Writers Unaware

Card, Orson Scott, and Aaron Johnson. Earth Unaware: The First Formic War. New York: Tor, 2012.Cover courtesy of Library Thing

As a long-standing fan of both Orson Scott Card and the Ender series, Earth Unaware was a heartbreaking disappointment. Delegating a beloved series seldom works unless the primary author's goal is to kill off that series. If that was the goal, Earth Unaware is a resounding success. If I were not already aware of Card's brilliance, I would never attempt another book in the series. In deed, if not for the misguided belief that “the whole thing can’t be this bad,” I would never have finished this….

Aaron Johnson states Earth Unaware evolved from a comic book project to provide backstory for Ender’s Game. Unfortunately, the book does not make it past the comic book level. In fact, it is not so much a novel as an extended slice of life that rambles form the Kuiper Belt to Earth’s moon with only a vague sense of direction. There is a saying among writers: “Novels are never completed, only abandoned.” EU was not abandoned; it was amputated.

Worse, the two collaborators never achieve a common voice. They do not even seem to be telling the same story. One (I assume Card) paints detailed technical panoramas in smooth technical prose. The other vainly attempts sophomoric character interactions that are as shallow and moving as a mosquito bite using descriptions dictated by a Flesch-Kincaid algorithm. Perhaps this level of character development is appropriate to a comic book. It is too banal for a novel. I frequently found myself skimming/skipping any number of pages until I found another section where I would be drawn back into the story rather than bludgeoned with sixth grade sentimentality.

The collaborators compensate for this failure somewhat by switching character perspective, but the stylistic dissonance continuously knocked me out of the story. When writers force the reader to think about style, they fail to create the illusion of the universe they are trying to build. Few writers are stylistically brilliant enough that linguistic excellence is its own end. Neither collaborator achieves such stratospheric writing in this book.

Further, I could not believe in any of the characters, except Concepcíon, the free minor ship captain. She was the only character in the novel capable of demonstrating character. For all the others, we were simply told they had character, what I call the Republican approach to character development.

I can say this much positive about First Formic War:

• Card’s explanation of the technology underlaying the characters' lifestyle was clear, intriguing, and unobtrusive.
  
• The book inspired me to take Suna shopping for bath towels—I think primarily as the escapist activity I had hoped the book would provide.

Bookishness

I heard a writer on NPR yesterday morning describe the post-Potter world. (At least I think it was on NPR. It could have been one of the local news bits they sometimes intermingle with the NPR stories. I couldn’t find the article when I looked on the Morning Edition site.) She said we need more books that get children to think thoughtfully.

Think thoughtfully? How else can you think?

Steven King discusses a drinking game that features such wit in On Writing.

And then tonight as I was getting ready for bed, I noticed TubaBoy’s book on the bar. He is reading (or has recently read) Wuthering Heights. That got me thinking. Is there an English infinitive to wuther? If not, from whence came the present participle? If so, how exactly does one wuther?

English is such a weird hodgepodge of languages. It’s a wonder any of us ever understands what anyone else says.

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15 November Update: Of course, when I looked it up, Brontë was right. Never argue nomenclature with a 19^th century writer. When the wind wuthers, it “blows with a dull roaring sound.”

Eight Assertions for 08/08/08 @ 08:08

In Dramaclouds, Mother Nature isn’t even mildly perturbed, and she’s scary enough. Still, some rain would be welcome.

Photo by: skooal

With Friday’s Feast still in famine mode, Suna created a meme in honor of the Summer Olympics. It simply lists eight random assertions for 8/8/08. Ideally, I guess I should post it at 08:08, which I have done so (even though I’m actually writing this a couple of days later—Ha!).

1. You can prove anything through numerology if you work hard enough.
2. Books are great friends, but uncomfortable sleeping companions.
3. “I thought that music matters, but that’s bullocks! Music doesn’t matter, not like people matter.”
4. We all learn differently. We all have different skills, goals, and aspirations. Why do schools insist on reducing everyone to the lowest common denominator?
5. All of the problems in the world today can be traced directly back to overpopulation, but the real problem is deciding who has to go.
6. If we don’t deal with overpopulation on our own through birth control, Nature will, and She doesn’t resolve problems kindly.
7. Starvation, epidemic, and ecological collapse will eventually restore balance in Nature. That doesn’t mean humans will survive the process.
8. I don’t wanna play this game any more. Waaaa! But I’ll give bonus points to the first person to cite the quote in #3.

Grateful Monday

Jones, Tim (2008). Transported.

Photo source: Tim Jones: Books in the Trees

I was reading Tim Jones’ book blog this morning. He has just published Transported, a collection of his short fiction. The book is in my queue to buy once I have another contract lined up. (OK. That’s the end of the shameless plug for my LibraryThing acquaintance who shares a taste for science fiction and Arthur C. Clarke.)

Tim’s blog linked to a new offering from the New Zealand Book Council, which I am pleased to share here. The Council has a program called Read at Work, which I assume intends to promote literacy and familiarity with literature. Using Windows Remote Desktop, the Council makes an assortment of work available online in the guise of PowerPoint presentations. You can read a book, but if your boss walks by, it looks as if you’re perusing a presentation.

The punctuation and layout of the one I scanned are very creative. It really does look like a bad PowerPoint presentation typical of what passes for business communication these days.

Grateful Monday

So that brings me to today’s Grateful Monday. I never cease to be surprised by the inventiveness of the human spirit. Read at Work is just one example of that inventiveness—albeit a slightly dishonest one. I am grateful for that inventiveness in all of its expressions. Let us continue to be human and not be reduced to some utilitarian net.

The Road Goes Ever On

It really was written as a single book. The publisher broke it!

Photo source: Amazon

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can

—JRR Tolkien

Suna has a job. She starts Monday at the University of Texas. WOO HOO! Now I need to make sure I have something by the time this contract ends.

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer: Who was the last person you hugged?

Suna, this morning before I left for work. I thought seriously about being late.

Soup: Share a beauty or grooming trick or tip with us.

If you’re on a tight budget, substitute aloe vera gel for conditioner and moose.

Salad: What does the color yellow make you think of?

My mother’s kitchen in the ’70s. It was so yellow, it made me want to puke early in the mornings. I had to wait until I had been up for a while before venturing in there.

Main Course: If you were to make your living as a photographer, what subject would your pictures revolve around?

I don’t think I would want to specialize too much. If you spend too much time thinking about a gnat’s left earlobe, you miss the beauty of the creature and how it interacts with its environment. Landscapes can be breathtaking, but sometimes you need people in them. Portraits can be poignant, but sometimes it’s the setting that makes the portrait.

Dessert: What was the longest book you ever read?

• Longest read: The Lord of the Rings. You could sure get tired holding this puppy up. It went away with X1.
• Longest owned: Random House Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language. This one is courtesy of X1.