--PARABLE OF THE TALENTS by Octavia E. Butler: Sequel to PARABLE OF THE SOWER, and about as awesome as the first one. Very dystopian sf, with America as we know it having basically collapsed and much of the world not doing much better. What makes this (and the first book) so powerful is the characterizations, and the fact that you could see some of these things coming to pass if this country doesn't change its ways. Given how often Butler's writing tackles matters of race, it would've been fascinating if Ms. Butler had lived to see Obama take office as president, especially given the white extremist she portrays as president through much of this novel. President Obama is also trying to address many of the things that Butler's writing warns against. I'm somewhat curious if any of this would have impacted her future projects, but we'll never know (may she RIP). So yeah, if you haven't read Butler, I should mention she never shies away from sensitive topics. As they say in poker, she's "all in." And man oh man, can this woman write! She has, without question, become one of my favorite writers. The way she tackles her stories is so distinctive. I bet I could pick her out of a writing lineup. If you're a fan of science fiction (or just of reading) and you've never read Butler, you are doing yourself a grave disservice. In fact, after I finished PARABLE, I found myself jonesing for more Butler, so I promptly dived into ...
--KINDRED by Octavia E. Bulter: IIRC, this is her first published novel. While she's best known as a writer of speculative fiction, this book isn't very speculative. Basically, it's a slave narrative told within the framework of a time travel story. But the time travel element is just a device to allow her to tell the story she wants to tell. It is not at all about the science or fantasy of time travel. It is about modern-day sensibilities colliding with slave America full-on. Stylistically, this one seems a little weaker than her other works I've read. You can tell it's one of her early works. But it's still pretty damn good (especially the characterizations). And "pretty damn good" is the weakest thing I've ever read by Butler.
--ONG BAK 2, starring Tony Jaa: This dude puts Jackie Chan and Jet Li to shame. Id' say he puts Bruce Lee to shame too, but Bruce is the godfather of this genre and must never be compared to anyone else. Honestly, I'm not even a huge fan of fight movies. And the storytelling and translation in this is a little stilted. BUT ...Tony Jaa is the closest thing on this earth to a living breathing superhero. The physical feats this man is capable of will boggle the senses. For that alone, this is worth seeing.
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