You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2008.
I want to keep track of what I’ve read and watched, but don’t have much to say about a lot of it; I’m going to try to keep a list with brief thoughts; anything more than a couple of sentences will get its own post. I think I need to convince myself that this is my blog, and if I want to change from what I originally intended, it’s OK; I should go to small posts as I read or watch instead of letting drafts pile up; I don’t need to write a thousand words on any given topic.
I pre-ordered this, but never watched it; I had a bad case of buyer’s remorse due to problems with amazon.jp and the reports of lip-syncing or wholesale re-recording that came out before i received my copy. Lip-syncing wouldn’t have bothered me as much as re-recording; I want my concert DVDs to be as close to the concert as possible. I don’t think any of the concert reports really mentioned lip-syncing (for Diabolos, every attendee thought a couple of songs were lip-synced; usually different songs, though). I watched just to watch it and didn’t pay enough attention to have an opinion about re-recording, though I did notice a few songs that sounded very different from the surrounding songs. I would not be surprised if he had re-recorded parts, though. Overall, I liked it, but kind of wish I’d saved my money or bought one of the other concerts instead.
I have to admit that Gackt is one of my guilty pleasures, especially the concerts; my usual preference is for lives where the music takes priority over the show, and Gackt does not fall into that category at all, though I think this is the closest he’s been to that (or at least the closest someone on the other side of the world could actually see). I don’t know why I feel the need to buy his DVDs, but I do (at least this and Diabolos; I plan to get the others eventually). I do love some of his music, but am not interested in him personally; I find his various band members more interesting, which makes lives occasionally frustrating.
There was a fan club version and a regular version; the regular version was sold through amazon.jp only. The DVDs were the same, but the fan club version had a slightly different cover (Gackt with wings + band members in the background vs. Gackt with wings only) and came with an extra booklet. The regular version has the front cover as an insert with credits, and a folded up page with lyrics. This (and the upcoming Platinum Box VIII) were released by Dears (fan club) instead of by his label; the back mentions Gordie Entertainment Co.Ltd. and Dears Co.Ltd. The credits do have a section for record label staff (and I’m entertained by the part of the credits which are obviously because of Ju-ken and Jun-ji; there’s a Harley Davidson logo in the list). Nippon Crown is mentioned on the DVDs themselves, after the other two; I can’t read the kanji to see what they are credited for.
The band for this concert consisted of:
You: guitar (no violin at all, unfortunately)
Chachamaru: guitar
Ju-ken: bass
Jun-ji: drums
Jun-ichi “Igao” Igarashi: keyboards — he’s usually offstage, but was actually visible a little; he was offstage to the rear on Chacha’s side
The Concert
This was in some ways a stripped-down version of his usual shows; the shows were at smaller venues than previous tours. The stage was less elaborate, and there were no costume changes, less choreography, and fewer dancers (only two dancers in two songs). It sounded fine, but it looked a bit dark in places due to the lighting (lots of red and blue spotlights). Everyone started out energetic but were dragging toward the end. I enjoyed watching it, but it’s not one of my favorites.
Random thoughts (notes taken while watching):
Jun-ji was enjoying himself during Redemption.
Speed Master sounded very, very different from previous performances; partly voice, partly something else I couldn’t place.
It was weird seeing Lu:na without dancers; there were two masked female dancers in Storm and Papa Lapped a Pap Lopped, and that was all.
Kalmia was a rest break: Chacha and You were sitting on the steps (on each other’s side), with Gackt at the top, and Ju-ken leaning on a speaker/monitor to the side; everyone was starting to look a little tired.
You actually had the solo in Fragrance; they never showed Chacha up close, oddly; also, Gackt had a close and personal relationship with his mikestand.
The encore Mirror starts off in the middle with the yelling at the audience; his voice sounds appallingly hoarse (though it’s ok singing); I think Drug Party version in the extras might have been the first part; at the end of the extra version, everyone’s changing instruments and going back to their own places..
There’s a drum solo after Mirror while everyone changes guitars
Everybody except Chacha looks tired during Another World
Whatever sort of introduce-the-band was done did not make it onto the dvd, sadly.
Shallowness: Everyone looked very good, though Chacha’s hair was inexplicable, and Ju-ken’s makeup (warpaint?) was interesting (it’s something he’s done before with others). There was only one minor instance of fanservice with bandmembers (with Ju-ken in Speed Master), though there was some with the female dancers and might have been something between members off-screen (Ju-ken and Chacha during Speed Master).
Annoyances: The video itself was kind of dark and murky due to the lighting at the show, and the various members were generally not in good light (red or blue lights, usually, and impossible to see them). There were far too many closeups of Gackt’s hands, and there were a few of instances of people doing interesting things off-screen. Also, no violin at all, though I think there was only one song other than Mirror that had a violin part (and I’ve given up on him ever playing violin during Mirror again).
Extra: Commercial Film Collection
The commercial film collections are ads for Gackt’s other recent releases (collection included on the Drug Party DVD, not collections of Drug Party ads); I was disconcerted, to say the least, that the Japanese section started out with a reference to 9/11 (ad for 12月のLove Song~Complete Box~, and included scenes from the video, but still…maybe they should have started with a different ad; that’s not what I was expecting). It also included ads for Crisis Core (PSP), 野に咲く花のように single, the Orico card/Upty ad, Platinum Box VII, and the opening movie of this concert (clips from all previous tours). The Korean and Mandarin versions have the voice-overs dubbed and the rest subtitled in the relevant language; the opening movie had effects with the Japanese concert titles; the other two had those parts redone in their languages.
Extra: Mirror – Drug Party Version
This features You on vocals, wearing what looks like the Afro wig Chacha had in the Diabolos movie and Uptys everywhere (carrying a large one, small ones in his shirt, in his pants, under his arms). Chacha is also on vocals and guitar, with Uptys on his guitar. Ju-ken has a guitar, with Uptys, Jun-ji has a bass and one of the dancer’s wigs, and Gackt is on drums. It was nice to see and hear Chacha singing; it would have been better if he and You had been somewhere in the same key, though. I’m not sure how many of the instruments are actually live; no one is playing the lead guitar part, but Ju-ken looked like he was concentrating on his playing (he may have just been tired, though; Chacha actually looked tired in part of this). The camera annoyed me a bit; it tended to show the bits I was least interested in. It was nice to see Gackt smiling and laughing, though.
Disc 1
1. Cube
2. Maria
3. uncontrol
4. 絵夢 -for my dear-
5. seven
6. REDEMPTION
7. Ash
8. NINE SPIRAL
9. Speed Master
10. Lu:na
11. Storm
12. Papa lapped a pap lopped
13. Kalmia
14. Fragrance
15. mind forest
16. Metamorphoze
17. Birdcage
Disc 2 (Encore + Extras)
18. Mirror
19. ANOTHER WORLD
20. 君が追いかけた夢
Extras
Gackt Commercial Film Collection on DRUG PARTY (Japanese, Korean, Mandarin)
Mirror (DRUG PARTY Ver.)
I picked up a ton of late 70s/early 80s historical romances (mostly Signet/Fawcett/Coventry series titles, mostly regency) from a used bookstore’s clearance; I read lots of these when I was much younger (they were often .25-.50 not-for-trade at the nearby used bookstore) and wanted to replace a few that were falling apart or that I’d gotten rid of but wanted to reread; the clearance was $5 for a grocery-bag full, so I filled a bag (more than once). Either I had better luck with my selections or I had a higher tolerance for mediocre writing and excessively spunky heroines when I was younger; I couldn’t read several of these for various reasons, and want to keep track of which ones I liked and which ones I hated and why. The dislikes are getting longer comments than the likes; also, this is the result of a few different attempts at the pile of books over about a year, so I don’t remember some of them very well, and the negative is easier to remember than the positive.
Liked
Horatia, Mary Ann Gibbs
The heiress Horatia flees her wicked uncle and becomes a stableboy.
The Reluctant Adventuress, Silvia Thorpe
Katharine was supposed to be a governess; her uncle and his wife invite her to live with them instead. They have ulterior motives.
Rogues’ Covenant, Silvia Thorpe
The mysterious Philip Digby comes to the neighborhood and attracts attention from all sorts of people; he claims to be the friend of the heir to a local estate. It’s told from the hero’s point of view; the heroine is described as “a headstrong girl” at one point (and is a few steps past that into spoiled and reckless). It has more action than many; I’m starting to wonder if that’s a side effect of being categorized as “Georgian”.
Eleanor and the Marquis, Jane Wilby (Harlequin Historical 1)
Beatrix falls in love with someone unsuitable and is shipped off to London for her Season ahead of schedule; her impoverished cousin Eleanor accompanies her. The aunt in charge (with the aid of her nephew, the marquis) decides to make Eleanor the rage of the season instead of Beatrix (Beatrix is blonde and blondes were in; she should have been a success). This one is nostalgic; it was one of the first of these I read, though that copy is long gone. I don’t know if I’d like it as much otherwise.
Lucetta, Audrey Blanshard
Lord Wintringham is extremely eccentric; his daughter Lucetta is a beautiful spitfire. Lord Wintringham suggests to a houseguest that he marry Lucetta; the houseguest leaves abruptly. A large number of misunderstandings ensue. I’d actually read this one at some point before.
Lord Fairchild’s Daughter, Maggie MacKeever
Lord Fairchild wagered his daughter Loveday’s virtue and lost; she, with the help of her half-brother, ran away from the winner to a distant relative to stay until she comes of age in the near future (she’s an heiress, of course). This is actually a bit gothic in tone; there are murders in the past (which Loveday witnessed but does not remember), attempts on her life, a crazy girl, a rake who wants to marry her (and who is rumored to have killed a governess), ghosts, and an oubliette. I had a hard time with some of the names, especially the housekeeper’s: Mrs. Snugglebutt.
The Misses Millikin, Maggie MacKeever (Coventry Romances 55)
Angelica lives with her stepmother and her numerous (and extremely attractive and extremely lacking in common-sense) half-siblings; she promised her father on his deathbed that she’d look after them. Rosemary, the oldest of her half-sisters (20 at most; Angelica is 27), married Lord Chalmers for his money; Angelica, Lily (the next sister), and Fennel (the oldest half-brother) go to London so Lily can have her chance. Rosemary, Lily, and Fennel have their share of problems, which they expect Angelica to solve; Angelica has days of wishing she could give up her responsibilities and be as frivolous as the rest of them. This was a rebuy; I adore it, and my copy was falling to pieces.
Indifferent
A Keeper for Lord Linford, Margaret SeBastian (Coventry Romances 170)
Lady Gordon, her daughter Ancilla, and two other girls are inexplicabley vacationing in the Lake District and meet the socially-inept Lord Linford and the rascally and dashing Captain Wildish. I don’t know why I finished this; I didn’t like any of the characters, events happened randomly, and I felt the hero and heroine were on a first-name basis too soon. One of the other girls speaks with italics, which got really annoying really fast.
Disliked
The Tulip Tree, Mary Ann Gibbs
The blurb is misleading; it says Allegra Lakesby had to leave her ancestral home (after her father died) to become a governess due to her irresponsible father. Instead, she, her mother, and an aunt have to leave their home for a smaller one nearby due to her father’s heir moving into the home; they are on friendly terms with him and he gives them things. Allegra is a spoiled brat and hates the smaller home and decides being a governess would be preferable to having come down in status, much to her family’s dismay. She leaves with their knowledge and blessing (they don’t think she’ll last a week), and that’s where I stopped. She also is excessively romantic and hopes that the eligible son of the family will fall in love with her. I may try this again at some point (through the initial governess-ing, at least); I’ve liked other books by the author.
The Random Gentleman, Elizabeth Chater (Coventry Romances 139)
Belinda Sayre finds out she has been betrothed to the Duke of Romsdale since birth; she is excessively spunky and he is self-centered, so they have bad impressions of each other without actually meeting; he is late for a party, and she leaves early in a huff; both say things they shouldn’t which get repeated to the other. She runs away; he wanders off in search of her and falls in with some gypsies. I stopped after they actually meet; he assumes she’s much younger and lower class, and she wonders if he’s really a gypsy. I didn’t care about either of them; I hate excessively spoiled and spunky heroines.
Babe, Joan Smith (Coventry Romances 22)
The notorious Lady Barbara never had an awkward teen stage and always looked like a woman; she didn’t care for any of her suitors until she met Lord Clivedon, who became her guardian and attempted to get her to behave properly. She is beyond spunky and into completely obnoxious; I did not like her and don’t want to read about her. I love other books by the author, but did not like this one and will not give it another chance.
A Sanditon Quadrille, Rebecca Baldwin (Coventry Romances 118)
Spirited Miranda Brandywine knows there is no reason for her father to stop her marriage to the poet Charles Hartley; gentle Emily Rockhall doesn’t want to marry the impetuous Lord Marle, even though her mother wants her to marry him. The author admits to borrowing the town of Sanditon from Jane Austen; she does not admit to borrowing various other characters and plots from Austen and Heyer (Bath Tangle, especially).
Ju-ken is a Japanese bassist who plays as support for a variety of people (mostly live, occasionally recording); he just finished touring with VAMPS (Aug-Oct 2008), will be touring with Gackt (Dec 2008 – Apr 2009), has often toured with Tomoyasu Hotei and Anna Tsuchiya, and occasionally performs with other musicians. He is also a member of two bands: Hellmetz (with a singer + two of Anna Tsuchiya’s other band members) and Quintillion Quiz (with myco and Masanori Mine).
In 2009 he moved his website and blog to a new site: ju-ken.velvet.jp and blog.ju-ken.velvet.jp. As of August 2009, his old blog entries are still up at the old site.
I’m breaking this into parts because it’s continuously updated and is getting too long:
Part 1 (this part): general information, endorsements, interviews, goods, etc.
Part 2: band information (Hellmetz/Quintillion Quiz)
Part 3: support information (Hotei/Anna/Gackt/VAMPS/etc)
Part 4: schedule (performances, releases, other events, also livehouse links)
I also have information for 2007 in a previous post, and some other random information here.
Currently this is mostly taken directly from his site; hopefully, he won’t delete everything again. I’ve put the full schedule at the bottom; I didn’t do that last year due to working from memory and a lack of actual schedule on his previous blog. My Japanese is not the best, which is why I’m sticking to music-related info and not attempting to translate blog entries. I do (slowly) go through the notes of the day, and anything relevant does eventually end up here; a lot of the notes are just random thoughts or things like off to do this, back from there, etc; currently (early Dec) the ambition is the new goods and the attention is an offer for whoever hits 999999 and 1000000 on his site’s counter and the CRAFT jewelry. This entry might explain the lack of dates in March; in it, he talks about corrective eye surgery, and the subsequent notes of the day indicated he was recovering from it (hopefully, it was successful and he recovered quickly and had no complications; he hasn’t really mentioned it since); there’s now a post-surgery entry, and the note of the day mentions rehearsal. He also sounded like he spent a good portion of March and April recording with various people, some named, some not. The lack of dates in July were due to rehearsals for the VAMPS tour; the lack in November and early December are probably due to recovery from the VAMPS tour and preparation for Gackt’s tour.
The section (removed late November) 幸運の朝顔’０８ on his site is documenting an attempt to grow some variety of morning glory; he did that last year too, though the entries are gone. If I’m remembering correctly, last year the idea was definitely from Muta; I think the seeds were as well. (Muta’s results; there are also occasional progress reports before then). myco of Quintillion Quiz is doing the same and posting pictures of hers on their blog. He had some success (as did myco).
Endorsements, Interviews, etc:
- endorses Sugi basses
- is associated with 59’s Laboratory, Inc., which did the music for a number of Dragon Ball Z video games, among other things; the site says he worked on the theme for Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Meteor (“Super Survivor”) for the PS2 and Wii (game released in Japan at least in October 2007; the theme will be released in a mini-album by Hironobu Kageyama July 23 and on the soundtrack Aug 27). Their site is fully bilingual; he is listed on the “Friends” page, but the arrangement is random.
- was in a sidebar to an article in the March 2008 Bass Magazine about Trace Elliot equipment (amps, etc.)
- was (June-July) featured on Fostex’s (equipment for recording, mostly) website, with a brief article (when first posted, it mentioned a summer tour; checked the link and it now says VAMPS); the front page has changed, but the article is still there
- was in the October 2008 issue of Bass Magazine; the article is about the relationship between singers and their bassists. He and Anna Tsuchiya were interviewed together; they also talked to another bassist x singer and three other bassists. The cover is of Robert Trujillo of Metallica, but there is an inset picture for this article with Ju-ken x Anna. (his blog entry about the interview)
- was at Zero Fighter Sept. 16, manager for the day? (１日店長体験, starting at 1pm); the details were in a note of the day; the event is also on his schedule
- was interviewed in Monthly VAMPS #3 (and is in some of the other volumes in the live reports and backstage pictures)
Goods (currently available):
- new T-shirt for Gackt’s tour (short sleeve, black with orange, blue, or pink camo designs); information and pictures are on the main page of his site (selling via email and on the tour; there is a space for member’s goods to be sold)
- jewelry with CRAFT: a ring (“friend of the eternity”), a pendant (“guardian of the eternity”), and a chain (“bond of the eternity”); the pendant and chain are both listed under necklaces (site is flash, so no direct links). These are the items he was referring to in an earlier blog entry.
- with DARTS, a bracelet and a strap (new in Feb.)
Goods (limited availability only and/or sold out)
- new set “あなたの日常のお側セット” (limited to 200 pieces, sold out (or at least all reserved): 2 hand towels + one each of coaster, mousepad (suitable for optical mice only), pen, pencil)
- long-sleeved T-shirt, to be sold at the Zepp Tokyo VAMPS dates only (might be selling via mail order; they don’t have their own page, but the notes of the day have a section about them); black long-sleeve shirts with pink or yellow designs (they do look more or less like the pictures up); no longer available.
- Goods #4, a T-shirt (“Vamp up your new body”) and a summer set? (towel, fan, flip-flops, bag — these were the items he had on the front page for a while); I think these will be sold on the tour or via mail order. (all sold out)
- Goods #3, another set of picks (five: black with gold, silver, green metallic, pink metallic, blue metallic) (sold out)
- Goods #2, new T-Shirt “Fight for Your Peace” (sold out)
- Goods, two different sets of picks (two black with gold and silver; four white with gold, silver, red, black) and a T-shirt (all sold out)
This is a two-DVD set taken from the shows that L’Arc~en~Ciel performed last November (25-26, 2006) at Tokyo Dome (sold out) to celebrate their 15 years together. Only two of the members were there fifteen years ago (Tetsu (b) wanted to form a band, found hyde (v) and hiro (g) and pero (d) in 1991; hiro and pero left in 1992 at different times and were replaced by ken (g) and sakura (d); sakura left in 1997 and was replaced by yukihiro (support in 1997, official Jan 1 1998). The tracklist spans their entire career, mostly singles, but with a few other songs thrown in.
This is more fangirl squee and overanalysis than an actual review; I loved this DVD. I adore L’Arc~en~Ciel but am aware of their faults when live (especially hyde’s voice); everyone sounded good and looked good (with occasional wtf-ness, mostly tetsu (especially his hair) but occasionally others; yukihiro had an inexplicable shirt in the extras) and looked like they wanted to be there and were enjoying themselves; hyde’s voice was approximately where it should be and was not as hoarse as it is sometimes. Everyone who’s at all interested in L’Arc~en~Ciel should watch this (except for those that think it’s wrong for yukihiro to play sakura’s songs); it is an excellent concert and a good overview of their career.
There was voting for favorite songs beforehand, the list is here: www.larc-en-ciel.com/archive/15th-req/15th-req.html — I don’t know how much of an effect that had on the final playlists, though. It is mostly older songs (1996 and earlier); I voted for “Ibara no Namida”, which was fourth and which was performed; I would have loved to have seen them perform “I’m So Happy”, though sakura seems to have appropriated it recently (he actually sang it at a Lion Heads show in Shanghai and was using it in their soundchecks otherwise). The song I was most surprised by the lack of was “Blurry Eyes”.
There were four sets (one per era) with costume changes between (for hyde and ken, at least; they chose to wear tour costumes (or something similar) from the relevant periods). I’m not sure which set came from which night; I assume the performances in the extras were from songs which were only performed one night but weren’t in the chosen set. I’m glad they left in the MCs and other random things, even though I can’t understand them, especially the birthday wishes for yukihiro and ken (yukihiro’s was the day before, and was celebrated the first night; ken’s was a couple of days after, and was celebrated the second night.) I don’t think yukihiro was really expecting that (though ken had to be); he was a little teary. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have 50,000 people singing Happy Birthday. There were also random things during Link: ken attempting tongue twisters, hyde breakdancing; I wonder if the other night had tetsu and yukihiro doing random things.
The show started with “The Fourth Avenue Cafe” on a small round stage; they then moved to the main stage for a set of early songs (1994-96); yukihiro was deeply concentrating in this part (these were sakura’s songs). They followed this with a set from 1998-2000, with a medley mostly from this era. The performance of “Trick” featured everyone on guitar and singing a verse. They then returned to the round stage for two songs from Dune (hyde did find a long white tunic!); “I’m in Pain” in the extras looked like it was part of this set (hyde was wearing the same thing, at least). They all were concentrating very hard during these songs. They returned to the main stage with a set from the more recent albums (only the singles); this was the only part where hyde’s voice was a little hoarse. They finished with “Niji”.
I have the Hong Kong version (legitimate, bought from yesasia.com, released by Sony of Hong Kong); it was substantially cheaper than the Japanese version, and since I doubted I could get the first press, I didn’t mind getting the basic version (white DVD case, the DVDs, an insert with credits only). It is Region 3; I’m very happy my extremely cheap DVD player was easily made region-free.
Because I was curious about the distribution of the songs and was going to write it out anyway, below is the tracklist and original albums. L’Arc~en~Ciel Parade 2006 was a medley of nine songs in twelve minutes, so I’m counting them separately. Here is a summary; the tracklist and dates follow:
original lineup: 1
sakura era (1993-1996, 4 albums): 9 full (2 indie, 7 major) + 1 Parade
yukihiro, pre-hiatus (1997-2000, 4 albums): 13 full + 8 Parade
yukihiro, post-hiatus (2004+, 2 albums): 7 + a snippet of bye bye
I’m clearing out my drafts for the new year; this is what I read but never wrote up. Some of these were rereads; others were from the library and will probably get an individual post upon a reread.
Lois McMaster Bujold: Paladin of Souls and Curse of Chalion, in that order. I was looking for a comfort read, and chose to reread Paladin of Souls; I ended up rereading The Curse of Chalion as well, mostly because I was curious about Foix and Ferda’s characterizations (Foix was the one listening at the door; otherwise they were Foix-and-Ferda). These are two of my favorite books for any number of reasons; I like Bujold’s writing style and the worldbuilding. I like most of the characters, and am interested in the ones I don’t like; (notably, Cattilara in Paladin is the type of character I usually dislike, but Bujold made her sympathetic). Both have a good mix of action (more in Paladin), political intrigue (more in Curse), and romance. They also have adult protagonists (Cazaril is 35, and Ista is 40) who have had difficult lives and who are given a second chance at happiness.
———
Liz Williams: Snake Agent and Demon in the City (reread)
These are her Inspector Chen novels, which are mystery/thriller/political intrigue type books at heart; they both start with murders which prove to be related to much larger schemes. The world itself has both science fiction and fantasy elements; the technology level (for the rich, at least) is very high, but Heaven and Hell and various gods exist (the Christian version exists somewhere, but is not relevant here.) Detective Inspector Chen is a member of the Singapore Three Franchise Police Department and often handles supernatural crime, and eventually ends up with a demon as an assistant. I received the third book for Christmas (Precious Dragon) and will do a full post once I’ve read it; more people should read these.
———
Sarah Monette: The Mirador
I had this from the library, and read it without rereading Mélusine and The Virtu and was occasionally confused; the large spoiler in the front flap did not help (it’s a spoiler for something in the first few pages). Felix and Mildmay are still having disfunctional lives, Mehitabel Parr is added as a viewpoint character (with a marginally more functional life). I think this is also part one of two; the pacing was a little off. It started very slowly, and then there was extreme amounts of action at the very end. Part of me wishes I had stopped after The Virtu; Felix and Mildmay are too messed up to be truely happy, but they had both found some measure of contentment there. I am currently expecting everyone to die at the end; I am doubting that both Felix and Mildmay will survive the series. I liked it well enough (Mélusine is still my favorite, though) and plan to buy it in the near future and will do a full review later (or I may reserve judgement on this one until after the next is released).
——–
China Miéville: Un Lun Dun
At some point, I tried to read Perdido Street Station and ended up setting it aside to try again later; I liked the setting and was somewhat interested in the plot, but wasn’t interested enough to finish it (I think I didn’t like his writing style and wasn’t interested enough in the plot or characters to continue). I saw Un Lun Dun; it looked like exactly the sort of thing that I like, and was young adult (or lower) so I hoped the issues I had with his writing style would be minimized. This starts off as a “chosen one on a quest for plot coupons to save the world” type fantasy, but bends or breaks all of the tropes of that sort of fantasy. UnLunDun is created from the trash of London; the lead ends up with a milk carton as a pet, and there are buildings made from things like old record players. I adored this book and will buy it eventually; I’m going to wait to see the paperback, though, since it’s out later this month. If the illustrations are still there and look good, I’ll get that; otherwise I’ll get the hardback.
———
Matt Ruff: Bad Monkeys
I got this from the library; I was very surprised that they had a copy, and glad that that copy was at the nearest branch. I have all of his other books: Sewer, Gas & Electric is one of my favorite books; Fool on the Hill gave me severe college flashbacks; and I have Set This House in Order (and have since it was a new trade paperback), but have not yet read it. This starts with Dr. Vale, psychiatrist, interviewing Jane Charlotte, inmate of the psychiatric wing of the Las Vegas jail, about the murder of Mr. Dixon; she says it’s going to be a very long story. She claims to be a member of an unnamed vigilante organization that deals with people who avoid legal punishment; her particular section is the assassin’s section, codename “Bad Monkeys”. Mr. Dixon was not an official target. Each visit, her story changes slightly (due in part to Dr. Vale’s investigations about the previous part), until eventually the truth is revealed (maybe). She blames some of the inconsistencies on other parts of the organization changing history; they are apparently very close to omniscient (anything with eyes can be used for spying) and omnipotent. I liked Jane Charlotte more than I should have; she ought to be a completely unsympathetic character. I got this for Christmas and am looking forward to reading it for the details instead of hurrying through to see what happens next.
———
Georgette Heyer: Cotillion (reread)
Pure fluff! I had a library discard of this, but bought it again recently; it was reprinted (by someone other than Harlequin; my Waldenbooks had it in fiction instead of romance). Kitty is the ward of an elderly man; he will make her his heir if she marries one of his grand-nephews and he summons his nephews to tell them this. His favorite (and Kitty’s crush) is Jack, who is a bit of a rake. The other nephews are George (married), Hugh (a rector), Freddie (nothing special, of average intellect, rich, with a minor title), Dolph (a bit slow (on the verge of needing a keeper), poor but highest title), and Claude (in the military and in France, not there). Jack doesn’t show up, both Hugh and Dolph propose and are rejected; Kitty runs away, meets Freddy, and convinces him to participate in a fake betrothal with a trip to London to meet his parents. Once in London, there are measles, Freddy’s sister, Jack and Dolph, Kitty’s French cousin, and Olivia (a chance acquaintance of Kitty’s, also Jack’s intended mistress). This is one of my favorites of hers.
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Diana Wynne Jones: The Pinhoe Egg (new) and Conrad’s Fate (reread)
These are both Chrestomanci novels; The Pinhoe Egg is set in Chrestomanci’s world, with other magic-users trying to avoid the Chrestomanci’s notice, and Conrad’s Fate is set in another universe with people trying to use power in inappropriate ways (and a lack of Chrestomanci himself). I liked Conrad’s Fate better than The Pinhoe Egg; I liked the latter, but found most of the characters unsympathetic.
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Carol and Nobuo Akiyama: Barron’s Japanese Grammar (second edition)
I did actually read part of this and skimmed the rest; I was looking for an overview of Japanese grammar and ran across a mention of this online. I flipped through it at Borders, decided it looked useful and the price was right ($6.95) and bought it. It’s divided into sections by parts of speech, with a section at the end for things like numbers, dates, family members, common phrases, etc. There are tons of examples, most of which translate the relevant words individually and also convert them into proper English sentences. I like the way it’s laid out; I knew a lot of this anyway, but it helps to have the information in an organized format. It is definitely a beginner-level book; everything is romanized.
Terry Pratchett: Going Postal and Making Money
I actually bought Going Postal new in hardback but didn’t read it until now; I got Making Money from the library (and will buy in paperback). Moist von Lipwig is a conman who uses various aliases; he is arrested as Alfred Spangler and sentenced to be hanged. He is only mostly hanged, and Vetenari offers him a second chance as head of the Post Office using his real name (but does not mention that the last four have died under suspicous circumstances or that there are decades worth of letters there.) He also assigns a golem as watchdog. Moist deals with the elderly former postal workers, threats from the current owners of the clacks network, a random magical device in the basement, a society for the protection of golems and its head, Adora Dearhart (aka Spike), introduces stamps, and uses his conman skills to save the day. Some of Moist’s problems were solved a bit too easily, but I ended up liking it anyway.
In Making Money, a year later, the Post Office is a success and is running itself. Stamps are being used as an unofficial currency, and Moist is bored. Vetenari wants him to take over one of the banks, but he refuses. Moist ends up running the bank anyway (the actual head is the previous chairman’s dog who has 51% of the stock; Moist is its caretaker; the previous chairman met him and named him as Mr. Fusspot’s caretaker in her will) and of the mint. Moist deals with the previous chairman’s family (who own the other 49% of the stock), various workers inside the bank who wish to maintain the status quo, somebody who knows his past and attempts blackmail, another random device in the basment, complete with a crazy guy and an Igor, a golem attempting to be female as a secretary, and a previous chairman’s cache of sex toys (Mr. Fusspot spends the latter part of the book carrying around a vibrator). There is a sublot/subtheme through both of these of the golems and their place in society and their humanity or lack thereof; I know that they are not human and probably did not mind, but I found the fate of the old golems a bit disturbing.
These are standalone in that they are not directly related to any of the other Discworld novels. I’m not sure how well they would work as a starting point, though; familiarity with Ankh-Mopork seems like it would be somewhere between helpful and necessary. These are somewhat generic Discworld/Ankh-Mopork novels, but I did enjoy them. They reminded me of why I liked Pratchett in the first place; the last of his novels I truly liked was Monstrous Regiment (2003). I didn’t like Thud! much (too much Vimes), and didn’t care about Wee Free Men and have not read its sequels, though I plan to eventually; I ended up with A Hat Full of Sky after my last trip to a used-book store.
