The Amulet of Samarkand , by Jonathan Stroud. Reviewed by N. Vivian on October 23rd, 2008.
This is a great book. I picked it up, started laughing, and didn't really stop until I was done. The basic premise of the story is that in magical London, there are two basic social strata: magicians and everyone else. Magicians are The Guys In Charge; they run the government, have all the money, and can bully regular folks at will. They get their power by summoning various ranks of demons (afrits, djinnis, marids, etc), binding them, and them sending them out to do stuff. In his years, Bartimaeus (the djinni that gives his name to the trilogy) has built the walls of Prague, Karnak, and Jericho, the Parthenon, the Stone Bridge, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa (which would have stayed straight if the architects had only listened to him). These demons can do lots of other things, too. They're your basic magical slaves; the greater demon you can summon and bind, the better the stuff you can make him do.
Though the book is about a young Magician's apprentice named Nathaniel, Bartimaeus is the narrator. Thank God, because Nathaniel is completely unlikeable (deliberately so), and Bartimaeus is funny, arrogant, witty, and a delightful braggart. His sections of the book generally have amusing footnotes, where he further explains how awesome he is or makes snide remarks about magicians:
"1 Doubtless, [behind Shields] was where the British magicians were skulking, at a safe distance from the action. My Czech masters were just the same. In war, magicians always like to reserve the most dangerous jobs for themselves, such as fearlessly guarding large quantities of food and drink a few miles behind the lines." (This is actually from the second book, because the first is downstairs and I don't feel like going to get it).
For all that their magic comes from demons, magicians are giant assholes to them. Basically, Bartimaeus and his ilk are their slaves, and the magicians treat them as such: nasty punishments, peremptory demands, general disdain for the demons' thoughts, feelings, or anything else. This is much the same way that they treat the common folk, except they generally don't bother talking to the commoners. After all, other than provide the wizards with food, clothing, service, and all that stuff, the commoners can't actually do anything important for them. Important is defined as magical, by the way.
Magicians are not allowed to have children (leads to dynasties and nasty things like that), so children who are born with magic are taken from their families and given to another magician to raise. Nathaniel is given to Mr. Underwood, an assistant minister of Internal Affairs.. Nathaniel ends up resenting his master for a variety of reasons, and takes to learning advanced magic by himself, up in his room where no one knows what he's doing. Underwood, a mediocre magician himself, is under the impression that Nathaniel's barely passable, which Nathaniel uses to his advantage. Anywho, the book opens with Nathaniel summoning Bartimaeus and sending him to fetch the Amulet of Samarkand from another magician, Simon Lovelace, who humiliated Nathaniel the year before. Simon had received the amulet under highly suspicious circumstances, and Nathaniel wants it so he can claim vengeance on Simon.
Nathaniel, as I said above, is an unpleasant character. He has absorbed a lot of the traits that the magicians have, including contempt for commoners, contempt for his demons, a tendency to favor the "If I double cross you first, you can't double cross me at all" approach to dealing with Bartimaeus, and all the arrogance that a privileged, genius child develops when he knows he can run rings around his keepers. Balancing that out, he does have a loyal streak, he's brave (and by brave, I pretty much mean foolhardy), and he is really smart. I'm hoping that he's such a jerk in the first book so we can see some real character growth from him down the line. He learns in this book that not all magicians are good guys (the climax of the novel comes when he and Bartimaeus have to stop Lovelace from unleashing some nasty demon-thing that'll eat all the other magicians in Britain), and I'm hoping in the next one, he'll learn that people without magic are really people, too.
So, yes, it was a book I enjoyed immensely. I immediately went out and picked up the second book, which I've barely begun. Bartimaeus is snarky and has a dim view of humanity (and rightly so) that he shares with the reader at every given opportunity. Nathaniel is unlikable and does stupid things, but I can forgive him this because it is clearly setting him up for character growth later. And since he's not the actually narrator for most of the book, I don't get frustrated with his stupidity the way I normally would--it just gave me an extra reason to like Bartimaeus, who also thinks the kid is an asshat.
I'm also really looking forward to the movie release. Religious groups are going to explode. This is a boy who summons demons to get magic. And they thought Harry Potter's mangled Latin was bad...
4.5 stars
In books I trust,
N. Vivian
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
A Bleak World
The Road by Cormac McCarthy, reviewed by Steve on October 14th, 2008.
Cormac McCarthy's novel tells the haunting and tragic story of a father and a son, who walk through a landscape of post-Apocalyptic earth as they try to survive. They do not have names. They do not have anyone else. They are utterly alone.
The characters in this story, who have no real names and are referred to only as father and child or son, are hoping to find peace and salvation on the West Coast, which the father had heard was the only place left in the U.S. where they might find....something. Anything. The child yearns to see the ocean and the father indulges him, while at the same time hoping that there might be something left in what was California. During their journey, they find waypoints scattered along their trail; old houses with bomb shelters, buried foodstuffs, and deserted homes. Suddenly, canned peaches and cans of Coca-Cola take on a much more significant meaning--they are relics of civilization, luxuries of a time long gone. As they travel, the father makes certain that the son tastes these culinary relics and slakes his appetite while he himself forgoes such delicacies. For the father, all that matters is that the son survives and continues on, long after the father has crossed the threshold of death.
Despite receiving worldwide acclaim from the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Entertainment Weekly, and others, I found this book to be very disappointing. With its pared-back style and bare prose, the story is remarkably un-entertaining to read. It feels much the same as reading a phone-book, though it takes far less time.
Additionally, the story could be difficult to read because of an annoying thematic decision made by Mr. McCarthy; namely, to completely do away with the quotation mark in order to offset spoken words and paring back the indicators of who is speaking (i.e. George said, George exclaimed). At times, one can ignore this when it is clear who is speaking to whom, usually in a short dialogue. However, in longer conversations, it could be confusing as to who was doing the talking.
Likewise, the story seemed to have no purpose. I felt as aimless and lost as the characters. On one hand, this is a good thing and stands testament to the thematic component of the narrative. Well done, Mr. McCarthy! But on the other hand, it was dull and boring for me as a reader to feel aimless, lost, and that the story was not going anywhere.
When I read a book, I want to be entertained! I want to go on the journey with the characters, but I want to feel something. Whether it is sadness, passion, frustration, rage, glory, or bliss, the reader should feel as though they have developed alongside the protagonist(s). The reader should also, perhaps, feel as though they knew the characters of the tale. But unfortunately with The Road, I felt.....nothing. No attachment. No development. No emotions. Just. Nothing.
In all, I would have to rate this novel with an abysmal 2 stars. McCarthy earns points for creatively using the grammatical framework of the narrative to relate a theme, but loses more than he earns because the story itself lacks depth or significance.
Cormac McCarthy's novel tells the haunting and tragic story of a father and a son, who walk through a landscape of post-Apocalyptic earth as they try to survive. They do not have names. They do not have anyone else. They are utterly alone.
The characters in this story, who have no real names and are referred to only as father and child or son, are hoping to find peace and salvation on the West Coast, which the father had heard was the only place left in the U.S. where they might find....something. Anything. The child yearns to see the ocean and the father indulges him, while at the same time hoping that there might be something left in what was California. During their journey, they find waypoints scattered along their trail; old houses with bomb shelters, buried foodstuffs, and deserted homes. Suddenly, canned peaches and cans of Coca-Cola take on a much more significant meaning--they are relics of civilization, luxuries of a time long gone. As they travel, the father makes certain that the son tastes these culinary relics and slakes his appetite while he himself forgoes such delicacies. For the father, all that matters is that the son survives and continues on, long after the father has crossed the threshold of death.
Despite receiving worldwide acclaim from the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Entertainment Weekly, and others, I found this book to be very disappointing. With its pared-back style and bare prose, the story is remarkably un-entertaining to read. It feels much the same as reading a phone-book, though it takes far less time.
Additionally, the story could be difficult to read because of an annoying thematic decision made by Mr. McCarthy; namely, to completely do away with the quotation mark in order to offset spoken words and paring back the indicators of who is speaking (i.e. George said, George exclaimed). At times, one can ignore this when it is clear who is speaking to whom, usually in a short dialogue. However, in longer conversations, it could be confusing as to who was doing the talking.
Likewise, the story seemed to have no purpose. I felt as aimless and lost as the characters. On one hand, this is a good thing and stands testament to the thematic component of the narrative. Well done, Mr. McCarthy! But on the other hand, it was dull and boring for me as a reader to feel aimless, lost, and that the story was not going anywhere.
When I read a book, I want to be entertained! I want to go on the journey with the characters, but I want to feel something. Whether it is sadness, passion, frustration, rage, glory, or bliss, the reader should feel as though they have developed alongside the protagonist(s). The reader should also, perhaps, feel as though they knew the characters of the tale. But unfortunately with The Road, I felt.....nothing. No attachment. No development. No emotions. Just. Nothing.
In all, I would have to rate this novel with an abysmal 2 stars. McCarthy earns points for creatively using the grammatical framework of the narrative to relate a theme, but loses more than he earns because the story itself lacks depth or significance.
Autumn Reflection
Thanks to N. Vivian for saying on top of things this past couple of weeks! Myself, I seem to have left the blog by the wayside, so to speak. Thousands of apologies, oh Reader!
Where to begin?
Well, the semester at Clark has taken off rather quickly, as they often tend to do, and we are now at the middle of the term. I have received my first round of essays to grade and while the process is time-consuming, I am finding that, all in all, I'm enjoying it. Who would have thought that reading and grading 35 essays would be enjoyable?
Ahh, It is hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago we were enjoying summer. Although with the weather behaving as it has been, who would have thought that the summer had actually ended? This is the time of year when I find myself thinking of all the things I would like to do outdoors, but never end up doing them. I think of riding my bike down the various trails in central Massachusetts, going for a hike, paddling a canoe down one of the many rivers nearby, and sitting outside by the lake in the early morning with a cup of coffee in hand. It's odd, but when I think of relaxation, I think of autumn, not summer. I've always associated summer with free-time and vacation, and therefore being active and busy. Fall, on the other hand, seems to me to be the time for reflection, introspection, and relaxation. I'd like nothing more than to have ample time to sit and relax with a good book in hand. And a coffee, of course.
But what about you? What is your favorite part about fall? What do you do to relax, while the chaos of the business world and daily life rages around you?
Where to begin?
Well, the semester at Clark has taken off rather quickly, as they often tend to do, and we are now at the middle of the term. I have received my first round of essays to grade and while the process is time-consuming, I am finding that, all in all, I'm enjoying it. Who would have thought that reading and grading 35 essays would be enjoyable?
Ahh, It is hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago we were enjoying summer. Although with the weather behaving as it has been, who would have thought that the summer had actually ended? This is the time of year when I find myself thinking of all the things I would like to do outdoors, but never end up doing them. I think of riding my bike down the various trails in central Massachusetts, going for a hike, paddling a canoe down one of the many rivers nearby, and sitting outside by the lake in the early morning with a cup of coffee in hand. It's odd, but when I think of relaxation, I think of autumn, not summer. I've always associated summer with free-time and vacation, and therefore being active and busy. Fall, on the other hand, seems to me to be the time for reflection, introspection, and relaxation. I'd like nothing more than to have ample time to sit and relax with a good book in hand. And a coffee, of course.
But what about you? What is your favorite part about fall? What do you do to relax, while the chaos of the business world and daily life rages around you?
Monday, October 13, 2008
Two reviews for the price of one!
Two books up for review since the first review is so short, and because I missed a review last week.
The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier: How To Solve The Mysteries Of Weak Writingby Bonnie Trenga. Reviewed by N. Vivian on October 13th, 2008.
Cute is really the best word for this book. Each chapter opens with a 'case write-up' that uses a ton of whatever grammatical error the chapter itself is covering. They cover the usual suspects (ha ha, I am witty, no?): passive voice, misplaced modifiers, unclear pronoun usage, excessively long sentences, etc etc. The book does a decent job explaining what each error is, and giving some generic ways to fix it. Then the chapter ends with a basic recap, and tell you to go back and read the original write-up to find and fix all of the mistakes. Nothing amazing or particularly insightful, but still pretty useful. What I felt was lacking from the book was an explanation of why someone would make that mistake. I mean,the passive voice is used I use the passive voice a lot. Why? I'm not entirely certain. Giving some insight into the 'why's' of the mistake would mean that I could potentially stop myself from making that mistake by recognizing the danger signs.
2.5 Stars
Aerie by Mercedes Lackey. Reviewed by N. Vivian on October 13th, 2008.
Oy. First, let me tell you, Misty was my favorite author for years. From sixth grade till at least partway through high school, she was heads and shoulders above any other author I could name. It's true that I didn't go to the extreme of buying each book as soon as it was published, but hardcovers are expensive and I was just a kid. Still, the minute one came out in paperback, they were clutched in my hot little hand. Staying up till four in the morning, eating Sweet Tarts, reading the newest Valdemar book, and reveling in the early morning silence of my house...that was the closest approximation to heaven I could fathom for a long time.
That being said, Aerie was a disappointment in a long string of disappointments. It is still better than that fiasco she calls One Good Knight, but that's pretty much the textbook definition of "damning with faint praise". This book actually had the climactic battle scene. It is the last novel in the Jouster series, following the further adventures of Kiron and his fellow Dragon Jousters as they try to integrate themselves into society and keep the newly formed borders of Altia safe from their outside neighbors.
Kiron is having trouble with his girlfriend, who wants girls to have equal rights to dragon eggs as guys do. Kiron is resisting and blah blah blah romantic 'tension' that goes through the first three-quarters of the book. Putting an additional strain on their relationship is this other chick who is falling in love with him. Why does she love him, you ask? Why, only because she's been the loyal friend and companion to Kiron's mother, and his mother has decided that her son's future is best served by marrying her son off to Chick and have them live on the old family farm--once Kiron finds a way to take it back.
Kiron knows none of this, and when he finds out, doesn't really care. He's too busy being friends with the High King and Queen, the leader of the Dragon Jousters and trying to save the world. There's plenty of interpersonal wangst as Kiron deals with his girlfriend, Chick deals with her feelings for Kiron, Kiron deals with his mother, and the elite group of female Dragon Jousters deal with each other. As has been very much a hallmark of Misty's recent books, nothing is really explained or described very deeply. There's no real character growth, motivations are shallow, and even the big scary enemy seems added as an afterthought--we get no real detail about them.
I really miss the days of Magic's Pawn and The Lark and the Wren. Back when characterization, continuity, and craft actually mattered to her.
When all is said and done though, the book itself is fairly fun. It isn't deep, thought-provoking, or narratively complex, but it's still a good way to kill a few hours without really exerting yourself. This is the perfect "break from studying for finals" book. Flufftastic. And there's lots of Egyptian mythology window-dressing, which is always fun to have. Just don't expect to get much in the way of plot development, and brace yourself for the deus ex machina OF DOOM that IS the climax of the book, and you'll be fine.
2.5 stars
In books I trust,
N. Vivian
The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier: How To Solve The Mysteries Of Weak Writingby Bonnie Trenga. Reviewed by N. Vivian on October 13th, 2008.
Cute is really the best word for this book. Each chapter opens with a 'case write-up' that uses a ton of whatever grammatical error the chapter itself is covering. They cover the usual suspects (ha ha, I am witty, no?): passive voice, misplaced modifiers, unclear pronoun usage, excessively long sentences, etc etc. The book does a decent job explaining what each error is, and giving some generic ways to fix it. Then the chapter ends with a basic recap, and tell you to go back and read the original write-up to find and fix all of the mistakes. Nothing amazing or particularly insightful, but still pretty useful. What I felt was lacking from the book was an explanation of why someone would make that mistake. I mean,
2.5 Stars
Aerie by Mercedes Lackey. Reviewed by N. Vivian on October 13th, 2008.
Oy. First, let me tell you, Misty was my favorite author for years. From sixth grade till at least partway through high school, she was heads and shoulders above any other author I could name. It's true that I didn't go to the extreme of buying each book as soon as it was published, but hardcovers are expensive and I was just a kid. Still, the minute one came out in paperback, they were clutched in my hot little hand. Staying up till four in the morning, eating Sweet Tarts, reading the newest Valdemar book, and reveling in the early morning silence of my house...that was the closest approximation to heaven I could fathom for a long time.
That being said, Aerie was a disappointment in a long string of disappointments. It is still better than that fiasco she calls One Good Knight, but that's pretty much the textbook definition of "damning with faint praise". This book actually had the climactic battle scene. It is the last novel in the Jouster series, following the further adventures of Kiron and his fellow Dragon Jousters as they try to integrate themselves into society and keep the newly formed borders of Altia safe from their outside neighbors.
Kiron is having trouble with his girlfriend, who wants girls to have equal rights to dragon eggs as guys do. Kiron is resisting and blah blah blah romantic 'tension' that goes through the first three-quarters of the book. Putting an additional strain on their relationship is this other chick who is falling in love with him. Why does she love him, you ask? Why, only because she's been the loyal friend and companion to Kiron's mother, and his mother has decided that her son's future is best served by marrying her son off to Chick and have them live on the old family farm--once Kiron finds a way to take it back.
Kiron knows none of this, and when he finds out, doesn't really care. He's too busy being friends with the High King and Queen, the leader of the Dragon Jousters and trying to save the world. There's plenty of interpersonal wangst as Kiron deals with his girlfriend, Chick deals with her feelings for Kiron, Kiron deals with his mother, and the elite group of female Dragon Jousters deal with each other. As has been very much a hallmark of Misty's recent books, nothing is really explained or described very deeply. There's no real character growth, motivations are shallow, and even the big scary enemy seems added as an afterthought--we get no real detail about them.
I really miss the days of Magic's Pawn and The Lark and the Wren. Back when characterization, continuity, and craft actually mattered to her.
When all is said and done though, the book itself is fairly fun. It isn't deep, thought-provoking, or narratively complex, but it's still a good way to kill a few hours without really exerting yourself. This is the perfect "break from studying for finals" book. Flufftastic. And there's lots of Egyptian mythology window-dressing, which is always fun to have. Just don't expect to get much in the way of plot development, and brace yourself for the deus ex machina OF DOOM that IS the climax of the book, and you'll be fine.
2.5 stars
In books I trust,
N. Vivian
Saturday, October 4, 2008
A Political Post
I hope no one minds this. If it decided that this isn't in keeping with the blog, we can delete it, but since this argument is both well-researched and well-delivered, I think it should reach the widest audience possible.
Dear Gov. Palin,
How DARE you?
How DARE you stand on that stage, on the shoulders of generations of women who have struggled and sacrificed to allow a woman to achieve what you have, and spit in their faces the way you have done over the past few weeks? For a serious candidate for vice president to turn in such a poor performance in interview after interview that the fact that you managed not to pee on the stage meant that you exceeded many people's expectations is a crying shame. In the month since you were named as candidate for VP, you have embodied every single negative stereotype ever put forward as a 'reason' why women are not fit to lead a nation. You have been shallow, superficial, disorganized, and clearly uninformed on a wide range of issues that the president MUST understand. That is absolutely disgraceful. You are no longer Miss Wasilla - this is not a beauty contest that you can win by chirping "World peace!" into a microphone and waiting for someone to show up with your tiara and sash - it is deadly serious. How do you propose to take over the presidency, should that be necessary, when it takes you weeks of preparation and drilling and rehearsal in seclusion to get through a 90 minute debate? You are so afraid of the press after your three disastrous interviews that you have decided to avoid them completely - don't think that we can't see through your attempt to spin the situation to cast yourself as a victim of the evil, mean, press corps. Do you seriously believe that that would be an option for you, should you ever become president? What will you do then?
The open letter doesn't stop there. Please visit her blog to read the rest. Trust me, it's worth the visit.
Regards,
N. Vivian
Dear Gov. Palin,
How DARE you?
How DARE you stand on that stage, on the shoulders of generations of women who have struggled and sacrificed to allow a woman to achieve what you have, and spit in their faces the way you have done over the past few weeks? For a serious candidate for vice president to turn in such a poor performance in interview after interview that the fact that you managed not to pee on the stage meant that you exceeded many people's expectations is a crying shame. In the month since you were named as candidate for VP, you have embodied every single negative stereotype ever put forward as a 'reason' why women are not fit to lead a nation. You have been shallow, superficial, disorganized, and clearly uninformed on a wide range of issues that the president MUST understand. That is absolutely disgraceful. You are no longer Miss Wasilla - this is not a beauty contest that you can win by chirping "World peace!" into a microphone and waiting for someone to show up with your tiara and sash - it is deadly serious. How do you propose to take over the presidency, should that be necessary, when it takes you weeks of preparation and drilling and rehearsal in seclusion to get through a 90 minute debate? You are so afraid of the press after your three disastrous interviews that you have decided to avoid them completely - don't think that we can't see through your attempt to spin the situation to cast yourself as a victim of the evil, mean, press corps. Do you seriously believe that that would be an option for you, should you ever become president? What will you do then?
The open letter doesn't stop there. Please visit her blog to read the rest. Trust me, it's worth the visit.
Regards,
N. Vivian
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Mr. Spock, MacGuyver, and Sara Connor walk into a bar...
The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes, Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, and Sue Viders. Reviewed by N. Vivian on October 1st, 2008
Let's kick off the new month with another review, shall we?
My biggest argument with this book is that it is filled with cliches. I'm not referring to the archetypes, of course (anyone who picks up a book about archetypes and expects something new and fancy is an idjit), but the way they used archetypes in their descriptions. The way everything was described, I felt like I was reading a romance novel primer, even though they took examples from all genres. They used a lot of 'cutesy' terminology, which I found tedious. For example, when describing interactions between the BOSS and the BEST FRIEND archetypes they use:
The BEST FRIEND says the BOSS:
* is rude
* a tyrant and (they did not include and 'is' here, so the BOSS a tyrant)
* a captivating dictator
The BOSS says the BEST FRIEND:
* is small potatoes
* weak, and
* true blue
...oookay.
The book is broken down into 4 sections: male archetypes, female archetypes, using the archetypes to create new characters, and interactions between archetypes. Each section is set up much like a textbook, with little notes in the margin. I'd've preferred if the notes in the first two sections contained useful information, instead of reiterating which characters from literature and film embody said archetype, which is also included in the text, but I can live. The first two sections gave the archetype title (BOSS or BEST FRIEND), a brief description, qualities, virtues, flaws, background, possible careers, and two different ways the archetype could develop. The BOSS, for example, could be a princess-type character, or a trailblazer, or something else entirely. Nothing incredibly groundbreaking here, but still interesting information to have.
Section three explains using the archetypes to create characters. There are: core archetypes, where the character is 'just' one archetype (Mr. Spock is the PROFESSOR, Ellen Ripley is a CRUSADER); evolving archetypes, where the character starts at one archetype and evolves into another (Sara Connor goes from being a WAIF to a CRUSADER); and layered archetypes, where a character has a smattering of two or more archetypes (MacGyver is both a WARRIOR and a PROFESSOR). I did have fun using this section to assign archetypes to the characters in all of my role-playing games. The last section described the way the archetypes interacted with one another. The first part described the female archetypes interacting with other females, the second was males with other males, and the last was describing mixed-gender interaction (where I got my BOSS/BEST FRIEND example above.)
One great thing they did in this section was explain how the two clash, mesh, and change. The side notes in this section then give examples of how two characters from media embody these. But they don't only choose examples that go through all three steps: American Beauty's BOSS (Carolyn) interacts with the BEST FRIEND (Lester), and only clash. I appreciated them using a variety of examples, instead of staying within the strict 'Clash-Mesh-Change' pattern. I felt some of their examples were a bit dated, but it did come out in 2000.
Overall, The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes is fairly useful, if only as a jumping off point. People who feel like they have a good grasp on characterization already will probably find this tiresome in the same way the first few weeks of English class is, while the teacher ascertains that, yes, everyone here can use a period correctly. Still, it's a good jumping off point, and afforded me lots of fun as I figured out other characters from books, movies, and games that aligned with which archetype, though the archetype selection was fairly limited (I've got another book here with 45 archetypes. Fancy, no?) The book might have gotten a higher score, but I hated how they felt they had to completely capitalize every archetype every time they used it. I'm sure it was annoying in the above four paragraphs...now imagine reading the whole book like that.
3 stars
Let's kick off the new month with another review, shall we?
My biggest argument with this book is that it is filled with cliches. I'm not referring to the archetypes, of course (anyone who picks up a book about archetypes and expects something new and fancy is an idjit), but the way they used archetypes in their descriptions. The way everything was described, I felt like I was reading a romance novel primer, even though they took examples from all genres. They used a lot of 'cutesy' terminology, which I found tedious. For example, when describing interactions between the BOSS and the BEST FRIEND archetypes they use:
The BEST FRIEND says the BOSS:
* is rude
* a tyrant and (they did not include and 'is' here, so the BOSS a tyrant)
* a captivating dictator
The BOSS says the BEST FRIEND:
* is small potatoes
* weak, and
* true blue
...oookay.
The book is broken down into 4 sections: male archetypes, female archetypes, using the archetypes to create new characters, and interactions between archetypes. Each section is set up much like a textbook, with little notes in the margin. I'd've preferred if the notes in the first two sections contained useful information, instead of reiterating which characters from literature and film embody said archetype, which is also included in the text, but I can live. The first two sections gave the archetype title (BOSS or BEST FRIEND), a brief description, qualities, virtues, flaws, background, possible careers, and two different ways the archetype could develop. The BOSS, for example, could be a princess-type character, or a trailblazer, or something else entirely. Nothing incredibly groundbreaking here, but still interesting information to have.
Section three explains using the archetypes to create characters. There are: core archetypes, where the character is 'just' one archetype (Mr. Spock is the PROFESSOR, Ellen Ripley is a CRUSADER); evolving archetypes, where the character starts at one archetype and evolves into another (Sara Connor goes from being a WAIF to a CRUSADER); and layered archetypes, where a character has a smattering of two or more archetypes (MacGyver is both a WARRIOR and a PROFESSOR). I did have fun using this section to assign archetypes to the characters in all of my role-playing games. The last section described the way the archetypes interacted with one another. The first part described the female archetypes interacting with other females, the second was males with other males, and the last was describing mixed-gender interaction (where I got my BOSS/BEST FRIEND example above.)
One great thing they did in this section was explain how the two clash, mesh, and change. The side notes in this section then give examples of how two characters from media embody these. But they don't only choose examples that go through all three steps: American Beauty's BOSS (Carolyn) interacts with the BEST FRIEND (Lester), and only clash. I appreciated them using a variety of examples, instead of staying within the strict 'Clash-Mesh-Change' pattern. I felt some of their examples were a bit dated, but it did come out in 2000.
Overall, The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes is fairly useful, if only as a jumping off point. People who feel like they have a good grasp on characterization already will probably find this tiresome in the same way the first few weeks of English class is, while the teacher ascertains that, yes, everyone here can use a period correctly. Still, it's a good jumping off point, and afforded me lots of fun as I figured out other characters from books, movies, and games that aligned with which archetype, though the archetype selection was fairly limited (I've got another book here with 45 archetypes. Fancy, no?) The book might have gotten a higher score, but I hated how they felt they had to completely capitalize every archetype every time they used it. I'm sure it was annoying in the above four paragraphs...now imagine reading the whole book like that.
3 stars
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