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Reading and reviewing the original Wizard of Oz books

Posted in books, movies, Wizard of Oz with tags , , , , on January 31, 2012 by Paxton

Following the Yellow Brick Road

So, I’m a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz.  I’ve been watching the movie since I was a kid. I’ve seen it countless times and I even own the soundtrack release from 1995 which included extended versions of many of the songs as well as a missing song (The Jitterbug) recorded but not included in the movie.

Wizard of Oz book

Around 2001 I checked out from the library the original Oz novel (above) by L Frank Baum and read it. And loved it. I even watched Dreamer of Oz, the TV movie starring John Ritter as L Frank Baum. Then, sometime around 2005-2006 I received the annotated edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (see below).  It’s a gorgeous hardbound book with all the original illustrations as well as a 100 page biography of L Frank Baum as well as very meticulous notations throughout the text of the story bringing into focus the impact this book had on society.

Wizard of Oz

A year later I made the resolution that I was going to read all of the original Baum Oz novels. There are 14 of them. I even acquired the first three books from Paperbackswap.com in a bundled collection by Books of Wonder (also in the photo above).  However, that goal was somewhat forgotten and I haven’t done anything about it.  Until now.

I mentioned on the Nerd Lunch podcast recently (twice already) that in 2012, I’m picking this resolution back up and I’m going to finish the Oz novels.  And to keep myself accountable, I’m going to blog about it.  So a new feature is being created called Following the Yellow Brick Road which will chart my progress with each book.  I’ll do reviews of each book as well as any ancillary material appropriate to that book.  For instance, for the first three books there are Marvel comic adaptations as well as the original 1939 movie and the 1985 sequel, Return to Oz (which is an amalgam of books 2 and 3).  I may throw in quick mini-reviews of that stuff as well.

So, in 2012, join the Cavalcade of Awesome through the Kansas twister into the enchanted land of Oz.  I’m thoroughly looking forward to it.

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Nerd Lunch Episode 7: Does it live up to the hype?

Posted in books, comic books, movies, podcast, TV shows with tags , , , , , on October 18, 2011 by Paxton

Nerd Lunch Podcast

Welcome your faces to Episode 7 of the Nerd Lunch Podcast.  This week we are joined by Robert from the blog To The Escape Hatch. Our topic is “Does It Live Up to the Hype?”

Braveheart

We each took a TV show or movie that has been recommended/hyped up to us over the years that we never got around to watching and…we watched it. Some of the things we watch include Braveheart, Mad Men and The Wire. Do they live up to the hype? Listen to the podcast to find out.

Download this episode from iTunes or listen to it on Feedburner.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2011: The Dracula Tape by Fred Saberhagen

Posted in books, Dracula, Halloween, holiday, monsters, pop culture, vampires with tags , , , , , , , , , , on October 14, 2011 by Paxton

Awesometoberfest banner

Today is the final day of Dracula book week. Yesterday I looked at Bram Stoker’s original Dracula novel. Today, I take a look at a semi-sequel to that novel.  Fred Saberhagen’s The Dracula Tape.

The Dracula Tape

If this seems familiar, I reviewed a similar Saberhagen book back in 2009 called The Frankenstein Papers. My theme that year was, obviously, Frankenstein and I had just read Mary Shelley’s book.  It seemed like fun to read a sequel to such a seminal work in horror literature.  Saberhagen’s book told Mary Shelley’s story from a different point of view.  Most notably, the monster’s.

Well, after deciding that I was going to try, again, to read Stoker’s Dracula, I wanted to read another book that did the same thing.  Well, as the fates would have it, Saberhagen did the same thing with Dracula.  He wrote this book which looks at the events in Dracula from the Count’s point of view.  And it’s all narrated by the Count himself.  Saberhagen’s Dracula would become fairly popular and would spawn a series of books featuring the title character.  The second book even features Dracula facing off with Sherlock Holmes.  So, needless to say, I thought this sounded very interesting so I read it.

Dracula Tape book cover
(Via Robert Adragna)

This story is actually very interesting. Like I said, the conceit is similar to The Frankenstein Papers. The events in Bram Stoker’s novel are told from the perspective of Dracula himself. Saberhagen’s Dracula is much more refined than Stoker’s. He paints the group of vampire hunters in Stoker’s tale as a group of misguided bufoons. Especially Van Helsing who comes off as a bully or a thug. Many of Van Helsing’s actions in the original novel are called into question by Saberhagen’s Count, especially his decision not to tell anyone about Dracula being a vampire until it was too late. It was actually very entertaining reading passages of the book I had trouble following in Stoker’s novel told in a more clearly defined way in Saberhagen’s book. It made my understanding of the original more complete. Even more so than the Cliff’s Notes I purchased (Yes, I purchased the Cliff Notes for Dracula).

So, I can recommend this book.  I don’t even think you need to read the original Stoker novel because this just goes over the same territory and does it more clearly. Reading it may help for you to get the experience of seeing the events from Dracula’s eyes as opposed to the original novel, but I just don’t hate you enough to tell you to read Stoker’s novel.

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Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2011: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Posted in books, Halloween, holiday, monsters, pop culture, reviews, vampires with tags , , , , , , , , on October 12, 2011 by Paxton

Awesometoberfest banner

We’ve made it to Hump Day of vampire book week.  Click the banner above to see all of the other books and comics I’ve looked at these past two weeks of AWESOME-tober-fest 2011.

Today I’ll be looking at Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter

Seth Grahame-Smith wrote the seminal Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (P&P&Z).  The success of that book launched a niche publishing empire.  Classic lit/horror mashups are still being released in droves.  Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter.  The Undead Land of Oz.  Android Karenina.  Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters.  There was even a prequel to the original P&P&Z called Dawn of the Dreadfuls.  I haven’t read any of those other books, but I read the original P&P&Z.  It’s a surprisingly subtle book considering the title.  Grahame-Smith deftly weaves his more outlandish story into the original Austen story with much success.  There is a reason the book became a sensation, it’s well written.  Grahame-Smith’s followup stuck to the same genre.  It was to be today’s book; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and was released in Spring 2010.

In March 2010, I looked at the trailer for this book.  Here’s that trailer:

Judging just from the cover and that trailer, you expect this book to be completely over the top.  Like a Zack Snyder fever dream while tripping on acid.  However, Grahame-Smith pulls a similar feat with this book that he did with P&P&Z, deftly combining a history of Abraham Lincoln and subtly revealing the secret existence of vampires in early America.  The book is based on the assumption that it is revealing the contents of several of Lincoln’s “hidden” journals.  All of which reveal the vampire secrets and his efforts to kill all the vampires.

AL: VH back

The book begins with a chapter in how Grahame-Smith came into possession of Lincoln’s hidden journals.  They were ostensibly given to him one day by a very mysterious person.  Unfortunately, Grahame-Smith doesn’t ever go back to that introduction, but the story that follows is fascinating.  It really does start off like you are reading a biography of our 16th President.  Even after we meet the first vampire, it never completely takes off into Buffy the Vampire Slayer territory.  It always stays true to the Abe Lincoln story, while occasionally detouring into vampires.  And the way Grahame-Smith deftly integrates vampires into the secret history of the Civil War and slavery is just fascinating.

This book was surprising. I expected a ridiculous sendup of vampire movies/books. Something more along the lines of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel but with Abe Lincoln. However Grahame-Smith has crafted a very good vampire hunter story that cleverly uses famous events in Lincoln’s life and turns them on their ear and somehow manages to make them, in some way, connect to this hidden vampire conspiracy.  I was surprised, but pleasantly so.  I definitely recommend this book and say be prepared for a story that is better written than this subject has any right to be.

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Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2011: The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Posted in books, Halloween, holiday, monsters, pop culture, vampires with tags , , , , , , , , , on October 11, 2011 by Paxton

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Day 2 of AWESOME-tober-fest 2011′s Dracula/vampire book week.  Today I’m looking at another series of books that don’t star Dracula, but have vampires as the main character.  I’m talking about The Strain books by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

The Strain Book 1 The Strain Book 2

Director Guillermo Del Toro conceived of this story while trying to develop a vampire television show.  When he couldn’t get the show made he contacted Chuck Hogan about writing the story as a trilogy of novels.  Del Toro picked crime writer Hogan because he wanted the books to have a basis in science like CSI.  The first book in the Strain trilogy, The Strain (official website), was released in Summer 2009.  The second book, The Fall, was released in Fall 2010.  I got my copy of the first book off paperbackswap.com in Oct 2010 right after The Fall was released in hardback.  I really wanted to read it due to Del Toro’s involvement, but Chuck Hogan had also written the book Prince of Thieves from which the movie The Town was based, so I was also excited about that.  But, in the back of my mind, I was thinking that vampires have become tired the last few years (Thank you, Mrs Meyer).  Could this book actually be any good?

The short answer so far is YES.  Suddenly vampires are horrifying again.  Del Toro and Hogan have crafted a masterful vampire tale that brings vampires back into the realm of truly terrifying.  To date I’ve read Book 1 (The Strain) and Book 2 (The Fall) in the trilogy.  Book 3 (The Night Eternal) is being released on Oct 25 (in 2 weeks!).

The first book starts off with a bang.  A 747 lands at JFK airport and goes completely dark.  No communication, no running lights, no cabin lights.  A first response CDC team is called in led by Dr Ephraim Goodweather (Eph).  Eph and his team discover a deadly virus strain that takes over the human body and transforms the host into what can only be described as a “vampire”.  The first book is all about the discovery of the virus and the initial infection of New York.  We also begin to learn the history of the virus with the introduction of Professor Abraham, a holocaust survivor.  Abraham has committed his life to destroying vampires and recruits Eph and his team to his cause.  Professor Abraham has encountered vampires before, even meeting one of the “Ancients”, one of the first 7 vampires.  It is actually one of these Ancients that has “gone rogue” and set this infection into motion to further his own agenda.

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