Decent magazine

As most of you know, one can enjoy magazines, newspapers, and blogs on Kindle, not just books. Below is a review I originally wrote in 2008 for Amazon, describing an issue of "Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine" that I enjoyed on my new (at the time) first-generation Kindle. I've continued to enjoy occasional issues of the magazine on my various Kindles since then, and the review below, which 52 of 53 Amazon shoppers have found "helpful" since 2008, continues to sum up my feelings. Maybe you'll find it helpful, too...

As a mystery/thriller fan, it was a great treat to see Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine offered on the Kindle. My Kindle edition of the initial issue offered included 9 short stories, including a great Lawrence Block "Keller" story and a new English translation of a wonderful Japanese mystery set in the world of the Japanese police. There was also a short review column on mystery blogs and a meaty, interesting book review column. The issue was rounded out by a nice reproduction of the print edition's cover, two cute poems (crime-oriented, of course), and announcement of the magazine's 2007 Reader Awards.

At the end of each story, one is given the option to jump back to the table of contents to select another story, but I chose to just sail right through and read the whole edition "cover to cover". That's something I never did with the print edition for some reason. I guess just seeing one nicely presented page at a time on the Kindle versus seeing one big intimidating digest all at once makes all the difference for us readers who battle an occasional lazy streak.

I'll likely check out one or two other Dell magazines offered on the Kindle. It was a nice diversion from the regular reading of my Kindle novel and news blogs to enjoy a piece of short fiction every day or so (I made this first issue last about two weeks). But, whatever other Dell titles I end up trying out, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine is likely to be the one ongoing, regular visitor to my Kindle each month.

Note: Amazon frequently updates the presentation and functionality of Kindle blogs and periodicals, so as this review gets older, it may no longer accurately describe the current version of this product.

Back to 2011. I'm currently enjoying the March/April 2011 issue of the magazine, one of the publication's occasional double-sized issues, which don't cost any more than the normal-sized issues that appear most months of the year. Actually, this issue may no longer be available, because Amazon is currently showing a photograph of the May issue in the Kindle store. No matter, buy it anyway! You'll still get a generous amount of reading material.

"Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine" costs $2.99 per month on Kindle, if you subscribe. A single issue can be purchased for $3.49. The accompanying photograph shows the March/April 2011 issue on my Kindle 3.

The end nears

I'll keep this review of Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson's Towers of Midnight (Book 13 of The Wheel of Time) brief, because- if one thinks about it- there are a limited amount of people who will likely find it very useful. After all, if you've already read the previous twelve books in this series (the first 11 books written by the late Robert Jordan, with the last three being completed by Brandon Sanderson from Mr. Jordan's notes and outlines), you're probably going to read this one, and the concluding volume in 2012, no matter what people say. Conversely, if you haven't read any of the books yet, you'll most likely be interested in reviews of the first book or two, not discussions about an entry this close to the end.

So, I'll just file my (generally approving) thoughts and move on. Towers of Midnight is a fine, entertaining entry in the series, feeling a little more like a Jordan-penned installment than the last volume, mainly due to a slight return to the spotlighting of secondary characters and secondary plotlines. I didn't mind this, as part of the charm of the series has always been its high level of detail about characters and situations far out of the scope of the main plotlines, creating an immersive reading experience. Thankfully, though, Brandon Sanderson doesn't go "full Jordan" and emphasize downright obscure characters going on and on about downright obscure situations, a frequent Jordan indulgence that readers had to bear under, even those of us who generally enjoy the series' deep level of detail.

However, despite the richer array of characters and situations on display this time, the general emphasis is still on the main characters of Rand, Perrin, Matt, Egwene, and Elayne, all of whom are involved in entertaining set pieces high on action and/or intrigue. I particularly enjoyed the high level of satisfying (though not always completely happy) resolution to several plotlines during these scenes and set-pieces, which clears the way for the last book to emphasize the long-awaited final battle with the Dark One.

A small warning: there is a bit of timeline gymnastics going on this time out, but things shouldn't be too confusing. Just remember that Perrin's chapters take place weeks, and possibly months, before Rand's chapters, and you'll be fine. If you remember, Rand's father Tam helped Rand let go of his growing coldness and hate during the closing of the previous book, The Gathering Storm, but here we see Tam keeping company with Perrin and his followers during the weeks or months prior to that pivotal development. In any event, the timelines pretty much are all caught up with each other (well, mostly) by the end of this volume.

In the end, Towers of Midnight was a great read, but then again I've never been hard on this series, even enjoying the latter Jordan-penned volumes that many other fans felt moved too slowly. But, if you were a critic of the recent Jordan entries, you should definitely enjoy this book, as, for whatever reason (the new writer, the fact that the story was nearing its conclusion anyway, or a combination of both) lots happens, lots is resolved, and things are moving!

So, I guess that's it for my (alas, not so brief) thoughts. There's nothing left to say but bring on the last book! Is it 2012 yet?

Towers of Midnight is available on Kindle for $12.99, or as an unabridged audio download (the way I experienced this volume) from Audible.com. Audible's prices depend on your particular purchasing plan.

Book news

Making their way around the web today are a couple of fun book announcements, which we're happy to share here...

The next installment of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series finally has a release date: July 12. The title of the long-awaited fifth book in the popular series is A Dance With Dragons. As of this morning, no pre-order or pricing information is available at Amazon. Incidentally, HBO is currently adapting the Martin books into a weekly series that will shortly premiere on the pay channel.

Stephen King's 11/22/63 will be released on November 8 of this year, and will involve present-day time travelers attempting to prevent the Kennedy assassination. I have high hopes that King's take on this theme will be intriguing and compelling, and- most importantly- will rock with great storytelling. Amazon has the hardcover available for pre-ordering for $19.25, and the Kindle edition available for pre-order for $16.99. A little pricey, that Kindle edition, eh?

And to give credit where credit is due: both of the above news items seemed to first appear on the Entertainment Weekly web site (www.ew.com), over the past day or so. Kudos to the publication and site for showing enthusiasm for digging up literary scoops, or at least quickly releasing publishers' announcements, in this age of movie and TV entertainment primacy!

Modern life

Stalwart readers, you know that you are living in 2011 when...

1. You accidentally enter your bank PIN on the microvave oven.

2. You don't remember the last time you played solitaire with real cards.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach the members of your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person at the desk next to you.

5. You find yourself staying in touch only with those friends and family members who have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial you see on television now features a web site you can go to for further information.

8. Suddenly remembering that you've left the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have during the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a major cause for panic. Of course, you always turn right around to get it, thanking God that you didn't get all the way to work before remembering that you didn't have it.

9. You get up in the morning and go online before having your coffee.

10. You're laughing and nodding in agreement with the majority of things on this list.

Freebies

The reliably entertaining Max Allan Collins is offering, between today and Thursday, a couple of his mystery/thrillers for free on Kindle, Nook, and one or two other e-book platforms. Do yourself a favor and pick them up. Collins always tells a good story, and has been doing so for about four decades.

These particular books are actually Collins team-ups, as the chilling, dark-sounding You Can't Stop Me was written along with collaborator Matthew Clemens, and the much lighter "cozy" style mystery Antiques Roadkill was written by both Mr. Collins and his wife Barbara, under the pen name Barbara Allan. Both are initial chapters of their respective series. As Mr. Collins recently said on his engaging website, "I'm basically using the drug dealer trick: you get the first ones free."

I've already read Antiques Roadkill and the second book in that series, Antiques Maul (see reviews elsewhere on this blog), so I can recommend these quirky, funny books without reservation. Regarding You Can't Stop Me, I'll paraphrase horror host Count Floyd from the old SCTV comedy show (who routinely introduced horror movies he knew absolutely nothing about): "I'm not actually familiar with this one, kids, but I'm sure it's real scaaaaaaaary!"

Of course, in Count Floyd's case, the "scary" movies were usually anything but (hilariously, Whisper of the Wolf turned out to be an old Ingmar Bergman film with actors in profile spouting subtitled inanities in monotone Swedish). But I'm sure You Can't Stop Me will deliver just fine on the thrills and scares front. I'll let you know for sure in the near future when I dive into it, but for now, what's the harm in downloading your copy for free?

Speaking of that, the accompanying photograph shows my new graphite-colored Kindle 3, eagerly showing off one of the free Collins downloads now residing in its ample memory. Handsome little device, isn't it?

Full dark indeed

Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars features four stories that take the normal attributes of marriage (the occasional disagreements, the small secrets, the overall desire to provide) and ratchets them up to horror-infused metaphors for the endless ways most "normal" married people relate to one another in these areas. Well, one story is about a single woman, but for me that functioned as a metaphor for the thinly-veiled prejudice single people often feel in a world of married couples.

A couple of the stories also function as simple warnings about what could happen if our darker emotions get the better of us, or if we're too trusting- or just plain dumb- to see what's happening right in front of our faces. Anyway, whatever else one can say about them, all four stories are, most importantly, great yarns: fast-paced, resonant, and involving. You can't go wrong here.

Full Dark, No Stars is available on Kindle for $14.99. Personally, I read the book on my iPad, via Apple's iBooks store. Though perfectly acceptable, that method didn't convert me and I will still read the great majority of my e-books on my Kindle. However, the iBooks version of the title was a couple of bucks cheaper than the Kindle version, I have to say.

Hail the King

Congratulations to The King's Speech, for being named Best Picture at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards on Sunday night. If you haven't seen the movie, by all means do so. It's smart, funny, moving, and just an all around great time at the movies.

If you do see the film, however, try to see the original R-rated cut, not the trimmed PG-13 version that will shortly be replacing it in theaters. The PG-13 version trims or eliminates (or something) the witty scene where Colin Firth's character uses a string of profanities in an exercise to reduce his stammering.

This good natured and mildly ribald scene should never have resulted in the original R rating in the first place, and it shouldn't be altered now in order to attain the more accessible PG-13 rating. I mean, if anyone under 17 actually shows enthusiasm for wanting to see a quality production like The King's Speech, wouldn't any parent enthusiastically accompany that youth to a screening, R rating or not?

My advice? If the original cut of the film is unavailable in theaters for the remainder of the film's theatrical run, just wait for the DVD, which I'm sure will offer the original version of the film. That's the version that received the accolades and that's the version people should see.