The Boundless ~ Kenneth Oppel

The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel was a delightful read.

I've been attempting to be more selective with my book reads due to have much less free time--babies cause that strange phenomenon of loss of leisure time.

Regardless, I grabbed this book during a book outlet sale, drawn to it by it's artistic cover...and my instincts proved correct.

If I was going to pick a book that I could compare The Boundless to, it would be The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern--which I also greatly enjoyed.

After finishing the book (in one evening, no less), I went onto Goodreads to get an idea of what other readers thought of it. I was quite surprised to read reviews criticizing how "slow" and "boring" the beginning of this novel was. Someone even commented that it didn't pick up speed at all.

Clearly none of these reviewers have ever read any Russian literature. They would still be on the first page of War and Peace, bogged down in the multiple names of Constantin Levin.

To be clear--I did not find this novel boring or slow *at all*. It was delightful for a few reasons.

I loved that it was set in Canada. I find Canadian literature to be so boring sometimes. This was an interesting combination of fantasy and historical fiction.

The premise of the novel is set on a massive train called, you got it, the Boundless. The protagonist is a teenage boy called Will who is got up in a plot to....well, I can't go into detail because it would spoil the novel for any possible readers.

With the speed and ease that I was read it, I would think that it should be classified as a teen or young adult novel.

Definitely give this novel a chance if you're interested in a simple read that has small elements of fantasy.

4/5 stars and I'll have to check out other book by Oppel.

EDIT: Just checked the novel is in the category of children's literature. Very appropriate.

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American Gods ~ Neil Gaiman

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

From Gaiman's repertoire to date, I have read Stardust, Neverwhere, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I very much enjoyed all three and had high hopes for American Gods as many people have recommended this book to me and it has decent reviews.

Unfortunately, I found that American Gods was simply so different from his other works in tone and nuance, I could not enjoy it. In the other works I read I enjoyed the almost childlike fantasy that emanated from his stories. Stardust, after all, has been made in a children's movie. Clearly Gaiman had written American Gods for a much different audience, but as I was not expecting this I did not find it an enjoyable read.

It starts out promisingly enough with the story of Shadow, a convicted thief, who finds himself released from serving his time in jail. With his release, a series of terrible events occur including the untimely death of his adulterous wife--double whammy. In a way, he is driven into the arms of "Wednesday", a mysterious man who we later discover is actually a Nordic god.

The concept of this novel isn't terrible. There are a group of gods who have become irrelevant to society because they are no longer worshipped--Odin, Easter, etc. Most of the gods seem to come from a Gaelic or Middle Eastern descent. Either way, the idea is interesting, but unfortunately spirals into a giant confusing plot.

Not only are there this older gods, there are new god (Media, Technology) who are convinced there is no room in America for both older gods and them. They decide they need to start killing off the older gods. Shadow is in essence, Wednesday's Yes-Man, chauffeur, etc.

The two characters who are most interesting in this novel are Wednesday and Shadow, but everything else is just ridiculous frippery. Gaiman adds extra back stories of the birth of gods to contribute to their explanation, but unfortunately it just causes more confusion and makes the novel unbearably long. I was much more interested in the narrative of Shadow and felt irritated by this useless interruptions on the birth stories of random gods.

Ultimately, it was just a much different book than any I had read by Gaiman, so I shouldn't fault it for that. However, I do fault his editor for not slashing more of the fluffy wasteful extras from this book that bloated it into a 588 page paperback.

Whether I continue reading Gaiman...I'm not sure. If this was the first Gaiman book I had read, I probably wouldn't.

2/5



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Science Fiction vs. Fantasy and Life Lessons

I've always wondered what the definable difference between science fiction and fantasy is.

Growing up all I knew was that Star Wars was sci-fi and Lord Of The Rings was fantasy. I could never figure out what made the difference between those two, but I guessed it had something to do with the fact that sci-fi generally seemed more about technically propelled concepts and ideas like space ships, holograms, robots, droids and other such things. Now that I think about it, if that's the way I define sci-fi, the James Bond series definitely has some sci-fi elements to it. A car that can completely cloak itself? I don't believe such a thing exists...

So I decided while bored at work tonight to Google what people considered sci-fi and fantasy. I found this quote:

Science fiction consists of improbable possibilities, fantasy of plausible impossibilities.

*boom* Brain explodes and rains down all over my desk and keyboard. I'm not very good at understanding technical discussions.

An easier explanation of it:

Science fiction and fantasy stories are make-believe tales. Fantasy stories are unlikely tales that have strange or imagined characters, places, or events. Science fiction stories are about life in the future or life on other planets.

Ahhhh. *relieved sigh* My brain cells trickle back into my head.
That's the difference between sci-fi and fantasy that I inherently understood but was unable to place my finger on. James Bond is probably considered to be in the "action" genre, with elements of sci-fi peppered through it. I've noticed that the most recent movies with Daniel Craig (*drool*) have more probable gadgets given to him. Nothing as outlandish (or interesting) as some of the devices used in the older movies.

And of course, I cannot mention Daniel Craig without an little homage to him:

Thank God for beautiful people. I mean, we're all fairly beautiful in unique and special ways, but he really does WIN.

Speaking of "winning"...how messed has Charlie Sheen been lately? Is it all a game to woo publicity and get the attention of the world? Or is he actually suffering through some schizophrenic-like issues? Whatever the case may be, a Charlie Sheen reality show will probably end up gracing our tv sets as we continue to obsess and track every move of celebrities that we love to hate and hate to love. And dammit, I'm talking about Charlie Sheen! This is exactly what he wants! I told myself I wasn't going to sink to this level...

I've gone way off the beaten track. My thoughts about sci-fi vs. fantasy began when I started making a list of favourite sci-fi movies. So here it is:

• Minority Report
• Equilibrium
• X-Men
• Signs
• I, Robot
• The Island
• Serenity
• War Of The Worlds
• V For Vendetta
• Cloverfield
• Inception
• Watchmen

My friend contested X-Men, questioning it's validity as a sci-fi movie which is what prompted the discussion and research into what really makes a movie science fiction.

Considering the list, I realize that some of my favourite movie quotes are from the movies listed above.

"You have a choice." -Minority Report

"But I, being poor, have only my dreams. I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly, for you tread on my dreams." -Equilibrium

"You're waiting for a train. A train that will take you far away. You know where you hope the train will take you, but you can't be sure. But it doesn't matter because we'll be together." -Inception

"I live my life free of compromise, and step into the shadows without complaint or regret." - Watchmen

" No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise." - Watchmen

I could go on and on, but I'll leave it there. When you think about it, it's strange and intriguing that movie which focus on a futuristic existence still manage to strike a chord in the human psyche and heart. Whether we're living in a bubble or shifting through time or having a robot make us breakfast, we're all the same underneath. Our human characteristics, attributes, flaws...they're reflected even in the "improbable possibilities".

I like that concept. I like that our humanity chases us down, no matter how robotic or inhuman we might visualize our world to be or even hope for.

What I like even more than contemplating feelings and emotions is waking up to sunshine trying to force it's way past my black curtains into my room. A little breeze moves the curtains around and he stirs beside me in bed, rolling over and putting his arms around me. There is such security and comfort in him being there, in his kisses and little endearments, and he patiently reassures my fearful heart that he will be back the next night and the weekend after, the following weekend and even the weekend after that.

"I'm not leaving you," he says and kisses me gently. I look into his eyes and see honesty and love...love that is overwhelming and undeserved, love that startles me to tears so frequently and that scares me. What ifs can crowd my mind and leave me concerned that I'll be reckless and hurt him, that I'll bore him, that one of us will love more than the other, that I'll ultimately disappoint him somehow...

Fear is always lurking but it's wrong and I'm slowly learning to challenge it.

"Do not be afraid of death...be afraid of the unlived life..."