Reviews

I just finished The Short Victorious War by David Weber and I’m starting to notice a pattern here:

1. Honor Harrington thrust into difficult situation complicated by politics.
2. Honor thwarts an invasion while overcoming said politics.
3. Profit.

Now, I understand these have to be somewhat formulaic, and this book was in fact, enjoyable, so I can’t complain excessively here. The real weakness of this book is that it’s so short, and Honor plays such a minimal part in the action. I’d almost even call this an “interim” novel.

I just finished Gust Front by John Ringo, and Ringo is a hard man to understand. He clearly loves the SciFi genre, and with the continuation of the Posleen War, proves he can delve into the stickier details many gloss over.

The problem is he goes way too far on occasion, detailing for pages on very intricate and specific troop movements and justification. I felt like I was reading a historical account of each battle. Provided a map of the United States, I could probably have replayed each flank and counter-attack exactly as if executing a play-by-play of an Axis and Allies or Risk game. It was mind numbing, and I found myself skimming over vast swaths of copious minutiae. It’s fairly obvious why this, the second in the series, was over 250 pages longer than the first.

I originally wanted to take it easy this Saturday and failed miserably. I started the day off by seeing Shutter Island at the theater two miles from my apartment; it’s an awfully convenient jaunt down the road, and I actually woke up early enough to catch the first matinee. One thing I can say about this film, was that it actually had me second-guessing myself for its entirety.

It would seem that I read a lot more than I thought. My book pile was dwindling and I wondered how that was possible, since I had at least six or seven in the pile before the holidays. Well, as it would turn out, between the train rides and reading before bed, I consume more than my fair share of books. So, what did I read during January? In order:

You should see this movie. But before you do, I want to explain a few things. 2012 is by no means High Cinema, and anyone expecting such has no sense of humor and likely entertains themselves by jealously hoarding a stamp collection because of a particular misprint of the liberty bell that somewhat resembles a labia. This type of person should remove the stick from his rectum and realize that this movie is basically a cartoon, and a ridiculously exaggerated one. To contrast, I was one of my high school’s biggest nerds, and even I understand nothing 2012 does should be taken seriously in any possible universe.