Contemporary American Fiction

So I took a class on Contemporary American Fiction at the University of Houston taught by a really good English Professor, who is an amazing lecturer and teacher.  I really enjoyed listening to what he had to say. 

 

Anyway.  You're probably wondering, what books did I read.  To that I will list the books in the following order that we read them in. 

 

1) White Noise by Don Dellilo

2) New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

3) Music For Torching by A. M. Holmes

4) Catfish and Mandala by Andrew Pham

5) Jesus Saves by Darcey Steinke

6) Fight Club by Chuck Palaniuk

7) Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones

8) In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders

9) 10:01 by Lance Olsen

10) AVA by Carol Maso

 

My favorites are New York Trilogy, Fight Club, and 10:01.  Sometimes In Persuasion Nation and AVA are in my favorites.

You're probably wondering, what is Contemporary American Fiction.  In order to define that we need to ask ourselves another question: What is postmodern literature?

To tell you the truth, I'm still trying to figure it out, because there seem to be various definitions in how to define it and none of it is consistent.  Basically what my professor taught us is that postmodern literature basically:

1) Deals with the problems of consumer culture
2) Deals with the problems of media and hyperreality. 
3) Deals with the grand narrative and how we cannot have one truth but many truths
4) Deals with the concept of chance rather than determined fate of events
5) Deals with the idea of an unresolved ending, unresolved question, just merely ends

That's the basics of it.  I hope I haven't misinterpreted what he has told me.  Very interesting concept and all.  If you apply these definitions to the books listed above and read closely you will see those hidden concepts emerge from the text.  Each book is unique unto itself and I highly recommend reading my favorites. 

I like New York Trilogy because of the language.  It takes the New York mystery story and takes it somewhere entirely else, on a road of language, religion, and unresolved story matters. 

Fight Club deals with the idea of the loss of masculinity inside a consumer culture.  In a desire to escape the repetitive boring feminine system society as created, the two main characters create a Fight Club to feel the surge of masculine bravado, only to create another system, one that it is in fact militaristic and brainwashing.  You'll like the twist near the end, I won't spoil it. 

10:01 is a series of vignettes, short little moments in the first ten minutes of the movie theater.  Each vignettes enters inside each movie goer's head, each stylistically different, sometimes so surreal.  One vignette even enters the screenplay formatting into one characters mind blurring the boundaries between screenplay and Fiction. 

Well that's it for now.  I'll talk more about these books at another time and go more in depth into their messages.  For now, I need to do some homework.  Keep reading everyone. 

Starvix Draxon 

Why I do not Like Anne McAfferey's Dragonflight

A very simple couple of reasons as to why I did not like her story Dragonflight. 

Her world was very inconsistent.  When her dragons apparently speak through the mind, its either in a strange form of exposition or it's italicized as if it were actual dialogue.  That's really inconsistent. 

I felt no compassion for Lessa.  She doesn't stand up for herself.  There are clear moments when there are possible conflicts, but McAfferery doesn't take those possible conflicts anywhere.  She doesn't create raw emotion. 

She uses time travel in a phrase called going "between."  I do not understand the aspects of time travel.  I've never liked Time Travel.  It's too confusing.  Final Fantasy XIII-2 does it better, (I think) and in general I always get confused when writers bring in time travel.  It just doesn't make any sense in my head.  This is the reason I really don't like the book. 

I feel the dialogue is rather...dull. 

I wanted there to be more dramatic tension.  And as a pet peeve of mine, I don't like the fact that the dragons aren't as important characters as the main characters.  We never see any emotional development in the dragons.  They are just as an important of a character as any other human. 

And that's why I don't like Anne McAfferey's Dragonflight.

A Wizard of Earthsea Book Review

I finished reading Ursula K Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea.  After finishing this book, I think I have a new favorite author. 

 

The thing I liked about Earthsea was that it was so different from everything else.  I mean the language and the style of writing was completely exotice yet not too wordy.  It was as if the story was written to be told as a ballad, a narrative poem.  It has that dream like quality when the words go through the mind.  Le Guin paid very close attention to her words. 

 

This story reads like an epic.  The wizard, Ged starts off as a young imature hauty young boy who discovers his powers of magic and trains at an academy.  He pays the price for his hautiness when he tries to summon the dead, only to unleash a shadow.  The rest of the story details how Ged runs from the shadow, how he faces the shadow, and reveals the dual nature of light and darkness theme. 

 

I loved this book.  I want to reread it so I can gain a better understanding of it and then start to read her other books.  I reccomend this bood to all those who love fantasy.  Keep reading my friends. 

 

Starvix Draxon

 

 

Raksura: The Cloud Roads Review

The Cloud Roads is an excellent book if you like a good read.  It tells of the man called Moon a person who can shift into a winged creature, called a Raksura.  He searches to find out who he is and eventually gives up, constanly being kicked out tribe after tribe because his Raksura form looks like a fell creature.  He eventually finds out what he is, and joins the Raksura tribe, but still feels out of place because many want him gone.  The story is all about find where one belongs, a place to call home.  I completely related to the character Moon as I too sometimes felt out of place in grade school and middle school until I found my place in the theater. 

 

 

So that aspect of the book is really good.  The description wasn't too much although I would have liked to have seen greater detail on some of the land based creatures that were just sort of referenced.  I had trouble telling which character was which due to their names.  Something you really have to be careful with is character names and making sure you clearly describe what they look like.  I do think there were too many characters to keep the names straight.  Some parts felt a little bland.  I did think that the story seemed to go on and on at a moment but I think it was a nice length.  I did want to see more conflict.  I felt Moon's change of belonging felt too quick and would have loved to see more resistance, more conflict, more drama.  The author was doing a really good job of it and then she made certain things happen that I wouldn't have done.  I do think, however, this is a good book, and if any of you out there are looking for something to read, I reccomend The Cloud Roads, for it is sweet and heart warming, even though there are a couple of minor cons.  I give it some where between a three and a four star. It is also a seriew with two other books.  Keep reading everyone!

 

,Starvix Draxon

Mark of Athena Review

Well, I don't have much to say about this story.  It was utterly awesome!  Rick Riordan has done his job once again.  It was very fun to read.  I loved the cliffhanger.  I'm dying to find out what happens next.  Riordan sure knows how to keep his reader's attention.  Well, that's really all I have to say.  Keep reading everyone!

 

,Starvix Draxon

Kane Chronicles Review

As a fan of Rick Riordan, I love the fact that he wrote the Kane Chronicles.  Egyptian mythology is my absolute favorite mythology.  However, I do have a few things to say about it. 

 

Overall, I love the series.  My favorite part is the Sadie and Anubis romance.  I thought that was very romantic.  Anubis, for shame, you're acting like a Greek god.  The romance between Carter and Zia was also romantic.  Overall the story covered the basics of Egyptian mythology, definitely incorporated the culture of Egypt.  However, there are a few criticisms I have for the series. 

 

First criticism, I didn't like his interpretation of the Egyptian gods.  What I love about Egyptian mythology is the animal heads.  The gods who are human and animal to me represent man and nature as one.  So when Rick Riordan gives them human heads instead of their animal heads, that really ticked me off.  He should have kept the animal heads.  For example, Horus should have had a falcon head, Anubis should have shown of his jackal head, Set should have had his Set-animal head, and Ra should not have been a muscular grandpa.  If Rick Riordan truly wanted to produce the cycle of rebirth for Ra, he should have made him younger, and have his head the shape of a phoenix/falcon/dragon.  I say dragon because of a slight bias from the Yu-gi-oh card Winged Dragon of Ra.  But it would at least set the difference between Ra and Horus. 

 

Another thing is that the book does not mention and include every Egyptian god or myth.  I can understand some of this partly because the mythology itself is old, scattered, and partially destroyed.  But still, he could have atleast added Aten, the solar disk that sits upon Ra's head.  He could have even added Wepawet, Anubis's brother, the wolf god of war.  Yes that is a real god, I did my research.  He's often mistaken for Anubis for some reason.  That would have been cool to add Wepawet to the story.  It might have added a lot of character development for Anubis.  And then he also forgot that Maa't was also a goddess of order.  I always wondered why he didn't include that. Also in the Egyptian guide book that was later published, it says that Anubis's father is actually Osiris rather than Set, based on the myth of Nephthys getting Osiris drunk and impregnating her and Set getting really angry at her.  In actuality, Rick Riordan is right about Set being Anubis's father.  There are actually three myths to the way Anubis was born.  One is the more popular Osiris myth, the other his Set, the third is actually that he is the son of Ra.  Personally I think that Set makes more sense than the other two. 

 

The last thing I have to say about the Kane Chronicles is that the stories were good.  It could have been better.  I think Rick Riordan could have researched the mythology a bit more, search for the myths in Egypt and maybe work on his grammar.  Often times I felt that the story was rushed, and I also felt that the sentence wording could have been improved.  To me, Riordan clearly knows his Greek and Roman mythology better than Egyptian.  Like I said, the series was good.  It could have been better.  I still rate a four star because I really loved it, my criticisms were minor preferences, and I'm a sucker for Egyptian mythology. 

 

That's all I have to say for right now.  I also want to make an announcement.  I am in the process of reading Mark of Athena.  I hope to be finished soon, but it might be awhile before I write a review on that book due to Finals in college. 

 

I hope you all learned a little mythology from me.  All I have to say now is well...Keep reading my friends. 

 

,Starvix Draxon

Wereworld: Shadow of the Hawk Review

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and give a quick critique of the book and the series as a hole.  I want to point out some good qualities about the series and qualities that the story lacks.  WARNING!  May contain spoilers!

 

In Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf, Drew discovers that he is a werewolf and rightful king of Lyssia in the seven realms.  The story has good character development, develops Hector as a kind young boar lord willing to aid Drew in anyway even it means using the forbiden art of necromancy.  We also meet Gretchen, the werefox, how she starts off as a selfish noble and ends with a changed personality, far more kind and friendly.  All in all, the first book was really great. 

 

Then comes book two and three, Rage of the Lion, and Shadow of the Hawk.  Note that I have not finished book three, but I've read enough to where I have to give a review now.  In Rage of the Lion, Drew attempts to rescue Gretchen, while trying to escape his fate as king of Lyssia.  I will say when I read that, I thought at first cliche, but then I argued that it made sense that someone like Drew would not want to be king.  However, I felt it could have been better, made more convincing.  Near the end of Rage of the Lions, Drew accepts his fate as king after escaping his fate of being mauled by undead corpses, only to be boared onto a ship, enslaved by the weregoat Kesslar.  Why does Drew suddenly accept his fate as king.  I for one thought that resolution was rather rushed.  I needed a bit more story than a bunch of action scenes to be convinced that he grew to accept his fate as rightful king of Lyssia.  If I was in Drew's predicament, I would need more than the severing of my own paw to get me to accept my fate as king.  So far in Shadow of the Hawk, Drew has accepted his fate and seems more noble, but his character seems a little flat.  He talks and persuades people like his father would, but he does not seem to be in turmoil.  Perhaps Drew's determined to suceed in his quest to free the people of Lyssia from the vile catlords from Bast.  He might be a better character now in the third book, but I still need to be convinced. 

 

Hector, on the other hand, is an example of a great character.  Curtis Jobling clearly put more effort into developing Hector's character.  As we know in Rise of the Wolf, Hector is a kind young boarlord.  Once we get into book two, Rage of the Lions, we see the effects of his necromancy take its toll on him.  He begins to see creatures called viles.  We see him slowly deteriorate.  Duke Bergan, the werebear, and the rest of the wolf council find out about his necromancy and strip his membership of the wolf council.  Then along comes his brother Vincent, who caused their father's death, as well as bankrupted their city.  Vincent proceeds to blackmail his brother's necromancy in exchange for the title of their city.  If Hector refuses, he will tell the people of his necromancy, that may as well cause the people to revolt against the wolf.  The conflict between the two brothers escalates, and Hector shoves his brother over a railing and falls to his death.  Vincent's soul becomes a vile and torments Hector.  Count Vega, the wereshark, helps conceal his brother's fate.  As the story continues, the Wolf Council is forced to flee the invading forces of the Catlords.  Hector by then has discovered the ability to control the vile and make it do his bidding by harming others.  By then I've already had an idea that Hector was going to turn evil.  My suspicions were confirmed in Shadow of the Hawk. 

 

Hector further deteriorates, using his ability even more.  He also leads the members of the Wolf Council to an unknown spot of land, where he hears a voice calling to him, he finds a creature who says he can learn more about necromancy and Hector willingly let's the creature embrace him.  Count Vega rescues him as the group is attacked by dead bodies.  Hector later hallucinates, grabs Bethwyn, a lady in waiting for Queen Amelie, Drew's mother, and calls her "Gretchen" He talks to her as if she was Gretchen saying, "I dreamed it was you.  So caring and kind.  I was in such a dark place, Gretchen, so cold and alone.  And you were the warmth I could cling to.  It was your light that brought me back from the darkness.  It was your love,"  Now why he says that, I have no idea.  Could he be in a trance that has to do with Lucas, the young werelion who was in love with Gretchen, fated to have a dark fate?  What does that mean?  I have yet to figure out.  Eventually Vega threatens Hector or he'll spill the truth about Vincent's death.  At that point, Hector murders Vega and throws him overboard.  Hector is then tricked into leaving the ship, when the rest of the Wolf council finds out the truth about what he has done.  He resolves to betray his friends, believing they've betrayed him.  He goes to Slotha the werewalwrus and journeys back to Highcliff where the Lucas the werelion threatens to kill him, until Hector demonstrates his necromancy abilities by murdering Slotha.  Hector, believing Drew to be dead, and the wolf council having betayed him, he allies himself with the Catlords.  Little does he know that Drew is still alive.  The ratlords take him to the dead skull of Vankaskan where he robs the vile soul of its knowledge of necromancy.  Throughout the two books the black spot on Hector's hand, created in the first book, has consumed his entire hand by this point, withered and mumified. 

 

Hector reminds me of Morgana.  If you have watched the British TV show, Merlin, then you know what I'm talking about.  Morgana starts off as one of the good guys.  In season two her alliances slowly shift.  By season three she has shifted alliances and tries to destroy camelot. 

 

The next point I'd like to make about the story is Curtis Jobling's character abuse.  By character abuse I mean the constant introducing and disposing of characters throughout the series.  In Book two we meet Brogan, Duke Bergan's son.  He's in the book only for a short time, before he's killed, later zombified into an undead corpse by Vankaskan.  In Book three, we meet Drake, werecrocodile, who sides with Drew, however, he dies in the very first battle they fight together.  Jobling also kills, Bergan, Mikkel, Leopold,(by his own son.  Everyone seems to claim Bergan killed him.  Probably a cover-up story), and various other characters that I cannot think of, because I haven't finished reading Shadow of the Hawk. 

 

So far, my opinion of the third book is unconfirmed, rather mixed.  My conclusions so far, is that Curtis Jobling lacks in character development and character usage.  However, through the bloody action scenes and his discription, Curtis Jobling does illustrate the medieval time period rather acurately.  Have I studied medieval history?  No.  Do I know a little bit about medieval history?  Yes.  I know that our society today is far more secure than it was back then.  I can tell, the Jobling did his research on the time period.  I think that's what his book really is, an illustration of the back stapping, slave selling, alliance forming, kingdoms waring, medieval ages.  I want to finish the book series.  I really do.  I want to find out how Drew's going to handle Hector's betrayal.  I wonder how Hector's going to handle the fact that Drew's alive.  I bet the British know already, and I'm sitting here wasting my time writing a critique, and questions that have probably already been answered in the United Kingdom, while desperately waiting for the fourth book to come out in America.  I am almost tempted to by the U.K copy.  But alas, I have to wait.  That's why hesitate reading the third book.  If Curtis Jobling ends with another painful cliffhanger, I'm going to scream and throw the book across the house.  He knows how to keep one interested, that's for sure.  He's a clever author. 

 

Well, that's all I have to say for today.  Remember, you can find Shadow of the Hawk and the other two books in the children's section at your local Barnes and Noble book store.  Keep reading my friends. 

 

,Starvix Draxon

 

 

 

Wereworld: Rage of the Lion Review

Alrgight.  Rage of Lions is Book 2 in the Wereworld series.  WARNING!!! PLOT SPOILERS MAY BE FOUND.  This story follows Drew's rescue mission to save the werefox, Gretchen from Prince Lucas, the werelion, while also running from his fate as rightful King of Lyssia.  Through the book we see Drew trying to run from his fate and in the end facing the truth that he is supposed to be King.  Typical, but the author's method of telling the story makes this typical cliche archetype work.  We also see Hector, boarloard of Lyssia go through a psychological disturbance from communing with the dead to often.  We see how he slowly deteriorates from sweet innocent to slightly dark.  We have yet to discover what will happen to him.  My suspicion is that he might turn villain.  I can't say for sure.  He seems to be heading in that dark direction. 

Over all the written language is easily readible.  The cliche of being the lost prince and the trying to run away from his fate fantasy cliche is written well enough to where it actually works and makes a good story.  We also get good characterization in the story as well as its predecessor.  However, if you are a child or rather a very sensitive child to pain and several casualties(in other words, death), and you have issues with severed limbs and blood, I'd wait a few years before you read this book series.  After finishing this book, well...I felt rather depressed.  But that's good, because you bond with the characters.  You feel their pain.  You want to then know, who will survive and what happens next.  The story does end on what is considered a cliff hanger.  So be excited for the next sequal to Rage of the Lion. 

,Starvix Draxon

Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy Review

Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy has me bursting with tremendous joy.  This story takes place in a magic world where dragons are like living civilians.  However there is a terrible war going on and only 5 dragonets can bring an end to this war.  Each dragonet is a different kind of dragon with a unique ability.  Each of the dragonets also has a unique personality for their dragon type.  I rate this book as a must read for any fantasy lover and anyone who loves a heart warming tale of friendship and bravery. 

The language structure of the story is simple as to be expected from a Children's Book but is easy enough to follow and draws you in to the story to make you feel emotion.  Each character has a unique personality that gives them character.  The only thing I found extremely difficult was the size of the dragonets.  I could not tell at all how large they were compared to other dragons.  I couldn't tell if they were supposed to be small or large and if they were on the verge of puberty or what.  So the only downside is not being able to figure out how large and old they really are.  But if you ignore that you get a very heartwarming tale of friendship, discovery of chosing who you are, and finding your inner dragon.  This book is also a series.  Book two is scheduled to come out January 1st 2013.  I will definately be counting the days for its sequel to come out.  This is a great book.  I highly recommend it.  Do read it.

,Starvix Draxon

Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf



Wereworld: Rise of the wolf is an incredible book.  As a reader of fantasy, I read it and absolutely loved it.  This book takes place in a world that is ruled by wereanimals.  Not only are there werewolves, but there are also werebears, werestags, wereboars, and werelions and so one.  This aspect makes this book a superb work of fantasy in my eyes.  It deviates from the typical, overdone, supernatural werewolf that I really to not like.  It views werewolves not as monsters of the supernatural world, but as a living fantasy creature that has other wereanimals alike.  From a literary point of view, the language is simple, maybe a little too simple, but pleasant enough to be very enjoyable and entertaing.  The flow of the story feels natural.  Occasionally dialogue sounds a little odd but all in all it has a good flow.  It isn't often you come across books like these. 

It is very rare a book this good comes across.  I have been dying to read its sequel, Rage of the Lions for some time now.  It recently came out.  I haven't read it yet, but I sure can't waitto read it. 

This book series is actually a foreign set of books from Britain.  The author Curtis Jobling apparently was the maker of Bob the Builder tv show.  I find that quite bewildering.  Anyway since it's a foreign book that means it takes longer to get to America.  Joy.  I recommend this book series if you love fantasy, especially werewolves. 

,Starvix Draxon