Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Yes, we've all seen the HBO show, and it was great, but I also wanted to read the book which is much more extensive and goes in much greater deal in describing the characters, the events, and the background. The sex the Lannister siblings are having in the tower at the Stark castle is described in great detail, with much more dialog, and how Bran got pushed out for peeping. In the show it is all within one scene, but in the book there are several pages of text describing just that event.

Also the relationship between Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon is described in great detail, with much more background information from their younger days and their war against the Mad King. Cersei's motives and background is described in detail and it makes more sense than the short information given in the show (although Lena Hedley is superb in the role).

Although I've seen the entire show twice, including the last two horrible seasons, I wanted to read the book in order to get more in depth into the world building and the character development.  Some of the characters feel different in the book than on screen, for example Arya Stark, even though the actress is superb. It's just a different take and different interpretation of the material.  The book wins in most contests for character and background development compared to the show, but that's only to be expected as one hour episodes can only hold so so much content.

Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

This is supposedly the best novel by Agatha Christie, and is third published to feature Hercule Poirot, although he is already retired in the plot. It is a well written book. It flows well and the language is clear and intriguing. I am not sure if the plot twist is so unexpected. I guessed the doctor and narrator was the murderer about 25 pages in. The best part about the book is the delves into the side-stories of all the characters and how each story becomes novel-worthy on its own, though subservient to the main plot in this book. 

The plot is that somebody murdered Roger Ackroyd, who is rich but miserly and very difficult with money, not giving her sister in law and her niece enough to cover their expenses, but wanting a justification for each spend.  Also he is quite stingy towards his own adopted son (as he never married), who is at his wits end and gets secretly married, though it is not explained why the son couldn't just find a proper employment that would allow him to pay his expenses by himself, without having to beg his step father. 

Roger Ackroyd is also tangentially guilty of the suicide of a woman who was in love with him and poisoned her abusive husband. Ackroyd could not get over the poisoning and the woman, while also being blackmailed, killed herself. There are other illustrious characters, each of whom with something to hide. At the end Poirot tells the doctor that he knows he committed the murder and advises him not to attempt to murder him (Poirot) as well, which is strange because that would be the logical thing to do for the doctor who is already a murderer.

Also Poirot tells Dr. Sheppard that he might choose to kill himself instead of surrendering to police the next morning, which is a very controversial suggestion (that the doctor actually acts upon). Even if he is a murderer he can have his time in court and be sentenced according to the law. The plot happens in 1920s England, which is unlikely to have had automatic death sentence for murderers at the time. Poirot says it is to spare the doctor's sister, Caroline, the embarrassment. Who cares about the embarrassment of some old spinster - a human life is worth much more than that.  Poirot also comes across as not-very-sympathetic person throughout the book, but the incitement to suicide at the end, because of some 'honour' preservation is completely bonkers.

Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett

 This is direct continuation from the first book "The Colour Of Magic" which ended pretty ridiculously by everyone falling off the rim of DiscWorld. Well, apparently the spell that got lodged in the head of Rincewind does not want him to die and every time he is close to death, the spell saves him. So, even now, as he is falling into the void, outside DiscWorld, passing by the elephants and The Great A'tuin, the spell teleports him back on the surface.  Somehow, Cohen the Barbarian (82 years old) and Twoflower also find their way back to the service from the "space" vessel that was used by the Krull Empire, so all of them start walking back to Ankh-Morpork. 

On the way the meet Trolls, who apparently are living rocks and cannot be differentiated from regular rocks unless they decide to move or speak. Also, since rocks include precious stones as well, there are all kinds of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, etc. to be gathered from a body of a dead troll, which is what happens (through a mediation from a local robber gang) and Cohen finally gets his lost teeth replaced by a denture made of pure diamonds, so he doesn't make the "shhh" sound anymore.

Anyways, the gang discover that magic is disappearing from DiscWorld because A'Tuin is flying (swimming?) towards a great star, and the air is getting hot and rarified. The local mobs create a movement of "Star People" who murder all the wizards and everything magic-related, because they think they are at fault for their world flying into a burning star. 

One of the wizards from the Unseen University steals the Octavo book, which is now pretty harmless, with the magic gone from the world and tries to force Rincewind to surrender the last, eighth spell, so he can rule the world. This leads to an arena duel in the "Dungeon Dimension" which is populated by all kinds of vicious monsters, more terrible than anything seen and all sounding very Lovercraftian. 

Rincewind wins, says the eight spells from the Octavo and magic comes back to the world. Twoflower decides to go back home to the Agathean Empire, having decided that he had enough of touristing, and gifts The Luggage to Rincewind, who first refuses, but eventually accepts it as a companion. 

Overall a good book, though too much emphasis is placed (again) on parodying different Epic Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery tropes, and not that much on development of an interesting plot. In any case, Rincewind is a very likeable character who continues in several other books (together with The Luggage), but it is a shame that Twoflower doesn't appear again (except through his descendants one more time). Many tropes used have been later reused by J.K. Rowling in her Harry Potter series (the Room of Requirement), but Pratchett remains the original.

Shunned House by H.P. Lovecraft

 This one looks like a short story, but it is actually billed like a 'novelette' so hence a separate review.  It is a typical Lovecraft story, with an unnamed protagonist, very, very long explanation of the history of the given house/place and more than half the length is actually an introduction, without any of the actual action or plot happening. I guess that was acceptable in 1920 with no television, internet, facebook, instagram, tiktok, streaming on demand and similar instant gratification goodies we take as our lawful right today. Still, if you can bear with the immensely boring and dull style of writing that is Lovecraft's signature, the ideas buried within are actually gems (most of the time; not always). 

Lovecraft found most of his story ideas in his dreams, which must have been a horrible experience. I would personally be mortally afraid of falling asleep every night if these would be my dreams.  It is also well known that Lovecraft was a vicious racists, considering people of other races than white as inferior beings. This also carried on to white people who weren't Anglo-Saxon protestants like him (WASP).  He hated Catholics with a special zeal. Thus it can be conjectured that many of the "monsters" he describes in his works are actually metaphors for his hatred of "inferior creatures" of other races and religious denominations. Sneaky Lovecraft.

This novelette is one of the only ones describing a type of vampire monster, though one which did not feed on people's blood, but their "life essence" (whatever that might be).  Lovecraft sometimes mixes science in his works, so they may almost be called "Science Fiction" though not of the kind we understand today. In this story he mentions Einstein's Theory of Relativity and latest research in composition of atoms, which was very advanced for 1920s when it was written.

Anyway, the unnamed nephew finds the monster, after it "dissolves" his uncle (Lovecraft seemed to have had hydrophobia), and kills it by pouring acid in the hole where it was buried. Apparently this dissolves the whole thing although he sees only an elbow, which was "2 feet in diameter" which practically makes the "monster-spiritual-vampire" about 30 feet tall.  Not a very classical vampire, but in line with his Old Ones Cthulhu Mythos which all were supposed to be giant monsters. Old One Vampire, then? Very cool, though described as being with pale-blue flesh of squishy, almost-liquidy quality, doesn't really gel with other vampire stories. Anyways.

One does wonder how did the 30-feet vampire-monster get to be buried under the Providence house? The French settlers of 200 years ago are mentioned (and their "demoniac" ancestor), but the couple were driven out of Providence and their son murdered by a mob of angry citizens later on. So who is the monster? How did it get there? It is not Ettiene. It is not his son. Is it Ettiene's "demoniac" father/grandfather? But how did his body get transferred to the New World? And how did a human-sized body (assuming he was still "demoniacally" alive, somehow), became a 30-foot pale-blue squishy monster? All that while buried 6 feet under the house and emanating "yellow mist with eyes" through which he "fed" on the inhabitants. Very interesting.

Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

 Yes, I finally read the first novel of DiscWorld, after I read the Moist Von Lipwig trilogy.  People were right to recommend not to start with this one, since there is barely any Ankh-Morporc in it and the action spreads around the whole Disc all the way to the Rim. This book is not a good introduction to Ankh-Morporc, but it is definitely a good introduction to Rincewind, the coward wizard who only knows one spell and even that one comes out only when he is in the most dire straits. 

Twoflower is also one of the best characters ever created, like the typical Japanese tourist, happily taking a snapshot of a volcano erupting, oblivious to the danger, and tipping the locals in the equivalent of annual salary. The Luggage is also an amazing creation, a box with teeth, tongue and many legs, which is virtually indestructible (made of "sapient pearwood" the rarest material on DiscWorld) and fiercely loyal to its owner which it protects with all possible means.

The other characters are also pretty interesting, like Thetis the Sea Troll, made completely of water, or Hrun the Barbarian, which is the funniest version of Conan, that is, until you read about Cohen. The Patrician of Ankh-Morporc is mentioned only in a couple of paragraphs, which is a pity, since I became fond of him in the Moist Von Lipwig trilogy. 

Anyway, although I am still peeved by the constant Britishisms and Archaisms that Pratchett employs (why can't he write in plain, simple American language?), I will definitely read the next book in the series, direct sequel to Color of Magic - The Light Fantastic.

Sacred and Terrible Air by Robert Kurvitz

 If you haven't played "Disco Elysium", stop reading this, go buy it and play it.  You will thank me later.  For those of you who, naturally, think DE is the best game ever made, this is the book where the Elysium world was first created by its author Robert Kurvitz.  Kurvitz was recently unceremoniously kicked out of ZA/UM that he founded, by a bunch of Estonian crooks and criminals (called "businessmen" in Eastern Europe), so now he is busy suing instead of creating more of this wonderful world, to the chagrin of all of us. 

Let me get this clear: Kurvitz was probably a horrible boss at ZA/UM.  Hell, he spent most of his life in a drunken stupor and doing every single drug he could get his hands on, but that's nothing to do with his creative genius and his creation of the world of Elysium.  It should not have been stolen from him, no matter anyone's opinion on his moral qualities.  

This is one of of the two English translations done by 'fans', i.e. it is not official or copyrighted or making any money for Kurvitz, so it is freely available on Reddit.  This is the IBEX Group translation, which people say it is more readable, although the "other" one has some original artwork from Elysium. Estonian is not an easy language to translate, and Kurvitz included generous doses of Russian, Polish, Swedish, Finnish, and other, so it makes the translator's job even more complicated. 

The book is very difficult to read, despite the efforts of the translators.  Legend says that Kurvitz worked on it for 5 years and was expecting it to make him world famous.  When it sold less than 1,000 copies, he went on a drinking binge that lasted for a while.  Although the topics and characters are amazing, one can plainly see why the book didn't sell. About half of it is a torture to read.  It is more like a poetic philosophical nihilistic treatise written in Iambic pentameter, rather than a novel.  He expected too much from the reader.  The modern reader wants the New York Times bestsellers with short sentences, cartoonish characters and a plot that a 4-year-old can understand. 

The main plot is about the disappearance of the Lund sisters (4 of them), all in early teenage years or less, who might or might not have been abducted, raped, surgically operated on, surgically attached to each other (why does this remind me of the "Human Centipede"?) and might or might not existed at all. Yes, it is that kind of a novel.  The three friends who 'dated' the girls in their early teens, are now in their mid 30s and trying to solve the greatest mystery from their childhoods.  Except that they are not.

The world of the isolas and the Pale, with its all-consuming qualities is so well described you almost feel you are there.  Even if there is no "there". The magnetic hanging trains, the ZA/UM ampules for reading minds, the post-communism of Kras Mazov, the Innocences, the nations, Katla, Graad, Mesque, Samara, Seoul, Revachol, kojkos and kipts and all other elements of Elysium live and breathe as a complete, believable world.  There is no connection to the characters and events of Disco Elysium, but most of the background characters are there.  It happens two decades after the time of DE (Elysium 1950s), and just before the nuclear holocaust on Revachol by Mesque. 

A must read for every fan of Disco Elysium, even if it is painful at times (plenty of times). After all, Harrier du Bois would want you to read it, and you can't let Harry down, can you?

Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett

 This is the third volume in the Moist Von Lipwig trilogy and it is the weakest of all three.  This is the only volume that didn't receive or get nominated for any awards. It is obvious why. The writing is tedious, long winded and absent the usual wit and satire that made the early Terry Pratchett books so entertaining.  This volume is the penultimate written before his death, so that might have overshadowed the qualitative dimension of the writing.

It is the longest volume of the three Moist books, and also the most disorganized in terms of plot, story development and general flow.  Moist is a subject of about 50% of the book, the other half being filled with new characters, like the inventor of the locomotive, with old characters but further developed like Mr. King and with lots of dwarfs, most of which are very uninteresting. 

The steam machine and locomotive get invented. The inventor asks for a loan from Mr. King who generously gives it, but keeps the largest chunk of the company for himself. Railway gets built and Lord Vetinari sends Moist to "help", but also to keep Ank-Morpork ahead of the curve with scientific inventions. Adora Belle, Moist's wife, is barely mentioned or developed, which is a pity as she is a very interesting character which should have had much more screen time. 

The parallel plot is that the "traditionalist" faction of Dwarfs starts killing people, burning clack towers and attacking the railway.  We find out that the final goal of the "traditionalists" is to overthrow the Dwarf King, whom they deem a "modernizer" which is a cardinal sin in the Dwarf Society.  Oh, yes, also goblins play a big part in the book, operating clacks and also maintaining the railway, which raised their social status to "people".

Eventually Moist succeeds to establish railway all the way to the city of the Dwarf King (who is actually a Queen) and brings the king on time to overthrow the "traditionalist" leader and retake power.  All is well that ends well, but we are left wanting for some real conflict (like in "Going Postal"), which would cause some real excitement.  Overall, one of the weakest Pratchett books, and only worth reading if you want o have a closure on Moist Von Lipwig (who doesn't do all that much).