We read Replay by Ken Grimwood this month for bookclub, and it was a very interesting book. There were a few good discussions about morality of some of the actions the characters take, the Eurocentricness of the book, the way the author used the characters by focusing on their love more than the outer world, and the way the characters chose to use their extra lives. I think the idea is great, but the book could have been so much more.
Stephanie and I went to Santa Cruz on Sunday with the company she is now working for. We had a good time out on the water, especially since we didn’t need to actually run the boat. We took the Chardonnay II. It was a good time, and we got to see dolphins, sea lions, and otters. Didn’t see any harbor seals. We had lunch at Chocolate nearby before heading back. We were too full to stop by the Penny even though we had parked right by it.
This series was pretty good. I really liked the magic system, and most of the characters. At some points the magic system got a little mixed up to be convenient for the plot, but most of the time it was straightforward. There was the common issue of things that are learned and used to great effect in previous books aren’t always used again when the situation calls for it. This book was better than most about that, but still had it in a few places, mainly when dealing with the fairy. The were two other big issues I had with the book. First the main character lives were valued so much more highly than the common man, despite them valuing the ‘old law’ which should have had everyone more or less equal. Second, there was what seemed to be a false dichotomy of evil people and good people, where the good people could do no wrong, and the evil people could do no good. The only somewhat in between character had his evil doing explained away with grief, so it was really evil, just misguided.
I really enjoyed this book. It had a lot of suspense in how he deals with the environment, and he is really funny in what he does. I like the way he treats mission control, since he has nobody to really take things out on. The epicness of his ingenuity and the scrapes he gets through are fantastic. I can’t wait to see the movie.
This was an amusing, but silly series of books. The plot was very predictable most of the time, with the heroes being immune to anything serious. The amount by which they were overpowered by the end of the series was a little funny. I also was amused by how they made all the people and gods of greek myths silly personifications of their attributes. The split personalities was also amusing. I’d recommend it as a light read when you want something amusing and easy to read.
We went to the lost colony (Andrew’s place) and played some MTG on Saturday. Lindsay was kind enough to give me a ride, and we had a great time. In the draft I got lucky with my color choices and nearly got two colors to myself. I did some silly things in the draft, but it was pretty good despite not being on my A game. I ended up losing to Andrew and Kevin, but not by all that much. I was able to get some good combos going, but I couldn’t get a good finisher. The best cards I had would get out, and then there would be a good counter from the other side.
After MTG we started cooking for the bbq, and I cleared up the MTG. It was really good food, and some types of food that I hadn’t had before, like a grilled tofu in a tahini based sauce. It was all really tasty, especially the burger. I decided to head back with Steph instead of staying to play poker. She’d been having a rough couple days, so I thought some time with her would be good.
I don’t normally write about work, but this isn’t directly pertaining to it. Steph got the beam+ she had been promised and she let me take it to work. I put the robot in and used it the next day. It was pretty good, the robot only lasted 1.5 hours, but it was nice while it lasted. On Friday one of the founders dialed in from France, and he said he liked it. One of the designers finds it creepy, but overall it was taken well.
This was a fantastic book, with a very different view of time travel. I understand the guy’s first and second replays, as I would have done much the same. I don’t understand the later lives, as I would have seen what I could learn, and then progressed the world at a faster rate, made bigger changes, and been a powerful figure. I also found it interesting that the original timeline was the one they returned to, instead of any of the alternates they had created. I have to admit that I didn’t expect the way it ended.
We had a good time talking about Steelheart. Three or four of us had already read Firefight, but that wasn’t a big issue, since we were able to focus on the first book and how it was written. Pretty much everyone agreed that the analogies were terrible, the point of view was frustrating, and the character was way too lucky. We are also used to Sanderson world building a bit more at the start instead of keeping large parts of the lore secret. I do appreciate the slow reveals that have been going on over the course of the books, but it does get frustrating. We all talked about what powers we would have and how we would use them. The people who had read Firefight were able to talk about the weaknesses they would have, but nothing too specific or we would have revealed it to the others.
It's an Exciting World 