A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix

I decided to read and review this book because: (1) I like Garth Nix's Old Kingdom books, Shade's Children, and the Ragwitch; (2) I had $11 of Amazon credit that was expiring. It is a Young Adult novel (like Shade's Children), a quick read, and I enjoyed it.

A Confusion of Princes is a space opera narrated by and starring Khemri. He is a typical Prince candidate: taken as an infant from his parents after being tested suitable and spends childhood undergoing enhancements and education. He has romanticized assumptions of what it will be like to be a Prince from watching the sim, The Achievements of Prince Garikm. This is quickly dispelled when, on the day he ascends, he is nearly assassinated when meeting his Master of Assassins, Haddad, for the first time.

Khemri is escorted, by Haddad and his new retinue of other priests, to the closest temple to connect to the Imperial Mind. Connecting is essential as it provides access to information and the connection is a deterrent to blatant assassination attempts. Khemri hoped to have the freedom to explore the galaxy, but instead he exercises his only option: to enlist in the Navy. After one year at the Naval Academy, he is promoted and sent to a remote outpost. It is there he is told he will undergo a test in order to join a secret Imperial Service of the Empire: Adjustment (espionage). Khemri, stripped of enhancements, learns he must "think about what a Prince would do, then do the opposite."

I liked the book. Initially, I didn't think it came to a satisfactory close: Khemri relates his "happily ever after" and we don't know what happens to Atalin and the Empire. However, as I thought about it more, it makes sense that Khemri would not be able to relate any epilogue beyond what happened to him. For more information, there would need to be global narration in the epilogue.

And now that I think about that, I wish the novel had been written like others I've read recently: a chapter following Khemri and then a chapter following Atalin and so forth. Toward the end, I found myself more interested in Atalin's activities. But I appreciate the novel for how it is written. If Garth Nix ever writes a sequel to it, I will read it (but I don't think he will).

Visit Garth Nix's website for more information about the author and how to purchase his books.

House of Cards

How seriously is one supposed to take House of Cards? It has the look and prestige of esteemed dramas like Mad Men, but often goes into wild flights of melodrama and plot twists more akin to Scandal. If you stop to examine the intricate plans that Frank Underwood puts in to motion, you'll see the seams of implausibility. I have decided the first two seasons have been available long enough to consider spoilers fair game, but I will tread lightly when it comes to the newest batch.

When it premiered on Netflix a couple years ago, it was notable for being the first runaway success of the burgeoning business of content that was exclusive to streaming service. It seemed like a revolution in obligatory binge-watching, as if the best way to consume 13 hours of new content was all in one weekend so you wouldn't be the only one not talking about it on Monday. When I started the first season of House of Cards, it kind of felt like homework viewing, compelling in a way but still like the vegetable of TV shows. I didn't watch past the first 5 episodes at first. Then Liz became interested in watching all of it, so we started together where I had left off, in anticipation of last year's premiere of the second season. Which we also watched in only a few, glazed-eyed sittings. We were intrigued by the devious plotting by Frank Underwood, and by the showrunners in the larger worldbuilding sense.

When Frank builds up Peter Russo as a viable candidate in the first season, only to kill him off in the season finale, it was deliciously shocking. Then when the second season starts off with the equally shocking pushing of Zoe Barnes onto the tracks (in a blatantly fictitious Metro station), I had assumed that the rest of that season would deal with Frank having to dodge the investigations into those bodies. But soon there was nobody left who knew anything who would be disloyal, so Frank simply got away with both murders. The only loose thread was Rachel the former whore, and Doug Stamper being assigned to keep her quiet led to a pointless C-plot that got way too much focus. The saga of Doug and Rachel was so tangentially related to the Underwoods that it might as well have been a spinoff, but nobody would have cared enough to watch that show.

So this brings us to the third season, which doubles down on the interpersonal relationships, leaving the political manipulation (that had seemed like the main point of the show) as a secondary focus. It also brings back a relationship that most viewers thought was over with. This seems to have been done only because the writers knew it would defy expectations, not because they thought of anything interesting to do with that plot. And another beloved side character shows up for barely a cameo, so that seems unbalanced.

Frank and Claire have everything they ever worked for now, as President and First Lady, and with nowhere to go but down, it's just not as fun to watch Frank move people around like chess pieces. With the new job plan he wants to enact, it seems like he actually wants to do something good for the country, and though it's self-serving to do so for his legacy, he is no longer the power-hungry bastard that we have gotten to love to hate. There is a thinly veiled analog for Vladimir Putin who seems to present a viable opponent for Frank, but even he becomes declawed a bit halfway through. And don't get me started on the author who Frank hires to write a book about the America Works project, because nothing about that plotline makes any sense.

Occasionally the third season has its share of worthwhile moments, but overall, we were not left with any positive anticipation for whatever comes in the following season. There is a lot of buildup toward the coming primaries and the rest of the election cycle, but it all ends in a whimper. Although I have to admit, the fact that Liz and I were still discussing the weakest aspects of the season a few weeks later shows that Beau Willimon and company at least kept things memorable, if not compelling.

House of Cards is of course always streaming on Netflix, and the first two seasons are available on DVD.

Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader by Bradley K. Martin

Bradley K. Martin has covered Korea since 1977. He has made seven trips to North Korea which is more than most reporters can boast. His novel, Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader, was published in 2006 and offers in-depth portraits of two leaders: Kim Il-sung ("The Great Leader" for 45 years) and Kim Jong-il ("The Dear Leader" for 17 years). Kim Jong-un took office in 2011 and so is not included. The novel is very thorough and paints what feels like a complete picture of how North Korea became what it is today.

Martin talks about everything but I'm going to focus on his discussions about women. Looking at the book as a whole, it has comparatively little to say specifically about women, but I think the point is everyone has it bad because both genders are treated equally poorly.

Il-sung sired children with many mistresses and concubines before and after he became "The Great Leader." But he only recognized children by Jong-suk and Song-ae. He provided women with the same employment opportunities as men and state-run child care so women did not get maternity leave. He worked (and his predecessors continue to work) the North Korean people very hard and ensure the young are only influenced by the state and therefore completely indoctrinated. So while this seems like a breakthrough in gender equality, really these people just work in abysmal conditions for little pay and don't get to spend quality time with their family.

Martin also talks about North Korea's sex workers. To me, they sound more like Geisha than Prostitutes. They go to school and learn massage, dance, striptease, and how to care for their skin and light exercises to stay fit. Kim Jong-il organized the female companions into three corps: entertainers (i.e. actresses, singers) who might have slept with Il-sung or Jong-il, sex workers, and menial workers in the mansions. Women who bore children of Il-sung that weren't Jong-suk or Song-ae were set-up with their own households and, in some cases, married to other men.

The women chosen for that line of work don't have a choice and it is more comfortable when compared to the average North Korean woman. For these women, there is no sex education. Prior to 1984, if women got pregnant by accident they would take rat poison to kill themselves. In 1984, to stop the women from killing themselves, Jong-il allowed abortions (note: he didn't start sex education). And then there is the known practice where women sell themselves to foreigners because they cannot get enough money legitimately.

Life in North Korea for the average person is hard if the family has someone who voiced dissent and/or defected. The problem is with so many people realizing how bad things are there are fewer North Koreans without something considered bad in the family background. These folks are denied good jobs and, in some cases, banished to desolate countryside. It's no wonder so many, even with the indoctrination, decide (or feel they are forced to) to defect.

If you are interested in the how and why North Korea is the way it is, you should read this book. I read it while also reading Breakers, Dragonbound, and Consider Phlebus. Visit Macmillan's page for Bradley K. Martin for more information about the author and how to purchase his book.

Snowpiercer: Movie vs Book

In the midst such a harshly white winter, it seems like a good time to revisit one of the most talked about movies of last winter. No no, I don't mean Frozen. Snowpiercer is the rare post-apocalyptic action movie that does something original. It is pretty unusual, and occasionally over the top, but worth a look. Be warned, I discuss a few spoilers.

The only survivors of a new ice age are stuck on a very long train that continually circles the planet on a very long track, in the hope of someday finding livable land. The backstory of how an attempt to counteract global warming resulted in the world freezing is briefly summarized in a few words of text at the beginning, and delved into more during a classroom scene halfway through. I was glad they didn't tack on the opening and closing monologues that Harvey Weinstein wanted, as that would have patronized the audience too much.

Chris Evans plays the protagonist, Curtis, who has been living in the neglected tail section and makes his way forward through the train cars to confront the oppressors at the front. In contrast with Evans' more famous character Captain America, Curtis often insists that he is not a leader, but of course he proves otherwise. In order to get further in the train, Curtis rescues Namgoong, a security expert, from the prison section. Nam is played by Song Kang Ho, who had previously worked with director Joon-ho Bong on the Korean monster movie The Host. The most prominent antagonist, Mason, is played by a heavily uglified Tilda Swinton, in comical coke bottle glasses and buck teeth.

Curtis confronts the reality of the class inequality between the tail and the front cars of the train. While the tail section eats protein bars made of insects, further along are sustainable food supplies that would be plenty to be distributed. The tail section has cramped, filthy quarters while their counterparts live cleanly and comfortably.

I didn't notice during the credits for Snowpiercer that it was based on a graphic novel, but one of the benefits of working in a library is sometimes I notice books or media that I wouldn't have known existed. So one day a patron was checking out the two volumes of the English translation of Le Transperceneige, and having enjoyed the movie I wanted to check out its source material.  I came to realize the film only takes the basic framework of the book; the idea of the Snowpiercer on its neverending track, the class inequality throughout, and a leader who worships the perpetual motion engine that keeps the train moving. It doesn't use any of the same character names and tells an original story overall.

The first volume, written in 1982 by Jacques Lob and subtitled The Escape, tells a fairly straightforward story of a rebellious tail section inhabitant and his female companion. Proloff and Belleau have their heads shaved and are accused of spreading a virus to the rest of the train after leaving the tail section, but although they may be carriers, they show no symptoms. It's somewhat predictable when they fall in love. The main plot driver here is that the train is slowing down and the leaders plan to disconnect the tail section from the train, and don't want the inhabitants to know they don't plan to evacuate it first. Ultimately, Proloff is convinced to become the new caretaker of the engine for the rest of his life.

The second volume of Snowpiercer, The Explorers, was written by Benjamin Legrand between 1999 and 2000 after original writer Jacques Lob died. This part actually depicts the adventures of a second train on the same worldwide track, sometimes called the Icebreaker, but other times referred to as Snowpiercer 2. Clearly this would be the simplest model for making a sequel to the film, as there would be no obligation to use the same actors but there could still be a reference to Curtis having existed and the change he brought to the underprivileged. The leadership on the Icebreaker constantly conduct "braking tests" and keep the inhabitants fearful of a head on collision with the original Snowpiercer. It is later revealed that there is a personal aircraft on board that can scout ahead, and that there is a second engine that can pull the train in reverse, so the reality is there has never been danger of that collision. One part that was especially preposterous was a trek off the track over a frozen body of water, to seek the source of music that is heard on the radar. However I was impressed that this volume told such a different story using the same post-apocalyptic train premise.

One thing that made the graphic novel a little hard to get through was the style of the word balloons, which were all connected by white space so I was sometimes unsure which character was speaking. For all I know, this may be common in French comics. The fact that it's entirely black and white and often violent reminded me of The Walking Dead comics. The source material for Snowpiercer is definitely not essential for fans of the movie since the content is so different, but it was interesting to think about how the director used the premise and the themes to fuel his own vision.