1225 - Happy New Year

Yeah, got nothing.

Be safe, be happy.

Be.

Happy New Year!!!!

2011

As River Song would say..."Spoilers"

• The first four episodes have already been filmed while episodes five and six (a two-parter) were shot over the past month. The seventh episode, a cliffhanger finale until the second batch of six episodes in the Fall, begins shooting early in the new year.

• Much of the trailer shows scenes from the Steven Moffat-penned opening two-parter set in the 60's in the United States. These include The Doctor in the White House, the various scenes in Monument Valley and shots of a bearded Doctor being held prisoner in Area 51. Seems like the legendary 'Men in Black' play a big part of the storyline here, as does Alex Kingston's Dr. River Song.

• Various scenes show the main characters with tally marks on their skin. The various actors were spotted wearing these marks during filming in Utah so they definitely show up in the season premiere.

• Shots of someone in a full astronaut suit, and River Song likely distracting someone with an eyeful of her naked body, are both said to be from the opening two-parter.

• The Silence, the threat that caused the TARDIS explosion and the resulting cracks in the universe last season, will be a running thread throughout this season and are seen in the opening two-parter. Apparently it's a 'them', not an individual, and likely a race hereto unseen in the Who Universe. It's also been said that the truth about their "needs" and "physical forms" are what's sinister about them.

• There's several shots from Neil Gaiman's episode (the third episode next season) set in an alien junkyard with a woman in an 18th century dress and hairstyle. Its been stated the woman in the junkyard, Idris, is someone the Doctor has met before onscreen who looks different now.

• The TARDIS knock-off seen in "The Lodger" episode last season seems to have returned as there's a shot of River Song exploring it with a flashlight. There's also shots of a green-eyed Ood, Amy and Rory in some kind of dark spaceship corridors which are rumoured to be part of a TARDIS.

• The third episode is also said to tie into the classic Second Doctor episode "The War Games" in which the various warriors from the history of not just our planet were brought together in a 'battle royale' of sorts. Shots early on in the trailer of three men dressed like Musketeers and a shot of Nazi soldiers are said to be from this episode and lend credence to that theory.

• There's shots of small blond people in very creepy doll masks. These are all likely from the Mark Gatiss-penned fourth episode.

• The Doctor apparently gets cloned in the fifth & sixth episode two-parter in a story that deals with an alien invasion.

• It has been confirmed that Amy is "harbouring a big secret", and that the episode 7 finale will reveal the "true nature of his [The Doctor's] relationship with Amy Pond" says Moffat.

• That ties in with rumours of a scene in the opening two-parter that Amy encounters a "future Doctor" (possibly the one with the beard) and learns from him something terrible that will happen to The Doctor in the future, something that River implores her to keep quiet.

Books read in 2010

2010 was a personal best in how many books I read, up 5 from last years list. I read 20 in 2008, 15 in 2007, 16 in 2006. That's a 102 books I've read since I started keeping tabs. The funny part is I got probably as many unread sitting around the house.

I'm not setting any goals for 2011, but we'll see if I can get more read than this year, but I have a few tomes that surpass 1,000 pages, so that could cause some problems. But I like a challenge.

01. The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper
02. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
03. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson
04. Bite Me by Christopher Moore
05. The Lost City of Z by David Grann
06. Everything Changes by Jonathan Tropper
07. The Wishbones by Tom Perrotta
08. The Bucolic Plague by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
09. Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
10. I Am Not Myself These Days by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
11. Candy Everybody Wants by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
12. Drood by Dan Simmons
13. The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
14. Plan B by Jonathan Tropper
15. How To Talk To A Widower by Jonathan Tropper
16. I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells
17. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
18. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larrson
19. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larrson
20. Fat Vampire by Adam Rex
21. On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
22. The Night Angel Trilogy: Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks
23. The Night Angel Trilogy: Shadow’s Edge by Brent Weeks
24. The Night Angel Trilogy: The Way of the Shadows by Brent Weeks
25. Mr. Monster by Dan Wells
26. Hell by Robert Olen Butler
27. Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
28. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Books: The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon #3) by Dan Brown (2009)

While not a train-wreck, The Lost Symbol proves once again that Dan Brown can throw a bunch of odd facts and some suppressed history into a big pot-boiler of novel and then say What if?

I sense this is the weakest entry in the Robert Langdon series (the over uses of italics is perhaps this novels greatest sin) which started with Angels and Demons and followed by the mega-hit The Da Vinci Code. Generally, though, you have to take most of what is written here with a grain of salt. Brown paints Langdon as a skeptic, yet the way the story is written, you get a sense that Dan Brown believes this stuff. And he does seem to take some glory in poking at our cultural boundries -religion, the secular world, both ancient and modern history are messy at best.

While the book was a huge bestseller last year, there was less attacks from the world of religion that propelled The Da Vinci Code to its popular world wide success. Which may be why the film version is still in development at Sony Pictures. The first film, while poorly reviewed, scored a worldwide $758 million gross, but Angels and Demons faired less (though, apparently, better reviewed) at the box office, taking in only $486 million (which is respectable, and somewhat on track for most sequels, who's percentages never reach the first film).

It looks like Brown himself will now write the screenplay for the film, and despite Imagine Entertainment will be producing the film version, don't count on Ron Howard returning as director (as The Dark Tower beckons), but the odds are Tom Hanks will return (but is not yet "officially" committed to it though).

Mirror Boys

Don't Rain on My (Holiday) Parade III

So, after four (and maybe five) straight days of rain, things started looking up. Well sort of.

Woke up to hear rain still pounding down on the roof, water cascading down and hitting the concrete like marbles strewn from a childs hand. The weather service had been predicting that the storm due into today was going to be the strongest, with potential thunderstorms, lightening, and hard, cold rain.

But before it could come, the skies finally stopped this morning. The clouds broke apart in some areas of the big sky, and you could see blue patches trying to expand themselves. The mall started getting busy, as people who must've forgot Christmas was Saturday, came rolling in. And while the sun never did come out, what little heating that did happen must have helped what little disturbances were left in the sky and late this afternoon, the skies around the mall opened up and produced, as they say, a gully washer of downpours.

For a good hour or so, it rained and rained and rained. But there was no thunder, no lightening just cold, and wind driven rain.

The good news, it appears, this was the last hurrah's for the rain. By the time I left work at 4, the western sky was filled with brightly colored clouds, as the setting sun was casting glorious colors against the ironed tinted clouds.

As I drove west on Foothill, I looked into my rear view mirror to see a glorious rainbow. Too bad I was driving, it would've made a great picture. Or a video, as my friend Wayne Webb made this afternoon when he saw a double rainbow over the eastern sky of LA. From his apartment in West Hollywood, he pointed his mobile phone and photographed it. And made fun of the cry baby guy who filmed a double rainbow that flew across Youtube so many months ago. This is what I love about Wayne. He's a great actor who deserves to be working on TV or film.

Anyways, those weather wizards are saying the rain is done for now, though the say there is a chance for more on Sunday. A lot of areas picked up nearly half to three quarters of rain for the entire year! And the moutains picked up a ton of snow. All of this, while a pain in the ass to deal with, will help alleviate the drought we have in SoCal. All that rain and especially the snow, will run off into the reservoirs and give us a leg up. While we are in a La Niña weather pattern, I'm hoping as winter finally takes hold here, this is not the last of the rain.

Don't Rain On My (Holiday) Parade, part II

It rained all day Saturday, all day Sunday and all day today.

Another weather system is due in tomorrow into Wednesday that promises another day of rain, but with potential thunder storms as well. Nearly an inch of rain fell at LAX today, which was a record, while other areas around the region were recording rain well above an inch to 2 1/2.

The rain is great, I mean its not snow so I'm happy about that. But it is a bit overkill. Still, it's been five, nearly six years, since Southern California has had this much rain in a weeks period. It could be the same length before it happens again, so grin and bear it I guess.

Speaking of the Bears, looks like my home team the Chicago Bears won their division tonight with a commanding win over the Vikings. Go Da Bears!

Anyways, beyond the rain, not much is going on. I could go on about Borders, but I just don't seem to have the energy to go further into their psycho drama. In some ways, I will be grateful when this company goes under. But, I guess, until then, I will kill myself trying to make it work. Good work ethic, but I'm unsure if I can ever capitalize on them when I move on from Borders.

Anyways, Monday is done. Only four days until Christmas. Wonder what Santa is bringing me (hey, how about a new job?).

Don't Rain On My (Holiday) Parade

The weather has been odd all over the States (WGN weatherman Tom Skilling said 47 states had snow on the ground as of yesterday), which is fine in January when the Christmas season has passed. Now, on the last weekend before Christmas, the weather has gotten snotty. And that does not help for my Borders, which is in an outside mall.

Last weekend, the weather Gods gave us a bright days, full of warmth (some areas had records broken for this time of the year) and remembrance of summer days that make SolCal appealing to many.

The opposite has come this weekend. The rain (somewhat) started Thursday (after a Wednesday that produced a few morning showers and then a cloudy day). Friday and today have given us mostly rain, with a few minutes between drops. Like I said, this should've happened last weekend, and not now. The rain, btw, is suppose to be with us through Wednesday, and its not until Friday that sun shopuld make its full appearance again.

Yikes. With a struggling economy and with Borders hitting the the financial tipping point in the last few weeks, this rain is as unwelcome as a Christmas Fruit Cake. I'm sure the malls are doing good business around here, but I wonder how Victoria Garden is doing, with everything outside?

Still, I was in Kohls this afternoon, and while the line for the register was long, the store looked pretty empty.

This weather pattern resembles El Niño (often nicknamed the Pineapple Express, because these storms usually start near Hawaii and follow a path directly into Southern California) than the sister pattern La Niña (usually drier and warm winter) the weather people think we are currently in.

Still, while rain is always better here, I just wished it stayed away this weekend (really, in all areas of the States). All retail stores need great weather on this final weekend of the Christmas buying season.

Sigh.

Lighting the Season

Sunday's Warmth

I woke up with a headache at around 6.05 this morning. It's one of those where every move I made in bed, just made it worse. I got up, took my morning pee and ibuprofen. I climbed back into bed, but I could not fall back asleep. Mostly because I could not get comfortable and every time I moved, Thor kept pounding the inside of my skull.

We also have some birds, they look very parrot like, who migrate through here every December. They are very, very noisy and travel in huge groups. They kept me awake when I could not settle down due to the headache.

I finally rolled out of bed at about 10, feeling somewhat better. The headache was pretty well under control by then. I made some coffee -which is new thing since I discovered Coffeemate covers the bitter taste of the stuff.

I sat in the living room, with the sun pouring in, and really started into The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. It was nice, really. With today's warmth -potentially hitting record highs - it was great to open the front door and let in the rays that are a pain in the summer time. I also called my mom, and teased her about the warm weather here, while Chicago was under a Winter Storm Warning, with blowing snow and temps that will dip to about 12 today (and going below zero overnight).

Yes, there are advantages of living here, as I no longer miss the cold and the snow. Nope, do not miss it at all. And I pray, I'll never have to live in a place that has those cold temps again. Its not to say I miss my family and friends in Chicago. Nope, I miss Andrew and Dave, Marc and Brad and my siblings and parents, but its the cold that keeps me here.

So, I washed the kitchen floor and did laundry as well. I'm putting the flannel sheets on today, despite the heat. By Thursday, the temps will be about 20 degrees colder than now, so that means the overnights will get chilly -and I sleep with the window open a bit as well.

Stil;l, hard to get into the Christmas shopping spirit when its 80 plus degrees and the sun is shinning down on you wondering if the beach would be in your future instead of the mall.

Its so hard living here, know what I mean?

LOL

Books: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King (2010)

There is some irony, I think, that as I finished Full Dark, No Stars I heard about the suicide of Mark Madoff, the son of Ponzi-schemer Bernard Madoff. More on this at end.

The four novellas that are part of this book are brimmed with “what people might do, and how they might behave, under dire circumstances” as King wrote in his Afterword.

The first entry (and the longest), 1922, is a historical tale about a man who kills his wife and hides her in a well. As Wilfred James writes in 1930 about what he did eight years earlier, we see a man who thought he could get away with something, unaware of the collateral damage he would eventually cause. And as guilt and mere coincidence begin to eat at him, he tries even harder to prevent the anyone from finding out what he did. And it is a King story, and we know that his dead never stay dead.

Big Driver tells is a story about a semi-successful crime novelist who is lured to a town for a literary event. Later, as she takes the short cut recommended to her, Tess encounters a rapist and a murderer. While she survives, she realizes that she cannot tell people what happened (for various reasons) and so she plots revenge. But to do what she feels needed, she’ll need to step down and become close to what the rapist is, and the person who sent her there to be raped. But justice can be a harsh mistress, and Tess wonders if becoming a vigilant is what her destiny was about.

Fair Extension is a sort of Twilight Zone-ish tale on the old standby of “beware of what you wish for.” Dave Streeter has cancer, and his encounter with a mysterious man who claims he can extend his life (but not cure him), sets in motion events that change the fabric of his life and his best friends one as well.

Finally, A Good Marriage is about a wife who accidentally discovers the man she’s been married to for the last 27 years is a serial killer known Beadie. Like Tess, Darcy is confronted with more social issues than justice -in the court of 24 hour news channels and folks who live and die by them - she thinks that people will have to assume she knew her husband was a killer, if only because she was married to him for so long. Her resolution is shocking, but sometimes you got to do what you got to do.

King said these were “harsh” tales, and ones difficult to write. But while he gets criticism for being prolific and (at times) formulaic, he has become a better writer over the years. I’ve been reading him for 30 years, and his return to more darkness is as welcome as last years huge novel Under the Dome. He has grown as a writer, and his tales about “what people might do, and how they might behave, under dire circumstances” reverberates more everyday.

Such as with Mark Madoff. Two years to the day he and his brother turned his father in, obviously convinced that the world will never accept that he knew nothing of his fathers schemes, the oldest Madoff child decided he could do nothing more. His act, while tragic, was one of someone caught in the middle of a nightmare he could not get out of. The irony is, maybe, while money makes the world go around, it never comes without a price. It can cover the bad times, it can give you things, but the collateral damage it can sometimes cause, forces people to make choices that are a dire, and in Mark Madoff's case, permanent.

Tightwire

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

I watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which is based on the huge best selling Independent Reading books by Jeff Kinney, over the weekend. It's a cute movie, with some fine performances.

But I had not realized how much of a douche bag the Greg Heffley character was, though. I mean, the actor playing him, Zachary Gordon was good, funny and well directed, but he makes Greg a real creep, and an ego maniac.

Everything is about him, and his fear of being uncool. Granted, this emotion is everyone's nightmare, from 11 year-olds to adults, but I felt that the kid went way over the top, being almost cruel to his friend Rowley (the whole safety patrol sequence with the kids). It seemed, to me, that they made him the most unlikeable character in the film (which is not the case of the source material), when he should have been the most. I mean, they make Rodrick -Greg's older brother (played by the adorkable Devon Bostick) - much more likable.

Which is odd in these type of movies.

Its a mixed bag, really. It works with the supporting charatcers (even though Rachel Harris and Steve Zahn are wasted here) and actors. But ultimately the film falters under the way the film portrays Greg.

A sequel is due in 2011. Let's hope they get Greg to be more fun to be with this time.

It's You Hollywood something on Thanksgiving Eve

As everyone heads off for Turkey Day 2010, here are few giblets to ponder from the land of The Hollywood.

While it's still nearly a year away from beginning production, casting has begun for Ghostbusters 3. Early rumors are circulating that Anna Faris (Pushing Daises) and SNL stars Will Forte and Bill Hader are up for roles.

Christian Bale confirms that with The Dark Knight Rises, it will be his final time playing Batman. That, honestly, is no big surprise.

Howard Shore, who won Oscars for his music for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has confirmed he'll score both parts of The Hobbit.

Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski will now helm the Johnny Depp lead The Lone Ranger for Disney.

Expect the prequel to The Thing to be released for Halloween 2011.

Miranda Otto has joined the cast of the pilot Locke & Key, based on the graphic novel series by Joe Hill, for FOX.

Warner Bros. is about to reboot Buffy -without Joss Whedon

So, Warner Bros. has announced plans to reboot the Buffy The Vampire Slayer film -without Joss Whedon as the writer. As Giles would say, "the Earth is doomed."

Who is Whit Anderson, the lady hired to write the new script? Apparently, as a fan, she used to watch the old show. It appears this show might have inspired her to become a writer. Thus, with this, every slash/fan writer across the universe might be hoping they too might get a chance to come over the real world of the Hollywood Dream. As Charles Roven, who was a producer on Batman Begins, said: "There is an active fan base awaiting this characters return."

So, Comic Book Guy, here's to you.

Here's what Wedon had to say:

"This is a sad, sad reflection on our times, when people must feed off the carcasses of beloved stories from their youths-just because they can't think of an original idea of their own, like I did with my Avengers idea that I made up myself.

Obviously I have strong, mixed emotions about something like this. My first reaction upon hearing who was writing it was, "Whit Stillman AND Wes Anderson? This is gonna be the most sardonically adorable movie EVER." Apparently I was misinformed. Then I thought, "I'll make a mint! This is worth more than all my Toy Story residuals combined!" Apparently I am seldom informed of anything. And possibly a little slow. But seriously, are vampires even popular any more?

I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death. But, you know, AFTER. I don't love the idea of my creation in other hands, but I'm also well aware that many more hands than mine went into making that show what it was. And there is no legal grounds for doing anything other than sighing audibly. I can't wish people who are passionate about my little myth ill. I can, however, take this time to announce that I'm making a Batman movie. Because there's a franchise that truly needs updating. So look for The Dark Knight Rises Way Earlier Than That Other One And Also More Cheaply And In Toronto, rebooting into a theater near you."

Trailer Trash

Saw part one of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. Its a good film, dark and adult as the novel its based upon. The performances are uniformly good, as the three main actors, Daniel Radcliff, Rupert Grit and Emma Watson have become wonderful actors.

But, the part I want to talk about are the trailers. While I realize I'm not the demographic for the Yogi Bear film, it still looks horrible, dumb and insulting. I feel sorry for the actors - even B type ones presented here - who have to do these films to make money. I will certainly skip this one.

There was one for the next Chronicles of the Narnia (and since I've yet to see the other ones, I'll skipping this one as well). The picture looks good, heavy CGI laden and what not. It just does not get my desire to see it, though.

Green Hornet looks good, with a heavy dose of explosions and CGI. Too bad I find Seth Rogen to be such an unappealing actor. I'm tired of the man-child stories, and this movie sort of continues this horrible trend in film. Then there is Cameron Diaz, who next to Tom Cruise, is just one hell of a bad actor. Then the trailer shows just shot after shot of explosions and destruction, and fight sequences stolen right out of the Charlie's Angel franchise and Zack Snyder. The raping of my childhood continues. Skip it, another words.

Green Lantern. Beyond Ryan Reynolds (and his hot body), the film looks dumb. But it may be the one film I might consider seeing. But I highly doubt that, as I've yet to see Iron Man 2.

Tron: Legacy is perhaps the only film I want to see out of this batch. I liked the 1982 original -and I remember seeing in theaters when it came out, which was 28 years ago! I do hope its good, and I think Disney knows they have to make a film that appeals to the audience who saw and loved the original and a generation who has never seen it -I'm hoping for a Blu-ray version soon. Sure its effects heavy, as was the original. Still, there was a story to the first one. I'm hoping there is one here as well.

I'm sure there was more, but I can't remember. Which just shows how unforgetful these movies have become. Or I'm just older, wiser and able to make better choices in the films I see and not be taken in by CGI effects and rememberances of things past.

Books: Hell by Robert Olen Butler (2009)

If you ever wondered who ended up in Hell, well in Robert Olen Butler’s novel, just about everyone -including some who are still around today.

We meet Hatcher McCord, who was once a prominent new caster who ends up in Hell, well, reading the news. And in this version of the damned, how you led your life (whether you were good or evil) does not matter. It’s all, it seems, the personal hell we put ourselves through while we thought we were alive. But through the grapevine, well, Dante’s girlfriend Beatrice, Hatcher hears of way to escape Hell, and thus the clutches of Satan (who appears to have a boat load of daddy issues). So the former live newscasters begins a journey to find the back door out of the underworld, all while trying to figure out his feelings for his ex-wives, and Anne Boylen -who does some the oddest things with her severed head, things that Hatcher could, or would never dream of.

Olen’s novel, a sort of homage to Dante’s Inferno (and who is, damned it seems, to write Inferno over and over again), we have many cameos of famous people, like J. Edgar Hoover (who says he is in Hell because "I was needed. Can you imagine how many Communists there are down here?"), Dick Cheney, George W. Bush (who is confused and thinks he’s in Heaven), William Shakespeare (who’s weeping for quill and ink because "his hard drive keeps crashing and he loses his plays"), Virgil, Jerry Seinfeld, Christopher Hitchens, and Mother Teresa.

It is at times funny, even as it tries to explore the darker side of humanity. But Olen does take his time getting the novel going to where it suppose to go, and at a scant 232 pages, that’s pretty bad. Still, a worthy read, with a great wordsmith (cause I thought the Hitchens spot was awfully clever).

Books: Mr. Monster by Dan Wells (2010)

In this continuation, John Wayne Cleaver is still fighting the urge not to hurt people, not to kill. It's been nearly six months since the events of I Am Not A Serial Killer, and his town of Clayton County appears to be relaxing its fear, hoping the horrible events of last winter are finished. Of course, the truth of the matter is the Clayton Killer was a supernatural force, a demon. And John had killed it.

But John, tasting the power of death now believes the "only monster left is me- the dark side of me I call Mr. Monster." While John, who narrates, does not hear voices in his head, or suffer multiple personalities, he none the less thinks there is something there, a dark force existing in his body.

The Mr. Monster.

And he continues to keep to his rules, so that he doesn’t let the evil that is Mr. Monster, even at the potential costs to his mom, aunt and sister. And, his growing (and sometimes, disturbing) infatuation with neighbor girl Brooke.

But things appear to begin again, when dead bodies start popping up around town. The police have little clue, but sense that the Clayton Killer maybe back. But since John knows that demon is dead, he begins to suspect that another demon is out there, killing women. Soon John becomes convinced that this new killer is sending a message, a message that only he can understand.

This second book in what is starting out to be a very interesting series, is much better than the first, and Wells packs a lot of info into such a relatively short book (287pages), that you can't help but keep turning the pages. And like the first one, Mr. Monster has some quite disturbing and graphic descriptions, once again making me wonder why this book would be classified as Young Adult (though my company has them in the Mystery/Suspense section).

As noted in the first review back in June, the crossing of Dexter book series and Stephen King is interesting. The demons that John has encountered so far seem to emulate real human serial killers, at least in their mind set. This element keeps the two books from falling into some sort of parody of those two genres. Plus, Wells has created a fairly original and unique voice in John Cleaver.

There is a third book coming, and it appears John may have found an outlet for his Mr. Monster, as there appears to be many demons haunting the Earth.

Books: The Night Angel Trilogy: Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks (2008)

In the final volume of The Night Angel Trilogy, author Brent Weeks often violent, Tolkien style series comes together fittingly, but is rather over-long, and drags in many places.

The World Building that goes into these fantasy series can be daunting, and some authors get lost in their world, producing pages after pages of things that seem important, yet are nothing but filler. Still, I’m guessing Weeks will eventually return to this Universe, and that might be his purpose for filling out this series to nearly 700 pages in this final voulume.

There is some interesting stuff here, like the character of Dorian who seemed such a minor character in volume one, who in this final one becomes very integral to the conclusion -its interesting to see a “hero,” motivated by the desire to bring peace, who ends up committing countless acts of horror himself, all in the service of the ending another horror.

But after spending nearly 700 pages setting up the finale, it ends rather abruptly, with all the loose ends coming together rather neatly. It’s a good series, one that I recommend, but it reminds me why I read so little of this genre anymore: I’ve read most of them in the 1980s.

It may not be fair to compare him to Stephen R. Donaldson or Terry Brooks. The genre is rather limited, and it does need fresh ideas to make it worth reading, but when you’ve read as much as I have, you still can be disappointed by a story, even if it is well written.