A review of R. Scott Bakker’s first volume of his new High Fantasy trilogy The Aspect-Emperor, the follow-up to his widely acclaimed Prince of Nothing trilogy. Continue reading The Judging Eye (The Aspect-Emperor, Book One) by R. Scott Bakker
“When you will have made him a body without organs, then you will have delivered him from all his automatic reactions and restored him to his true freedom.” Antonin Artaud, “To Have Done with the Judgment of God” (1947) “The Earth is a body without organs. This body without organs is permeated by unformed, unstable matters, by flows in all directions, by free intensities or nomadic singularities, by mad or transitory particles” Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus (1987) Malcolm Reynolds, Angel, Buffy, Joss, and River In the Whedonverse, there are the Big Damn Heroes and the Big … Continue reading Dollhouse Riffs: Riff #2: Bodies, Souls, and the Big Bad
In the re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica, the first Cylon Hybrid utters these chilling words: “All this has happened before, and it will happen again.” It may seem odd to quote a science fiction series in review of a book about the stock market, but it’s disturbingly apropos of the subject matter. John Chancellor’s magisterial book, Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation, charts the course of human folly in high finance from tulipomania to kamikaze capitalism. Trade and exchange are as old as time, while the need for money and the desire for wealth are not necessarily bad. … Continue reading Book Review: Devil Take the Hindmost: a History of Financial Speculation by John Chancellor
FICTION *Portrait of a Lady by Henry James *The Judging Eye by R. Scott Bakker *The Cantos by Ezra Pound NON-FICTION *Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation by John Chancellor *Rising Up and Rising Down (7-Volume Set) by William T. Vollmann Continue reading Books I’m reading
How free are those that control Dollhouse, compared to the dolls? Topher and Sierra’s “play date” occurred under the nose of Adele. Adele, smartly, lets it pass. Without it, Topher would be driven nuts. Or is this “play date” used as an opiate, a distraction for Topher. Is Topher also a doll? (A theory forwarded by my girlfriend. I think there is some merit to it.) The play date creates a carnival atmosphere, a great leveling that occurs between the powerful genius and the pliant doll. A similar leveling occurs when Victor is programmed to help Miss Lonelyhearts, in this … Continue reading Dollhouse Riffs: Riff #1: Dollhouse, the Dollhouse, and “freedom”
In the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, the Horus Heresy represents a monumental event. A galaxy-spanning civil war led by the Warmaster Horus, sundered and nearly destroyed the Imperium of Man 10,000 years ago. Horus, formerly primarch of the Luna Wolves, was appointed by the Emperor to command all Imperial forces. Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow, is the fourth book in the series, following Horus Rising by Dan Abnett, False Gods by Graham McNeill, and Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter. To read the complete review, click here. Continue reading Flight of the Eisenstein (Horus Heresy, Book 4) by James Swallow
“The jawbone of an ass. A shank/braided with shark teeth. A garrote.” So begins Yusef Komunyakaa’s new book of poems, simply called Warhorses. The slim volume confronts uncomfortable topics like wars, death, and atrocity. Written in a stripped-down primal language, it subverts the violence of its subject matter. Komunyakaa’s mastery and precision has been rewarded with a Pulitzer Prize for his earlier volume, Neon Vernacular (1994). To read the entire review, click here. Continue reading Warhorses by Yusef Komunyakaa
Mary Kennedy Eastham’s book, The Shadow of a Dog I Can’t Forget, contains poetry ranging from the elegiac to the erotic. The verbal economy and stunning imagery leaves you breathless while you travel among the denizens of a very strange, very beautiful Southern California landscape. Think Six Feet Under episodes set to poetic meter. The poems confront and explore issues like nature, identity, class, and desire. For the rest of the review, click here. Continue reading The Shadow of a Dog I Can’t Forget, by Mary Kennedy Eastham
For those of you familiar with “The Driftless Area,” I have decided to resurrect and revamp my previous blog. This blog will be solely dedicated to reviewing books, TV, film, and food. I will also have the much-beloved Critical Appraisals. Hopefully my reviews and critical opinions will be valuable to you as you decide what to eat, what to see, and what to read. My tastes run the gamut, from Warhammer 40K novels to the latest works of Thomas Pynchon. I find the distinction between High Culture and Pop Culture to be an artificial, albeit useful, one. I’m interested in … Continue reading A blog reborn
The Driftless Area Review 