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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 21, 2021 23:24:09 GMT -5
The Jasper Fforde book sounds fun!
The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen L. Carter
Well, what do you know... I put this book on my 'to read' list a LONG time ago (it's #10 on the list). I had no item it was there until I popped in to write this review, with what's going on in the country right now, a bit of historical fiction seems the order of the day, and it jumped out at me in the library... I guess I'm nothing if not consistent.
The book definitely wasn't what I expected... it finds Lincoln survives getting shot, but the conspirators succeed in killing Andrew Johnson and wounding Seward enough to take him out of the picture, leaving an isolated Lincoln to manage the struggle against the radicals himself... which comes to a head at in the book in 1867.
Lincoln is but a minor character, however, as the author's point of view characters take center stage. Abigail Canner, a young hopeful lawyer trying to become the first black woman to join the bar, is the focus. The author does a great job of depicting her trails in Washington society, and her effect on it's various denizens. She joins Lincoln's defense team as a clerk, but is rarely allowed to do much more than shuffle books about town at first.
There's also, of course, a secret conspiracy, and lots of mystery to be solved, all of which ends up revolving around the main character. It's a bit high on the coincidence meter, but since the Washington DC of 1867 is a bit of a small world, it makes sense.
The history parts weren't all that satisfying (especially the MASSIVE cop out ending, where we get only a hint of how the impeachment is decided).. the author essentially just swaps Lincoln in for Johnson, there's enough there to make me happy, and the author clearly knows his stuff. The usual notes in the back are quite copious in documenting thing the dates, people, etc he changed for his narrative.
It's also an excellent mystery, and certainly makes one want to know what the fictional characters do next. My main complaint is the main character was just TOO good, and too perfect. Perhaps she had to be to make it in white Washington society in 1867... which is a statement in itself, but I'm never totally satisfied with such perfect characters. Still, a very good read if you're interested in the period.
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Post by berkley on Jan 22, 2021 3:09:14 GMT -5
I find the idea of alternate history inherently interesting - even when, as in this case, I'm not especially interested in the particular historical characters or era or events involved. But now I've said that, it occurs to me that I haven't actually read very many -
A related sub-genre might be the cautionary near-future tale - an alternate future history we are warned to avoid: Kinglsey Amis's Russian Hide and Seek, comes to mind. Unless it is an alternate history, can't recall exectly when the story is set: it's about a Soviet occupation of Britain, told from the POV of a young Russian officer. Good read, though nowhere near Amis, Sr.'s best.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jan 22, 2021 16:01:42 GMT -5
Black PulpEdited by Tommy Hancock, Gary Phillips and Morgan Minor, 2013 Another book, like the one I reviewed on the preceding page of this thread, that I purchased as an e-book with some free Amazon money. This is one I've been wanting for quite a while, because (like The Mighty Warriors), it contains a story by Charles R. Saunders. As the title indicates, it contains stories, twelve in all, that are done (or supposed to be done) in the style of the old pulp magazines, with a focus on Black leading characters. Mostly, I think the stories do deliver on this promise, although - as with any anthology - the quality varies. Personally, my favorite is (surprise, surprise) "Mtimu" by Charles Saunders. It's set in the early 1930s, and the titular character is a guy living the jungles of a remote corner of the vast Congo who was raised by some unusual apes that are neither chimps nor gorillas - that all may sound familiar, but he's different from all the others: he's not white. And his Jane analog is a pilot whose plane crashes in his jungle. It's a fun story. A few other favorites: "Dillon and the Alchemist's Morning Coffee" by Derrick Ferguson, which features a James Bond-like international adventurer who often works on contract for various American espionage agencies; "Drums of the Ogbanje" by Mel Odom, in which Ngola, a former slave turned pirate who raids slave ships on the African coast, foils a plot by a black-hearted witch doctor and a Portuguese slaver to unleash a malevolent supernatural creature; and "The Hammer of Norgill" by Tommy Hancock, in which the legendary John Henry doesn't die after digging that tunnel, but is rather transported to another world, where he becomes a champion who frees a number of enslaved aliens from evil overlords. There's also a story by Joe Lansdale, "Six-Finger Jack," which I don't think really fit the theme, as it was more of a noir rather than pulp tale, with a very cynical ending to boot. The introduction, by the way, was written by Walter Mosley, who otherwise writes very good, and not very pulpy, crime fiction.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 22, 2021 16:16:25 GMT -5
I find the idea of alternate history inherently interesting - even when, as in this case, I'm not especially interested in the particular historical characters or era or events involved. But now I've said that, it occurs to me that I haven't actually read very many - A related sub-genre might be the cautionary near-future tale - an alternate future history we are warned to avoid: Kinglsey Amis's Russian Hide and Seek, comes to mind. Unless it is an alternate history, can't recall exectly when the story is set: it's about a Soviet occupation of Britain, told from the POV of a young Russian officer. Good read, though nowhere near Amis, Sr.'s best. Me too... I often find it a better way to learn about the actual events, as they lead me to review time period to compare.
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Post by Rob Allen on Jan 22, 2021 20:08:09 GMT -5
I find the idea of alternate history inherently interesting - even when, as in this case, I'm not especially interested in the particular historical characters or era or events involved. But now I've said that, it occurs to me that I haven't actually read very many - A related sub-genre might be the cautionary near-future tale - an alternate future history we are warned to avoid: Kinglsey Amis's Russian Hide and Seek, comes to mind. Unless it is an alternate history, can't recall exectly when the story is set: it's about a Soviet occupation of Britain, told from the POV of a young Russian officer. Good read, though nowhere near Amis, Sr.'s best. Me too... I often find it a better way to learn about the actual events, as they lead me to review time period to compare.  One of my favorite books as a teenager was If the South Had Won the Civil War by MacKinlay Kantor. It's been at least 50 years since I read it but I still remember a lot - Grant dies before taking Vicksburg. After the war Maryland and Kentucky join the Confederacy (and of course Virginia does not split). Washington becomes the Confederate capital; the US capital moves to Columbus, Ohio. A few years later Texas secedes from the Confederacy and takes the Indian Territory (which we know as Oklahoma) with it. Nearly a century later, facing the threat of Russian missiles based in Alaska (because the US didn't buy it), the book ends with the three countries negotiating reunification. But as berkley said, as much as I enjoyed that book, I haven't read many alternative histories.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 22, 2021 20:57:48 GMT -5
That sounds cool...and funnily enough, Harry Turtledove is credited it with the introduction on the most recent printing that popped up on good reads. I really enjoyed the first couple of his books on that subject... first Guns of the South (which is a bit sci-fi). but the the subsequent series that starts with the book How few remain .
In that one, a arrant spy lets Lee know about some surprise (I don't recall which atm), and we get the story of the 2nd civil war in the 1880... followed by taking the story through WWI and II. It gets a bit overly Southern apologist (The North sides with Germany, though I think for his WWII it may just be the Confederates that are the Nazis and the Union are socialist... I got a little worn out and didn't quite finish). The first couple books are quite good though.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jan 23, 2021 4:02:13 GMT -5
Another notable SF/alternate history book that deals with the Confederacy winning the Civll War is Ward Moore's Bring the Jubilee. Not a bad book, but I have to say, I actually find the theme of 'What if the South won?' rather tiresome. In many ways, in our real world the South/Confederacy actually won the peace, given all of the 'Lost Cause' and 'State's rights' BS that still permeates and burdens American culture and politics. I think a far more interesting line of speculation would be 'What if post-Civil War Reconstruction had not been abruptly halted?'
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 23, 2021 15:54:07 GMT -5
Another notable SF/alternate history book that deals with the Confederacy winning the Cold War is Ward Moore's Bring the Jubilee. Not a bad book, but I have to say, I actually find the theme of 'What if the South won?' rather tiresome. In many ways, in our real world the South/Confederacy actually won the peace, given all of the 'Lost Cause' and 'State's rights' BS that still permeates and burdens American culture and politics. I think a far more interesting line of speculation would be 'What if post-Civil War Reconstruction had not been abruptly halted?' So true.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 24, 2021 10:45:55 GMT -5
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline By George Saunders
I gave this book a shot on a recommendation of a friend at work... he described it as 'weird satire and sort of sci fi', but that he was his favorite author.
I'm not sure he'll be a favorite, but I can see the appeal... Saunders has a pretty crazy ability to distill the human condition down to it's most absurd. I can picture him writing for Monty Python.
The short stories were all very similar.. they all involved a main character working at some sort of amusement park in a low level job, and having some personal tragedy that lead them to be bad at the job and ruin their life, to tragicomic consequence.
They are kinda the opposite of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, which I just read for a book club, in that the characters were mostly good, but their situation cause the problem. I wouldn't say any one stood out over the other, they all had a few insightful bits, a few funny bits, but by the 6th one I was pretty done.
The Novella, 'Bounty', takes it a step farther.. he actually sets the stay with a post-apcalyptic world divided by 'normals' and 'Flawed' (apparently anyone that has the slightest mutation, no X-Men here). The story is a 'journey across America' type, where we see all kinda of amazingly pathetic people, just trying to get by.
That's really the main theme, people just trying to get by in whatever horror life throws at you, which it does with some wonderful farce. I'm not sure I'd need to read more of it though, unless the author has more in his arsenal that downtrodden amusement park workers.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 26, 2021 21:50:34 GMT -5
See Them Die (87th Precinct) by Ed McBain
It's funny, I think this was my favorite book in the series so far, but it didn't really have to be in this series at all. Steve Carella played a minor part, and Meyer Meyer wasn't even mentioned.
The book focuses on the Puerto Rican section of Isola, and tells the story of several very different lives there. He really epitomizes the struggle against stereotypes people have, manifested in a variety of different ways. It's almost surprising to see such a heavy, serious topic given just brilliant treatment from an author that has used quite alot of world play and absurdity in the previous books.
It totally works, though. I was perhaps a bit sad at the ending, but it definitely did the job of driving the stories point home.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2021 4:16:37 GMT -5
Finished the third Avenger novel The Sky Walker. Wonder if George Lucas read this? Or William Marston as the plot features an invisible airplane in a story done in 1939. Unfortunately, those two tidbits are the most interesting thing about this installment in the Avenger series. Aside from incorporating Nellie Gray from the last volume into Benson's crew and adding Josh and Rosabel Newton to the supporting cast, there's not much of interest in this one. The premise is pretty far-fetched, the villains one-note caricatures and not even interesting caricatures at that, and the book itself is poorly paced with a rushed ending. Every series of this sort has a stinker or two along the way, and this is one. It was still mildly entertaining though, so we'll see what happens in future volumes. -M
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 1, 2021 23:21:58 GMT -5
Star Wars: Phasma by Delilah Dawson
As I work through some of the Disney books I didn't bother with, I decided to give this one a shot. I mean, Phasma was marketed as one of the big bad guys of the new trilogy, and was completely useless in the the actual movies, so maybe there's something interesting?
Turns out, nope.
Much like Chuck Wendig's horror show, this book feels very much like the author had it written already, or at least the ideas, and then plopped the Star Wars skin on them for marketing purposes. Unlike Wendig, Dawson doesn't try to write any existing characters (other than a small bit of Armitage Hux and a com message from Leia), so it doesn't stick out as badly.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book, it just doesn't really add any value or interest to the Star Wars universe. Con Star Mining feels more like a joke company in a video game than something that would fit in with the universe, and the people on Parsonssos seem REALLY dumb... why not walk to the nice part of the planet, instead of struggling for generations in nuclear fallout?
Dawson's contributions to the mythos, the OTHER Stormtrooper captain Cardinal, and spunky Resistance spy Vi Morandi are OK, but nothing to write home about. I did like the attempt to show the First Order in a good light through Cardinal indoctrination, that was really well done, as was the contrast to the reality of the leaders. So I guess it's not a totally useless book, after all
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 2, 2021 12:56:00 GMT -5
The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend by Bob Drury & Tom Clavin When I was a kid my Dad had a first edition of Dorothy Johnson's book The Bloody Bozeman. That and Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, seemed to me to be the most important of the books on his bookshelf. It's been a long time since I've read either and I hope to revisit both. But when Amazon had a great sale on the e-version of this book I wanted to make another journey to the Powder River Country of the mid 1800s. The book is ostensibly a biography of Oglala Lakota Chief Red Cloud. It certainly hits the highlights of his life and gives us as much as we are likely to ever know about his youth and young life. But it barely touches the surface of his life after he eschewed violence and started, in vain, to attempt to work through the "system" to better the lives of his people. What the book really is about is "Red Cloud's War," the successful alliance of a number of Lakota bands, Cheyenne and Arapahoe that closed the Bozeman Trail and caused the United States to sue for peace and abandon the Powder River Country and the forts there for almost a decade. Red Cloud was, by any measure, one of the most successful Native American military leaders and statesmen. His actions in forging an alliance across not just Lakota bands, but also with other tribes to present a united front against the U.S., and his tactical expertise in leading a guerilla force to victory is almost unparalleled in the history of what are called The Indian Wars. His defeat of Captain Fetterman at the Battle of the Hundred Slain, aka The Fetterman Fight, was the greatest defeat of U.S. forces by Plains Indians until the Battle of Greasy Grass (Little Big Horn). More importantly Red Cloud forced the U.S. into peace talks and into abandoning the forts that kept open the Bozeman Trail. It's telling when you read reviews of a book and you see one bemoaning the authors as "having a clear bias toward the Army" followed by one berating them for "having a clear bias toward the Indian point of view." Overall I found the book to be fairly balanced. If you grew up on John Wayne movies and history as it was taught for far too many years, then you're not going to recognize the U.S. and the Army as portrayed here. If you want to believe that the Native Americans all lived in peace and harmony until they were forced into violence by the oppression of the white man, you also aren't going to be happy. History is messy. And there aren't a lot of heroes.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 2, 2021 15:00:36 GMT -5
Oh, man. Bury My Heart... Very good, but very depressing book. It probably didn't help that I read it right after reading Gloria Jahoda's Trail of Tears.
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Post by Prince Hal on Feb 2, 2021 15:18:03 GMT -5
Oh, man. Bury My Heart... Very good, but very depressing book. It probably didn't help that I read it right after reading Gloria Jahoda's Trail of Tears. History often is.
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