"And Another Thing..." is the sixth Hitchhiker's Guide book, and the first one not to be written by Douglas Adams, given that Adams has died. Instead, it is by the Irish writer Eoin Colfer, which unfortunately means that most of the people I've mentioned it to to declare they don't want to read it, because it "isn't Adams." But I decided to try it out, and was not disappointed.
"And Another Thing..." starts off where the last book, "Mostly Harmless," left off, with the obliteration of the planet Earth in all possible universes. However, our main characters are saved through a series of ass pulls, first being saved by ex-President of the Universe Zaphod Beeblebrox in the improbabilty drive-powered ship The Heart of Gold, then by the immortal alien Wowbanger the Infinitely Prolonged in the dark-energy powered Viking longship he stole from the god Thor. Already you're beginning to sense that Colfer is able to capture at least some of the insanity of Adams in his writing.
However, Colfer seems to have based a lot of what is featured in "And Another Thing" based on characters and incidents that Adams had mentioned in passing in his books. The two most notable examples of this are Wowbanger and Thor, both minor incidents in previous books and both major important characters here. Colfer does a pretty good job of it, and Adams did it as well (most notably in the character of Fenchurch, who appeared first in the first book only to become a main character in the fourth), but it does make it seem that Colfer isn't really creating all that much original of his own.
However, nothing further could be the truth. The book is littered with notes from the Hitchhiker's Guide itself, which more often than not are just as random and off-the-wall as Adams' mentions from the guide. The most notable touch of Colfer's comes in the leader of the planet Nano, a colony of super-rich humans who managed to escape Earth before it was eradicated, who's an Irishman who behaves exactly like the most stereotypical Irish person imaginable ("fecks" and "begorrahs" included), in order to distract people from his manipulations. I'm sure Colfer was digging at the British and American readers of the book who probably believe some of those stereotypes.
Colfer is able to develop all of the human characters he inherited from Adams (Arthur Dent, Trillian, and Random) into very unique characters. Ford Prefect and Zaphod Beeblebrox don't change all that much, but both are as fun to read as they always were. The new characters of Wowbanger and Thor are both interesting and somewhat complicated, Wowbanger being snarky and jaded because of his involutary immortality while still sympathetic, and Thor being big, powerful, and strong, while gripped with a very pronounced insecurity. The Vogons are back as the big bad, specifically Prostetnic Jeltz, who was fun in his utter evil horribleness. His son Mown, who's secretly sympathetic to the humans, is slightly too hard to believe: Vogons have been set up as evil, ugly, and totally unsympathetic, and it's a little hard to buy a sympathetic, even good, Vogon.
the plot is interesting, mostly getting all of the characters to the planet Nano and then seeing what happens. Thor and Wowbanger are set up as rivals (basically Wowbanger thinks only a god would be able to actually kill him, and so stole Thor's ship to provoke him), while still being both sympathetic: the reader wants both to succeed in their struggles against each other. I liked how this book drew upon Adams' material while forging its own path. I can see this growing into a series of its own, one that could even possibly be as cool as the original. The ending is a little bit of a confusing downer, so I didn't like that all that much, but aside from that it was a pretty fun book, and I would suggest all Adams fans check the book out if they can. You won't be disappointed
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Moonlight and Vines
Canadian author Charles De Lint is most well known for his Newford stories, all set within the fictional city of Newford. "Moonlight And Vines" is the third collection of short stories set in Newford, and it demonstrates quite well all of the neat things one can do if all of the stories have a common setting.
This is largely because Newford is an expansive and diverse locations. Stories in "Moonlight and Vines" are set in the artsy bohemian area of Gracie Street, Newford's gay district, the slums known as the Tombs, and the blue-collar neighborhood of Crowsea. De Lint's talents lie in his ability to tie all of these places together: all seem like part of the same city, despite being significantly different. Each story that takes place in a different area immerses the reader in a place that has history, culture, and its own dynamic, unique characters.
The characters as well as quite diverse. they include temps, journalists, strippers, the homeless, fortunetellers, and De Lint's apparent favorite class of people, artists. There are all kinds of artists: musicians, painters, sculptors, writers, and even a comic book creator. It's this presence of an art scene that really makes Newford seem dynamic and interesting.
De Lint is a fantasy writer, and so almost all of the stories have a fantastical element. A lot of the stories deal with what happens after death, but they vary from a story about a fiddler who doesn't want to move on after his death to a countrysinger having a final chat with the dead aunt who inspired her, to a gritty crime story of two people murdered by the mob who have to take revenge against their killers. Quite a lot of stories also involve human interaction with supernatural beings, be they the mysterious "animal people" who seem to be Native American animal spirits, to faerie folk who appear in the most unique guises, to a very odd take on the Greek Fates. But what is most important in De Lint's stories is not the external magic of spells and faeries, but the internal magic of the characters discovering the beauty and magic of the mundane world around them, or the kindness of those around them. This makes almost all of the stories inspirational and uplifting, leaving the reader with a good feeling after finishing a story.
I really loved this book, and it really made me want to read more De Lint, to immerse myself more into his intricate and interesting world. If Newford was a real city, I would move there in a second. Characters like the artist Jilly, folklorist Christy, and fortunetellers Cassie and Bone seem like such interesting, diverse, and real people that I really intensely want to meet and just hang out with them. I think that's probably the best rule of thumb for whether a book had succeeded or not: whether you would want to be around its characters. All of the stories are interesting and unique, and I highly reccomend this book.
This is largely because Newford is an expansive and diverse locations. Stories in "Moonlight and Vines" are set in the artsy bohemian area of Gracie Street, Newford's gay district, the slums known as the Tombs, and the blue-collar neighborhood of Crowsea. De Lint's talents lie in his ability to tie all of these places together: all seem like part of the same city, despite being significantly different. Each story that takes place in a different area immerses the reader in a place that has history, culture, and its own dynamic, unique characters.
The characters as well as quite diverse. they include temps, journalists, strippers, the homeless, fortunetellers, and De Lint's apparent favorite class of people, artists. There are all kinds of artists: musicians, painters, sculptors, writers, and even a comic book creator. It's this presence of an art scene that really makes Newford seem dynamic and interesting.
De Lint is a fantasy writer, and so almost all of the stories have a fantastical element. A lot of the stories deal with what happens after death, but they vary from a story about a fiddler who doesn't want to move on after his death to a countrysinger having a final chat with the dead aunt who inspired her, to a gritty crime story of two people murdered by the mob who have to take revenge against their killers. Quite a lot of stories also involve human interaction with supernatural beings, be they the mysterious "animal people" who seem to be Native American animal spirits, to faerie folk who appear in the most unique guises, to a very odd take on the Greek Fates. But what is most important in De Lint's stories is not the external magic of spells and faeries, but the internal magic of the characters discovering the beauty and magic of the mundane world around them, or the kindness of those around them. This makes almost all of the stories inspirational and uplifting, leaving the reader with a good feeling after finishing a story.
I really loved this book, and it really made me want to read more De Lint, to immerse myself more into his intricate and interesting world. If Newford was a real city, I would move there in a second. Characters like the artist Jilly, folklorist Christy, and fortunetellers Cassie and Bone seem like such interesting, diverse, and real people that I really intensely want to meet and just hang out with them. I think that's probably the best rule of thumb for whether a book had succeeded or not: whether you would want to be around its characters. All of the stories are interesting and unique, and I highly reccomend this book.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sense And Sensibility and Sea Monsters
This book is the second in the Quirk Classics line, the first being "Pride and Predjudice and Zombies." The point behind these books is to rework classic books that have fallen out of copywright to include subject matter the original author probably didn't intend. I can't judge the effect of PPZ (having not read it yet) but SSSM doesn't quite mesh. I think that this may be because "zombies" are a well-established horror trope: we kind of know what to expect from reading a zombie story, and applying it to a Jane Austen romance is intriguing because of it. Whereas "sea monsters" is much more broad and vague, leading to Ben H. Winters (the co-author with Austen) to have our characters just be attacked by giant hostile versions of a variety of sea life, which just seems silly and not scary. Also, Pride and Predjudice is probably Austen's most well-known novel, and more people would know the basic plot than Sense and Sensibility.
The plot consists of the three Dashwood sisters and their mother who are cheated of their inheritance and are forced to live in the remote Barton Cottage in Devonshire. the main alteration in this story is that the cottage is in fact on one of a desolate aeries of islands, full of ferocious giant octopi, a fearful two-headed sea serpent, and strange half-seen figures chanting in a terrifying language. There they attempt to find suitors in order to be married.
Some of the new stuff works. Colonel Brandon, who in the original novel was a slightly older and slightly more boring of two suitors for the middle sister Marianne, is given another reason why Marianne initially prefers his competitor the dashing treasure hunter Willoughby: Brandon had been cursed with a face covered in tentacles by a sea witch, and is therefore physically repulsive. a brief interlude with pirates is interesting, as is the way the characters deal with them, although it's much too brief. And near the end of the book there is an introduction of Lovecraftian-style horrors that was really cool, although the payoff is waaaaay too little and waaay too late in the story (practically the end of the book, actually).
However, there is too much whimsy in the book for it to really work. Willoughby the treasure hunter has an oragutan valet named Monsieur Pierre. Why? Presumably because Winters thought oragutans inherently funny. They aren't, especially since Monsieur Pierre does absolutely nothing in the book except be an oragutan and stand around in the background. There are also way too many scenes of some servant fending off some terrible sea beast in the background while the main characters talk about who they love and who they're wanting to marry in the foreground, completely unconcerned. I get what Winters was trying to do, lampoon the Regency-era aristocracy for their detachment from real life, but it just comes off as the main characters being assholes. Really, in some places the Austen plot gets in the way of the Winters story: in my least favorite scene two of the girls discuss their relationship to one of the men in the story WHILE FIGHTING OFF A GIANT SEA SERPENT. It just doesn't work.
However, one final thing that I quite liked was the Reader's Discussion Guide at the back, a parody of the sort of questions one finds in cheap copies of classic texts that supposedly aid in the understanding of the same. Some of the questions they ask are really quite funny in my opinion.
All in all, SSSM is an interesting try with some good sequences, but all in all it doesn't quite work. The jury's still out on PPZ, but I hope for the best.
The plot consists of the three Dashwood sisters and their mother who are cheated of their inheritance and are forced to live in the remote Barton Cottage in Devonshire. the main alteration in this story is that the cottage is in fact on one of a desolate aeries of islands, full of ferocious giant octopi, a fearful two-headed sea serpent, and strange half-seen figures chanting in a terrifying language. There they attempt to find suitors in order to be married.
Some of the new stuff works. Colonel Brandon, who in the original novel was a slightly older and slightly more boring of two suitors for the middle sister Marianne, is given another reason why Marianne initially prefers his competitor the dashing treasure hunter Willoughby: Brandon had been cursed with a face covered in tentacles by a sea witch, and is therefore physically repulsive. a brief interlude with pirates is interesting, as is the way the characters deal with them, although it's much too brief. And near the end of the book there is an introduction of Lovecraftian-style horrors that was really cool, although the payoff is waaaaay too little and waaay too late in the story (practically the end of the book, actually).
However, there is too much whimsy in the book for it to really work. Willoughby the treasure hunter has an oragutan valet named Monsieur Pierre. Why? Presumably because Winters thought oragutans inherently funny. They aren't, especially since Monsieur Pierre does absolutely nothing in the book except be an oragutan and stand around in the background. There are also way too many scenes of some servant fending off some terrible sea beast in the background while the main characters talk about who they love and who they're wanting to marry in the foreground, completely unconcerned. I get what Winters was trying to do, lampoon the Regency-era aristocracy for their detachment from real life, but it just comes off as the main characters being assholes. Really, in some places the Austen plot gets in the way of the Winters story: in my least favorite scene two of the girls discuss their relationship to one of the men in the story WHILE FIGHTING OFF A GIANT SEA SERPENT. It just doesn't work.
However, one final thing that I quite liked was the Reader's Discussion Guide at the back, a parody of the sort of questions one finds in cheap copies of classic texts that supposedly aid in the understanding of the same. Some of the questions they ask are really quite funny in my opinion.
All in all, SSSM is an interesting try with some good sequences, but all in all it doesn't quite work. The jury's still out on PPZ, but I hope for the best.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sloth
"Sloth" is a graphic novel by acclaimed comics writer and artist Gilbert Hernandez, most famous for working on the legendary series 'love and Rockets." "Sloth" is a slightly less ambitious story, dealing with changing perspectives, teen friendships, and the meaning of love.
the story starts out with the hero, a teenager named Miguel Serra, waking up after a year-long coma he apparently willed himself into. He has trouble moving quickly, for whatever reason, and so acquires the nickname "Sloth." Sloth is coincidentally the name of his garage band with his girlfriend Lita and best friend Romeo. Together they go to the local lemon grove one night to see about the stories that a mysterious goatman haunts it. And then the story changes completely, with characters being assigned new roles and new relationships being developed.
"Sloth" is a very odd story. It takes its time, and parts of it are very dream-like. It's very character-focused, which is interesting, as the roles of all of the characters change halfway through. There's a lot of unexplained stuff that happens in the story. If you're willing to tolerate all of that, it's really quite good. the art is also good, very clear while also allowing cartooniness to sneak in at appropriate moments. I especially like how who wears a specific beanie cap changes as who tells the story changes. All in all, a solid piece of work.
the story starts out with the hero, a teenager named Miguel Serra, waking up after a year-long coma he apparently willed himself into. He has trouble moving quickly, for whatever reason, and so acquires the nickname "Sloth." Sloth is coincidentally the name of his garage band with his girlfriend Lita and best friend Romeo. Together they go to the local lemon grove one night to see about the stories that a mysterious goatman haunts it. And then the story changes completely, with characters being assigned new roles and new relationships being developed.
"Sloth" is a very odd story. It takes its time, and parts of it are very dream-like. It's very character-focused, which is interesting, as the roles of all of the characters change halfway through. There's a lot of unexplained stuff that happens in the story. If you're willing to tolerate all of that, it's really quite good. the art is also good, very clear while also allowing cartooniness to sneak in at appropriate moments. I especially like how who wears a specific beanie cap changes as who tells the story changes. All in all, a solid piece of work.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?
"Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" is a two-issue Batman storyiline written by Neil Gaiman and drawn by Andy Kubert. It was written to be, essentially, the last Batman story, no matter how many Batman stories come after it. This is because WHTTCC is about Batman's funeral.
Batman himself incorporeally watches as his friends and enemies eulogize him with their stories of his life and his death. The thing is, no one's story of Batman is exactly alike, and the incorporeal Batman remarks in confusion that none of their stories matches his own life. But each Batman has a few things in common, even though their realities are drastically different: each one is brave, and self-sacrificing (it's remarkable how many of the stories end with Batman sacrificing homself to save someone else), and each one never gives up, ever. It's a wondrous tribute to Batman (there are references to things from throughout Batman's career peppered through the story), and I loved it. I can only imagine what Batman fanatics would think of it (new Bible, perhaps?).
After WHTTCC, there are preliminary sketches from Kubert and some other short Batman stories that Gaiman did earlier in his career. Unfortunately, although the stories are mostly good, they really suffer from the bad art and coloring standard to the late 80s and early 90s comics. My favorites were a very meta black and white story where Batman and the Joker sit around small-talking as they wait to go on the comics page (however, this had the worst art of all of the stories) and a neat little story where a recruiter for the Suicide Squad visits Poison Ivy in jail to possibly recruit her, and finds her a much trickier opponent than he was expecting. the first was funny, and I did kind of like the self-aware comic book characters (the art is even excusable as a parody of stereotypical Dark Age art), while the second really delves deeply into what drives Poison Ivy, and how she's possibly one of Batman's most deadly foes (even though the big Bat only appears in a few flashbacks).
But these are all merely extras. Why you should really look into this book is the main event: a brilliant and touching tribute to one of the most iconic superheroes ever, written by a master storyteller and drawn by a great artist.
Batman himself incorporeally watches as his friends and enemies eulogize him with their stories of his life and his death. The thing is, no one's story of Batman is exactly alike, and the incorporeal Batman remarks in confusion that none of their stories matches his own life. But each Batman has a few things in common, even though their realities are drastically different: each one is brave, and self-sacrificing (it's remarkable how many of the stories end with Batman sacrificing homself to save someone else), and each one never gives up, ever. It's a wondrous tribute to Batman (there are references to things from throughout Batman's career peppered through the story), and I loved it. I can only imagine what Batman fanatics would think of it (new Bible, perhaps?).
After WHTTCC, there are preliminary sketches from Kubert and some other short Batman stories that Gaiman did earlier in his career. Unfortunately, although the stories are mostly good, they really suffer from the bad art and coloring standard to the late 80s and early 90s comics. My favorites were a very meta black and white story where Batman and the Joker sit around small-talking as they wait to go on the comics page (however, this had the worst art of all of the stories) and a neat little story where a recruiter for the Suicide Squad visits Poison Ivy in jail to possibly recruit her, and finds her a much trickier opponent than he was expecting. the first was funny, and I did kind of like the self-aware comic book characters (the art is even excusable as a parody of stereotypical Dark Age art), while the second really delves deeply into what drives Poison Ivy, and how she's possibly one of Batman's most deadly foes (even though the big Bat only appears in a few flashbacks).
But these are all merely extras. Why you should really look into this book is the main event: a brilliant and touching tribute to one of the most iconic superheroes ever, written by a master storyteller and drawn by a great artist.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Gifts
"Gifts" is a young adult novel by famed sci-fi and fantasy author Ursula K. LeGuin. It's the first in a loose trilogy of books called "The Annals of the Western Shore,' and if the next two are as good as this one was, I look forward to reading them.
"Gifts" takes place in the Uplands, a northern country divided into the holdings of various families. Each family has its own unique gift, everything from the ability to call fire to reading minds to causing crops to wither. The most powerful practitioner of the family is called the brantor and is considered the head of the family. The gift of the family of main character Orrec is known as "the undoing", and it consists of the ability to destroy anything the user can see and point at. Unfortunately, Orrec cannot seem to control his gift, which doesn't work when he wants it to and seems to become imcredibly destructive when he uses it involuntarily. So Orrec binds his eyes so he cannot hurt anyone.
There isn't much of a plot to "Gifts," but that's alright as it allows it to focus more on its characters: Orrec, who is disturbed and uncomfortable with his family's gift; Orrec's father Canoc, a deeply flawed but very sympathetic man; Orrec's mother Melle, a Lowlander unaccustomed to uplander ways; Gry, Orrec's childhood friend who is uncomfortable with how her gift to commune with animals is usually used to help with hunting; Ogge Drum, a dangerous brantor looking to expand his family's territory; and Emmon, a rascal from the Lowlands who inspires Orrec and Gry to look beyond their limited lives. All of these characters are complicated and three dimoensional, and all of them fit very well in the world LeGuin creates for her characters. Sometimes they work at cross purposes to one another, and their behavior always seems to fit their character and the situation at hand. Especially of interest are how Orrec's wild gift means wildly different things for him, his father. and his mother; and the subtle (but rather sweet) love story that happens over the course of the book between Orrec and Gry.
The Uplands is a wonderful location. In an early chapter we are told about the various families, their brantors and their gifts, and it all seems credible: the society described sounds very much like one that would have to exist under the circumstances. I also liked how LeGuin pulls very few punches with how hard it is living there: this is a distinctly low-tech place, with the economy based on sheep- and cow-herding, members of families with powers living little better than the serfs who serve under them, and approximately three people in the entirety of the place who can actually read. Too often in traditional fantasy, people seem to be living 20th or 21st century lives with a thin coat of medieval flavor on the outside, but not here.
The lack of a plot is the only real problem. Except for the struggle between Canoc and Ogge and Orrec's own insecurity regarding his gift, most of the rest of it is giving us backstory rather than plot. As I said, this works out nicely (we get to see Orrec grow up from a baby to a teenager in the book), but at the end of it I wasn't quite sure what the point had all been.
But LeGuin is a wonderful writer, and I highly recommend this book. Check it out if you can.
"Gifts" takes place in the Uplands, a northern country divided into the holdings of various families. Each family has its own unique gift, everything from the ability to call fire to reading minds to causing crops to wither. The most powerful practitioner of the family is called the brantor and is considered the head of the family. The gift of the family of main character Orrec is known as "the undoing", and it consists of the ability to destroy anything the user can see and point at. Unfortunately, Orrec cannot seem to control his gift, which doesn't work when he wants it to and seems to become imcredibly destructive when he uses it involuntarily. So Orrec binds his eyes so he cannot hurt anyone.
There isn't much of a plot to "Gifts," but that's alright as it allows it to focus more on its characters: Orrec, who is disturbed and uncomfortable with his family's gift; Orrec's father Canoc, a deeply flawed but very sympathetic man; Orrec's mother Melle, a Lowlander unaccustomed to uplander ways; Gry, Orrec's childhood friend who is uncomfortable with how her gift to commune with animals is usually used to help with hunting; Ogge Drum, a dangerous brantor looking to expand his family's territory; and Emmon, a rascal from the Lowlands who inspires Orrec and Gry to look beyond their limited lives. All of these characters are complicated and three dimoensional, and all of them fit very well in the world LeGuin creates for her characters. Sometimes they work at cross purposes to one another, and their behavior always seems to fit their character and the situation at hand. Especially of interest are how Orrec's wild gift means wildly different things for him, his father. and his mother; and the subtle (but rather sweet) love story that happens over the course of the book between Orrec and Gry.
The Uplands is a wonderful location. In an early chapter we are told about the various families, their brantors and their gifts, and it all seems credible: the society described sounds very much like one that would have to exist under the circumstances. I also liked how LeGuin pulls very few punches with how hard it is living there: this is a distinctly low-tech place, with the economy based on sheep- and cow-herding, members of families with powers living little better than the serfs who serve under them, and approximately three people in the entirety of the place who can actually read. Too often in traditional fantasy, people seem to be living 20th or 21st century lives with a thin coat of medieval flavor on the outside, but not here.
The lack of a plot is the only real problem. Except for the struggle between Canoc and Ogge and Orrec's own insecurity regarding his gift, most of the rest of it is giving us backstory rather than plot. As I said, this works out nicely (we get to see Orrec grow up from a baby to a teenager in the book), but at the end of it I wasn't quite sure what the point had all been.
But LeGuin is a wonderful writer, and I highly recommend this book. Check it out if you can.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Book of Flying
This book was a wonder to read. It's a picaresque fairy tale, as the hero goes on his quest and has many adventures. it's also a celebration for the power of storytelling and the written word, where some of the most beautiful language is reserved for describing the joy of reading.
the novel concerns a young librarian named Pico in a city by the sea. In this city, there are people with wings, and people without, and the two never mix. So when Pico, who has no wings, falls in love with a winged woman named Sisi, he is forbidden from pursuing his love. He therefore decides to set out for a legendary town called Paunpuam, where there is a book called the "The Book of Flying" that grants people wings if they read it.
All of the following chapters details Pico's adventures as he encounters many strange characters, learns their stories, writes poetry, and learns many things about life. Much of the book is taken up with the people Pico meets telling their stories, and many of them are just as fascinating as Pico's tale. It was something like getting many stories for the price of one.
Pico himself is a good character. He's likable for his unflappability and for his determination. I really wanted for him to suceed.
Aside from one part of the story where Pico encounters a cannibal, which was somewhat gut-turning, it was all a wondrous experience. Now what I want from the author, Keith Miller, is to write another book saying what happened to some of the characters Pico meets in his travels. We are told near the end that some of them have gone on to their own adventures, but they aren't detailed. I wanted more stories told in this same fairy-tale-like style.
All in all, a great book.
the novel concerns a young librarian named Pico in a city by the sea. In this city, there are people with wings, and people without, and the two never mix. So when Pico, who has no wings, falls in love with a winged woman named Sisi, he is forbidden from pursuing his love. He therefore decides to set out for a legendary town called Paunpuam, where there is a book called the "The Book of Flying" that grants people wings if they read it.
All of the following chapters details Pico's adventures as he encounters many strange characters, learns their stories, writes poetry, and learns many things about life. Much of the book is taken up with the people Pico meets telling their stories, and many of them are just as fascinating as Pico's tale. It was something like getting many stories for the price of one.
Pico himself is a good character. He's likable for his unflappability and for his determination. I really wanted for him to suceed.
Aside from one part of the story where Pico encounters a cannibal, which was somewhat gut-turning, it was all a wondrous experience. Now what I want from the author, Keith Miller, is to write another book saying what happened to some of the characters Pico meets in his travels. We are told near the end that some of them have gone on to their own adventures, but they aren't detailed. I wanted more stories told in this same fairy-tale-like style.
All in all, a great book.
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