Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

Genre: Horror

Publishing Info: IDW Publishing (September 2008)

Film Adaptation: As of the date of this review: Optioned by Dimension for a possible TV or movie deal.

Overview: Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft is the first volume in the tale of the Locke family and the terrible events that drive them to seek solace in their family home, the Lovecraft residence.

Points of Interest: You might be saying to yourself, wait, isn’t this a comic book? That’s kid’s stuff! Well if you are, you wouldn’t be further from the truth. If you are one of those readers who chooses not to read comic books--or graphic novels as the more high minded fans prefer to call them--then you are missing out on some of the hottest talent in storytelling.

Look at the treasure trove of quality stories Hollywood has been plundering lately (although they may not always do the characters and stories justice, but hey, that is a discussion for another day). Every other blockbuster to hit the screen in the past few years has had some or other spandex clad superhero performing feats of daring do. However, super heroes and spandex are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what comic books have to offer. There are titles out there that are sizzling with talent. The medium allows for a greater freedom in the storytelling art than strictly prose stories are capable of. Some of the most complex, challenging and well crafted tales that I have read come in the form of little text bubbles floating in colorful panels.

Locke and Key is one such comic. Collected by IDW in a great hardbound edition, the first volume tells the story of the Locke family and the terrible tragedy that befalls them, driving them to seek sanctuary in their old family home, the Lovecraft residence; which in itself is an homage to the great horror writer H.P.Lovecraft.

The book is written by the extremely talented Joe Hill, which is the pen name of Joseph King, son of the horror writer Stephen King. He appears to have followed in dad’s footsteps by choosing this genre to write in, but he is entirely capable of standing on his own two feet when it comes to talent. The story is incredibly well crafted, and moves at a perfect pace. The characters are beautifully portrayed and are what really took this comic to the next level for me. I found myself truly caring about what happened to them within the first few pages.

The artwork of Gabriel Rodriguez evokes this same empathy for the characters through his attention to detail. The little things the characters do, their facial expressions and mannerisms all bring them to life in a way that a prose novel would be hard pressed to match.

I would love to delve further into the events of the plot itself, but to do so would give too much of it away. I will say this though, if you took a classic ghost story, mixed in a contemporary thriller with a dose of family drama, and presented it in a perfectly polished little gem, you would have Locke and Key. Read it!

Overall Impression: 2 bordering on a 3. This is an amazing comic book, and a wonderful story. It teeters on the brink of greatness and is well worth your hard earned money.

Provoc-O-Meter: 2, there are some scenes of intense violence and adult themes, but they are not gratuitous. They fit within the context of the story well and serve to heighten the tension, which is what these elements should do.

Tylenol Rating: 1, this is a simple, fun ghost story. There are some implied lessons that rest between the lines, but nothing that will hurt your frontal lobes.

Recommended titles if you liked this:

Anything by H.P.Lovecraft

Anything by Stephen King

Fall of Cthulu, by Michael Alan Nelson, Jean-Jacques Dzialowski, Greg Scott, and Mat Santolouco

Other books by this author:

Heart Shaped Box, by Joe Hill

Would you like to learn more about Joe Hill?

His Wiki article.

Red Storm Rising, by Tom Clancy

Genre: Fiction: Military Fiction
Publishing Info: Berkley Books (1987)
Film Adaptaton: None as of the date of this review.

Overview: The story of what would happen if the USSR and NATO clashed at the height of the Cold War, as told by Mr. Military fiction himself: Tom Clancy.

Points of Interest: I am a fan of Tom Clancy and have read a number of his books. I had not read this, however, which is one of his first, being written just after “The Hunt for Red October.” I picked it up and was not disappointed.

Essentially this book is reading a war game played out between the USSR vs. NATO. It is a “what if” scenario taking into account myriad factors according to Mr. Clancy’s idea of what would occur. It is light on character development but heavy with what Clancy is known for: technically accurate, modern military action. The plot moves quickly, and every page I felt like I was learning some new fact about military hardware or doctrine. The characters are stereotypical American military men who nearly always seem to make the right decisions, as is often the case with Clancy. In his later books you start to see American characters that are less moral, but the line between good and evil is always clearly drawn.

As the reader, you are also keenly aware of Mr. Clancy’s political and religious stance as he pulls no punches in proclaiming America as the world’s greatest country, or Christianity’s virtues. He is at times a little heavy handed with it, which can be a good or bad thing depending on the reader’s own beliefs, but for me it never detracted from the story to the point where it was annoying as I found to be the case in some of his later books where he preaches to the reader through his characters.

One aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the way in which Clancy humanizes the Russian Characters. At times, I found myself pulling for some of them which is the mark of a good writer in my mind. In many of his later books, the antagonists are purely evil with no redeeming characteristics. This detracts from the story in my opinion as they become symbols for ideas rather than actual people.

An interesting aspect of reading this book now after having read all of Clany’s more recent books with his famous Jack Ryan character, is seeing how the enemy in the books has changed over time. Then it was the Russians, and now in later books it has gone from extremist Muslims to the Chinese. The story remains largely the same in these books, only the enemies change. The plot in this book is incredibly similar to that of “The Bear and the Dragon,” only now that the Russians are no longer communists, they are our allies and not our enemies.

On the whole, if you like action and military technology, this will be a great book for you. If those subjects hold little interest for you, you won’t find much to like here. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it.

Overall Impression: 2, Good Read. I enjoyed the book very much, although it was not a life altering affair.

Provoc-O-Meter: 1, Nothing in this book will raise your hackles, unless you are opposed to military violence.

Tylenol Rating: 2, This recieved a 2 only because of the amount of technical jargon used.

What the heck is this rating system all about? Click here for an explanation.

Recomended Titles if You Liked This:

Any of Tom Clancy's other works, obviously.
The Winds of War, by Herman Wouk
War and Rememberance, by Herman Wouk

Other Books by This Author:

A complete List of Works

Woud You Like to Learn More About the Book?

Wiki Article

A Planet for the President, by Alistair Beaton

Genre: Fiction: Satire
Publishing Info: Orion Publishing (September 1, 2004)
Film Adaptaton: None as of the date of this review.


Overview:
A political satire concerning the fictional U.S. President, Fletcher J. Fletcher and his administration’s decision to wipe out all non-Americans in the world in order to stave off an impending ecological disaster and preserve the American way of life.

Points of Interest:
First of all, let me say this book is hilarious. I mean laugh out loud, slap your knee, snot flying out of your nose funny. It is a scathing political satire mixed with a heavy dose of black humor. The idea is that the American President, Fletcher J. Fletcher is warned of a coming ecological disaster by a political advisor. He is told that if every human being on Earth lived a lifestyle similar to the average American, we would need over 15 Earths to provide for the current population. The President is also told that it is only a matter of time before the Earth’s reserves are run through and chaos and famine ensues. He is warned that if he does nothing, he will be remembered as the President that ruined the world, which would not look good in history books.

In order to circumvent the disaster President Fletcher is advised to find a way to lower the environmental strain American’s place on the environment. President Fletcher dismisses the idea as preposterous. Telling Americans to consume less would kill his approval rating.
His administration composed of imbeciles, incompetents, and self-serving opportunists propose the idea of killing off the rest of the world, allowing for more elbow room for Americans. The monstrous idea is rationalized as being the only viable solution to the coming crisis while maintaining the American way of life. It is also suggested that the President and his cabinet could use the incident to win a third term in office. The book then rolls out the details of how this genocide will be accomplished, and somehow makes the entire thing hilarious as good satire does.
That is why satire is so effective. It makes terrible topics palatable by coating them in humor. This book does just that as it brings the reader to the books horrifying but outrageously funny conclusion.

Fletcher J. Fletcher is a thinly veiled George W. Bush. His fictional cabinet represents neocon ideals in their aggressive policies, imperialism, need for fear to unify the country and its America first agenda, which in the case of the book is taken to an extreme. A few gems in this comparison are incidents such as President Fletcher taking time to “be with his God” when he actually drinks bourbon and then prays for a third term in office. Another occurs when the President asks his born again Christian Secretary of Defense if they should invade a small, possibly terrorist state and the Secretary responds, WWJD (what would Jesus do)? The President asks what Jesus would do and the Secretary replies, “Jesus would go in hard!” which is a criticism of the obvious hypocrisy of Bush’s administration that appeals to the religious right, claiming to be inspired by and modeled after Jesus’ life and yet initiates pre-emptive War and violence.

The administration decides to infect the world with a modified super bird flu, which will wipe out 100% of the people infected with it and will spread to every person around the world who is not protected with an inoculation. This will be administered on the pretense of an eminent terrorist attack which in actuality does not exist. The inoculation contract, which is obviously huge and highly lucrative, is promised to whomever can get it done the fastest as the operation needs to be carried out before the elections if the President is going to have a chance at his third term. The corporations vying for the contract take short cuts to increase their profit, as they do, which are allowed by the Fletcher administrations loosening of regulations in the Pharmaceuticals industries. This results in disaster later in the book and is the author showing his reader the underbelly of capitalism and some of the possible repercussions of a bottom line culture.

The only voice of reason in the insane asylum of the white house is the President’s personal advisor. Unfortunately, he is powerless to stop the juggernaut once it gets moving. He is also a man of compromised values as he has sacrificed much of what he believes in in order to gain the President’s ear. A vegetarian, he regularly eats hamburgers with the President so as not to look like a wimp which is only one of his many personal compromises. The only time he does come close to blowing the whistle on the entire operation is when he takes proof of the conspiracy to the Prime Minister of England who instead of publically condemning the United States, ask to receive the inoculation that all Americans are being given for his country as well. The author is Scottish and this would be a criticism of his country’s implicitly with America’s foreign policy actions, such as joining in on the War on Terror.

The book is extremely well written and in my opinion deserves a read by every student in the country not so much because it mirrors many of my own beliefs but because it encourages people to turn a critical eye on those in power and to question motivations. It inspires healthy and constructive criticism. The novel is ruthless in its condemnations, world governments, military, corporations, media agencies, the lust for power; everyone gets egg on their face in this book. Every page has an insight worth exploring and is delivered humorously. The reason the book stays with the reader though, is because it is plausible. The actions of the book mirror many real world events and the fact that it feels like it could possibly happen lend a lot of weight behind the vicious left hook it throws at society. As many other critics have said, this is the Dr. Strangelove of our generation.

• Overall Impression: 3, Wordgasm! This book is hillarious and it makes you think about the world we live in and question some of the things that go on around you. Fantastic book.
• Provoc-O-Meter: 2, This book is highly provocative as it turns the magnifying glass on current events and the world's governments reactions to them. many people will be challeneged by this book.
• Tylenol Rating: 1, This book presents nothig too difficult to absorb. It breaks down even complex issues like the mutating of the bird-flu into a super disease in ways that anyone should be able to understand.

What the heck is this rating system all about? Click here for an explanation.

Recomended Title if You Liked This:

• Catch 22, by Joseph Heller
• Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift
• Dr. Strangelove, byPeter George
• Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

Other Books by This Author:

• A complete List of Works

Woud You Like to Learn More About the Book?

• Wiki Article about the book

A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking

Genre: Non-Fiction: Science and Mathematics

Publishing Info: 1998 Bantom Books

Film Adaptation: Yes, click here for more information.

Overview:
As the title says this book is a brief overview of the current state of theoretical physics circa 1988 as written by one of the field’s brightest minds, Stephen Hawking. It is not so intimidating as it may at first sound as it does not utilize any equations but simply expresses complex ideas in the simplest terms available to the author.

Points of Interest:
Where to begin!? This is a book that should be required reading in my mind as it presents ideas that define the universe we live in as developed by the brightest minds the human species has produced. But before I get ahead of myself let me add this caveat: the book does present very complex ideas and if you are a layperson coming to the subjects of cosmology and theoretical physics then this may be a bit overwhelming. I have a very large interest in the subject and have managed to familiarize myself with many of the topics presented. If you would like to educate yourself a bit about these things (and you should, as they are fascinating!) then I would suggest checking out some TV specials (yes I am breaking a cardinal rule and suggesting that you watch TV) on the subjects of cosmology, quantum physics, and relativity. Do not be intimidated by these subjects! With a little effort you can open doors for your mind that will expand your perspectives on life.

Now, this book in particular does a brilliant job of exploring the big topics of theoretical physics: where did we come from, where are we going and why are we here? Sound familiar? They should, because those are the big questions that every religious and many philosophical systems have attempted to answer since man began painting on cave walls.

The primary difference between most religions’ approach to these questions and science is simply that religions propose to have the answers without verifiable proof, where science presents a theory with available evidence and says, prove me wrong. This fundamental difference is what fascinates me with the topic. Religions are static and unchanging (or at least claim to be) whereas science is dynamic and ever changing, adapting to new information.

Hawking begins by describing some of the models human beings have had of the universe. The model used previously was that of the Earth at the center, with everything else rotating around it. Hawking discusses the idea that the earth had also been thought to be flat, or supported on the back of a giant tortoise as believed by some indigenous peoples.

We now know all of these to be untrue. Hawking then goes on to stress the importance of asking questions and to not simply accept that which has been held as truth but has not been proven to be true. For example we now know that the idea held in western society that the earth was the center of the universe (which the catholic church threatened to excommunicate Galileo for challenging, and another Philosopher, Girodono Bruno, was burned at the stake for the same reason) is no less silly than the idea that it rested on the back of a giant tortoise. Yet this was held to be undeniable truth for centuries. Another example of this resistance to new ideas is the story told by Hawking of a meeting he had with the Pope where he was told to study only the events after the Big Bang (the proposed beginning of the universe) but not the Big Bang itself as this was believed to be the act of creation and forbidden knowledge to man. The Church forbade this because they were afraid of what would be discovered just as they had been afraid of Copernicus’ model of a Universe in which the Earth was not at the center. These ideas challenged doctrine and the uncovering of the Big Bang could have revealed a universe in which there was no room for God as defined in the Bible.

This is an interesting point also because Hawking addresses the difficulty many scientists’ have in reconciling there religious beliefs and scientific knowledge. Einstein for example refused to believe Quantum Physics because it showed us that the universe is fundamentally chaotic. He stated that he would not accept the theory as he felt that God did not play dice. However, we now know that Quantum Physics do dictate the actions of fundamental particles (which is a bit ironic of a statement as fundamental particles are inherently unpredictable!).

One of the structural devices Hawking’s uses throughout the book is to present similar previously held notions at the beginning of a chapter and then to explain how they were overturned and by whom. This creates within the reader a sense that the foundations of science have been laid over many years built up in steps with each proceeding step reliant on the previous. It is also interesting to me that the science community places such a large emphasis on giving credit to those who made the crucial discoveries. It makes me think of the Pyramids of Egypt, these men trying to write their names into history. As for longevity though, I would say that an essential law or equation that defines the universe in which we live would have a far greater impact than a man-made mountain. The mountain fades with time; a fundamental truth will endure and is a hell of a lot more useful to the rest of us.

Hawking also takes pains to mention his contributions to the field and his interactions with his colleagues, which at times are all too human. Even a man humbled by a broken body is not free of his ego! That made me chuckle, but it also colors the book with Hawking’s personality which I found gave it a personal touch lacking in many similar works I have read.

The book does a wonderful job of making understandable such complex topics as singularities, gravity, quantum mechanics, space time, the fundamental laws of the universe and black holes. Hawking’s breaks down the basic mechanics of these complex subjects and explains how they determine the universe we live in. He then goes on to explain how these have led him to construct a model of the universe that he believes to be accurate. The theories and questions he raises should elicit thought in any mind, regardless of personal belief. They are independently verifiable by anyone willing to take the time to understand them, which is what has always drawn my mind to theoretical physics and science and mathematics in general. This does not require any leap of faith, only a verification of facts. An individual is not confined to simply accepting and obeying the laws and origins of the universe but to interact with and help shape the discovering of them. That for me empowers man instead of an unseen deity and makes the journey of life so much more exciting as the emphasis is on the now and not a potential afterlife. In this system man is the key player and star of the show with the present being the critical time, not the past and all of its collected ghosts and myths or a hereafter which may or may not exist.

Hawking addresses this when he discusses the fact that the Universe as far as we know it had to exist exactly the way it does in order to have produced intelligent life capable of observing and questioning it. This proposes some fascinating questions about our place and purpose. Are we here to give order and purpose to a Universe that would otherwise go unappreciated, and unobserved? Perhaps simply existing is the meaning of our lives; perhaps we need to look for no further justification than that to explain our purpose here. These are just some of the many ideas that buzz through my mind when I consider this book.

Some of the possibilities proposed by Hawking in the book will twist your mind into pretzels: infinite alternate dimensions expanding infinitely, multitudes of dimensions beyond the four we operate in that exist all around us yet we are unaware of, just to name a few. This book is a roller coaster ride for your mind.

The conclusion to the book was profound for me as it proposed further models for the universe which are even now being explored. To unify all of physics with a single theory is the ultimate goal. Hawking’s closes with the statement that to achieve the unification of physics would be to understand the mind of God.

Wow, try and go after bigger game than that in a book!

• Overall Impression: 3, Wordgasm! This book is so educational and mind expanding that it deserves several readings.
• Provoc-O-Meter: 2, This book challenges a lot of commonly held beliefs as to the nature and origin of life and the universe. At the very least it will provoke a lot of thought.
• Tylenol Rating: 2, Minor Headache. This book definitely presents some challenging ideas and the only thing stopping it form getting a 3 is the fact that there are no equations in the book.

What the heck is this rating system all about? Click here for an explanation.

Recommended Titles if You Liked This:

• The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics, Gary Zukav.
• Contact, Carl Sagan

Other Books by this Author:

• George's Secret Key to the Universe, Lucy and Stephen Hawking
• Complete list of Stephen Hawking's Publications.

Want to Learn More About Topics Covered in the Book?

• A Brief history of Time, Movie, Youtube
• Flat Earth Article, Wikipedia
• Galileo Article, Wikipedia
• Copernicus Article, Wikipedia
• Theoretical Phsyics Article, Wikipedia
• Stepehen Hawking's Website