Books: Strange Weather by Joe Hill (2017)

Strange Weather is a collection of four short novels, or novellas, by Joe Hill. 

“Snapshot is the disturbing story of a Silicon Valley adolescent who finds himself threatened by “The Phoenician,” a tattooed thug who possesses a Polaroid Instant Camera that erases memories, snap by snap. In Loaded, a mall security guard in a coastal Florida town courageously stops a mass shooting and becomes a hero to the modern gun rights movement. But under the glare of the spotlights, his story begins to unravel, taking his sanity with it. When an out-of-control summer blaze approaches the town, he will reach for the gun again and embark on one last day of reckoning. In Aloft, a young man takes to the skies to experience his first parachute jump. . . and winds up a castaway on an impossibly solid cloud, a Prospero’s island of roiling vapor that seems animated by a mind of its own.. On a seemingly ordinary day in Boulder, Colorado, the clouds open up in a downpour of nails—splinters of bright crystal that shred the skin of anyone not safely under cover. Rain explores this escalating apocalyptic event, as the deluge of nails spreads out across the country and around the world.”

Each of these tales have disturbing images, with Loaded being the only tale that does not feature some sort supernatural or science fiction aspects. That one is simply a depressing story of someone who has obviously lost his mind –via PDST or just slowly going insane- but is still able to get his hands on weapons. Its politics, while obvious, is not disrespectful. But through Hill’s pen we see the cycle of destruction that guns have caused through the years. 

I enjoyed Snapshot, with its Twilight Zone feel (along with making remember a story written by Joe Hill’s dad long ago called The Sundog). It’s subplot of dementia marked with a camera that steals memory is fairly scary and well thought out. Rain is typical end-of-the-world tale, though Hill is able to make the story move fast –something rare in the genre. It could also be sort of a parody of the genre as well, considering the fantastical way he brings the Earth's destruction. Aloft, for me, is the weakest entry and more Twilight Zone than Snapshot. Its message of coming to grips with what one wants, and what one can and cannot have is fairly universal, and I felt while certain elements worked -Aubrey Griffith Is a well crafted protagonist-I could not accept the whole premise to begin with.Plus, I kept seeing a movie version of this story, with an actor sitting in a greenscreen room pretending to play with CGI clouds that would be added months later.

Books: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (2015)

“Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised. With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.”

Got to say Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is a completely charming book (if not a greatly titled one). As a middle aged gay man with no kids, it might be hard for me to completely understand the teens presented here, the exploration of their daily lives (especially in the age of social media), but some things, some basic real-life tropes, are always identifiable no matter what age you are.

Simon, our main protagonist, is well developed and is presented in a very relatable sort of way. And while he’s dealing with being gay and trying to figure out how to come out to his friends and family, he’s not too much a stereotype (though author Becky Albertalli lays on the emo music love a little thick –he may look like any “normal” teenager, but his musical tastes do run in the obsessive, dark, and bit depressing route). Still, like me, he’s a bit cynical and I liked that. I saw me a little bit here and there in Simon. His family life, while a bit hyper-realistic, is finely drawn. His parents are very liberal, but also strict in some ways (and there is a tender moment when his mother sits down and talks to him about how she misses the openness of all her children –what a parent must go through when they finally realize that their once talkative children are growing up and don’t want to be around anymore). I did find the mystery of who Blue was fun, and it kept me reading. I did not guess who the boy was, so I may need to revisit the book to see if the author dropped any obvious clues. 

I did get distracted by Simon’s friend Abby, as I kept thinking about Jay Bell’s Abby from Something Like Summer. They’re two totally different characters, but they do share the same name and ethnic origin. 

Also, it did take me a little bit to get into the story, as well, as the author quickly introduced so many characters and I had trouble keeping them straight at times, but that’s only a small quibble. Also, the cover of the book is pretty horrible, but then maybe I don’t understand modern publishing towards young adults. 

There will be a motion picture version, called Love Simon, of this book coming from 20th Century Fox next spring, which is a pretty big thing. This is a major studio releasing a gay romantic comedy/drama and it’ll be interesting to see if the mainstream audience –beyond the gay community- will embrace this love story between two guys. Sure it’s directed by super producer Greg Berlanti (the entire DC line-up on the CW) and stars some well know actors, but this film may end being a test rat to see if gay themed films can break-out of the independat film world they’ve existed in for a long, long time

Books: Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar (2017)

Stephen King and Richard Chizmar venture back to the little town of Castle Rock, Maine, the setting of many early King novels, for this novella. 

“There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside. At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game.  One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy:  ‘Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me.’  On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat...”

While King left Castle Rock after he published NEEDFUL THINGS, as always with this author, we know that certain places, Derry in particular, never are far away. This novella, published in book form by Cemetery Dance Publications reads like an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. A young girl is given a mysterious box with buttons on it. These buttons are powerful and very dangerous. But they also offer a life altering treat for Gwendy, and as her life is changed by possessing the box, she is also tempted by the mysterious power it does posses. 

The ultimate question is if you had the power to destroy, could you wield it? But temptation is strong, and while Gwendy takes her responsibility of safekeeping the box, she will succumb to the darkness that is emitted from it.

This is not a scary novella, but more fast-paced a thriller (read it in 90 minutes) with psychological overtones that King has employed over the last two decades. I’ve never read anything by Chizmar, so it’s hard for me to pass comment on his style. But beyond the setting of Castle Rock, it appears The Man in Black is still around –the tale is set between 1974 and 1984- so another alternate world. He goes by Richard Farris (another recurring theme, with the character’s name always –or mostly- having the same initials) here and seems more human than malevolent.

A great story to wield away a Saturday afternoon!

Books: Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire's End by Chuck Wendig (2016)

“As the final showdown between the New Republic and the Empire draws near, all eyes turn to a once-isolated planet: Jakku. The Battle of Endor shattered the Empire, scattering its remaining forces across the galaxy. But the months following the Rebellion's victory have not been easy. The fledgling New Republic has suffered a devastating attack from the Imperial remnant, forcing the new democracy to escalate their hunt for the hidden enemy. For her role in the deadly ambush, Grand Admiral Sloane is the most wanted Imperial war criminal—and one-time rebel pilot Norra Wexley, back in service at Leia's urgent request, is leading the hunt. But more than just loyalty to the New Republic drives Norra forward: Her husband was turned into a murderous pawn in Sloane's assassination plot, and now she wants vengeance as much as justice. But Sloane, too, is on a furious quest: pursuing the treacherous Gallius Rax to the barren planet Jakku. As the true mastermind behind the Empire's devastating attack, Rax has led the Empire to its defining moment. The cunning strategist has gathered the powerful remnants of the Empire's war machine, preparing to execute the late Emperor Palpatine's final plan. As the Imperial fleet orbits Jakku, an armada of Republic fighters closes in to finish what began at Endor. Norra and her crew soar into the heart of an apocalyptic clash that will leave land and sky alike scorched. And the future of the galaxy will finally be decided.”

I’ve had some trepidation finishing this series (and this after struggling through Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s GOOD OMENS for the second time and finally setting that aside). Once again, Chuck Wendig’s writing style is…difficult; he’s certainly not a traditional novelist. And maybe the long-running STAR WAR series needs writers who don’t do it the way one expects. 

But in the end, the entire AFTERMATH series problems for me were it introduced a bunch of meaningless subplots that ruin the pacing and took me out of the main narrative. As I wrote before, I can’t figure out why Wendig (or DINESY/LUCASFILM) chose to expand the new canon series this way. Part of me thought that maybe other writers would pick-up some of these stray stories that don’t figure into the main plot. Then I thought Wendig was being clever, showing us glimpses of action in other parts of the galaxy (stuff, another words, we don’t ever see in books or movies). But in the end, I just figured Wendig was given creative license –he was mandated what he needed to tell and then went off in many wild directions, which allowed what should’ve been a 300 page book to be bloated into close to 500 pages. 

There are some plot points that fill in the gaps that STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS does not get into. It is revealed that Emperor Palaptine had a contingency plan just in case the Rebellion proved successful and that the planet of Jakku –isolated, dirty, and out in the uncharted region of space- would be a perfect place to hide the remnants of the Empire. Still no idea whom Rey is, but it explains why Jakku is part of the new movie trilogy. 

But along with a distracting political subplot, there was a bunch of interludes that all seemed forced, and all unnecessary, and baffling to boot. This was part of the reason I stopped reading the STAR WARS books that were part of the original Expanded Universe years ago, as I found most of the books sort of pointless. 

I was hoping –and still am- that this new unified canon would put an end to these futile looks into the “other” areas of the STAR WARS universe. But I guess to get the good, you got to put up with a few lesser tomes.