Hammered by
Elizabeth Bear:
Before I star with the review I want to play it clear
that I will be reading another book by Elizabeth Bear but it won't be the
sequel to Hammered and it won't be
science fiction. There really isn't much about Hammered that I enjoyed and the part that I did were
inconsequential to the plot and buried in chapters that had such little impact
on me that it didn't matter.
I was in the mood for reading a military science fiction
novel and I ended up with Hammered.
To anyone who’s read the book you’ll likely agree that calling this military
sci-fi is more than just a little off the mark. The story takes place in the
not-too-distance future of 2062. China and Canada are the two competing
superpowers, mostly due with their involvement with space exploration and
military strength. It’s a future world setting where body modification,
mechanical prosthetics with neural network connections and virtual reality games
are common.
The most interesting characters were an artificial
intelligence and his creator, a fascinatingly intelligent and capable
psychiatrist. All the other characters were bland, boring, unconvincing and
inconsequential. As for Jenny Casey, the star of the show, she's a walking
cybernetic cliché. The plot goes nowhere. Normally when I finish a book in a
trilogy I have a desire to read the second book. With this one I felt relief
that the book was over and I was also upset that the plot had barely started to kick in. I’ve read a few reviews
where people applauded the book for being tightly plotted. I doubt they read
the same book I did. Hammered is 330 pages of setup and it’s not a
satisfying read .
Considered it Covered:
Paul Youll, I like this guy. His art on the covers for
the Star Wars Rogue Squadron are awesome. This cover, while very striking,
didn't work for me after I started to read the book. To be clear, the cover
played a big role in my decision to buy Hammered.
Look at that blue! Look at the bold yet relaxed pose. We can't see Carey's head
and while I would normally consider that to be a shame (thanks Kelly Thompson)
she's not painted in a provocative way so it works. I like the outfit, I like
the boots, I really like how the gun's pistol grip looks thick. That gun looks
heavy and it would be ridiculous for it to have a tiny handle. Look at the
bottom and the top of it, it's thick. That makes sense for a gun which has such
a heavy barrel and sight.
I've got a lot of positive things to say about a cover I
don't like, don't I? Well here's what doesn't work. Like many science fiction
and fantasy covers it doesn't accurately portray the characters or the book.
For starters the cover is clean and sleek while the book is gritty and I get the
sense that our not-too-distant future is a dirty place. The same thing goes for
Carey's skin and her prosthetic arm. She's approaching fifty and her skin is
flawless! She survived very severe burns and she doesn't have a single scar to
show. Granted she's not showing a lot of skin but her skin looks too perfect.
Maybe on a younger character but not for Casey. Her prosthetic arm is also too
clean and new looking. I pictured something more banged up and lived in,
especially considering she's had it for approximately 25 years. Did I mention
she's has Native American ancestors? Mohawk, I believe. Again I want to point
your attention to her skin. Certainly, this is a minor quibble as genetics are
complicated business and for all I know she could look like that. I just kind
of doubt it. And where is her holster? You don't keep a gun like that in a
shoulder harness. The cover is sleek and it lied to me about what kind of book
was about to read. Bear’s writing is gritty at times. I didn’t like the cover
after reading the book and after finishing the book I realized that I wasted my
time. It had potential and I really wanted to like it but there just isn’t
enough to keep me interested about this book or its sequels. My next book by
Bear is going to be a fantasy novel, that’s for sure.
Quatre aventures
de Spirou et Fantasio (Four Adventures of Spirou and Fantasio) by
Franquin :
This is often regarded as the first Spirou et Fantasio album. A series of albums that still continues
to grow today, albeit under different writers and artists. I got a hit of
nostalgia a short while ago and I took a bunch of the earlier albums from my
Dad’s basement. See, I remember some of the earlier stories by Franquin as my
favourites. Not this album in particular but I figured since I’d be going back
I might as well start at the beginning.
Well, it wasn’t worth it. My memory of these stories was
better than what they really are. The stories aren’t particularly bad. It’s
good considering the year in which it was released but it’s so tame compared to
other albums in the series. The stories are fluff entertainment clearly
directed at young boys. It lacks the more mature content, though still all-ages
appeal, and storytelling skills of later albums. They’re not bad, they’re just
very dated and it makes for an increasingly less enjoyable read as time goes on
You can’t even appreciate this collection of stories for
being the first Spirou et Fantasio
story. Well that’s not true. It’s not even the first Spirou et Fantasio album. It’s not even the first Spirou et Fantasio album by Franquin! It’s
just one of many other albums. This is one of the longest bande dessinée series
and it’s because of its longevity that it’s gone through multiple changes in
creative teams. Based on how long a specific creative team has stayed on the
book, the style and quality of that person’s run can also vary. The original Spirou by Rob-Vel is different than the Spirou et Fantasio by Fournier which is
different than the one by Yoann & Vehlmann who work on the series today.
The best thing to do with Spirou et Fantasio is just explore the series from any starting
point you want. Simply choose and album and keep reading the stories in publication
order from there, only going back to previous albums when they’re references in
an album you’re reading. I can’t recommend starting here unless you’ve read a
lot of other ones but doing so might actually decrease the enjoyment you would
get out of this album had you read it first. Really though, if you’re going to
spend as much time thinking about it as much as I did it’s probably not even
worth picking it up. I’d probably recommend Spirou
et Fantasio #4: Spirou et les héritiers as a satisfying starting point. I’ll
get to it but i’ve got two more albums to review first.
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