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+#+TITLE: Blog
+#+AUTHOR: Michał Sapka
+#+URL: https://michal.sapka.me/blog/
+#+STARTUP: show2levels indent logdone
+
+#+HUGO_BASE_DIR: ~/ghq/michal.sapka.me/mms/site
+#+HUGO_WEIGHT: auto
+#+HUGO_SECTION: review
+
+
+* Reviews                                                          :@reviews:
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: reviews
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract Reviews2
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '(Books)
+:END:
+
+** Reviews
+
+My reviews of fun things!
+* Books  [0/0]                                                        :@reviews:
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: reviews/books
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '(Books)
+:End:
+
+** Book reviews
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract Reviews of books
+:END:
+
+*** Book reviews
+
+This is a list of books reviewed on my site.
+It's mostly all speculative fiction - SciFi or Fantasy, as those the genras which get me going!
+
+** DONE Nine Princes in Amber (Roger Zelazny, 1970)
+CLOSED: [2024-07-22 Mon 23:21]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: nine-princes-in-amber-1970
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract The fastest fantasy book in the wild west
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/nine-princes-in-amber.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Chronices of Amber: Corwin cycle")
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Nine Princes in Amber
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/nine-princes-in-amber/)
+:END:
+
+That's one confusing novel.
+
+Corwin wakes up in a hospital in New York with amnesia.
+But the cover of the book has castles and swords![fn:cover]
+Well, as it turns out Corwin is one of nine princes of Amber, the greatest city that has ever been.
+It is medieval-Europe, but it is said to be the greatest, so who am I to argue?
+He will need to get back there and fight for the crown with his siblings.
+
+That's the basic premise.
+What threw me off the guard (except of starting in modern-day NY) is the pace.
+I'm no fantasy know-it-all, but it appears that this genre likes to take it's sweet time.
+Authors describe every tree by every road[fn:tolkien].
+They love to build their worlds, lore, characters.
+Zelazny doesn't care about any of that.
+A huge battle where 20 000 people die? A paragraph seems like a proper length.
+Magic system? Yeah, let's throw a few sentences here and there.
+The main character background, looks and goals? Let's not bother.
+This is a short book (my version had just over 200 pages), but with standard wordiness, it could be a thousand pages long leather-bound brick, that would serve as a nice weapon.
+
+This also means that /Nine Princes in Amber/ is extremely shallow.
+There is nothing underneath - just a few awful characters, a few OK, and our Corwin.
+If there is any subtext, I must have missed it.
+And yet, I loved it.
+It's pulp, but it goes /so fast/ that I never got tired of it.
+It went /so fast/ that I had no time to get bored or lost[fn:tolkien].
+Guess that's why /The Chronicles of Amber/ is one of the most popular Fantasy sagas out there.
+It is inoffensive, not challenging in any way, but it's cool.
+It knows it, and doesn't pretend it.
+
+I enjoyed it for what it is.
+It's the greatest mindless fun I've had in ages.
+It's not /hardcore/ fantasy, and this may be why I liked it so much as I did.
+If anything, it's /Magnum P.I./ of the genre.
+
+[fn:cover] or whatever your edition has
+[fn:tolkien] hello Tolkien
+
+
+** DONE Guns of Avalon (Roger Zelazny, 1972)
+CLOSED: [2024-08-31 Sat 22:25]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: guns-of-avalon-1971
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My short review
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/guns-of-avalon.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Chronices of Amber: Corwin cycle")
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Guns of Avalon
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/guns-of-avalon-1971/)
+:END:
+
+The fastest fantasy in the wild west continues where we left off.
+Corwin escaped his prison, and armed with newly regrown eyes, is ready for his revenge.
+
+/[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/][Chronicles of Amber]]/ are like nothing I've ever read.
+Mostly because I've never been into fantasy, but still.
+At no point of /Guns of Avalon/ nor of /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/nine-princes-in-amber/][Nine Princes in Amber]]/ have I felt that I'm reading a published book.
+It's rather what I would imagine as a synopsis of the book that one sends to an agent would look like.
+
+Characters? Screw them, they only serve a purpose.
+The world? Screw it, let's create it as we go.
+Magic system? I am sure not even Zelazny has any idea how it works at this point.
+
+But at the same time, I can't stop reading it.
+From outside, those two books I've finished sound like pulp.
+I should hate it.
+But there is so much going on, and those things happen fast.
+
+Corwin's goal this time is to buy carbines from the Royal Air Force and retake Amber.
+Yup - this magical being, from an eternal family, who is able to travel between dimensions[fn:shadows], whose eyes just regrown, is planning to retake a magical land using firearms.
+And somehow it all makes sense.
+
+/Guns/ serve as a direct continuation of the first book, but the ending paints a different route the series seems to be heading.
+I am very much invested and I interested what's going to happen.
+I should hate this book, but I love it.
+
+Zelazny, you were a strange writer indeed.
+This series reads like a creation of some D&D infused teen, and yet I can't put it away.
+
+[fn:shadows] or whatever Shadows are
+
+
+** DONE Sign of the Unicorn (Roger Zelazny, 1975)
+CLOSED: [2024-09-07 Sat 22:14]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: sign-of-the-unicorn-1975
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My short review
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/sign-of-the-unicorn.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Chronices of Amber: Corwin cycle")
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Sign of the Unicorn
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/sign-of-the-unicorn-1975/)
+:END:
+
+We are halfway through the Corwin's saga, and Zelazny decides to step up the game. 
+Sign of the Unicorn is much slower than the previous ones, which is a welcome change.
+But it also marks the point when Roger finally convinced me that he understands the word he creates.
+
+After the battle with his brother, Corwin is faced with a murder of a yet /another/ brother.
+This does not lead to a run through the Shadows to buy nukes as I would have expected.
+In fact, most of this volume is spent talking.
+We have a mystery, the family secrets are coming out.
+It's a wholly different experience than what we've had before.
+
+We've got intrigue, we've got drama, we've got betrayal.
+We even learn who stands behind Corwin's accident, which happened before the start of /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/nine-princes-in-amber/][Nine Princess...]]/.
+
+This may the best book of /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/][Chronicles of Amber]]/ yet because Zelazny seems to address most of the downsides the earlier books had.
+Characters became actual persons now, with motivation and aspirations.
+In fact, the world building is sidestepping for character building, and I, for one, am fully for this.
+
+As a result, the stakes are also different.
+We assumed that all of the /Black Road/ problems resulted from Corwin's curse, but now we learn that there are multiple layers below that.
+In fact, a lot of what we thought we knew turns out to be wrong.
+
+The only downside I see, at leat at this point, is that everyone important is either Corwin's  relative or acquaintance.
+I get that if you got your position of power purely from the family, the same family will be the centre of your life, but /come on!/.
+I want to get to know someone else!
+
+So, volume three of /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/][Chronicles of Amber]]/ looks more of a correction from the author, than a direct continuation.
+
+** DONE Hand of Oberon (Roger Zelazny, 1976) 
+CLOSED: [2024-09-22 Sun 22:42]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: hand-of-oberon-1976
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My short review
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/hand-of-oberon.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Chronices of Amber: Corwin cycle")
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Hand of Oberon
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/hand-of-oberon-1976/)
+:END:
+
+The plot thickens!
+We end where we left of: turns out that Amber is the home of the original Pattern, which is badly damaged, and we need to fix it.
+
+I think I start to understand why I find /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/][Chronicles]]/ so particular, yet I can't put it away.
+The volumes here are not distinct parts with an an beginning and an end.
+It's closer to modern-day TV, where you get an interesting hook at the beginning, the middle is ok-ish, but the end makes you hungry for the next episode.
+As much as I hate that /binge-watching/ formula, I have nothing against it here.
+Fantasy books rarely make anyone rich, but a man's got to eat.
+The length of each volume here also doesn't make it any worse, as they all about 200 pages long.
+Brandon Sanderson's signature is longer than that.
+
+Story wise, /Hand of Oberon/ is more of the same: scheming of Corwin's family and deepening the world.
+The world is not redefined again, but we're once again getting something surprising.
+However, since it's the 4th book, it comes a bit predictable[fn:exp].
+While I was not expecting the Avalon not to be /the real/ Avalon in the /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/sign-of-the-unicorn-1975/][Sign of the Unicorn]]/, here the surprise came both, less unexpected and a bit and less important.
+But we will see in the next book.
+
+All in all, while I had /loads/ of fun, /Hand of Oberon/ is only the 4th book of the series.
+If you've read it until this point, you'll have a blast one more time.
+I surely had!
+Now, this one of the first /fantasy series/ I've read but, I am surprised by the stability of quality.
+While Zelazny has made some changes to the formula since /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/nine-princes-in-amber/][Nine Princess...]]/, they were not significant enough to have any impact on my joy. I like the later volumes more than the first two, mostly due to the slower pace, but I have the same level of satisfaction.
+
+I've got one last chapter of Corwin's story and I can't wait!
+
+[fn:exp] make that "very" if you read a lot of such stories
+
+** DONE Time of Contempt (Andrzej Sapkowski, 1995)
+CLOSED: [2024-03-24 Sun 22:27]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: time-of-contempt
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the second book in the Witcher saga
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/blog/2024/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt /brain-rot/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt/)
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.5
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/sapkowski-time-of-contemt.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Witcher Saga")
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Time of Contempt
+:END:
+
+It's a stain of my honor - I am a Pole, but I've never read The Saga.
+It's not that I've never read any of The Witcher, but somehow I always stopped after the short stories.
+Last year I've decided to finally fix this.
+I am a proud nerd for crying out loud!
+
+/Time of Contempt/ is the second part of The Witcher Saga, but it's also the 4th book about Geralt and his world.
+Let's ignore the short stories for a second and let's talk about this book in context of The Saga.
+Here it suffers from being the middle child: Andrzej is developing the characters and story, but it lacks a impactful begging and an end.
+I haven't felt like that after finishing the /Blood of Elves,/ as it had a /begging/ and the ending was emotional.
+Geralt reunited with Ciri.
+The story is clearly not over, but we have a kind of closure.
+We know she is safe and ready for what's coming next.
+
+Here?
+Here we have no beginning as it follows the last book.
+It was to be expected.
+But I fail to notice anything new created here.
+Yes, we've got /amazing/ development of Ciri (I can't wait what how her blood heritage will screw over everyone), but nothing more.
+It just moves from scene to scene[fn:st], not spending any meaningful time anywhere.
+After 300 pages of this, it ends with Ciri joining some random group.
+I guess I will get to know them in /Baptism of Fire/, but I am not yet there.
+Are they good?
+Are they cool?
+Who the hell they even are?
+For me it was a huge let down.
+
+But the biggest thing missing in The Saga is humour.
+Both, /Sword of Destiny/ and /Last Wish/ were hilarious.
+It was not on Pratchett's level of humor, but Geralt was amazing when it came to deadpan.
+Moreover, I have no idea how well it translated to other languages, as it was based on Polish humour, but:
+the books were written for Polish reader who was expected to know /Szewczyk Dratewka,/ and therefore the way Geralt dealt with dragon was a funny refernce.
+But this aspect is now completely missingm[fn:enemy-mine], but it was what made the short stories for me.
+
+The biggest problem for me however was the fact I saw two seasons of The Witcher TV Series[fn:netflix].
+It was terrible and had nothing to do with the book (luckily for me!), but the TV versions of Ciri and Yennefer were irritating at best.
+Their book counterparts are not like that - Ciri is extremely cool and Yen is, well, not so bad - but the visual image is etched in my brain.
+I finally start to have a separate personnas for them, but it was difficult.
+Yes, to some extent Netflix ruined the books for me.
+
+I was never a fan of /fantasy/, as I always preferred /SciFi/.
+Give me a blaster or give me death[fn:rand]!
+If I found /Time of Contempt/ as a random book, I would not care for the rest of the series.
+It was ok, but nothing to write home about.
+Sapkowski has a great style and I very much want more, but he has not told anything interesting here.
+I will continue reading The Witcher, but mostly because it *is* The Witcher.
+
+I liked reading /Blood of Elves/ much more.
+
+I give it 3.5/5.
+
+[fn:rand] If you get the refence know, that I am no longer that type of a person.
+[fn:enemy-mine] We've got *huge* reference to /Enemy Mine/ in the single best part of the book, but it's not funny at all.
+Sad, scary - sure; but not funny. Just like the movie.
+[fn:st] ... /No one had a chance to interrupt/.
+/It was really quite hypnotic/.
+[fn:netflix] And not an episode more.
+It was already too much.
+
+
+** DONE Baptism of Fire (Andrzej Sapkowski, 1996)
+CLOSED: [2024-04-25 Thu 16:27]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: andrzej-sapkowskis-baptism-of-fire
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the third book in the Witcher saga
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-baptism-of-fire/ /brain-rot/fantasy/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-baptism-of-fire/)
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.25
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/sapkowski-baptism-of-fire.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Witcher Saga")
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Baptism of Fire
+:END:
+
+
+/Baptism of Fire/ is the third novel in the /Witcher/ saga.
+While I had not that positive reaction to /Time of Contempt/[fn:toc], this time I loved every page.
+
+We start where we left last time: Ciri joins Rats in the middle of nowhere, while Geralt tries to find her.
+Reads like every novel in the series.
+Andrzej seems to have a template for a book at this point.
+
+But I *loved* this book.
+And it comes to who is it about.
+Yes, we've got Ciri.
+Yes, we've got Yennefer.
+They exist, but we spend almost the entirety of the book with Geralt, Jaskier and a band of mischiefs who form a fellowship.
+We've got Milva, an archer.
+We've also got Zoltanm, a dwarf.
+And we've also got Regis, a vampire.
+
+Having spent quality time with an interesting, diverse crowd made it very enable ride.
+They even joke sitting by fire!
+I think lack of such interactions is why I disliked the last book.
+It was full of Ciri, Yennefer and other sorceresses while Geralt was ignored most of the time.
+And sorceresses are so up-tight and irritating, so it was not what I would call a nice time.
+Also, here, whenever the action moved to, either Rats or mages, my enjoyment went down significantly.
+
+I don't know why, as I generally don't read fantasy.
+Maybe they are written poorly?
+I don't know the standards.
+For sure the female characters here have nothing to show compared to /Game of Thrones/'s ones.
+It is very hard to write powerful characters who are also female.
+Most of the time, they are male characters in skanky clothes.
+R.R. Martin was able to create menacing woman, who were still woman.
+Sapkowski?
+Not so much.
+And they are not even funny!
+
+They look as a poor rendition of older hits.
+As an example, the sorceresses have a multi-generational plan to mix genomes from selected people in order to create a very specific being.
+It's /Dune/, but while Bene Gesrit  so much more involved, twisted and multidimensional, here it comes out of nowhere (I think?) and disappoints.
+
+But let's ignore the woman for a moment, and we've got ourselves an awesome little book.
+I loved how, in one introduction to a chapter, we see the same legend told from both sides - Humans and Elves.
+This is where /Witcher/ shines.
+It's a great commentary about racism and hatred.
+No wonder it comes from Poland, with our complex history.
+It's as subtle as a bulldozer, but it's not that type of story.
+It's obvious, blunt and takes no prisoners.
+History is never easy, there is never a clear split between the good and bad guys.
+Most likely everything you know is wrong, as it was written by victors.
+This is the overarching theme in the /Witcher/.
+Even a vampire may be a good person!
+
+So, for me Witcher is a moral series /dressed/ as fantasy.
+The magic system is barely there, no one explains /how/ Witchers work.
+And I think it's a plus.
+The meat of the story is not diluted by mechanics of the world.
+The fact that we've got that lovable bunch here is just icing on the cake.
+
+Also, the ending here is much better.
+I finished my review of /Time of Contempt/ assuming that I will get to know the Rats in the follow-up.
+I didn't know anything about them (nor I cared about them), but I assumed they will be the focus.
+I was wrong.
+I still have no idea who they are outside superfluous facts the short burst of their story the book has.
+I /know/ Regis and I want to spend more time with him.
+
+So, I left very satisfied.
+I found charm and a lot of substance.
+I hope that Ciri's plot will develop in interesting ways, as her teenage rebellion may be the end of me.
+
+[fn:toc] vide [[/brain-rot/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt/][my review]]
+
+
+** DONE Tower of the Swallow (Andrzej Sapkowski, 1997)
+CLOSED: [2024-05-25 Sat 22:11]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: andrzej-sapkowskis-tower-of-swallow
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the 4th book in the Witcher saga
+:EXPORT_HUGO_PAIRED_SHORTCODES: rating
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.25
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/sapkowski-tower-of-swallow.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Witcher Saga")
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Tower of the Swallow
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/fantasy/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-tower-of-swallow/)
+:END:
+
+It's hard to overestimate how popular the Witcher books were amongst polish youth in the 90s.
+Everyone talked about it, the books were borrowed everywhere[fn:nerds].
+And yet I have never read it.
+Now, in 2024, I am so close to no longer being a /bad Pole/.
+
+/The Tower of Swallow/ starts with throwing out the window everything I was expecting after reading /Baptism of Fire/.
+Rats? Nope.
+Mages? Some.
+Ciri? Lots.
+Geralt? Lots.
+Sapkowski's craft improves with every book and I could not be happier.
+
+Let's start with the bad.
+This book ignores most social commentary, which is a huge letdown.
+With each passing book there's less and less of that.
+Instead, we're getting better story, characters become more interesting and the story is actually gripping.
+They are /better/ stories, but /worse/ books.
+If it wasn't for the huge increase in quality of the story, I'd be disappointed and my day would be ruined.
+
+Now, the good.
+
+First thing that may surprise the reader: chronology is also thrown out the window.
+We learn most of the story from Ciri's gossip /after/ it happened.
+Guess Sapkowski became a bit bored with winning all the awards by just being there, so he tried to make it more difficult.
+At first, I though that this will remove all the suspense - we know that Ciri will survive, but it fits the story.
+It's not about if she gets through, but rather who she will be afterwards.
+
+And this is the second thing.
+/Tower of Swallow/ aimes at different audience, I guess?
+Not only is it not about social commentary, not only is not about things Witchers do, but it is no longer an adventure story (for a huge chunk of the text).
+Ciri is having a very terrible time here.
+She is captured, tortured and abused.
+And even though Sapkowski makes it very clear that no sexual abuse is happening, it's still far from what I would expect.
+The character of Ciri is also changing.
+She is (rightfully) angry, spiteful and thirst for vengeance.
+Basically, a teenager with a sword.
+
+The books becomes more and more gruesome.
+Now, I love edgy stuff so every time Sapkowski describes mutilation, I am all for it.
+It is, however, a stark change from the early Witcher stories.
+We've got no humor, no fun.
+Just pain and suffering.
+Even Geralt at one point says that he is no longer a Witcher hunting monsters.
+It's a completely different story.
+And even if it's less adult oriented, with all the subtext removed - but it's more serious at the same.
+The stake are higher, the risks are bigger.
+I dig it.
+
+But the biggest problem at this point is CD Projekt.
+We've got the games which take place /after/ the books.
+We know that all the destruction, that everyone is talking about, will not have real consequences.
+But even if this makes the entire series a bit pointless, it is still a pleasure to read.
+
+[fn:nerds] at least amongst us, nerds.
+
+
+** DONE Lady of the Lake (Andrzej Sapkowski, 1999)
+CLOSED: [2024-06-15 Sat 22:06]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: andrzej-sapkowskis-lady-of-the-lake
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the last book in the Witcher saga
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/sapkowski-lady-of-the-lake.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.75
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Witcher Saga")
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Lady of the Lake
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/fantasy/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-lady-of-the-lake/)
+:END:
+
+I had a /blast/ with the Witcher saga.
+There were ups, there were downs.
+But all in all, it was great.
+I have now finished the *most important* Polish series of books[fn:fight], and therefore I no longer feel like a bad pole.
+Unfortunately, I did not like the last volume.
+My biggest gripe with /Lady of the Lake/ is that it's not an ending, but rather loosely-connected series of endings.
+
+It starts with Ciri talking with Galahad from King's Arthur court, so yeah.
+There's a wild ride in front of us.
+
+The first significant chunk of the book is a continuation of Ciri's torment.
+Everybody wants to either impregnate, take body parts, or simply kill her.
+I know life was terrible for her since she got disconnected with Geralt.
+I get that it's kind of /the point/ - she is not treated as a person but rather as a (depending on who is on the other site) force or part of a bigger plan.
+But come one, give her /some/ break!
+At this point I just wanted her to get a break, sit back, and relax.
+
+This happens (because it needs to), but only in one of the 25 endings that follow.
+We've getting an ending of the war plot, a dedicated subplot dedicated to love affair's of Dandelion, yet another plan to get Ciri's DNA, and so on.
+It doesn't feel like Sapkowski had a plan to finish every plot he opened, so he just makes a series of endings.
+If I hadn't been reading a dead-tree version, I would have assumed that the story will end in a few pages after /every freaking such semi-ending/.
+
+But at the same time I enjoyed every story from /Lady of the Lake/.
+Sapkowski is at top of his game.
+He may go overboard with non-linear story telling, but once I /yet again/ understood when I was, I was having a blast.
+It's all here: the story, the characters, the style.
+
+Taking look at the saga as whole, I was expecting something completely different.
+It started as a series of funny stories, but most of the saga is dead serious.
+I was expecting a lot of the Witcher's huntsm, however through most of the saga, Geralt is solely focused on finding Ciri and has no time for monsters.
+I was expecting a lot of nods to Polish reader, and while there were /some/, the books take place in their own world[fn:netflix].
+
+Every book is different, author changes the dynamic and puts focus on a different place.
+Sapkowski learns from each book and tries (and then mostly succeeds) to correct mistakes with the next one.
+
+But, like with the previous one, tension is removed by the knowledge that the games take place /after/ the saga.
+We know that main characters will live, because we meet them in the game.
+And even if we don't care about computer games, it's impossible to not see some random picture and as a result spoil the book.
+We know that Ciri will not reign fire and destruction upon the world.
+Sapkowski may never approve of the story CD Projekt came out with and not treat is a /part/of the cannon, but the fact stands: we know that the world still exist.
+
+It's a strange situation, where the world knows the books from the games, but the saga is lessened by their very existence.
+However, even with knowing that the story is, ultimately, pointless, the saga is well worth a read.
+I'd say it's great.
+And the last volume I am attacking here is still /good fun/, just not good as an ending of such great saga.
+
+[fn:fight] Yes, I said it.
+No Nobel, but it's the most known piece of Polish culture.
+Fight me.
+
+[fn:netflix] I blame witch-hunt after the Netflix series dropped.
+Seems most of the die hard fans never read the saga.
+
+
+
+** DONE  Interesting Times (Terry Pratchett, 1995)
+CLOSED: [2024-02-13 Tue 21:06]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: interesting-times-1995
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A very short review
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/blog/2024/interesting-times/ /brain-rot/discworld/interesting-times/ )
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.75
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/pratchett-interesting-times.jpg
+:END:
+
+Cover blurp:
+#+begin_quote
+Mighty Battles! Revolution! Death! War! (and his sons Terror and Panic, and daughter Clancy).
+
+The oldest and most inscrutable empire on the Discworld is in turmoil, brought about by the revolutionary treatise What I Did On My Holidays. Workers are uniting, with nothing to lose but their water buffaloes. Warlords are struggling for power. War (and Clancy) are spreading through the ancient cities.
+
+And all that stands in the way of terrible doom for eveyone is:
+
+Rincewind the Wizard, who can't even spell the word 'wizard' ...
+
+Cohen the barbarian hero, five foot tall in his surgical sandals, who has had a lifetime's experience of not dying ...
+
+...and a very special butterfly.
+#+end_quote
+
+I am, what one could call, an old school /nerd/.
+All I care about are old operating systems, ancient editors and old SCIFI[fn:manga]
+Ah, and some text based game where you are a cute "@".
+/Of course/ I like Pratchett.
+
+I started reading him /years/ ago in the only way acceptable - chronological[fn:wrong].
+And I had a few years long pause.
+Now, after a series of reading /only/ technical books I am returning to fiction.
+
+/[[https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/books/interesting-times/][Interesting Times]]/ is an ok-level Pratchett book.
+It's not close to his best, it's not close to his worst[fn:worst].
+
+This time Rincewind has to travel to Counterweight Continent and help a rebellion.
+There he reconnects with old acquaintances - Twoflower, and Cohen to Barbarian.
+
+The problem is that there is not much more.
+We've got a lot of Chinese things, which is new.
+But the story itself is extremely straight-forward.
+Nothing memorable happens.
+I finished it 2 days ago, and already I would have a problem recollecting any standing out moment.
+I still remember moments from other /Discworld/ books a decade after I read them!
+
+But Terry's writing makes me not care and just enjoy the journey.
+He is able to make a boring story interesting, and his characters are always great.
+I was reading the book while putting my son to sleep, and I almost gave him a heart attack with a laughter attack.
+This alone makes it worth it!
+
+Not the best place to start with //Discworld// (the best is, of course, /Colour of Magic/) but as n-th book in the series it's very enjoyable.
+
+I give it a =3.75/5=.
+
+**** Meta
+- Read as EPUB on Onyx Boox Note Air 2.
+- Read in Polish translation
+- Next up: back to Andrzej Sapkowski's with "Time of Contempt". I am not a good pole, having not read the entire saga. I promise to do it before my 40th birthday[fn:fort]
+
+
+[fn:wrong] It's ok to disagree, just like it's ok to be wrong.
+[fn:worst] Being a bad Pratchett's book still means being a very good one.
+Most authors would love to reach the level of one of those at least once.
+[fn:fort] Which is closer that I expected
+[fn:manga] And manga&anime, but that's beside the point.
+Not American comics though.
+Never cared about those, and it seems I never will.
+
+** DONE Good Omens (Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, 1990)
+CLOSED: [2024-08-31 Sat 21:47]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: good-omens-1990
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My short review
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/good-omens.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :alias '(brain-rot/fantasy/good-omens-1990/)
+:END:
+
+
+But in the dark days o 1990, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman decided to co-write a book - /Good Omens/, which itself will be a parody of the /Omen/ horror movie.
+It was quite the popular movie back then, but nowadays, it may be a bit forgotten.
+
+Pratchett & Gaiman seem like a great combo.
+The first one is a great story /teller/, while the later tend to provide better /stories/.
+They are also both imaginable authors of speculative fiction.
+
+The general idea of the story of the book follows the one from the movie: due to Satanist 
+shenanigans, the antichrist is born to a family in power.
+The end of times in near.
+But, unlike the movie, it is not to be stopped by a detective but by an unlikely pair of an angel and a daemon.
+None of them want to see the apocalypse, so they join forces to stop the antichrist - who turns out to be quite a nice kid.
+
+For me, a computer nerd, the process of writing such a book is fascinating.
+It's 1990, so no cooperative tooling exists yet, therefore Terry and Neil had to send diskettes to each other.
+How cool is that!
+
+#+begin_quote
+I think this is an honest account of the process of writing Good Omens.
+It was fairly easy to keep track of because of the way we sent disks to one another, and because I was Keeper of the Official Master Copy, I can say that I wrote a bit over two thirds of Good Omens. 
+-- Terry Pratchett
+#+end_quote
+
+and it shows.
+/Good Omens/ does not read like a joint venture, it's distinctly Pratchett.
+You get Gaiman's love for the macabre and over-convoluted story, but if he were removed the cover, I would have never guessed.
+There is a scene of mass shooting, which is something fitting /American Gods/  but it's written like we're in Ankh-Morpork.
+
+It's not part of the /Discworld/ world, but on the surface it could have easily been. 
+The humour is there, the seemingly unrelated descriptions which turns out to be an introduction to related thingies and so on.
+But the world of /Discworld/ is far more interesting, crazier.
+In that series, we've got an insane world and insane characters which try to remain sane.
+/Good Omen/ however happens in our, boring world and most of the characters are "normal", but they act insane.
+
+Nevertheless, since it's got two authors, it is a bit on the longer side.
+Just enough to overstay its welcome by just a bit.
+Pratchett is a master of the word and characters, but his stories  he tell are rarely interesting - and I was never a fan of Gaiman.
+I didn't find what is told here much interesting, I was not curious how they will stop the apocalypse.
+Nothing unexpected happened.
+If it was 2/3 of the current size, if some of the crust was removed, it would be a better book, as the general idea is very cool.
+But even in current state, it's very enjoyable and well worth the read /if/ you love Pratchetts style.
+
+
+** DONE Heaven Makers (Frank Herbert, 1967)
+CLOSED: [2024-06-19 Wed 12:06]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: heaven-makers-1967
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of an early Frank Herbert novel
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/herbert-heaven-makers.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/american-scifi/heaven-makers-1967/)
+:END:
+
+Chems are a race of aliens being who learned technology allowing them to live forever.
+With everlasting life comes boredom.
+To mitigate it, they watch and record lives and history of /lesser/ races, one which being humanity.
+They can not intervene, but current team foreseeing operation on Earth may have broken this rule.
+Therefore, Kelexel is sent to investigate if this is the case, but he is pretending to be just a tourist.
+
+At the same time we are observing humans whose lives are being recorded and (maybe) manipulated.
+
+/Heaven Makers/ is a 1967 novel written by Frank Herbert about an immortal race of space beings who treat humanity as a toy.
+OK, there's more to that, but it all boils to this - it's a simple story which gives no indications that just a few years before Herbert published /Dune/.
+
+Let's get this out of the way: /Heaven Makers/ is not a great book.
+It's not bad, by any means.
+The plot is decent, the twists are cool, the characters are (mostly) OK.
+It's not insulting, but it's never great.
+It's also short, so all the underdeveloped or missed parts of the book never develop into real frustration.
+
+And while I have enjoyed reading it over the course of 2 evening[fn:slow] and would not call the time /wasted/, I'm afraid in a year I'll have very little recollection of the events that I've witnessed.
+If anything, it reminded me that I really need to watch /Twilight Zone/.
+/Heaven Makers/ is very much like an episode of that type a show.
+We've got an interesting question (what would you do with eternity?) with added twist (what if you are the victim of such creatures) developed into a full story.
+
+One thing reader needs to keep in mind is the age to this book.
+Your life being subjected to constant surveillance was something not only seen as scary, but also incomprehensible.
+We're now treating is as entertainment (/Big Brother/) or even a way of living.
+As always, SciFi comes with a twisted idea and warns us about it.
+What we do with it?
+Of course!
+Let's build our lives around it!
+
+If /Heaven Makers/ finds a way in your hands, sure - it's a nice read.
+But I would not propose people actively search for it.
+
+[fn:slow] I am a slow reader
+
+
+** DONE Hard to be a God (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, 1964)
+CLOSED: [2024-07-07 Sun 22:41]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: hard-to-be-a-god-strugatsky-1964
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A short review of an absolut marvel of a book
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/hard-to-be-a-god-book.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating  4.5
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/eastern-block-scifi/hard-to-be-a-god-strugatsky-1964/)
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Strugatsky brothers")
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName "Hard to be God"
+:END:
+
+
+I remember, back in high school when we were tasked with reading /The Master and Margarita/.
+Teenage me loved this book about devil and demonic stuff.
+Then they told us that all of that /cool/ stuff is just a cover to hide the real meaning of the book: commentary on the Soviet Union and communism[fn:teen].
+
+/Hard to be a God/ is a novel by the famous Strugatsky brothers.
+In the undefined future, humans are capable of space travel.
+A group of scientists in sent to an alien planet to observe and report back.
+The planet is populated by beings living in a society that reminds us of the Middle Ages.
+However, the power shifts and a violent, hateful revolution starts taking place.
+Intelligentsia is killed by angry crowd, and Don Reba getting more and more powerful.
+That alien world is going into revolution.
+Coincidentaly, this is how communism overtook Russia.
+
+This is a hard book to get through.
+The subject is very dark, and the form doesn't make it any easier.
+One of the biggest problems here is: should observers interfere
+The reader /wants/ a gun-blazing ride on Don Reba, but would it be ethical?
+The observers have guns and flying machines.
+They are able to crush anyone.
+But this would only lead to more bloodshed and a circle of violence.
+
+Which is another interesting aspect of this book - mediation on human condition.
+Violence is /inherent/ to human race.
+We see it all the time, and the writers put a mirror to our faces.
+How many wars were fought not for survival, but for power?
+World War I was called "The Great War" and was supposed to be the last war.
+Humanity saw the absolute worse it can do, definitely we will learn from it.
+We know how it ended.
+
+/Hard to be God/ is, most definitely, an intelligent SciFi novel.
+
+But I was not invested emotionally.
+It's not visceral book.
+It is disgusting, but you comprehand it more with your mind than heart.
+
+At the same time, it's an easy read.
+You could think that with this subject matter, the book would be offputting, but it's not.
+I /had/ problems following names at some point, as every male character tends to be Don freaking something, but that's all.
+It's an ejoyable read, if you don't focus on what's it actually about.
+
+But when you do start thinking about the meaning, it becomes a completely different beast.
+Authors don't spare the viewer.
+There is a scene, where two young adepts are talking about torture methods, like it was nothing.
+It' almost funny, if it wasn't so real.
+
+/Hard to be a God/ is a short book, which is a great but challenging piece of art.
+I'd call it a masterpiece, if I were emotionally invested.
+As it stands now, it's closer to /Gulag Archipelago/ in a form of story.
+Highly recommended, even if this would be your first encounter with Russian speculative fiction.
+
+---
+
+Movies based on /Hard to be a God/ are also amazing!
+
+[fn:teen] Teenage me hated that, but as I mentioned occasionally, he wasn't very bright.
+
+** DONE Roadside Picnic (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, 1972)
+CLOSED: [2024-07-15 Mon 21:35]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: roadside-picnic-1972
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A short review of an absolute marvel of a book
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/roadside-picnic.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating  4.5
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Strugatsky brothers")
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName "Roadside Picnic"
+:END:
+
+/Roadside Picnic/ has a very particular heritage.
+There is a book.
+It was then made into a movie, which took the last 30 pages and went its own way. It's great.
+Then they made it into a game, which takes some ideas for the basic premise, and then the authors went their own way, creating an antithesis of the book. I've been told it's good.
+But this time: the novel.
+
+In the near future, aliens have landed on Earth.
+No one knows why, but they came and went without much ado.
+Their landing site is now called /the zone/.
+Before leaving, the aliens left some artifacts.
+We don't know what they are, but there is the promise of giant leaps for mankind.
+Therefore, a new occupation is born: - /stalkers/, who venture into the zone and try ans retrieve some alien leftovers.
+The zone is dangerous, and stalkers often lose their lives upon making the smallest mistakes.
+
+But /Roadside Picnic/ is not a book about that.
+It's depressing and full of commentary on humanity.
+Very often, people call it the best book by the Strugatsky brothers, and who am I to disagree?
+
+But it is not a book about aliens, or the zone.
+Those things exist, but first contact went and gone.
+Stalkers are not the heroes of humanity, they are expendable criminals.
+We think we may someday understand what happened, but we may as well not.
+The aliens visited Earth, but most likely haven't found anything of interest.
+What people are dying for, what may change the entire planet, may be nothing but some trash left on the side of the road.
+
+The cosmos is not something to explore or conquer.
+It's vast, and our planet is insignificant.
+
+And this is what the book is about.
+The Zone occupies very small portion of the novel, it's just means to an end.
+Red, the main hero, is just trying to make a living.
+He is not shy about drinking, visiting a bordello or cheating on his wife.
+At the same time, he is not shown as an evil person, because his existence doesn't matter.
+Even though he is one of the most experienced stalkers, his death would mean nothing.
+
+The novel is also much less adventurous than one could expect, knowing the movie or the games.
+We spend just a handful of pages in the Zone, the rest happens in the nearby town.
+/Roadside Picnic/ is beautiful as anti-SiFi story.
+Everything we were taught to believe by western SciFi, the authors ignore.
+There is nothing /there/ for us.
+We are /nothing/.
+Space exploration?
+Meeting aliens?
+We don't even have any hopes or dreams left.
+
+But this makes the novel timeless.
+Our entertainment is no longer optimistic.
+We are not going into /Star Trek/, we missed that ship.
+Maybe hope in our insignificance is better than thinking we are our own worst enemy?
+
+/Roadside Picnic/ gets my high recommendation.
+Similarly to /[[/brain-rot/eastern-block-scifi/hard-to-be-a-god-strugatsky-1964/][Hard to be God]]/, the reader may breeze through it.
+It's short, and it's easy to read.
+But then we reach the last pages, where the weight of the story is passed us.
+
+There was to be an American TV series based on /Roadside/.
+All that we got was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dts0rjp5V8][trailer]] which clearly shows, that it is impossible to make an Americanized version.
+In it, a shot of people saluting the stalker is shown, which is a complete antithesis of what the Stugatsky brothers are telling us.
+