The Unknown Writer

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Simulacron-3

There is No Spoon
Book Review: Audible.com version of Daniel F. Galouye's Simulacron-3

Daniel F. Galouye's truly visionary projection of mind into the future, and the engrossing possibilities, way before Neo and Trinity. In a philosophical bent, we enter Plato's cave, and we get to struggle with the very real life puzzle of "what is real?" True, the story is a tad dated, but not too much, this isn't a one-trick pony kind of deal, and Simulacron-3 is a compelling listen. Dennis Holland's reading is deep and paced for mystery. It is easy to imagine, while reading, what we would do with our own stumbling upon the evidence of this reality, and in truth, we already have stumbled upon such a concept (scientists are increasingly fessing up to the potential of a vast world hologram, or let's say it, the matrix). It is difficult to find good novels dealing with this question in any serious way, and Galouye tackles the conundrum powerfully.

Art et Amour Toujours
Douglas Christian Larsen

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The Lost City of Z

Okay, I'm Obsessed!
Book Review: Audible.com version of David Grann's The Lost City of Z

Very well read, excellently researched, and author David Grann mixes himself so well into the mystery of the missing colonel, I seriously began to worry he would vanish as well into the Amazon jungles (and perhaps translate this volume via spiritualism). Haunting, truly, the real-life characters and quests live and breathe again, and I was sad that this book had to end. I would not have minded another 8 hours or so. Compelling stuff, we really, really do want to know what happened to the intrepid colonel and his son, and we empathize with the surviving family that fretted and worried to the proverbial end. Narrator Mark Deakins enhances the mystery with his steady, fine reading, making this feel more like a novel than journalism. Sadly, we do not have the answer yet (or do we?) and like El Dorado itself, Colonel Percy Fawcett, the perfect archetype of stiff-upper-lip British courage, is now legendary (and I half expect him and his son to still turn up, popping back through the underground portal, young and vital, waving the keys to El Dorado).

Art et Amour Toujours
Douglas Christian Larsen

Vestigial Surreality: ONE - the free serial novel, published every Sunday

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How to Build an Android: The True Story of Philip K. Dick's Robotic Resurrection

Snappy and Engrossing: Bring Me His Head
Book Review: Audible.com version of David F. Dufty's How to Build an Android

David F. Dufty's wonderful book has a fascinating theme, bring me the head of Philip K. Dick! Yes, it is still out there, somewhere, dreaming of electric Pinchots. The star of the tale, of course, is the android, but the thought of what PKD would think of the android is just as mesmerizing a concept, and much PKD history (as well as android history) is introduced herein, as well. Dufty produced a great book that succeeds in many, many ways, telling the story of the android's creation, talented performance, and mysterious escape. But not to be neglected is the amazingly smoothed reading of Bronson Pinchot, whose wonderful inflection, musical meter, and rich tones should be the target for all android voices (and that achievement is probably more impossible than true AI itself); Pinchot is one of the best voice talents around. How to Build an Android is a credit-worthy Audible choice.

Art et Amour Toujours
Douglas Christian Larsen

Vestigial Surreality: ONE - the free serial novel, published every Sunday

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Go Ape
Book Review: Audible.com version of Alex Irvine's novelization of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Excellent novelization by Alex Irvine, and in fact, in considering this Audible.com performance by Christian Rummel, it is better to think of this media art as something other, and perhaps better than a "movie version" or even an original novel (if it existed), and I think this is much closer to the old-time radio experience, where a story comes alive and plays more than a movie in the imagination. You have an exciting story that furiously knocks you over, and yet you have all the deeper questions, thought sparks, and fantastic nuances of Pierre Boulle's original work. Rummel's reading is deep, aggressive, and musical, and if there is any minor complaint, it would be in his voice interpretation of the one female character, which is somewhat cringe-worthy (but it is a very small criticism, and does not detract from the overall production). This is a great "Ape-pocalipse" story that rivals the horror of any zombie end of days (and yet, we find ourselves rooting for the apes, well, you know, mostly). All in all, this is a credit-worthy listen.

Art et Amour Toujours
Douglas Christian Larsen

Vestigial Surreality: ONE - the free serial novel, published every Sunday

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The Magician's Land

Engrossed in Grossman
Book Review: Audible.com version of Lev Grossman's The Magician's Land

Abracadabra! The Magicians, as a garden (go with it), was patchy, brambles mixed with incredible blossoms (great book), while the The Magician King erupted into a wild English garden. The second book was better than the first, but you cannot view the books that way, one apart from the other, and the two-book combination is about as good as anything that fantasy literature has to offer, but The Magician’s Land surpasses the second book, and makes a whole that is as beautiful a magical piece as is The Lord of the Rings, or all of Narnia. It might not be fair to say that this is Harry Potter for adults, but this trilogy is certainly not for children (although you wish it could be, but 17 years of age is about as young adult as possible). No spoilers herein, but I gotta tell ya, some impossible things happen, things you wanted to happen since the first book closed, and these are not literary cheats (well, you know, maybe three or four, but all expertly dealt, and you will not mind the appearance of those purloined aces from up the sleeve). Lev Grossman has become a master of backstory, and some of his best writing is in the storytelling (breaking the modern tv-era-demand of “show-don’t tell”, and it is wonderful storytelling, including journal entries, characters sharing stories, secrets whispered, I loved it from beginning to end, way to go, Grossy). Magical (duh). And thank goodness for Mark Bramhall’s continued elegant reading (I still think he sounds like a slightly tipsy David Hyde Pierce), a rich voice that fairly sounds a siren’s call, with apt Brooklyn accents, and hoity-toity faux British nose-lifters, and a rich musical constant that rivals Scott Lee, although the Australian twang still needs a tweak or two, but it is a very minor complaint; Bramhall makes Grossman pop, so to speak). The Magician’s Land is a sure thing, a masterful accomplishment, and if you do not end up rereading the three books at least three times in the next three years, it just could trigger a magical apocalypse, so you are cautioned. Lev Grossman is the dude.

Art et Amour Toujours
Douglas Christian Larsen

Vestigial Surreality: ONE - the free serial novel, published every Sunday

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The Story Sisters

Haunting Hoffman
Book Review: Audible.com version of Alice Hoffman's The Story Sisters

A quick, happy fix? Not this novel, but magically like life, if you can endure and hold on through the dark, rough squalls of the storm, you will find rich, warm yellow light on the other side. I find this a more satisfying read than The Third Angel, which I loved, but this The Story Sisters is more lyrical, despite the tragedy lurking around every echoing corridor, beauty survives, joy bursts up like tomatoes of gold and green and brown in surprising places. Elv and Meg are fully drawn characters, even if they frustrate you to near death with their angst and self-loathing. But life has bad things, and often we lie to ourselves, hardly admitting that dark secret from back when, but it is always there, the demonic shadow, following along, pouncing upon every doubt, whispering in punctuation to every flaw. Alice Hoffman shows us that despite the bad things in every story, life is worth living, it is magical, and to my heart this story comes close to my two favorites The Probable Future and Practical Magic. Nancy Travis reads dramatically and does subtle voices that do not intrude, and flows in great rhythms and cadences. The Story Sisters, no romantic fluff here, but true romance, bone deep, painful, mysterious and haunting. Funerals with nary a wedding, and more than a couple of calamities. But there is also invented language, fireflies of crystalline enchantment flitting all about the story. Read this novel once, and it is assured you will read it again.

Art et Amour Toujours
Douglas Christian Larsen

Vestigial Surreality: ONE - the free serial novel, published every Sunday

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An Assembly Such as This

The Spirit of Austen Enchanted

Book Review: Audible.com version of Pamela Aidan's An Assembly Such as This

First off, yes, the narrator George Holmes is odd, perhaps the oddest listen I've ever experienced; ah but thankfully second, give the story a good hour of listening, suspending your judgment, and you will find that you have become quite fond of the narrator, almost as if an eccentric and favored uncle (who flunked oh-so-veddy-prah-pah British butler school, but has retained the diction) is reading to you (while alternating bites of tofu noodle soup). But the story and characterization is the true gem here, as Pamela Aidan absolutely never fouls the spirit of Jane Austen, never presents Darcy out of character, and even casts some new flashing crystal glimmers upon Lizzie, perhaps presenting her a little more intoxicating (if possible) than in Pride and Prejudice. Many mysteries are solved as we experience Darcy's knotted anxieties as he falls in love despite himself, even in spite of his almost supernatural self control). The language is beautiful, and the novel is fully realized (despite this being Part 1 of 3), and a few new oddly eccentric characters come ice skating into the story. Unlike so many modern novels that attempt to extend classic stories, this one by Pamela Aidan does not sneer at the original work, but throughout is respectful and imaginative in building on a beloved tale, and even more beloved characters.

Art et Amour Toujours
Douglas Christian Larsen

Vestigial Surreality: ONE - the free serial novel, published every Sunday

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Chapters from My Autobiography

Fabulous Performance AND Read
Book Review: Audible.com version of Mark Twain's Chapters from My Autobiography

I have to admit I was a tad put off that "Cousin Balky" was the narrator, until I began to listen, and without exaggeration, this has to be about the best, most consistent long-term performance I've ever heard. This is probably as close as currently possible to actually sitting down in Samuel Clemens' presence and hearing him humorously relate hitherto unknown details of his life. Bronson Pinchot is that good in his reading. Remarkable feat. The southern-fried accent is never overdone, but more growled and grumbled in a lovable singularity (you can almost smell the cigar smoke). Mark Twain's material is wonderful, as always, but Bronson Pinchot's performance is what both seals and steals this production as an Audible.com classic (and it should win many awards). Heart-breaking in parts (Twain remembering his beloved daughter, years after her death), laugh-out-loud-funny in many parts (and that's not the usual review hyperbole), and always historically engrossing, I highly recommend Chapters from My Autobiography (and keep your eyes, especially ears, on Bronson Pinchot).

Art et Amour Toujours
Douglas Christian Larsen

Vestigial Surreality: ONE - the free serial novel, published every Sunday

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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Fun, Zany, Silly, but Never Boring
Book Review: Audible.com version of Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

It might have been a much better book if Seth Grahame-Smith had presented his fractured fairy tale more seriously...what IF a plague of zombies invaded the tale of Pride and Prejudice and how would have strong characters such as Darcy and Lizzie reacted to such an horrific ordeal? Instead it is equal parts kung fu chop-socky and through-the-shattered-looking-glass Jane Austen. But still, it IS a fun tale, never quite LOL funny, but surprisingly witty in some places, as the world of Jane Austen goes goth (and Jackie Chan). Uma Thurman, oops, I mean Lizzie, is just too far-gone "Kill Bill," but it does make for a hilarious fantasy sequence when a put-out Lizzie beheads her gabby punk of a little sister. Darcy, I guess due to the "plague," has taken a puerile air, frequently making word plays on the ever-present frequent balls (stacking up some impressive frequent ball mileage). To Grahame-Smith's credit, I would sometimes forget that I was listening to a lampoon of Pride and Prejudice and for an hour I'd truly enjoy the story, with even a minor few revelations and perspectives (but if you really want to be dazzled by Neo Austen, try Pamela Aidan's An Assembly Such as This). Never quite Mad Magazine (but generally close), the story juggles classical beauty, very familiar archetypes, and a big bag of constant silliness. Never as witty as Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novels, still, sometimes Seth Grahame-Smith is pretty witty. I have to admit (and I'm perfectly ready to duck tomatoes) I liked the story, and Katherine Kellgren's narration is as good as I've ever heard, beautiful in fact, and perhaps the reason that I enjoyed the book as much as I did. As a whole I'd rank the novel a 4 (out of 5), but the narration is a perfect 10 (out of 4).

Art et Amour Toujours
Douglas Christian Larsen

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The Magician King

King Grossman the Magician
Book Review: Audible.com review of Lev Grossman's The Magician King

It is unusual when a following book is better than the original, and even more rare when considering that the first book is marvelous in its own right. That's Lev Grossman's The Magician King. In the first book, The Magicians, Quentin is somewhat pathetic, but you love him even so (one of those negative people who is never satisfied, regardless), he is an antihero who yearns to be a hero. But discovering Breakbills through Quentin's eyes is nonetheless magical, and haunting, and when the first book ends you pretty much have to go back and read it again. Book 2, The Magician King is even more all that than the first book, replete with Julia's experiences, and Julia is probably even a better character than Quentin, although her unbelievable constant fury matches Quentin's omnipresent ingratitude and teenage lack of direction. Julia and Quentin are both utterly believable as highly intelligent, unique-thinking braniacs (Grossman is brilliant, in dialogue, characterization, and plotting). Fillory is much more engrossing in this second book and finally provides a worthy contender to C.S. Lewis' Narnia (albeit a raunchy, F-bomb-laced Narnia, drunken, drugged, and probably more than a little bit bi-polar). There is a lot of raunchy language, but The Magician King is haunting and beautiful, and quite a read, and more satisfying than the first book (which was quite satisfying, read it first). Mark Bramhall as narrator is skilled and sophisticated (and I keep thinking I'm listening to David Hyde Pierce's Niles Crane, with a slight cold, and a little drunk on cough syrup, but his voice changes and delivery is masterful). Great book, and worth the wait!

Art et Amour Toujours
Douglas Christian Larsen

Vestigial Surreality: ONE - the free serial novel, published every Sunday

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