she didn’t really “learn” from it so much as just “didn’t want to see him with someone else.” And it’s unfortunate, because that weakened her a little bit, and took away from a brilliant character who wasn’t just a one note character at the start. The whole “Josh likes me” thing weighing with her heavily, and she was dealing with it.

I put this in the category of a “sorta wasted potential book” but at least executed really well. I liked the reminders of 1996, and the sheer insanity as they dealt with the things around them not knowing words like “Netflix” or the complexities of losing one’s phone. (The former is unlivable without, the latter is… well, absurd in its own way.) I just wish the focus had shifted more to Emma as a character, who was dealing with her own problems and seeing the result in real time, and not leading directly to a romantic payoff as the “reward.” 

I sound so jaded when I say it like that. Of course, though, I’m happy the two characters ultimately found love, I just wish it was through a different way. (Like maybe a flash forward to how she reacted when the REAL Facebook came into play.)

Overall, I think this is the first book I’ve read in this project that I don’t have extremely strong opinions about. Its worth a read, even if to get some more Jay Asher in your life (and you should) and it’s an interesting concept to explore. 

Book Report 52 Project: I Was The Cat by Paul Tobin and Benjamin Dewey

Think about the different between a cat and a dog for a moment. Dogs are fun loving bundles of energy that are happy to see you, and pretty much just want love. Cats, on the other hand, want you to bring them food and if do not bring them food fast enough, you probably will become their food. And yet, we’ve invited them both into our homes. We classify them both as “pets.” But one loves you unconditionally, and one puts up with your presence long enough to be fed, maybe scratched behind the ears, and sleeps 20 hours a day.

So the idea of a megalomaniacal cat as seen in Paul Tobin and Benjamin Dewey’s Graphic Novel, I Was The Cat is far fetched only insofar as it seems unlikely that a cat would be awake long enough to attempt to take over the world. 

I Was The Cat is the story about Allison Breaking, a blogger with problems. (Well beyond the stupid name, I’m guessing.) She is almost broke, and her blog “Breaking News” (Oh, NOW I get it) isn’t doing so well. So when she receives a phone call from a mysterious Burma asking her to write his memoirs, she can’t really refuse. Here’s the kicker: Burma is a cat. A cat on his ninth life, and he wants to chronicle how he, a simple house cat, has been wrapped up in many historical events, including romancing Audrey Hepburn and his stint running messages for the British in World War 1. He’s been a busy little animal.

Some of you may remember that I crossed paths with a book of Paul Tobin’s before… the sexually obsessed wasted premise Superhero novel Prepare to Die! I have to admit, I did a terrible English Major thing, and I judged a book by it’s cover. I walked into a brand new comic book store that apparently had been in a location in a mall (remember those, kids?) for a few months but for some reason I didn’t notice it. Upon my entrance, I was drawn to the graphic novel section and a book with a cat on the front. In the vague recesses of my mind, I remember hearing about this book, so I quickly purchased it. It was when I got home that I realized it was another Paul Tobin book. But, in fairness, I didn’t have a problem with the concept or writing of Prepare to Die! so I was willing to give this another chance.

Unfortunately, a lot of the problems of that book were here, too. (Not the sex part, thankfully. I don’t know I could have handled a sex-obsessed cat.) 

Let’s start with the good: this is a pretty fun book. It’s hard to go wrong when you’ve got what amounts to a James Bond type book but the focus is on the cat the villain is stroking as opposed to the man himself. It was interesting to see all of different lives of Burma, and how he was weaved within history. Plus, the characterization of Burma is awesome, he’s very aware of the ridiculousness of the situation. In fact, there’s an air of ridiculousness in the whole book, which I think is important. It’s when something takes itself too seriously that it becomes impossible to really enjoy. 

The art is pretty good, too. Dewey manages to work in his depiction of London as something that’s actually alive. There is always something go on in the background, people are talking, lives are being lived. It feels like the busy city that it actually is. He gets little details right that make the story worth reading. 

However… we need to talk about the ending. I’d say spoilers follow, but, well.. nothing happens.

The entire graphic novel feels like a prelude to something else. Or rather, it WOULD feel like a prelude to something else, if it was actually building towards something. In the story, it turns out Burma IS still trying to take over the world, having some complex scheme with food additives. Or something. There’s a spy trying to stop him, he doesn’t. And then the whole thing ends with Allison saying, ‘I’ll write your story” and, that’s it. Of course, she’s been with him the entire time, learning the story, so it’s not so much as a revelation as I felt the publisher messed up and put a page in the back that needed to be towards the front. This is not a revelation, it’s the plot of the freaking book. Or lack thereof. 

It’s unfortunate, but this lack of a climax completely brings the book down. It’s fun learning about Burma’s previous lives. I mentioned the Audrey Hepburn thing earlier, because it’s actually a really fun sequence. But like the rest of the book… it doesn’t really go anywhere. What could have been an interesting story about a cat and the world is just sort of… meh. 

Tobin has shown once again that he’s brilliant when coming up with some GREAT concepts with books, but in the end, he doesn’t know how to execute them. Maybe if we had more spy scenes. Or maybe it could have been focused more on Allison’s dilemma of whether or not to work for him. To me, this is the worst kind of book, because it wastes potential. I can handle a bad book. What I can’t handle is a book that manages to waste a great premise and spend more time trying to be mysterious rather than tell a great story, or hit upon some of the better jokes. 

So, should you read this book? I don’t know. Ultimately it’s an interesting book. Yes, there’s the “Breaking News” pun that is so difficult to get through. I can’t really recommend it too much, though. There’s a joke from the Simpsons that I frequently use when describing movies. It’s a hot day and they want to go to the movies. So, they pull up to the theater and see a sign that says “FREE AIRCONDITIONING WITH MOVIE!” I sue that to talk about movies that aren’t terrible enough to be called awful but not good enough for you to run out and see now. That’s pretty much of which this book is the equivalent. I guess I just expected more from a book about our kitten overlords.

Book Report 52 Project: The Global War on Morris

They say you should never judge a book by its cover. “They” whoever the nebulous “they” are can say that all they want, but at the end of the day you’re going to look at the cover and if it’s really appealing, you're going to go out and buy it. It’s just that simple. I’ve done it. You’ve done it. The person sitting next to you has done it. Which is why I wasn’t surprised when, on a cold day in December, I drifted over to a book called The Global War on Morris by Steve Israel. (Yes, the sitting congressman. No, I didn’t realize it at the time. No, still not really pushing my politics on anyone.)  I read the back and was immediately hooked.

The Global War on Morris is a book about… well, a global war. On Morris. If only it were that simple. The book is about a married, bored, pharmaceutical sales representative that gets wrapped up in a web of terrorism, late night hotel room visits, baseball, and a very angry computer named NICK. Morris doesn’t want a lot out of life, he wants to get home, watch baseball, order some Chinese food, and sit lifelessly on the couch with his wife. He does’t want to make waves. Ok, so occasionally he wants to flirt with the pretty receptionist at one of the offices he frequents. This flirtation eventually leads to Morris being on everyones radar, getting wrapped up in a terrorist conspiracy involving a terrorist cell in Florida, and eventually catching the eye of NICK and Vice President Cheney.

Yeah. It’s that kind of novel. 

The first thing that struck me about the book is just how funny it was. Even the scenes of Morris, sitting at home trying to watch the Mets, were full of fun, little observations. And a book that includes a terrorist cell has some deft writing to do if it’s going to be really enjoyable. A nice touch points out that weary terrorist Hassan will kill the American infidels, but until then, he will keep them dry has he works from his towel shack in a fancy hotel. 

The plotting in this novel also works a very interesting act as well. I’ve mentioned many times that yes, Morris is a man that doesn’t like to make waves. That would seem to keep him far away from the terror watch list… after all, what kind of man who’s life’s greatest ambition is to stay below the radar would end with him gathering the attention of one of the funniest, and sadly underused character in the novel, supercomputer NICK? The plot requires a series of connections, some of them very thin, but believable. For instance, NICK first notices Morris because of his illicit flirtings (and maybe a bit more) with cute receptionist, who had previously been on a date with a known drug smuggler. NICK puts these together, “pings” Morris, who is then pinged again when his daughter is arrested, etc. These connections are weaved very well, and it’s interesting to see how they are all pulled off. 

Sadly, though, that leads to the most glaring disappointment of this novel, the ending. I’m going to keep it spoiler-free, mostly because the ending is interesting at least, but all of the comedy, deft plotting, and all around fun of the novel is quickly sucked out when Morris is finally caught up to by various agencies that are out to get him. One of the funnier recurring gags are the sheer number of agencies just not talking to each other, and the resulting chaos. But it is almost as if Israel wanted to rush through the ending, rather than taking time to wrap up these stories. 

I was also saddened to see NICK, the computer, be used so little by the end of it. A great concept - chapters are written as NICK is given information, making little observations here and there, and then suddenly, NICK just goes away. 

Israel also uses a large amount of his experience on the hill to take shots at Former Vice President Cheney and George W. Bush. I felt overall these scenes were a bit “meh” and about 5 years too late. There was some comedy to be mined from all of this (and some of the Cheney scenes were actually really funny) but more could have been done to preserve the comedy that had been built up until these moments brought the book to a grinding halt. Overall not terrible, just wildly out of place in 2015. (the book was published in 2014. I’m not THAT behind in my book reading. Ok, I am.)

None of this should take away from the fact that the book is genuinely funny, and difficult to put down. I read it in almost one sitting, actually laughing out loud at a lot of parts. Again, Israel throws a lot of stuff into the little details, such as agency incompetence or just the fact that we don’t know who we are dealing with at all times. Overall, it’s an interesting experience. I may have to go back and read the book again, just so I can pick up on all the little details stuffed into its pages. 

Book Report 52 Project: The Death Cure by James Dashner (Spoilers!)

Endings are hard. Have you really told your story? Have you finished everything you want to say? Are you going to leave the story open or are you going to close everything off with the wave of your hand? I guess that’s why we have so many instances of the “end” of something letting us down. Or in the case of so many superhero stories, not really ending it and rebooting it for another day. In some cases, three times in 10 years.

I’m looking at YOU Batman and Spider-Man.

So, it is with that in mind that read The Death Cure, perhaps the best named but sadly, weakest of the Maze Runner Trilogy books (not counting the prequels. Yes. I’m getting to those. No. Not next week.)

Like it’s predecessor, The Death Cure picks up following the events of The Scorch Trials with Thomas locked up in a windowless white room slowing going mad as he awaits his fate. He’s cut off all telepathic communication with Theresa following the events of the Scorch Trials and her perceived betrayals. He is then removed from the room and is offered a chance to regain his memories but he’ll be cut off telepathically from Theresa and Aris. Also, as a stroke of bad luck, it turns out that as part of the variables not everyone was immune to the Flare, so sadly, poor Newt is now going to die. Then some stuff happens. More stuff happens. Eventually we will find out that there was a resistance to WICKED called the Right Arm (for reasons that are never made clear) and Gally who murdered Chuck in the first book has joined them. Then more stuff happens. Eventually, it’s back into the Maze for a few pages. 

I didn’t dislike this book, I still think the concept is really cool. A Flare pretty much destroys the Earth. A disease is released (spoiler: eventually you find out that it’s released intentionally). People live, stakes are high, testing is done. The problem is that I kind of felt like the conversation between the writer and the publisher went a little like this.

“Hey, love this Maze Runner thing. How much material do you have?”

“I don’t know. Maybe four or five books.”

“Ah.. you see, trilogies are REALLY hot right now.”

“So... you want a trilogy?”

“Bingo! Just cram what you’ve got into the end.”

The Death Cure is more of a mishmash of ideas that, and because I read this on a Kindle I’m not 100% percent certain about, but it felt this way, was way longer than the other books. The pacing clearly starts to break down at the end of The Scorch Trials, and then the rest of this book is just sort of like “the greatest hits of what James Dashner wanted to write, but didn’t.”

There’s the fact that Newt is not immune, and taken away. They spend time In Denver, which supposedly is a clean city, but is slowly succumbing to the Flare. There’s the whole Right Arm and Gally situation, which is VERY interesting, but only takes up a few pages. A group fighting the combined world’s governments? We don’t think this is interesting? There’s the storyline where Theresa escapes with some people, but... to where? She just sort of meanders out of the book so she can (spoiler) make her big sacrifice at the end and redeem herself. There’s the Immunes being slowly kidnapped... then put back into the maze as a way of keeping them safe. 

There’s easily two half books contained within the Death Cure, and I wanted to read them, not have them put off to the special wonderful mini-book that I’m sure may be coming out. James Dashner spends a lot of time coming up with this fantastic dystopian world that has recognizable elements and isn’t left vague... it’s frightening and realistic all at the same time. And there are some great concepts, particularly the revolution, which I talk about more in this review than is mentioned in the book itself. 

The book and the story ends (spoilers again... I can’t talk about this without talking about the ending) the immunes being sent into a new area (a new “Glade” if you will) to rebuild society, and the whole thing turning out to be a setup from WICKED. Which also negates almost the entire need for the Right Arm subplot, since they’re trying to stop - what - them from just giving up?

The best moment of the book is Newt. No longer immune, the once important leader and “glue” of the group is removed, and is slowly succumbing to the effects of the Flare. The stakes are raised further when it is revealed that Thomas, holding the cure to the Flare in his brain, will have to be sacrificed. There’s a tension that I wish could have been explored more, especially with the way that Thomas feels responsible for Newt’s condition, including his limp, when it’s revealed as to why he has that as well. 

The really funny thing is that with all the Young Adult Movie adaptions coming out, the adaptors of this movie have said that they will not be splitting the movie into two parts, such as done with Hunger Games and eventually, Divergent. Which is sad, because this did require some splitting, and expansion of some excellent ideas. I really wish Dashner had gotten the opportunity to finish them. This needed more. Maybe some of my questions will be addressed in the prequels? I hope so. It’s an interesting concept that needed the extra time to be fleshed out.

So, I’m recommending you read this trilogy, but I’m also recommending that someone, somewhere, come up with a good ending at some point to a book series.

Book Report 52: Selina Baker Book 2 Cover Reveal

Back when I started the whole “Book Report 52 Project” my goal was pretty simple: make myself read 52 books this year. I like to read. I haven’t been reading that much, dedicating much of my time to the fact that I live in the future, where we can stream just about any television series or movie directly to our computer machines as much as possible. And I say this as someone who has a device that can download almost any book to it immediately, unless it happens to be a book that I really need for class.

On that note, who ever sat down and said, “Wow, I haven’t watched all the episodes of Wings, let me binge on those.”? But that’s another post for another day.

Moving on.

The reaction, however, has been awesome to the max. People have commented on what I’ve written, they responded, they’ve shared it, they’ve taken my book recommendations... it’s been pretty awesome. Which brings me to the to the post I did for Into the Night, by Suzanne Rigdon, one of the first Book Report 52 posts. Turns out, Suzanne contacted me regarding the second book!

I took a class with Suzanne during this wacky time I call “graduate school.” That’s how I first found out about the book, and why I decided to put it into my review rotation, because it’s a unique experience to review a book that someone you know has written. And when I say “I took a class with her” I mean just that. I knew her for a semester, so I figure there probably won’t be any characters based on me until at least book 3, and in that case it will probably just a random character who spouts Doctor Who references every couple of pages. 

Anyway, I ended that with the happy frustration that it ended in a cliffhanger, and my comments that, “Wow, it would be really, really, really cool to know what happens next.” Naturally, no great writer is really going to tell you what they’re working on next or let loose any spoilers. But she did contact me to let me know that she had no intention of pulling a George R.R. Martin is actually working on the book now! It is going to be released in November (published by Spence City Books.)

In FACT, she’s even gone so far as to let me share the cover and the first official synopsis with you, the readers of Bad Shakespeare. Spoilers for the last book to follow, so if you haven’t read it yet you probably should.

Official Synopsis for Wake in Darkness, Book 2 in the Selina Baker series:

In the chaos after her enemy’s murder, fledgling vampire Selina Baker and her maker, James, flee to Washington D.C. to be under the protection of the Queen’s sister, Aurora. With the throne open for the first time in over a century, local vampires launch a campaign to win the valued seat—using some very unsavory powers to get what they want. Selina is caught between terrible alternatives, unsure who to trust as the safety of her past is torn away. She must struggle to survive the battle lines drawn between the vampire factions, while figuring out her growing confusion over her feelings for James.

There you have it. The next official Chapter in the Selina Baker Series. The only thing better would be if we have the cover available. Wait? We do? Then here’s the cover!

So tune in, ladies, gentlemen, and 2000 year old vampires, to the next exciting edition of this series!

Want to follow Suzanne Rigdon? You can find her on Twitter @SuzyRigdon! She blogs right here! I encourage to you follows her on both! (I wasn't slick enough to link her Twitter directly in the text. You've vexed me this time, Blogger…)

Book Report 52: The Scorch Trials By James Dashner (The Maze Runner Book 2)

      Sequels are interesting creatures. On the one hand, they provide a follow up to adventures we’ve already experienced. On the other, they can follow up and tread old ground, rehashing old plots, and in the case of The Hangover part 2, entire movies. But there’s also an odd need for sequels in some cases, a chance to return to visit familiar faces and catch up, see how they are doing.

            Then there’s the damn part two of a trilogy.

            Part two of a trilogy is always a difficult beast to tackle. It’s not really a beginning, but it’s tasked with introducing the reader to new characters. It’s not really an ending, because the ending is coming and it’s just not in this book. So it occupies a weird middle ground where it has to justify it’s own existence: it has to tell a part of a story, make it feel complete, but it’s not really going to answer all your questions  and you have to tune into part 3. Done right, it’s a beautiful addition to a story that advances characters, plots, and developments. Done wrong, and you get The Twelve. (The second book in the Passage Trilogy.)

            I’m happy to report that the Scorch Trials manage to tell a complete story, advance the plot, and doesn’t spend much of it’s read time undoing everything we’ve just in the Maze Runner. Which is good, mostly because I was a little hesitant in going into this one, given the cliffhangery nature of the first book, and the cliffhangery nature of this book as well. Fortunately, it features a lot of running, but very little maze, and much more intrigue. It’s a shame that the movie version is going to blaze “THE MAZE RUNNER PART 2: SCORCH TRIALS” over the title, because it features very little maze running.

            This book picks up almost immediately as the first book ends, with Thomas and the surviving Gladers being taken away by a mysterious group from their even more mysterious group that imprisoned them in a giant maze. Oh, yeah, spoilers I guess. But if there’s a Maze Runner 2, and it doesn’t feature the title “Maze Runner”, you can probably safely assume that they did, in fact, escape the maze at some point. So it’s not really spoilers unless you didn’t pay close attention.

            Moving on.

            Thomas and company spend a few nights in a barrack type place when suddenly, the nature of the Maze becomes clear: It’s a test. It turns out that some flares scorched the Earth, then after all the Earth Scorching a virus was accidentally released, and now the surviving world governments created a group called WICKED in order to try to find a cure for this disease that turns people into zombie like creatures. Or destroys their brains. It’s tough to describe. The virus attacks their brains, so only by putting people in extreme danger are they able to map out a cure.

            Anyway, so Thomas and Company learn that the Maze was just part one, and now they’re being given over to part 2, the Scorch Trials, which involves walking across a desert. (Hence the “scorch” part of it.) They also have to deal with the fact that it turns out there was more than once Maze, and that just across the way was a gender flipped version of events: all girls, save for one boy, with whom Thomas can now share thoughts telepathically with Theresa having been taken away to join the girls group.

            Whew. That’s a lot.

            First the really good: This does not just tread old ground, like I said. There’s a new group dynamic, and new mysteries. For instance, odd tattoos that show up on the back of several of the boys, including pointing out that one is the leader, one is the glue, and one is going to be killed by group B. There’s also a lot of danger, a few of the boys are wiped out in the first few chapters of the book. There’s also a good sense of just how far in the future this is, what with teleporters and invisible forcefields being a normal part of the operating procedure, while at the same time introducing the characters who have no memory and have been living off sticks and mud for several years are now reacting to the technological changes, so it makes the explanation of events seem organic rather than an odd conversation into just why someone who would grow up with the technology need to take time out to explain it to us.

            There’s even a pretty cool moment where a gun is used, and infection spreads because guns have been obsolete for so long that the rust is able to infect someone. Nice little touch.

            The writing style, like the first one is pretty quick paced, descriptive without spending too much on drawn out moments that are padding. A lot of jammed into this book, and that is easily felt looking back at it, but not at the moment.

            The only real downside of this book is some of the melodrama associated with some of the characters. Thomas and Theresa are best friends who can read each other’s minds, even if they can’t remember too much about each other.  They’re on the run from a god-like government entity that literally made one character kill another character in the previous book (also spoilers… I guess) and built a giant maze that kept people trapped inside for years. So… when Theresa is visiting Thomas in his dreams telling him to trust her, maybe he wants to do it instead of spending so much time debating what she wants. These parts of the book drag, which is a shame because it takes away from the sheer awesome of evil corporations, world changing catastrophes, and sun-zombies.

            There’s also the addition of a new character and obvious love interest for Thomas, Brenda. She’s an interesting character in her own right, but she’s constantly framed in her feelings for Thomas. Since the narrative is told strictly through his eyes, how do we KNOW she has feelings for him? Because she spends a large section of the novel throwing herself at him like she had a fatal disease and kissing him was the only cure. (Of course, that’s a bad example, because she may or may not actually have a fatal disease.) But this could have been toned down a little bit because it comes out of nowhere, and again, adds needless melodrama to an already jam packed book.

            Overall, this is a great second entry, but does suffer from what I said in having no real beginning, and then again no real ending because everything is going to be wrapped up in the Maze Runner 3: The Death Cure, which hopefully will feature more Mazes than this one, which was oddly maze free for a Maze Runner book. I am looking forward to reading the next entry, which I guess means that this one did it’s job, but I’m interested in seeing how it fits in with the entire trilogy when the series is done.

            Keep in mind, I’m not including the two prequels when I talk about the trilogy, as I consider them separate from these books. Although I’ll probably be covering this as the year and Book Report 52 continues.

Bad Shakespeare 52 Project: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

           There’s a debate amongst my circle of friends: Should you see the movie first, or read the book first? Personally, I think that a movie and a book should be treated differently. For example, it would be really cool to see Harry Potter blast every Dementor possible while Hermione Granger fights for the rights of house elves, but that would relate to a roughly eight and a half hour movie, would allow for more book splitting, and then we’d end up with things like Harry Potter 4: The Goblet of Fire part 6. Then I would have to quit movies and books altogether and take up a nomadic lifestyle of yelling at people on the Metro.

            Bottom line for me: Book is a book. Movie is a movie. And a roll is a roll. (Robin Hood: Men in Tights Reference for the win!)

            So, it is with this in mind that I ventured into a movie theater late last fall and saw The Maze Runner without having read page one of the book. I vaguely knew that it involved some amount of “maze running” because best books often have their descriptions in the title. I was so amazingly blown away that I had to start devouring the books as much as I possibly could. The movie was THAT good. So, I sort of did it in reverse, where most people think you should read the book first so you can smugly say, “how can you be surprised about the Red Wedding that was like two books ago?”

            Needless to say, this is about the book, not the movie.

            The Maze Runner tells the story of a young man named Thomas who wakes up with no memory except his name in a box in a place called the Glade. He’s quickly welcomed by several other characters, including the injured and extremely British Newt, (all of his dialogue is accented with the word “bloody” in case you forget), Alby, the leader, and the immediately antagonistic Gally. There’s also the lovable Chuck, so lovable that (spoilers for a book that came out three years ago) his death at the end is all at once a surprise and not a surprise.

            Turns out, they all live in this place they’ve named the Glade, they’re given a fresh boy and supplies each month through a box in the ground, and they’re encompassed in a giant maze. Thomas longs to be a maze runner… but he has to go through the rules and regulations of finding his job, until he eventually becomes a maze runner through acts of courage just before the box opens again, well before schedule, and introduces a young woman with whom Thomas can communicate with telepathically. Together they have to battle through the maze, get their memories back, and figure out just why “WICKED is good.”

            This is an interesting book that manages to suck readers in immediately with an interesting premise and interesting “hook”… no one remembers anything about their pasts except a few who had been stabbed by monsters that inhabit the maze, and when they get their memories back they go somewhat crazy. The best thing about this novel is that it keeps ratcheting up the crazy and the sheer insanity… rather than being content to rest on it’s premise, it works to increase the craziness and make it that more insane. There’s the mystery of the maze. When that gets solved, there’s the mystery of why they’re there. Then Theresa shows up, and the mind reading starts… just insane.

            I also liked the characterization of our main character, Thomas. He doesn’t suffer from the “special snowflake role” that a lot of young adult literature sometimes relies on. I mean, obviously he’s a little bit different… there’s a whole genre of story that relies on “stranger comes into town,” and he really hits that. But at the end of the day he’s still a confused guy trying to find his way out of this maze with everyone else.

            The only real weak point of this novel is the main antagonist, Gally. He’s set up as the “bad guy” who doesn’t like the new guy immediately. The problem is that a lot of it is set up as foreshadowing as he has “regained” part of his memories, but can’t articulate them. This novel doesn’t follow the all too typical YA structure of using first person, but rather third person and then limits it by letting us see a lot of the story through only Thomas’ eyes. Yes, it’s his story, but you take one of your more interesting story and manages to sort of push him into a role of a one note bad guy. (I’m currently reading the trilogy, and the third book fixes this. But hey… I’m just doing one at a time.)

            I really did enjoy this book. Like I said, I like the twists. It can be a little difficult to get through from time to time because there’s not a lot that sets it apart from a lot of the Young Adult (spoiler) post-apocalyptic fiction that is running (see what I did there) around out there. But that being said, I’m looking forward to seeing how it all ends.

Book Report 52 Project: The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

So, imagine you wake up in the middle of a field. You’re surrounded by bodies, and they’re all wearing latex gloves. Oh, and you can’t remember anything about who they are, how they got there, who you are. In your coat is a letter addressed, quite literally... “To You.” 

That’s how The Rook, the supernatural superhero novel from Daniel O’Malley starts. And yeah, it sucks you in that much.

When I first started Bad Shakespeare 52, I wondered how exactly I was going to maintain reading 52 books a week, particularly when most of my classes demand I read books for them, and most of them aren’t as fun. The last one I read was about a woman who buys a horse and falls in love with it. Or doesn’t. I’m still not sure what the horse represents in that one.

Moving on, there are no horses in The Rook. Just superpowered awesomeness. 

Anyway, my point is that The Rook is not a light book that you can breeze through. Actually it’s just under 500 pages long. So I was surprised I picked it to try and get through in under a week, and I was even more surprised as I found myself not only finishing it, but wishing that there were 500 more words dedicated to these characters.

The woman who wakes up in a field with no memory and apparently the butt-kicking ability to take out a bunch of armed men is named Myfawny Thomas, and it turns out that she knew about the fact that one day, her memories would be taken from her. In fact, a large portion of the book are letters written by Myfawny (Pronounced like “Tiffany,” but with an M. Despite the fact that I knew this because they say it a lot, I still pronounced it “Mi-FAWN-ee” which isn’t anything like the writer intended. Sorry, Daniel O’Malley.) who is an extremely talented administrator, but not one for the heroics of the organization she works for, the Checquy. 

Myfawny is a super-powered agent for a super-secret Government organization of people with powers who fight supernatural threats in Great Britain. She has the ability  to control people by touching them, something that her former self never really took advantage of. All of the characters are named after Chess pieces, and she's the titular "Rook" within the organization. There's an amusing bit about how they can't have a King and Queen, since, after all, they live in England, there IS a King and Queen already, so they just go with "Lord" and "Lady" as the highest office in this particular realm. 

Yeah, that’s probably one of the best parts of the book, the way it deals with identity. Everything up to her memory-erasure (which is a slow, but exciting, burn) is treated as a separate person. So, in essence, there are two Myfawnys (Myfawni?) who inhabit this book. The capable administrator chosen for her role specifically because she lacks the need to go out and put her life on the line with danger and heroics, and the new one who is trying to unravel the mystery of who the mole is in the organization, her own powers, who this original Myfawny is, and just who tried to kill her and only succeeded in sapping her memory.

Speaking of identity, one of the more creative characters in the novel is that of Gestalt. He... they... Gestalt was born as quadruplets - three boys, one girl, but with only one mind. As such, the book reminds us that Gestalt is one character, one “person” with the ability to jump back and forth in between four different bodies that can be station anywhere. But this also means he/she can control his/her bodies anywhere, and with varying degrees. At one point one body is sitting in a meeting with Myfawny while two of his others are out on missions, and he’s talking his way through it. It’s very interesting to think about what makes someone “a person” when dealing with memory loss and a character that is literally four people.

This is a fun book, too. Myfawny pre-amnesia never took advantage of her powers, despite the fact that she is pretty powerful in what she does. Later chapters (spoilers) have her powers growing to the point that she can take down Gestalt when needed, and that’s no easy feat when he can simply decide that one body will attack you from the back and one from the front. But it plays with superpowers, it plays with the fact that the supernatural world is kind of gross all while also exploring the fact that, yes, they are a fancy organization that has a certain attitude to project on the world. (Why do we keep insisting our super-spies keep wearing 2,000 dollar suits when it’s just going to get covered in bomb-dust? Really, people? go to Men’s Warehouse and pick up a 6-pack of jackets that can get disposed of when you get swallowed by a fungus monster.) 

There are large sections of this book that are expository, most of them coming from Pre-Myfawny’s letters to her Post-Amnesia self. That can bog down some of the action, and is used to enhance suspense, but it also serves a pretty fun purpose of dropping minor clues here and there about what is really going on. The cool thing is that the mystery is pretty much laid out in front of readers from letter one, but you don’t realize it until everything has been explained. Including one thing I wondered about, but not in as much detail as we got. Way too much detail.

Overall, the best thing I can say about this book is that it’s a fun read. I heard it described as like Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, which had one of the better senses of humor about the fact that it was about a teenage girl who fought vampires while going to High School. I felt the same way about the Rook. It had a good sense of humor about itself, never took itself too seriously while maintaining a plot that was engaging enough to keep me moving on, even as we got long histories of secret organizations. This is a must read for fans for superheroes, the supernatural, and mind-bending mysteries. I’m looking forward to the inevitable sequel.