Wherefor art thou Bubba Ho-tep?

Make Love! the Bruce Campbell Way
Bruce Campbell
Thomas Dunne Books

I have a confession. Deep breath .... I love Bruce Campbell. There, I said it and it hardly even hurt. For those of you who aren't BC fans, he's a former Michigander who has starred in a bunch o' crazy B movies, indie flicks, and lots and lots of television shows. In fact, it was on the small screen that the dashing Bruce first caught my eye. Ready for another humiliating admission? I fell in love with him while watching episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Um, okay (shuffle, pause, blush) ... and on Xena: Warrior Princess. Yeah, yeah, I had seen him in other things, but it was Autolycus that captured my heart -- or at the very least, my imagination. So, over the years, my interest in all things Bruce continued to grow (why else would someone rent a DVD called Bubba Ho-tep?) and I found myself with a couple of his books on my shelves.

Make Love! the Bruce Campbell Way is a novel about a B movie actor (Bruce) who lands and then researches a small (but important) role in a A-list feature film. Trying to impress, he dispenses advice to the director (Mike Nichols,) gives fashion tips to the female lead (Renee Zellweger,) and manages to debauch a Buddhist in Vegas (Richard Gere.) Honestly, while the story is not as well written as If Chins Could Kill, it is hysterically funny. Pee your pants kind of funny. I actually laughed out loud and since it kind of reads like a B movie, I think I can say that I had "rollicking good time."

As for a rating, this one gets three out of five zombies. Unless you're a huge Bruce Campbell fan, in which case it gets five zombies. And a groovy.

Fantasyland

Shadowmarch, Volume One
Tad Williams
DAW

I was introduced to fantasy as a genre the summer I was turning fifteen. My grandmother had just passed away and for whatever reason, I found myself on the way to Cambridge with a much older cousin. Grandma had been the anchor in our family and I guess none of us really wanted to be alone to let the sadness sink in. So, while Cathy was gathering the things she would need for the week, I wandered my way through her belongings envying the coolness of her twenty-something space.

Then I found the bookshelf. I was surprised to see that some of my own favourites also appealed to my cousin. She had a well-paged copy of Anne of Green Gables, a few ratty Austens and some Steinbeck. "What's this?" I asked, picking up a copy of Donaldson's Lord Foul's Bane. Cathy just smiled, ran her hand over my hair and said "I think now is the perfect time for you to have an adventure. Enjoy."

And enjoy it I did. That one book changed my reading life forever. I mention it here because Williams' character, Barrick, reminds me a great deal of Thomas Covenant. In a lot of ways, Shadowmarch is typical high fantasy -- you have a kingdom rife with political intrigue caught between an advancing evil empire from the south and an invading supernatural realm from the north. The novels opens with the murder of the Marchlands prince regent. The kingdom is left in the hands of two teenagers -- Briony, an impetuous but brainy young woman and her crippled and very moody twin brother, Barrick. As confidence in their leadership crumbles, the kingdom comes under attack from the advancing Twilight People. Barrick goes off to war and Briony remains behind to deal with the burdensome responsibilities of the regency.

Williams introduces a large number of characters into the work and there are multiple plot lines to keep the reader engaged. If you're the type of person who likes a straightforward, single-threaded narrative, this is NOT the book for you. In addition to Briony and Barrick, Williams writes from the perspective of a doctor, a dwarf, a guard captain, a street urchin, a mysterious little boy, and the leader of the supernatural forces that are beyond the Shadowline. Time and again, Williams takes you to a point of crisis with a plot/character only to have the chapter end and a new chapter open with another scene. Yeah, I hate it. But I love it too. My one complaint with this book? It is part of a larger body of work (the Volume One not-so-prominently displayed on the cover should have tipped me off.) So, I'm compelled to wait.

If you find that what I have written here has interested you enough to give Williams a try, but you're not so sure that you'd like to commit to what will probably be (at least) a trilogy ... give War of the Flowers a whirl. Great, epic fantasy in a single volume. In fact, it's what got me hooked on this author in the first place.

As for the rating system, I still haven't come up with one. I'll work on it. I promise. In the interim, let me just say that this was a damn good book in my estimation. Not the best fantasy that I have ever read, but Williams will always be near the top of my list.

Lasciate ogne speranza ...

Hmmm, kind of intimidating, this blogging thing. So, the basic premise/purpose/idea behind this blog is to share a bit about what I'm reading. "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate." In other words, watch out! I read a lot of crap so if you choose to journey with me, I cannot promise I won't occasionally drag you to the depths of hell a.k.a. the romantic scribblings of Nora Roberts and her ilk. Not that I am apologizing ... a body can't read high fallutin' stuff all the time. My brain would melt.

So, at the moment, I'm in media res with a few good books. I'm halfway through Who Murdered Chaucer by Terry Jones. That's the "non-fiction" entry. I've got 100 pages to go in Volume One of Tad Williams Shadowmarch. Mr. Williams is my favourite fantasy author du jour. On deck is a novel by Bernhard Schlink. I found it on the Books about Books table at my much frequented Chapters store.

I suppose I should come up with some kind of reviewing/rating system. I'll give it some thought before the next post. Suggestions welcome.