The Bat is Broken

Posted : 8 hours, 18 minutes ago on 28 August 2008 01:36 (A review of Batman: Knightfall Part One: Broken Bat)

Knightfall is one of the most ambitious Batman stories ever attempted. This book collects the first and arguably the best part of this story - the breaking of the Batman by Bane (the symbolism of the name is pretty obvious). The story begins with Bane engineering the breakout of all the insane criminals that are housed in Arkham Asylum. All of Batman's nemeses - The Joker, Scarecrow, Killer Croc and others - are let loose on the streets of Gotham all at once. This is Bane's clever and twisted strategy to break the Batman.

The plot moves forward in somewhat predictable fashion as Batman takes down each of the escapees in turn. He is mentally disintegrating with each encounter and losing his will to fight. Bane and his henchmen are watching his relentlessly, waiting for the right moment to strike and take him down. The story culminates in a final encounter with between Batman and Bane with the Batman almost at breaking point mentally and physically. He does not offer much resistance and Bane literally and figuratively breaks him. The book ends with the final panel depicting Bane breaking the Batman's spine. The slow mental disintegration of Batman is the focal point of the storyline and keeps you riveted throughout. The several sub-plots with the Arkham escapees are of uneven quality, but good overall. Some of them are really excellent. The one involving the Joker is, predictably, among the best of the lot.


This ranks as one of the best Batman stories ever written and anyone who is intrigued by the character of Batman must pick this one up.

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Engrossing historical thriller

Posted : 2 weeks, 6 days ago on 7 August 2008 01:19 (A review of Labyrinth)

An engrossing thriller that consists of two tales - one set in modern day France and one in medieval France. The two female protagonists seem to share a spiritual connection of some kind.. The story is basically another one about the search for the mythical holy grail of Christianity and as just that is not an extraordinary one. The real worth of this book lies in it's development of the two female characters and it's tight interweaving with the history of the region it is set in (southern France, primarily Carcassonne.)

The main historical events are the religious persecution of the Cathar sect that flourished in southern France by the Roman Catholic Church that called for a crusade to wipe out what it considered as heresy. This eventually led to the destruction of the distinct culture that prevailed in southern France till that time. Kate Mosse clearly loves the region and it's history, and it shows. Her enthusiasm for the region is contagious. Her plotting for the medieval story is excellent and well researched. However, she only does a mediocre job with the modern storyline but it's not a fatal flaw. The quest for the Grail also feels secondary to the adventure in the plot, which feels like a good thing once you're done. I love books that respect the history they are trying to write about and this one succeeds admirably and that for me is the biggest selling point, the other being the two strong female characters.

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Complex tale of the human psyche

Posted : 4 months, 1 week ago on 22 April 2008 02:00 (A review of Double Vision: A Novel (Barker, Pat))

Pat Barker is a very gifted writer. She writes about her characters like she has known them all her life and her portraits of them are intimate and complex. All her books have a smattering of damaged and/or twisted characters. She can create these characters without even a hint of a false note. They are not the rabidly violent killers than seem to inhabit most thrillers. Rather, they are people who have a more pronounced dark side than the average person (a point she does not fail to emphasise by exploring the dark sides of the more 'normal' characters in her stories).

This book is another in a series of exceptional books she has produced. A fantastic read from start to finish with more than it's share of surprises, right to the very end.

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Thoughtful and thought provoking

Posted : 4 months, 3 weeks ago on 7 April 2008 01:24 (A review of The Left Hand of Darkness)

From the summary of the book:
"On the planet Winter, there is no gender. The Gethenians can become male of female during each mating cycle, and that is something other cultures find incomprehensible.

The Ekumen of Known Worlds has sent an ethnologist to study the inhabitants of this forbidding, ice bound world..."

This book speaks at different levels. It is a tale of politics and war. It is a tale of contact between two species, It is also a commentary on gender and gender roles. Being science fiction, it talks about technology and other scientific aspects of the tale such as biology and evolution as well.

There is no romanticising of any of these aspects in the book, which makes it something less than a breezy read. Le Guin takes her time to flesh out the landscape and characters (the landscape could very well be considered a character in it's own right). However, the same quality also makes it intelligent and thought provoking. Unsurprisingly, the last quarter of the book is the most rewarding as the story rushes to a climax. Even in that, it never sacrifices the harshness of the writing, one that edges on brutality. The harshness is reflected in the permanent winter of the planet where the story is set.

This is what all great science fiction should aspire to be.

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Art and Erotica plus more

Posted : 6 months ago on 29 February 2008 08:37 (A review of Sports Illustrated: In the Paint)

The painted swimsuits always look great but that's not the only reason to buy this book. All the behind the scene stuff is very interesting, especially the artist's thoughts. I didn't realise till I read the book that it was just one artist, Joanne Gair, who did all the body painting.

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Character Study

Posted : 6 months ago on 29 February 2008 12:33 (A review of 44 Scotland Street)

A character study of a group of people that live in a Edinburgh building. It barely has a discernible plot but was surprisingly engrossing. The author build his characters with such care that it's hard not to go along with him.

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Orwell saw the future

Posted : 6 months ago on 29 February 2008 12:26 (A review of 1984)

Orwell's brilliant description of a totalitarian dystopia. More relevant than ever, nearly 60 years after it was published.

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Isabel Dalhousie - Part Time Meddler

Posted : 6 months ago on 29 February 2008 12:00 (A review of The Sunday Philosophy Club (Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries))

The book where we meet Isabel Dalhousie, philosopher and part-time meddler in affairs that are none of her business but make for good stories as well as whimsical and surprisingly funny inner monologue.

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Isabel Dalhousie

Posted : 6 months ago on 28 February 2008 11:56 (A review of The Careful Use of Compliments: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel)

Clearly inspired by the style of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mysteries, the book has a very likable heroine with her constant inner dialogue and is sprinkled with surprising humor and wit. Alexander McCall Smith gives as much importance to the characters and their as he does the resolution of the central mystery of the book. The book starts out a little slow but it really grows on you.

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Required reading

Posted : 6 months ago on 28 February 2008 11:53 (A review of The World Without Us)

This should be required reading for every human on this planet. It's not just environmentalist sabre rattling, it's a well thought out as well as thought provoking book.

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