Ministry of Intrigue

What do you get when you combine the genres of hard-boiled detective noir, spaghetti-western and urban fantasy set in L.A.? You get Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey.

This book was recommended to me by my friend Quentin, and my fiancé had also mentioned to me that she had read a promising review of the novel. Intrigued, I read through the first few pages at the bookstore, which involved the protagonist’s return from Hell upon a pile of flaming garbage, and I was immediately hooked.

Stark, the protagonist, is a dirty punk magician that was betrayed by his buddies and sent to Hell while he was still alive. The residents of his new home were so amused by him that they had him fight unholy creatures and demons in an arena, gladiator-style. He very quickly became “tough to kill”, and graduated to working as a hitman for one of Lucifer’s generals. Now, he’s escaped, and he’s back to take vengeance on the bastards that sent him to Hell in the first place. It’s a gritty, violent story, featuring an amoral protagonist most easily recognized by his multitude of scars and his tendency to inadvertently destroy his own clothing.

Things are not all joyous though, as the book does suffer from some issues that I would normally consider fatal for a fantasy, such as not having any consistent framework of rules for the magic that appears in the story. The explanations given for it are vague at best, and half of the time, the cosmology is dropped in as an afterthought, while the other half of the time the exposition is completely unnecessary, serving only to set up the world for an apparent sequel. The latter issue is a bit annoying, but there is a certain adrenaline-infused momentum to the story that makes it easy to ignore the former and just go along for the ride. In the end, I didn’t mind the lack of these details much because it’s pretty clear that Stark doesn’t care much about the rules or abstract concepts and his murderous single-mindedness makes it pretty hard to argue with him.

Regarding the cosmology, I have to admit that I was fairly sure that I was going to be disappointed by this aspect of the novel. The whole Judeo-Christian war between Heaven and Hell with mankind caught in the crossfire has been done a heck of a lot in fiction, and in most cases, it has gotten to be a bit boring. I was worried that the same would happen in Sandman Slim, and that I would be rolling my eyes during the climax of the book. I think Kadrey must have been aware by this danger, which is why he ensures that Stark makes clear that he does not care about the ongoing war across the planes. His protagonist’s obsession with revenge and stubborn refusal to take interest in the overall conflict, except as a means to an end, means that the reader doesn’t spend a whole lot of time caring about it either. This was a really smart move, because by the end of the book, I was not thinking about the fate of the world, I was worried about whether Stark was going to catch up with his enemies and get the brutal, messy revenge of his dreams.

Ultimately, my review of the book boils down to the fact that Sandman Slim is a hell of a lot of fun, with some great action and a gritty thug of a hero that wants none of your pity, but earns it nonetheless. It’s a quick read, with some great lines, and enough Tom Waits references that you’ll be ready to pour yourself some whisky and listen to Alice, Rain Dogs and Mule Variations all over again, though not necessarily in that order. If you are craving an entertaining, moody and dark dance with the supernatural, Kadrey’s Sandman Slim is certain to satisfy your hunger.

Let The Right One In is a novel from Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist, and also now a film from Swedish director Tomas Alfredsson. I’ve consumed both now, and while they each should be judged on their own merits I’m going to attempt to review both the novel and the movie in one post. I’ll be pulling some of this from my review of the book on my GoodReads account.

The Novel

I was extremely impressed with this book. It’s a dark and disturbing tale that is beautifully written. The characters are complex, and the novel manages to capture the essence of human loneliness more effectively than any other book I’ve read in the last few years. Lindqvist grants none of his characters an easy path, and takes the time to depict each of their hopes and pains. Nor does he flinch at showing their evils, whether it’s careless alcoholism, the savage cruelty of children, or the darkness of Eli, as well as Eli’s servant.

Even Oskar, the innocent young protagonist, who has suffered so much abuse from his cruel classmates, has withdrawn from the world, and has turned dark from the years of bullying. Over that time he has nursed a hatred so pure and violent in intent that it could only come from a child. He practices stabbing trees with his knife and daydreams about killing his young tormentors. Good does come into his life though, in the form of a new friend. Eli, a pale waif of a child moves into his complex and slowly begins to befriend him, but Eli only comes out at night, and has been 12 years old for a very long time.

I’m hesitant to even mention the word vampire here, because of all the literary baggage it comes with, especially in a post Anne Rice, post Laurell K. Hamilton world, where Twilight and True Blood are what people immediately think of when the v-word comes into the conversation. So let me make something clear, this is not a vampire novel, or at least it is not just that. It’s a deeply moving story of human loneliness and the darkness that grows from the desperation of any outcast, and therefore a very human story, although many may find the humanity depicted in this novel disturbing. It’s beautifully written though, and your heart aches for the people of this tale, even some of the ones that are unquestionably evil.

The only complaint I have about the book is that it seems like the cast of characters is almost too well defined, and in some cases more for completeness rather than serving the story. For example, there is a decent amount of time spent learning about Tommy and his family, when he really has very little impact on the rest of the story and only actually interacts with the central characters briefly on a handful of occasions. It’s well-written, and great character stuff, but seems like an unnecessary detour from the core of the tale.

The Movie

The film version of Let The Right One In is as beautiful as the novel, and while it is somewhat more circumspect in scope, being more focused on Oskar and Eli rather than the wide cast of characters in from the book, it still manages to successfully communicate the emotional core of the story.

The two young actors playing Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and Eli (Lina Leandersson), each give stellar performances of difficult material far beyond their years. Hedebrant portrays Oskar’s hatred and desperation with a wide-eyed innocence that is absolutely pitch-perfect. Leandersson’s Eli is also well done, maintaining the appropriate level of awkward childishness and quiet severity that draws Oskar to her. At times though, Eli seems almost too human, and I’m not sure if it’s Leandersson’s portrayal, or Alfredsson’s direction. One important thing in the book is that Eli is never completely human, but instead always has a sense of otherness about about her, which does not hold completely true in the film. It still works though, after all this is no more a “vampire movie” than the novel is a “vampire book”, and this is ultimately a very human story, even Eli’s part of it.

The cinematography of the film is perfect and captures the bleak and lonely winter the story takes place in very well. I can’t speak to how well it captured Sweden in the mid-eighties, but the environment and colors reflect the isolation of Oskar, as well as Eli, whom he first meets out in the frozen playground of his apartment complex as he sits alone in the cold.

Alfredsson has made excellent editorial decisions in bringing this story to screen and has cut some elements of the plot which would have been distracting from the core relationships of the characters. His tight focus and clear understanding of the story he wanted to tell has created something truly great in cinema. It is no wonder the film has won such international acclaim. It’s a splendid piece of art, and after viewing, it is hard not to be profoundly affected by it.

Unfortunately, the DVD distributer of the film used a different set of English subtitles than what was seen in theaters. Supposedly, the original English subtitles are far superior, and outcry has been so loud that the distributer will start pressing the future versions of the DVD with the theatrical subtitles as an additional option, but only as they replace stock, so it could take a while before you see those pressings showing up in stores. Honestly, I saw it on disc, and I still thought it was great, but purists may want to hold off purchasing until theatrical subtitles are available as well. Even if you want to wait on purchasing, you should still consider renting it, because it is excellent, and trust me, you want to see this before an American studio remakes it and mutilates it in the process.

Conclusion

Let The Right One In is profound exploration into human loneliness and savagery, without falling into the trap of becoming a meditation on the nature of evil, which would have been pretentious as well as missing the point. Although it is significant that in both the book and the movie, the characters that are closest to being actually evil are the children that Oskar goes to school with, while Oskar’s salvation and hope comes in the form of a monster that wants to be his friend. It sounds simple and ridiculous simplifying it like that for the purposes of this review, because it plays far out more subtly in the book and movie. Neither make simple choices, and every moment of the story is filled with complex emotions.

Both the book and the movie are well worth your time, and I don’t feel I have to caution you as to the order you approach them in. I discovered the book through watching the movie first, and I don’t feel like it spoiled either for me. They are both excellent, and I highly recommend you check them out.

Final Verdict: The Ministry of Intrigue approves both this book and movie.

Via Boing Boing:

Just a quick post, but if you are at all into comics you will get a kick out of blogger Kevin Church’s hilarious reimagining of Alan Moore’s Watchmen as if it was written by Stan Lee. It really captures the over-the-top ridiculousness of Lee’s style, which fills me with nostalgia even as I recognize how terrible it really is.

Read the parody here.

If you are interested in being published, or just want some great entertainment, you should head on over to Evil Editor and read his hilariously vicious critiques.

The relatively new blog is run by an anonymous editor (surprise!) from an unspecified publishing house offering free advice on writing effective query letters for your books. Hopeful authors submit their drafted query letters to him via email which he then reviews, posting his critique as well as a suggested “face lift” version. Like the blog’s name implies, he certainly doesn’t pull any punches, and inserts his uproariously funny commentary into the original text to illustrate the problems with the piece. Reviewing the site for the first time today, I kept having fits of loud laughter; so loud in fact that regardless of being alone in my apartment I was compelled to cover my mouth.

Here is a bit I particularly enjoyed:

During an attack by a coven, she finds another half demon like herself: ALARIC. [Not exactly like herself; this is a hunky male half demon.] He can control the dead but has been imprisoned for 400 years by a coven of witches. [Shouldn’t he have made the dead free him? There are a lot more dead than there are witches. And the dead have a big advantage, in that they’re dead. Evil Editor learned this watching Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.]

Sometimes, Evil Editor’s comments are just for fun:

What would you do if the stripper at your party turned out to be the person who got your promotion at work? [Evil Editor would have the film he secretly made of the striptease on the Internet so fast … ]

While I chose the examples above primarily on their humor value, the blog contains a lot of really helpful advice for writers who want to learn how to market their book to publishers and agents. Evil Editor describes his goals thusly:

… to get more editors to request more manuscripts, thus increasing the income of the U.S. Postal Service, thus delaying the inevitable raising of the price of a stamp to 41 cents. True, all these extra manuscripts being printed will necessitate the destruction of another rain forest or two, but these two cent increases every couple years are mildly annoying to Evil Editor.

I found out about this blog via The Slush God Speaketh, a blog written by John Joseph Adams who is an Assistant Editor at the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, which is also worth your while, although Evil Editor will make you laugh more.

Check out Evil Editor for a lot of fun and a lot of great tips. I know I’ve subscribed.

I highly HIGHLY recommend you go over to Podiobooks and subscribe to the novel How To Disappear Completely: The Terrible Business of Salmon and Dusk by Myke Bartlett. It is strongly written, with interesting characters, and a story that reaches out, grabs you and pulls you along for a twisted ride through the dark alleyways of London.

From Podiobooks description:

Part film noir detective story, part fantasy adventure, part East End gangster tale, How to Disappear Completely concerns Theo Braithwaite, a failed actress and worse waitress, becoming involved in an unseen world populated by history’s rejects and runaways from a secret society known as The Footmen. A stranger to London, waiting for life to come and find her, she is instead found by a part-time thief called Kilbey Salmon who, along with his rockabilly-obsessed partner, is attempting to eke out a living stealing things that have already been stolen and finding people who don’t want to be found. An episodic narrative, Kilbey and Nero’s capers will drag Theo through the forgotten parts and people of London, hunted by ancient sects, carnivorous shadows, cannibalistic butchers and off-duty policemen. Along the way she’ll meet the Eternal Footmen, blow up Hammersmith Bridge, reach the end of history and quite possibly disappear completely. If Theo is to survive, she’ll need to get her life sorted before all of our futures catch up with her.

The recordings are extremely well performed by the author, and I have to tell you I am hooked. In my enthusiasm I have forced my feed all the way through the first five chapters overnight, and I have even listened to some chapters more than once to get the most enjoyment of Bartlett’s delightful wordplay. Of course, now I am kicking myself as this is a podiobook in progress (five chapters recorded as of today) and now I must wait in suspense for the next installment.

If you are an impatient sort of person, maybe one of the completed podiobooks would be better for your first feed, but let me tell you that Myke Bartlett’s How To Disappear Completely is going to be well worth the wait.

Okay, I have yet another addiction provided by the Internet. Among all the other things I spend my time doing online, between listening to podcasts, reading blogs, writing blog entries, tracking news and writing code, I am now avidly listening to the podiobooks provided at (where else?) Podiobooks.com.

Podiobooks.com is a site where novelists new and old can release their books in a serialized audio format. Authors record segments, usually 1 or 2 chapters at a time and then upload them to the Podiobooks server, while also providing a helpful rating for their work. Readers/listeners can then subscribe to a podcasting feed that will deliver those audio recording to them. Now, what is really cool about Podiobooks, is that instead of throwing all the files at your podcatcher at once, they release them to you one at a time from the beginning of the book. You simply register on the site, subscribe to a book and they provide you with a personalized podcasting feed that will deliver chapters of the book on a schedule you define. You can change your schedule at any point, or if you like your schedule but can’t stand the suspense of the last cliffhanger you can force the release of the next chapter with a single click.

Best of all, this service is totally free to both the authors and their listeners. If you like the work you are encouraged to donate to that book, although it is not required to listen. The author gets 50% of any donation you make which is way more than a standard royalty agreement, and the authors retain all their rights to the work.

I first heard about this service several months ago as it was co-founded by Evo Terra of the Dragon Page Wingin’ It podcast, which is a fave of mine. However, I waited a long time before trying it out because I was honestly a little skeptical, but I was wrong. This is an awesome service, and I am enjoying the books I have found there.

Seriously, take a moment of your time and check it out, although I warn you that it will be tempting to subscribe to them all.