John’s Reviews – books, movies, whatever

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    One of Orson Card’s best essays

    ByJohn Brown

    Scott Card recently wrote “Marriage needs lots of humor.” It’s an awful title for one of the best articles of his that I’ve ever read.

    I’m not going to spoil it for you. But I will say that I’ve found that it’s the small things that seem to make the biggest difference in relationships. And this is one of those small things that packs a HUGE punch. But not until this article did I realize it.

    And for you writers who are wanting insights on what makes characters interesting and sympathetic–there’s a little treasure trove here for you as well.

    Enjoy!

  • “Somewhere My Love” by Stephen Mark Rainey

    ByJohn Brown

    The latest issue of Intergalactic Medicine Show just hit the net. Of course, I don’t have time to read. But how can I help myself when Mark Rainey’s “Somewhere My Love”  starts with this line: “She lived in our town’s one and only haunted house.”

    What a hook!

    And soon I found myself reading a wonderful story about a boy and a teacher, who happens to be a witch.

    But the kind of witch Rainey writes about is not some gal with warts and a black hat. Nor is she some kind of Alice Hoffman Practical Magic type.

    She’s a Rainey witch.

    And this tale is about a boy caught in her class in school. I loved it. It evoked perfectly how some teachers affect us boys. I haven’t read any of the other stories in this issue yet. But I can still say the measley $2.50 subscription for issue 12 is worth it if only so you can read this one story. Besides, even if you don’t have time to read it, scroll down on the TOC and you’ll see you don’t have to–you can listen to Scott Card read the thing to you.

  • Check out Dave Farland’s new cover

    ByJohn Brown

    Isaac Stewart pointed this out to me. Wow. And what a change. Farland’s got a whole new look and feel. I don’t know much about cover art/marketing and how well various colors and styles do in the book store (will buyers gloss over this because of its dark color?–I hope not). But however this performs on the shelf, it’s a great illustration.

    See more images on Irene Gallo’s blog about it. Compare with the old style.

    david-farlands-sons-of-the-oak

  • A War of Gifts by Orson Scott Card

    ByJohn Brown

    orson-card-war-of-giftsI think this has just become one of my favorite Card stories (note: like Stonefather, this is NOT a novel, but another novella). I’m sure part of the interest stemmed from the religious angle. Many people of many differing faiths will see their religion in it, but there were so many of my own beliefs twisted and made into frights that I felt Card was speaking directly to me. I’m sure another part was that I served my LDS mission in the Netherlands and the story revolves around a Dutch tradition. And it didn’t hurt that I listened to the audio version read by Scott Brick and Stefan Rudnicki. But there was more to it than that.  In the end, it was the saving of the main character, Zeck Morgan, that made me care.

    Because I should be working on my novel now, I’m going to simply quote the summary from Publisher’s Weekly review so you get an idea of what it’s about: “When Zeck Morgan, the young son of a puritanical minister, qualifies for admission into the International Fleet’s Battle School, he is brought to the school against his will. Citing his pacifist religious beliefs, Zeck refuses to participate in any simulated war games, but when he sees a Dutch student give a friend a small present in celebration of Sinterklaas Day, he [thinks he sees a way to be sent home].”

    Okay, so I shortened the PW summary. I did so because this isn’t about religious holidays, as their summary leads you to believe. It’s about something far more important, and Card does a great job writing about it.

  • Stonefather by Orson Scott Card

    ByJohn Brown

    stonefather_72dpi“When Runnel was born, he was given a water name even though there had never been a wetwizard in the family.

    In the old days such names were given only to those babies as would be sacrificed to Yeggut, the water god. Later, such names were given to those whould would live to serve as priests to Yeggut. Still later, wetnames went to children of families thath pretended they once had a watermage in their ancestry.

    But now, in the village o Farzibeck, wetnames were given because the mother was fond of a nearby brooklet or because the father had a freind with such a name.”

    So begins Stonefather by Orson Scott Card. It tells the tale of Runnel who is the ninth son and fifteenth child of a farmwife who likes all her children well enough but calls them all “by each other’s names and didn’t know enough numbers to take a census and notice when one or two were missing.”  He’s also the son a man who beats him. Eventually, Runnel leaves home and seeks his fortunes in Mitherhome, the big city far to the south.

    This isn’t a full novel, but a novella of 112 pages. However, the Subterranean Press edition has a glorious cover and ink illustrations inside. More importantly, the story tells a tale that’s full of wonder, humor, and a number of delightful characters. It reminded me of the best of Card’s Hatrack books. But, of course, this world is very different. It’s strange, and I was happy to explore it with Runnel as my guide. Take an hour to read this. You won’t be disappointed. Then you can look forward, as I do, to the first of the Mithermage novels based on this world.