|
Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 20, 2018 22:31:50 GMT -5
I read the when it first came out (probably before I started doing reviews here).. it's a fun caper book with a cool setting. The sequel gets a little overly dark (the the main character too morose) for my tastes, but 'Lies' is a great read.
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 24, 2018 1:09:02 GMT -5
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Olbrecht
I grabbed this from the 'blind date with a book' our library does... they cover the book with a blank cover that gives a vague summary.. it's an attempt to get people to read books that they wouldn't usually read. This year, this was my 2nd choice (my first one turned out to be an old friend)... it did serve it's purpose, I never would have read it if I didn't grab it there.
Sadly, it's one of those 'atmospheric' novels that are popular with some people these days... great writing, but no actual story. Instead, you, the reader, have to fill in alot of the story yourself. There are a great many people who read this style and love it.. then shake their head sadly at those of us that don't... I'm happy those people are happy, but I still don't get it.
In this care, the author sort of write about life in rural Eastern Europe and the effects of the various ethnic conflicts over time. Sadly, the place names are fictional, and the time and place vague, so it loses all it's punch for me.. I spend half the time trying to figure it out... is it Serbia? Cyprus? Poland? Since there are multiple flashbacks over multiple eras, the time is fluid.. but it seems like the character's grandfather is referring to WWII, but then it says he was born too late for that. There's beepers and mobile phones in the 'current' story, but no computers or internet, so is it the 80s? Today? If you want to describe a particular setting, you should do it. If you're going for a vague resemblance, say so.. in between drove me nuts.
The story itself focuses around a young female doctor that is trying to find her Grandfather's personal stuff after he left home to die.. or maybe she's just confirming he's dead, it's never really clear. She succeeds in finding the town and getting the stuff, though doesn't actually return it for his funeral 'on camera'.. the story gets too sidetracked in her remembrances of stories he told.
Those stories are the real novel... but they have very little to unify them, instead they are simply sketches of rural life in Eastern Europe. Some are a bit folk tale like, but most are just straight local history. The scene are described beautifully, but aren't particularly exciting.
Whatever greater point the author was trying to make about war in the region (whatever region it is) or rural life was pretty much lost upon me.. there were a few good quotes that make one think, but they are without real context.
Definitely no 2nd date for me with this author... and I've learned my lesson. No more books where the quotes on the back refer to it as 'beautiful' and 'lyrical' .. I want 'good'.
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 24, 2018 4:07:54 GMT -5
If it helps you any with pinpointing the book's setting, Obreht was born in Serbia (although she and her mother resettled in the US when she was still pretty young, i.e., when she was about 12 or 13). If I recall correctly, she said the story just takes place "somewhere in the Balkans."
Even though she spent what I'd consider her formative years in America, your description makes it sound like so many of the books written in these parts (Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia...)
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 24, 2018 15:32:01 GMT -5
Yeah, that's what I assumed, but I shouldn't have to guess, you know?
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 26, 2018 12:41:07 GMT -5
Artemis by Andy Weir. This one is actually hard to review. Weir hit a grand-slam home run with his first novel The Martian. So expectations were almost certainly overly high for this book. And then there's the infamous sophomore slump. But really after The Martian almost anything is going to be a let-down. The reviews are pretty split. I think the detractors probably have some good points, but I also think they may just be taking some of it too personally. Essentially this is a heist/caper set on the sole moon city. I say that because it's not really a colony...it's fairly autonomous. The protagonist is a young woman of Saudi lineage who is not religious. And I think this is one of those areas that get people's panties in a bunch. The fact that white guy Weir is writing a young ethnic female. I found her to be a fairly interesting character, if maybe a bit Mary Sue-ish. I've also seen a number of people say that the supporting cast is "sketchy" which I don't buy at all. No, they aren't as fully formed as Jazz. But this is a relatively short stand-alone novel. I don't expect the entire back-story of every character. Overall they're fleshed out just fine. Overall the plot is just fine. It's a caper and it comes with the requisite set-backs and coincidences. Going into much detail is a problem in this kind of book for fear of spoilers. Is the book without faults? Nope. Is it in the same league as The Martian. Nope. But it is a fun, quick read. And that's probably good enough. I recommend it.
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 1, 2018 8:25:50 GMT -5
Abaddon's Gate (Book 3 of the Expanse) by James SA Corey
It's always tough to review/discuss single books of a long series after the first one without turning it into fan fiction. I definitely still enjoyed the book enough to stay up last night to finish it, but it definitely is not as good as the first two.
I feel like the main characters were definitely in the background in this one, and while there were new PoV characters to replace them, they weren't particularly engaging, and after the new characters introduced in book 2 just vanished, it was hard to care about them.
It's interesting, often these sort of epic books end up struggling under their own weight (David Weber, who I do like alot, has this issue)... more and more 'side' characters and plots get introduced, and the main thread either gets lost, or slows to a crawl.
Here, the side characters all seem to be throwaways which keeps the main thread going, but makes it lack depth.
As for the story itself, I think it was too ambitious. The world created was an interesting one, it didn't need more, but more is what we get. I've never been a big fan of super aliens, and these semi-absentee super aliens are a bit much,
Still, there's lots of potential, so we'll see where they go for the next story... this one feels like a conclusion, where a new direction starts in the next book.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 5, 2018 11:19:43 GMT -5
Deadman's Crossing by Joe R. Lansdale. This is an e-book with four of the six short works about Rev. Jedediah Mercer. There does appear to be a work that has all six, but more about that later. If you're familiar with Lansdale and Truman's Jonah Hex or Lone Ranger then you already have an idea what to expect. The Rev. Mercer is an itinerant preacher who fights supernatural creatures in the weird wild west. He's an Old Testament kind of guy who has far more of a hate/hate relationship with God than one would tend to expect from a preacher...but then again he doesn't seem to preach all that much. I'd previously read the first Mercer novella Dead in the West and it's a doozy. Overall this was a good read. The stories aren't super long, one an evening isn't taxing. And while none of them were of the quality of Dead in the West they were fine. Two of the four were quite good. The other two were weaker. We got to see the Reverend fight werewolves, a nasty ghost/zombie, a minion of the Elder Gods that ties into the Cthulhu mythos, and goblins...or maybe kobolds. If you like weird westerns there's plenty to enjoy. I'm a big fan of Lansdale. I think he's the best genre writer working today. And by that, I mean that he produces work in multiple genres and it's almost always high quality. And he frequently works in multiple lengths, short stories, novella length and novels. And it's the first two that can cause problems with reading his work. His short stories appear multiple times in his collections. And he does a LOT of limited edition books from the likes of Subterranean Press that can be hard to find and prohibitively expensive both initially and on the secondary market. So it can be a pain to try to find certain of his works...while some you can have multiple times. I honestly don't mean this as criticism. The guy has to eat and I'm very sure that all this is calculated to make sure he is making money while still being able to write at lengths that aren't particularly commercially attractive at this point in time. So seek it out if you can. Especially if you're a weird western fan. You won't be sorry.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 5, 2018 12:57:46 GMT -5
Crime Syndicate Magazine Issue 1 ed. by Michael Pool and Eric Beetner. Another crime/noir e-zine read via Amazon Prime. This one has only managed three issues since late 2015, but the blog has been updated recently. It appeared toward the tail end of a wave of e-zines that included Thuglit, All Due Respect, Pulp Modern, and Blood & Tacos. All of which are now gone (well...Pulp Modern was recently resurrected). There's no real standout in this group of 8 short-stories, but then again, there are none that stand out as particularly bad. Just a solid group of pretty short short stories. Overall, not as solid as most issues of Thuglit. But well worth a read if you have nothing else going on and want some short noir in your life.
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 8, 2018 20:11:24 GMT -5
Shoeless: The Life and Times of Joe Jackson David Fleitz
This is just the sort of format I want out of a baseball book. The author tells the story of Shoeless Joe with facts, and discusses the popular legends that exist in the context of actual verifiable evidence.
There are times when such a presentation gets bogged down and boring, but in this case they were fashioned into a solid, coherent narrative that makes one have a real sense of the man and his life.
The only compaint I have is that Mr. Fleitz promises an opinion on whether he things Jackson should be in the Hall of Fame, then doesn't really give one. He opines (probably correctly, based on his book) that Jackson didn't care one way or the other, and lays out the case extremely well as to the extent of his involvement in the scandal, but doesn't ACTUALLY give an opinion.
Otherwise, this is an excellent book on a great topic.. I'd definitely happily read another book by the author.
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Mar 9, 2018 15:34:00 GMT -5
After finally finding the last few Richard Sharpe Novels in used bookstores that I needed to finish up my collection of the series I have begun the journey of reading the novels in chronological order. I had read a book or two about 3 years years ago and was instantly hooked and since then worked diligently towards purchasing all of the books used (yes I am a stingy old fart of a Scrooge unwilling to part with larger $$ when smaller $$ will do better) wherever/whenever I might find them around the valley. Having searched high and low these last 2 elusive books had to be bought used through Amazon since I couldn't seem to find them anywhere here. I flew through this one in 2 readings: about 2 hours before bed on Saturday night and then around another 2 hours the next day. This is the kind of book you are so engrossed in and would easily bore through quickly so take your time,slow down and immerse yourself in the full experience.
So now I shall fight alongside at the moment Richard Sharpe of his majesty's British Army the 95th Rifles Regiment during the Napoleonic wars of the 18th century. This scruffy and belligerent and adventurous rifleman who is ever in the thick of things provides a historical, educational and entertainment of the best kind. I know Bernard Cornwell takes a few liberties with the battles and such yet his writing delivers the details in accurate enough fashion without ever being dry and boring.
This 1st book starts with Sharpe as a private hung out to dry (and whipped) by his villainous Sergeant while warring in India only to find a saviors in General George Harris and Arthur Wellesley they future Duke of Wellington as they offer him a chance to infiltrate into the Sultan's army alongside Lieutenant William Lawford as deserter's. Sharpe makes a deal that if he does this and survives he will be promoted to being a Sergeant where he can strike back at the one who caused him to being under the lash.
The Sharpe novel's are all full of action, adventure, daring do and war and struggles and suffering which makes for a splendid read of course. Sharpe is the charming rogue; one of us, the working class who has a chance to becoming something/someone more than his humble beginnings. He is there in the muck and mire struggling constantly against the challenges before him with a gruff exterior. He is the pure embodiment of the innate and natural borne warrior who is doing what ever it takes to survive while inside he is truly a deep down romantic and heroic individual.
This is truly how you get folks interested in history!!!
|
|
|
Post by Calamas on Mar 9, 2018 20:08:06 GMT -5
Sorry. Your quote got lost as I tried to use up less space. berkley said: I'd agree that The Dain Curse is a lesser work but I always thought The Glass Key was considered by most Hammett readers to be up there with his best. Reactions like these force me to have to think. I’m prepared for comments on the book I reviewed. Of course I am; I just read it. But lines I gave no real consideration, put there only to give context to the point I really wanted make? So, why do I deem The Dain Curse and The Glass Key lesser works? Upon reflection it comes down to this: I don’t remember them. Hardly fair as a debate point, I know. And I’ll concede that memory lapses have become more common as the years have added up. But I remember entire stretches of Red Harvest and The Thin Man. (I have to discount The Maltese Falcon from this argument because it is the single book I’ve reread the most.) However, one of the advantages to aging is that you come to realize that often there is no point in being stubborn. If that many people feel otherwise about The Glass Key, it is worth looking into. When I’ll get around to rereading it, that’s another matter. It joins a fairly long list of titles. If it's any further incentive, I think that The Glass Key is a book that might be more interesting to an older than to a younger reader. You were right.
|
|
|
Post by Calamas on Mar 9, 2018 20:11:55 GMT -5
The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett
I’d read The Glass Key years--maybe decades--ago and I didn’t remember any of it. Because I can recall entire stretches of Red Harvest and The Thin Man (The Maltese Falcon doesn’t count as it is the novel I’ve reread more than any other--by a wide margin) I just assumed it wasn’t worth remembering. I was wrong.
I think the reason my memory lapsed (aside from the fact that that’s what memories do, given enough time) is that the story is built on a couple of unsubstantial cornerstones. Ned Beaumont, unlike most Hammett protagonist, is not a private detective. What is he? Aside from being a gambler, his place in this world is murky. He seems to be a confidant and advisor to Paul Madvig, the man behind the local power structure. But it’s not an official position. He isn’t paid, and appears to have no regular source of income. And then there’s the question of where The Glass Key takes place? Apparently in a big town or small city somewhere in the Northeastern United States; it’s a day away from New York City by train, the preferred means of long distance transportation in 1931. Considering how much is made of the behind-the-scene manipulations and politics, you would think the arena would be more defined. And finally there is a murder of fluctuating consequence. There seems to be no pressing need to solve it except when it becomes the most critical of several points of contention in an upcoming election. Only at the conclusion does the solution carry any importance.
You have to get deeper into the novel before you realize The Glass Key is actually about this unnamed town and the behind-the-scenes battle for its control. It’s as if Hammett had taken the corruption-filled “Poisonville” of Red Harvest and decided to examine it from the other side, though this town is not quite that far gone. It is well on the way, however, which is probably why Paul Madvig is often mistakenly referred to as a gangster by readers. Oh, he’s a criminal all right; but more of a powerbroker, a chess master; and, yes, he is completely apathetic to those caught in the gears of his political machine. But he never orders murder. His opponent in the coming election, Shad O’Rory--also a behind-the-scenes operator--is much more of a racketeer. He has no qualms in ordering the severe beating of Ned Beaumont. And he is always accompanied by thugs where Paul Madvig walks the streets unattended.
I was mistaken in considering this a lesser work. That it doesn’t fit neatly into the rest of the Hammett cannon had allowed it to slip from memory. It lacks the layered protagonists of The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man and the unrelenting pace of Red Harvest. What it strives for--and achieves--is something more. It’s a detailed look at the legal and governmental corruption that had always, for the most part, hovered at the perimeter of Hammett’s work. The final betrayal that closes The Glass Key is as close to any kind of real justice this world is capable of delivering. It represents the last chance this unnamed city has to keep from becoming Poisonville. It was all Hammett could do. He saw enough real life Poisonvilles in the world around him.
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Mar 10, 2018 4:09:46 GMT -5
I think The Glass Key is by far the best of Hammett's novels, and I say that as someone who really likes all of Hammett's novels (and, naturally, his short stories as well). The movie Miller's Crossing (arguably the best one ever made by the Cohen brothers) is an homage to Hammett's works and also based on The Glass Key (with a little Red Harvest thrown in for good measure). Well worth watching if you haven't seen it.
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 10, 2018 8:24:24 GMT -5
I read a couple of the Sharpe books a while back.... I definitely enjoyed them, but I didn't feel the need to read like 20 of'em.. maybe some day The Glass Key is definitely on my list!
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 10, 2018 23:35:39 GMT -5
The End of Man?by Olof Johannesson (Hannes Alfven) The title and back cover realy don't do a good job describing this book.. it's not any sort of action sci-fi, and there's really no characters at all. Instead, it's a retelling of human history from the far distant future, (perhaps) by a computer, about the rise of computers and how they interact with humans through the ages. The author (who is apparently a nobel prize winning Physicist), has some really interesting idea on how computers and data culture would effect the world. He gets the internet pretty much spot on in theory (if not in delivery), yet envisions a society that doesn't even resemble ours a bit... but perhaps it could some day. Not the most exciting book, but it's just long enough to have present some excellent thought provoking concepts before it drags on and becomes boring.
|
|