Stephen King: Joyland: Review

     An amusement park, a serial killer, and a ghost.

     Joyland contains all the typical elements of a Stephen King book, but they are much more toned down.  This is for a more low key mystery reader, not a horror enthusiast.  This is a novel that isn't genre heavy, making it more palatable for the common reader.

     It's the story of Devlin Jones.  A man reminiscing upon his coming of age tale about the time he was a struggling college student getting over his first love dumping him by working at a carnival during the summer of 1973.  Recalling his curiosity with a haunted ride and getting over his bittersweet loss by becoming adopted into his new carnie family- he becomes one of them and learns to get past the idea that the world is broken by offering an escape...  through amusement.

     All culminating in a predictable but fitting ending.  He finds the murderer, gets past the broken heart, and moves on.  This is a short and subtle Stephen King read, as he has written, "Given such sad but undeniable facts of the human condition, you have been given a priceless gift this summer: you are here to sell fun.”

     While it was published as a Hard Case Crime, I feel that it is incorrect.  It has more to do with mystery and a pulp/noir feel than a man solving a crime.  Devlin even has a friend to most the leg work on looking up information on the case(s).  A part of me was hoping we'd get a true pulp-crime-noir by King but what we got sufficed.  What we got was a small dose of nostalgic fun to keep the broken world at bay.

     Mr. King has indeed sold me "fun."

     One last note: Joyland's cover art (by Robert McGinnis and Glen Orbik) is absolutely perfect.  It encapsulates a character from the book in an old time pulp cover completely worthy of the Hard Case Crime books.

Star Wars: Kenobi

     This book is set just before the end of Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.  Telling the story of how Clone Wars General and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi descended into the guise of the "crazy old wizard" Ben Kenobi.

     With a very western feel set on a desert planet, this works very well in favor of a small tale instead of a massive galactic conflict as so many other Star Wars stories tend to do.  It starts with the arrival of Kenobi on Tatooine looking to deliver the infant Luke Skywalker to the farm of Owen and Beru Lars.  Then, quite nicely it jumps to a bunch of other people and leaves Kenobi to be almost a supporting character, with Annileen the shopkeeper and Orrin Gault the farmer almost taking the reigns completely. 

     Kenobi conveys a wonderful sense of the devastation caused by Obi-Wan's actions in Revenge of the Sith.  He's a broken Jedi Master that has lost everything- friends, colleagues, and his Jedi way of life- but still feels the call to help others.
 
     It is made more difficult due to circumstances constantly arising around him as he tries to withdraw from the world.  Much in the way of an old Clint Eastwood film, Obi-Wan is a stranger come to town, and aids them in ways they couldn't have done.  Moisture farmers and shop owners alike receive his assistance and never once does he ask for anything in return.  He has to find balance while maintaining his newly necessary reclusive nature- the struggle to move on from the emotional impact of loss and the drive to help.  Remaining an anonymous hermit is near impossible with gossipy small pioneering town of Oasis.
    

     One thing I really liked from this book was the character A'Yark, the Tusken Raider.  It is quite interesting to get to see things from the point of view of these people.  A simple warlike tribal society being driven to extinction.  A'Yark is attempting something no other Tusken has done- to help the tribe grow, to bring others together because their current way of life is failing.  The simple act of changing generations of ingrained Tusken tradition for A'Yark is quite daunting, but managed with cleverness over time. 

     While I'm typing this I would like to say that the end feels a bit too big.  Too many neatly wrapped up threads.  There is just something a bit bothersome about it.  Honestly, I was surprised Obi-Wan didn't walk off into a sunset after a small final confrontation. 
     So if you like Star Wars or westerns, the book is simple, but entertaining.  With nothing unpredictable it remains a good read.

     Note:  I listened to the Audiobook version of Kenobi by John Jackson Miller and read by Jonathan Davis.  I will say I prefer the Star Wars audiobooks because it really is like listening to films- there's tons of added sound effects and many of the readers do pretty damn good impressions of the characters- Davis does a great Ewan McGregor version of Obi-Wan.

Neal Asher Books

"The Engineer Reconditioned"
Recently, I have been on a scifi book binge. I kept seeing one called "The Engineer Reconditioned" and decided to purchase it at the local Borders based solely on the fact that I really love the sound of the book's title. Well, it sat on a self for months and I finally got to it in early December and immediately regretted not reading it earlier.
It is a series of shorts related to some of his other books. "The Engineer" (the title story) I believe to be the best of the bunch. It has many similarities to the "Alien" movie, but it is openly referenced as one of the characters mentions the movie, though not by name. The technologies of the creature and the responses of those that hear about it are completely realistic. A very interesting read.

"Gridlinked"
Mr. Asher's first novel. A wonderful begining point for his books, in part because it is his first novel, but also because it has so much in it. A plethora of interesting characters and circumstances. There is a revenge plot, an alien super being called dragon, a bunch of augmented soldiers and mercenaries, and a Golem with a unique affinity for small trinkets.
The main character Ian Cormac is a man who works for an earth central security, and has become partly detached from humanity as a result of being "Gridlinked" too long. It is a sort of mental internet connected to massive artificial intelligences, that one can access for information on most anything. He gets hired to investigate the destruction of a "Runcible"(interstellar teleportation) on a colony world, and goes off the grid to do so.
It could be a cautionary tale of being too reliant on our technology. Then again, it might just be an awesome story. A jumble of characters woven together in a way that keeps you wanting more.

"The Skinner"
The Skinner is about a planet that has an entire ecosystem that has become nearly immortal. Many characters in the story are centuries old, some through a viral fiber that infects most living things on the planet "Spatterjay", another through post-death machinations to keep his body going.
This novel offers another great mix of characters. There is a man working for a Hornet's hive mind, an undead cyborg officer, a pair of Artificial Intelligence's working for a larger AI, a whole mess of fairly indestructible "Hoopers", an alien culture that uses mentally cored out people as slaves, and the title character himself whose name is derived from his favorite past-time.
Once again, a bunch of intersecting stories woven together seamlessly coming to a very satisfying conclusion.

I don't want to ruin any of these books, but would highly recommend all three.
His main website(http://www.nealasher.com/) has been under construction for quite some time, but I found his blog today(http://theskinner.blogspot.com/) and celebrated.
This is an author I would definitely recommend for science fiction lovers.