Shock and Awe

Recent(ish) entertainments:

Bioshock - Nothing I have to say hasn't been said. Bioshock has been discussed to death. I agree with the prevailing opinion. This is the best piece of game storytelling I have ever seen. The vision is utterly coherent and manifests in every aspect of the game. The theme is intriguing; the dichotomy of moral and amoral self-interest is a refreshingly new backdrop. The characters are some of the best realised in gaming. Andrew Ryan is one of the best characters in anything. Fascinatingly nuanced, you could discuss him for hours. He passes through idealistic nutjob to moustache-twilring villain to something tragic and almost heroic. The gameplay is rich, too, and shouldn't go unmentioned, letting you tailor your own style quite pleasingly. The only off-note is that silly hacking game.

Lord of War - Odd film. Speaks of executive meddling, I think. It seems to be a mish-mash of different styles, never sure what it wants to be. Ultimately it's a sort of sardonic parody of the arms trade, but it wavers between wanting to play things straight, or amping up the ridiculous elements. The early film is the best, with 80s tunes and snappy pacing, the later parts are never quite so entertaining. There's something moderately enjoyable here, but it's a strange beast. As with Truman and Gattaca, Niccol has at least produced a polished looking piece. Also, it's a Nick Cage film, so you can probably decide whether you'll enjoy it or not based purely on that.

Carter Beats the Devil - Reading this, I was put in mind of Chinatown and the Illusionist. That's no bad thing for what is essentially a noir story about magicians. Despite the touchpoints, it largely feels like its own thing, though, with a distinct atmosphere maintained throughout.
The historical backdrop is very well researched, and you can see this has informed the setting throughout; the San Francisco of the story was very clearly defined in my head by the time I was done. Perhaps even better realised is the world of the stage magicians, and it was a wise choice on Gold's part to play them straight. Rather than try and mystify the nature of the magic shows, he lays out plainly the reality going on backstage. It sets the story apart from the other little clump of stage magic stories from the past few years, which all sought to embellish and fancify the art. In fact, learning what really went into the tricks, you get a far more genuine respect for the guys that did this stuff. Plus, I'm a sucker for historical factual content in my fiction.
Gold has a pretty good mind for characters, and the novel is well populated, but it's true that all the characters are fairly similar in their lifestyles and philosophies. When Gold branches out from the circle of people around Carter, his characters are a bit more charicature, as with the Treasury agents.
It's a good story, anyway. It has a slightly melancholy atmosphere, but punctuated with more upbeat moments that prevent it growing dreary. It does sort of meander, with an odd pacing, and soemtimes it's not entirely clear what things are moving towards. This is, I think, at least partially intentional. The structure of the story evokes a magic trick.
Therein lies the main flaw of the story, though. The story stumbles at the climax. I found myself expecting a grand revelation, but in fact the threads are untangled and stitched up at quite a leisurely pace. The ending also feels a bit sprawling, and in need of tightening up, so ultimately the last few chapters are a mite underwhelming. It's undermined through no fault of its own by skewing in very similar directions as the Illusionist in the last few chapters, too, which is unfortunate. Nonetheless, it's a good book with a great setting and a distinctive feel.
(Sidenote: It's also a book that's been rather heavily hyped, and I don't think this is to its benefit. Much like Carter himself, it is a book which wants its audience to expect little from it.)

Anathem - Wow. This is an amazing book. Speculative fiction at its most speculative. Not just predicated on a single 'What if?', the book keeps asking questions, preparing you for the next one along. It weaves together myriad theories from philosophy and the sciences, throwing in commentaries on a vast array of subjects, a whole fictional world system and clever linguistical flourishes. The depth of material here is astounding; it's a cornucopia of fascinating ideas and concepts, both real-world and fictional.
Astoundingly, Stephenson manages to deliver these ideas with great accessibility. Expecting a heavy read I was surprised just how deftly the themes and concepts are spun out. Stephenson, I suspect, has great clarity of mind, and this comes out in his writing.
The danger with high-spec fiction is that it becomes a series of ideas with no real narrative. Here, though, there is a hugely compelling story. A strong plot gives a solid through line driven by a series of intriguing mysteries, whilst a myriad smaller character arcs and sub stories spin out from it. It's an incredibly detailed word, and Stephenson mines it for compelling story material.
The other danger of such stories is that they will be dry. More than anything that was my expectation for this story. I'm fine with that, though. Brilliant concepts can hold my interest alone. What I didn't expect was the great emotional heart of the novel. Not only is it one of the most cerebrally stimulating books I've read, I was blindsided by just how much feeling there is in it. Certain moments in particular evoked more of a reaction than I am used to getting from a book. The characters are beautifully realised, and even whilst balancing his grand conceptual narrative, Stephenson never fails to devote just as much importance to their loves and hopes and dreams. A great deal of very real humour, pathos, tragedy and fear comes from the strength of the characters.
Perhaps the greatest feat is the way Stephenson has used every element to reinforce every other. An example: The protagonist worries a lot about the future. His teacher seeks to comfort him, but also to educate him. He engages him in a discussion about the future, and his worries, and begins asking why he should worry about some things, and not others. As the discussion goes on it evolves into a theoretical conversation about the ability of the human mind to assess potential futures. Instead of the character beats and the theoretical content treading on each others toes, they're feeding back and forth in a way that flows gloriously.
Along with If On a Winter's Night a Traveller... and The End of Mr Y, this is one of three books I consider to be on a tier above all other books I've read.