Author of sci-fi/fantasy, horror and adventure/thriller fiction

THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES by Peter Wohlleben

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In THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES, forester Peter Wohlleben reveals that trees are fascinating life forms able to communicate, function as communities, form symbiotic relationships, and adapt to various environmental conditions. Trees, it turns out, are highly complex and perform many actions analogous to human experience. By revealing their hidden life, Wohlleben provides one of those rare books for the layperson that takes the familiar and provides a completely different understanding of it.

In each chapter, he examines an aspect of tree behavior, whether it’s their ability to ward off predators and communicate alarm signals, how trees often sustain each other, how they work with fungi to support a virtual neural network throughout a forest, how they compete and nurture their young, how they sustain themselves and move such high volumes of water, and how climate change is impacting forests and migrations. The result is a real appreciation for one of the oldest life forms on the planet, a thoughtful and enjoyable reading experience.

THE FOREST FOR THE TREES by Betsy Lerner

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Betsy Lerner’s THE FOREST FOR THE TREES is a venerable rumination on book publishing, summing up the observations of an editor during her years at Houghton Mifflin, Ballantine, Simon & Schuster, and Doubleday. Viewing writers as inherently neurotic–lone cats with a penchant for self-aggrandizing and feelings of self-worthlessness–she breaks down the six basic writer personalities she’s worked with and how editors get the best out of them (and vice versa). The second half of the book describes the publishing process from an insider’s perspective, all the things that can go right or wrong with publication, and what makes an author-editor relationship work (or not).

While I tend to look for writing books that have a strong practical as opposed to an inspirational bent, I enjoyed this book a great deal. Lerner knows writers and the publishing business inside and out, has the various writing personalities pegged, and writes with authority. From working with agents to acquisitions to marketing to editing to fighting over the book cover design, this book tells all about the process, and while it’s more rumination than how-to guide, there are practical tips to glean here. In particular, Lerner provides an inside look at not only what she perceives about what makes writers tick, but also into the editor’s mind. What editors want, how they think, what drives them, what makes them happy. All the other highly interesting stuff aside, that for me alone was worth the cover price.

DAVE MADE A MAZE (2017)

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DAVE MADE A MAZE (2017) is a whimsical adventure comedy about a frustrated artist who decides to build a cardboard maze in his living room, only to become trapped in it as it takes on a life of its own. When his girlfriend leads a rescue team into the maze, they discover it is far larger than they imagined, and it is alive. This was a fun movie that gets an A++ for childlike wonder and set design and a B for storytelling. The end result is fun if a little flat, but overall I liked it quite a bit.

There’s a great deal of inventiveness about this movie, from the fantastic design made out of cardboard and household objects to the booby traps that kill some of the maze’s visitors (who spurt confetti and wool instead of blood and guts) to the engaging scene that brought Dave and his girlfriend back together. There’s a lot of silliness to the character interactions, which you just run with as it’s part of the show. While I didn’t fall in love with the protagonist and his girlfriend, I was rooting for them–particularly Dave’s friend Gordon, who brought a lot of personality to the film.

There were some distracting elements, such as the documentary crew (some of Dave’s friends) who come along; the odd ending that doesn’t resolve much, outright abandons two characters, and leaves the maze’s effects permanent (belying the childlike fun that fuels the story atmosphere); and the lack of character development, as the solution to the maze is a reflection of the answer to Dave’s character flaw, though once it’s accomplished, aside from Dave’s relationship with his girlfriend, nothing much seems to have changed.

So while DAVE MADE A MAZE wasn’t as fulfilling nor deep as I’d hoped, it was a lot of fun, with some amazing visuals, loads of weirdness, and plenty of wonder. Overall a B+ for me.

DISCARNATE (2018)

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Despite an intriguing premise and a major John Carpenter vibe, DISCARNATE (2018) is a hot mess express, though it manages to gain some coherence by the end.

The film begins with Dr. Andre Mason’s (Thomas Kretschmann) child dying, which sets him on the path to find out what happened to him and also to determine if there’s life after death. Fast forward to him receiving a drug from a woman named Maya (the gorgeous Nadine Velazquez) that facilitates contact with the spirit world, and then fast forward to Mason and his group of researchers testing the drug. Of course things are going to go wrong, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m picturing I’m in store for HELL HOUSE meets SILENT HILL, which would have been super cool.

Unfortunately, the wonkiness of the first act’s pacing starts to seep into the characters, dialogue, and everything else. The researchers all take the drug and then wander off to do their own thing. There’s zero scientific protocol to make the experiment seem even remotely authentic. The monitor from the organization funding the experiment plays the jerk seemingly just to be a jerk.

Then things go to hell fast. There’s little contact with spirits but the real threat isn’t them but a formless creature that feeds on the living so as to become mortal again. The more of the drug the researchers take, the more the creature is able to notice and interact with them, putting them all in danger. It’s here the film gains some coherence to come in for a solid landing.

The film has a lot going for it, there are things to like here, and it’s obvious real love and a lot of work went into it. There’s some decent creep factor, the premise is terrific, and the creature is pretty good. But it falls apart with sloppy dialogue, odd pacing, and too much going on in a scientific experiment that doesn’t remotely behave like one. I have to give DISCARNATE a C+, though dedicated horror fans might love it.

MORTAL ENGINES (2018)

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MORTAL ENGINES (2018), based on the novel by Philip Reeve, rolls out like a Mad Max movie for the YA crowd. The film adaptation is fairly derivative of other films, but overall it worked for me. After reading bad reviews, I went into it with low expectations and had fun with it, hoping for another READY PLAYER ONE and getting something much tighter and emotionally engaging.

Hundreds of years after a fantastic weapon called Medusa destroyed civilization, the last cities are equipped with engines and treads and roam the earth competing for the last resources. This Darwinistic game is coming to a close as the big cities have gobbled up the smaller ones. To survive, London has come to mainland Europe in search of fresh hunting grounds.

When London devours a small mining town, Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) boards the city and attempts to kill Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving at his Hugo Weaving best), an archaeologist working on a secret project involving old tech. After historian Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan) stops the assassination, he ends up stranded with her and learning about her past and reasons for wanting to stop Valentine, resulting in him joining forces with her.

I understand the movie is very different than the books, but it worked for me. The world building is pretty incredible, the action sequences are put together well, and the characters, while fairly lightly developed, are nonetheless engaging. Shrike, the last of the Lazarus Men, is actually more emotionally engaging than all the rest put together, he’s a great addition to the film. There were plenty of obvious jokes that fell flat for me (like statues of Minions being confused in a museum as ancient deities, and our current time being called the Screen Age), everything rolls out pretty much how you’d expect, it’s got a real YA bent, and it’s pretty derivative even for mainstream Hollywood, but in the end I didn’t care, I just enjoyed it for what it is. Overall, a B+ watch for me.

CLEMENTINE: A SONG FOR THE END OF THE WORLD by John T. Biggs

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John T. Biggs’ intriguing apocalyptic sci-fi novel CLEMENTINE: A SONG FOR THE END OF THE WORLD is fast-moving, punchy, and filled with strange ideas–a very entertaining read, though the last act diffuses to a soft resolution.

In this novel, Clementine, a teenage girl living in Oklahoma, hears voices–as if her brain were a receiver for radio signals. Only these radio transmissions are from the future, and they predict the end of the world. This attracts the interest of Carl, a government scientist looking for a way to save humanity from extinction. She runs for it, only to be killed one of Carl’s agents–and then wake up a thousand years later. Clementine but not Clementine, and as for Carl, well, now there’s two of him.

The story rolls out as juicy as this setup sounds (no spoilers there, by the way, it’s all on the back cover). Carl and Clementine are strong characters and solid antagonists, and I found their cat and mouse conflict fun. My only criticism is the last act, while strange in its own right, becomes repetitive toward a diffused conclusion.

Overall, I liked this odd sci-fi story. Biggs is fearless in his writing and knows how to create sympathetic characters. I’m curious now to check out his other work.