Review: EPIC: Legacy

EPIC: Legacy by Justin Osborne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I usually don't like reading books on my phone, but Justin Osborne's EPIC: Legacy, hit all the right notes and was easy to read (It doesn't hurt that the text is big and well-suited for my Android phone). The story concerns a very scary prospect-What if men started just disappearing into thin air? What transpires is a grand epic starring a likeable protagonist named Deacon who has the kind of spunk and kindess you find in the best kinds of heroes. And he needs it for the adventure he goes on once he enters the Faerie world, Avalon, which is impressive in its scope and character. If I have one complaint, and it's a very small one, it's that the quotation marks are a little off early on, making it kind of jarring for awhile. But story-wise, character-wise, and pacing-wise, you really can't beat EPIC: Legacy. I'm going to pick up the next one to see Deacon's next adventure.

View all my reviews

Review: What Makes Sammy Run?

What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A criticism not only of Hollywood moguls but also of ruthless ambition, What Makes Sammy Run? is a landmark work from the 40s that turned out to be hauntingly prescient. Sammy's stab you in the back to ahead mentality represents America, and this book makes for an interesting Hollywood story that is relatable in every aspect of modern day business. You may even have a Sammy Glick in your life, which is scary to say the very least.

The story centers on the aforementioned Glick, and it's told from the perspective of somebody Glick walks over to get ahead, which paints an interesting story unlike the naive narrator from The Great Gatsby. In this book, the protagonist, Al Manheim, knows Sammy is slime and you get to see his outlook on the ambitious character. It makes for fascinating narration. In his climb to the top, Sammy screws over anybody and everybody (But they're all Jewish people like himself, which the author, Budd Schulberg, made sure of), making him a pretty repugnant character. That said, he's not one-dimensional, and you even start to feel sorry for him since he can't help himself. Some might even see him as a non-violent sociopath, taking his licks and accepting them if it means it will further his barreling career.

If I have only one complaint with the book, it's that the ending comes rather abruptly for my taste. That said, the book is enjoyable and has well thought out characters and excellent pacing. If you love movies, and more importantly, the story behind making movies, then you should definitely read this book. Maybe you'll uncover for yourself just what makes Sammy run.



View all my reviews

Review: A Dance With Dragons

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Now that I'm finally caught up, I feel privileged to talk about the series as a whole. After slugging through the last book, "A Feast For Crows", I was promised by many that this book made up for a lot of the ostensibly meandering story lines of the last title. But no, that's not the case at all. In fact, I'd say "A Feast For Crows" had even more direction than this boring novel, which seemed to go all over the place without any interesting payoff whatsoever.

I think the main reason people prefer this book to Crows is because some of their favorite characters return. Jon, Dany, and Tyrion, all make reappearances. Hell, even Theon Greyjoy ("My name is Reek") makes a return here. But here's the thing. Dany's chapters are little more than her deciding who she's going to marry and Tyrion's chapters are mainly about him traversing from one vessel to the next. Only Jon's chapters have anything really interesting to say, and even those tend to drag at times.

What this book and the last one prove to me now is that George R.R. Martin is a bit lost in where he's going with this story. Whereas the first three books seemed to have a direct course of action, these books are too big for their own weight. The legs feel like they're giving way beneath them. For almost a 1000 pages of this book, I'd say only about 100 of them actually progress the story forward in any meaningful way. And while I'm not the author and can't decisively say that all these different plot threads will never connect, my faith in the man has dwindled considerably after reading through two giant tomes without really getting anywhere at all through either of them. All the interesting story lines left off at the end of book 3 seem to be squandered here, and the only interesting parts in either book were when those threads were actually addressed. I would have also liked if some of the threads from book 4 (Which runs concurrently with this book for the most part) were addressed, like the story with Brienne and Jaime, which is mentioned for only about a page in Dance.

Honestly, after reading these last two books, I'm very upset that I even started this series in the first place. If I were you, I'd say wait until all of the books are finished (If the books ever get finished) before making the plunge. It will save you countless hours and grief in the long run.

View all my reviews