Books: How to Stop Time By Matt Haig (2018)

“Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries (439 to be exact). Tom has lived history--performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life. So Tom moves back to London, his old home, to become a high school history teacher--the perfect job for someone who has witnessed the city's history first hand. Better yet, a captivating French teacher at his school seems fascinated by him. But the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society's watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can't have just happens to be the one thing that might save him. Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past, or finally begin living in the present.

I’m unsure how this novel became described as a “love story across the ages.” Because this is not like The Time Travelers Wife, which had a love story, but How to Stop Time has no real time travel whatsoever (though the book time-jumps between chapters –more on that later), and Tom’s wife Rose is long dead. And author Matt Haig’s character spends a massive amount of time wallowing in self-pity over having been alive so long. There is also a bit of conflict with a group called the Ablatross Society, which is run by an abla named Hendrich – a man so obviously manipulative, it makes Tom look like an idiot for not catching on faster.  But really, Tom’s hand-wringing comes tedious, as he whines about how everything changes, but really doesn’t. This becomes a mantra throughout the book, as the author tries to come up with more and more clichéd ways of saying this.

The book has short chapters, and as mentioned, time-jumps between modern London and days of yesteryear. While this may sound like a great idea, these jumps actually slows down the narrative –and most seem almost pointless. Tom also becomes a sort of a Forrest Gump of Time as he interacts with historical figures as Shakespeare, Will Kemp, James Cook, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Omai (who was, according to Wikipedia, was a young Ra’iatean man who became the second Pacific Islander to visit Europe). The name dropping and historical-events dropping becomes tedious after awhile.

Long before the How To Stop Time comes to an end, however, you understand the coda that Matt Haig is foisting upon his readers:  don’t be afraid of happiness and love. So yeah, I did not love this book, but I can’t say it’s awful either. It’s a collection of good ideas, with a depressing douche as a lead. Sort of like all the roles actor Dylan McDermott plays.

We The Animals By Justin Torres (2011)

“Three brothers tear their way through childhood  -smashing tomatoes all over each other, building kites from trash, hiding out when their parents do battle, tiptoeing around the house as their mother sleeps off her graveyard shift. Paps and Ma are from Brooklyn -he’s Puerto Rican, she’s white- and their love is a serious, dangerous thing that makes and unmakes a family many times. Life in this family is fierce and absorbing, full of chaos and heartbreak and the euphoria of belonging completely to one another.”

Justin Torres autobiographical novel is often brutal, sad, and a kick in the balls for its no-holds bar look at a family in who can be lovable, but seem unable to break the cycle of despair. It’s also coming of story about three very close brothers who know that while life is bleak, as long as they have each other, things seem to work out. That even as their parents argue and Paps vanishes for long stretches of time, they’re animals that somehow survive. The book almost comes off as a fever dream, with each chapter a sort of self-contained short story, a snapshot of their lives as the slowly age. Torres prose is searing and leaps off the page.

However, this short novel (125 pages) does have a flawed moment, which comes near the end. While Jonah’s two brothers and father seem to hint that the youngest sibling is “different” it’s never alluded to by the boy, who is recounting the story (and who is Torres). But Jonah’s sexual awakening seems a bit convoluted and even out of place in the narrative –as does the part where he mentions he’s been keeping a journal (like when did this happen?).

My understanding is that while the novel takes place over a few years, the movie version out now takes place over a smaller time period (and where Jonah is 10, while in the book he is eight), so I’m curious how the films narrative will incorporate Jonah’s sexuality.

A good first novel, if not a bit isolating. 

Books: Star Wars: Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn (2018)

There have been only a few authors who’ve written in the Expanded Universe that is Star Wars that can be said truly understand what George Lucas created and expand upon it, giving us a more in-depth look into the franchise, give us very realistic characters and stories that don’t rely on so much magic, coincidence, and convenience.

When Timothy Zahn helped re-launch the dormant Star Wars universe back in 1991, his Thrawn trilogy was highly regarded. Of course, until then, Zahn was a highly successful science fiction writer, so while stepping in the space opera world of Luke, Han, Leia, the Empire and everything else was fairly easy for him, he was able to make his stories resonant. He was able to set himself above some the other tales that would spin out over the next twenty-five years.  

While the character was killed off in The Last Command, Zahn would continue over the next two decades to keep the character alive, writing a sequel to the Thrawn Trilogy (Specter of the Past, Vision of the Future) along tales that used his visage for nefarious uses (Survivor’s Quest, Outbound Flight). The character would also pop up a few times in other writers stories, as well

With his latest duology, Zahn has given us an even greater look into the Chiss Admiral and his actions with the Emperor and Darth Vader.

Thrawn: Alliances gives us, essentially, two tales set years apart, but are essentially two sides of one coin. The first part opens a time after Thrawn's appearance in season three of the TV series Rebels- prior to A New Hope. The second part set somewhere after season 5 of the TV series The Clone Wars -between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.  This allows Thrawn to team up with Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker.

“On Batuu, at the edges of the Unknown Regions, a threat to the Empire is taking root -its existence little more than a glimmer, its consequences as yet unknowable. But it is troubling enough to the Imperial leader to warrant investigation by his most powerful agents: ruthless enforcer Lord Darth Vader and brilliant strategist Grand Admiral Thrawn. Fierce rivals for the emperor's favor, and outspoken adversaries on Imperial affairs -including the Death Star project- the formidable pair seem unlikely partners for such a crucial mission. But the Emperor knows it's not the first time Vader and Thrawn have joined forces. And there's more behind his royal command than either man suspects. In what seems like a lifetime ago, General Anakin Skywalker of the Galactic Republic, and Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo, officer of the Chiss Ascendancy, crossed paths for the first time. One on a desperate personal quest, the other with motives unknown . . . and undisclosed. But facing a gauntlet of dangers on a far-flung world, they forged an uneasy alliance -neither remotely aware of what their futures held in store. Now, thrust together once more, they find themselves bound again for the planet where they once fought side by side. There they will be doubly challenged -by a test of their allegiance to the Empire . . . and an enemy that threatens even their combined might.”

These two books offer some more wonderfully insightful look into Thrawn and his purpose to both the Empire and his allegiance to the Chiss Ascendency. Thrawn has always been complex, a non-human who straddles the fence between the Empire’s iron-fisted rule and his own belief system, but here we get an deeper look into what he’s willing to do to help his own people. Also, we get a great look into Anakin Skywalker, who remains impatient and bratty that we all saw in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith (not unlikable, but certainly childish). But like two sides of any coin, we get to see another side of Darth Vader that is rarely described in such wonder -his own internal conflict to keep his past identity that must be kept secret, but his effort to disassociate from that past identity.  This battle of wills with himself gives another window into the world of the character, and deepens the conflict Luke senses in Return of the Jedi. Vader has always been portrayed in a no-nonsense sort of way, which can make him one dimensional, but under the steady hand of Zahn we see that the character is more than the sum of his parts.

The pacing between the two timelines is well handled and never ends up being a distraction to the narrative. And while the Padmé sub-plot is interesting, it does plod along slowly –but that may have to do with her and Anakin being separated for so long. She remains a well constructed character and you see the DNA that Leia will build upon decades later, but it is just a plot device, predictable and somewhat pointless. Still, since Thrawn has now been folded into the new Disney Expanded Universe, even this device will be used in later books and TV series.

Books: Feeder By Patrick Weekes (2018)

“Lori Fisher hunts monsters. Not with a sword or a gun, but with an interdimensional creature called Handler. Together they take down “feeders”—aliens who prey on mankind. When Lori touches a feeder, Handler’s impossibly large jaws appear and drag the beast into another dimension. It’s a living—or was, until a job for the Lake Foundation goes wrong, and Lori stumbles across the Nix, a group of mutant teenagers held captive on the docks. Now the Lake Foundation is hunting Lori, and if they find Lori, they find Ben, the brother Lori would do anything to protect. There’s only one thing to do: strike first. Lori teams up with the Nix to take on Lake, and to discover why the Nix were kidnapped in the first place. But as she watches their powers unfold, Lori realizes the Nix are nothing like her. She has no powers. She has…Handler. Maybe she’s not the monster hunter after all. Maybe she’s just the bait.”

Ultimately, Feeder is a book that forces the reader to go with the flow of the narrative –the pacing starts out fast and continues throughout (a bit on that later). Weekes, oddly for this genre, spends little time explaining anything, leaving what world building there is to brief comments and random happenings. As an example, the world’s water levels have risen, leaving some cities using boats instead of cars, and no real explanation is ever given as to why this happened (global warming or aliens or something Weekes has chosen to slowly reveal over subsequent books?) and there seems to be some sort of collective brain washing that prevents people from really examining why this has happened. This can be an odd choice to foist on a reader, and might be frustrating for those who love epic world building (this book is less than 300 pages), but it does not take too much away from the fun.

It’s also clear that Patrick Weekes took the criticism he got from Rogues of the Republic fantasy trilogy –one filled with a variety of inclusive characters generally not seen in that genre- and doubled down them for Feeder. But this also causes a small part of the problem that the book does have –the narrative takes place over just five days, and there seems to be a rush to get these Nix folks and Lori paired off. Seems hollow and unrealistic (yes this is a science fiction novel, but like everything, the tales needs to run on some internal logic, or it all falls apart). So while the book is well paced, as I noted, we get little or no room for these romantic relationships to happen organically.

Also, the world building could’ve been tightened up. I’m unsure if that would effected Weekes choice to keep the pacing going (some authors get distracted by world building), but if this is going to be a start of new series, maybe he felt he did not need to reveal so much? But it was distracting at times, because I was continually pulled out of the narrative when characters said things that should’ve be elaborated on, but wasn’t. So my mind kept asking: where do the Feeders come from and why there some sort of collective amnesia effecting people about the worlds water rising?

Books: Doctor Who: The English Way of Death By Gareth Roberts (1996)

"It's the sweltering summer of 1930, and Londoners are enjoying the heatwave. The Doctor, Romana and K9 plan to take a rest after their recent adventures, but the TARDIS warns them of time pollution in the locality. What connects the isolated Sussex resort of Nutchurch with the secret society run by the eccentric Percy Closed? Why has millionaire Hepworth Stackhouse dismissed his staff and hired assassin Julia Orlostro? And what is the truth behind the infernal vapor known only as Zodaal"

While I found The English Way of Death a bit overstuffed, as a humorous science fiction tale set amongst the lives of the British upper-middle-class, it works. The witty, bohemian Doctor facing the 1930s social climbers is the saving grace of the book.  So while it's a fairly standard story –with zombies and a disembodied evil mist –this romp around the English countryside sets the stage for some good lines and odd, and sometimes eccentric British character. Roberts is one of the few Who writers of original novels who captures the spirit of Tom Baker’s era, especially the last few when he was traveling with Romana and K9. This book follows on from Robert's previous novel in the Past Doctor Who stories, The Romance of the Crime.