Book Review: Inferno by Julian Stockwin
Version: Purchased
Inferno wasn't what I thought it would be. Author Julian Stockwin broke some expectations with this novel, but when I got to thinking about it, his decisions to break them were sensible. In the end, I was pleased.
Inferno is the seventeenth novel in the Thomas Kydd series, which has been an age-of-sail series about a British naval hero's rise from seaman class to captaincy and knighthood. They are tales of adventure as well as tales of personal experiences based on historical moments, which result from precise research. Thus, I was looking for another tale of Captain Sir Thomas Kydd doing great daring deeds.
However, the Thomas Kydd series is also about Britain's struggle against Napoleon's attempt to conquer all of Europe. And Inferno hewed true to that story line, involving Kydd but not focusing on him. In fact, other than that Kydd appeared at the beginning and end of the story, and briefly in the middle, this book was hardly about him at all.
Inferno really is a tale about Britain's struggle to keep Napoleon from closing the European commercial market to them and uniting with Russia to seize all of Europe's navies to finally beat the British Navy, which commanded the seas. Between defeating them on the sea and defeating them economically, this would have meant Napoleon finally conquering Britain, which was all that stood in Napoleon's way of world domination.
Central to Napoleon's plan was working with Russia to take the Danish navy, and Britain had a brilliant plan to ask the Danish government to temporarily hand over their navy to Britain to deny Napoleon the key final piece of his plan. But the Danish king wouldn't hear of it. Even when British soldiers landed and surrounded the capital of Copenhagen and threatened to reduce it to rubble.
Stockwin's brilliance is in using historical detail to bring authenticity to his stories, and he does so in Inferno. You will thoroughly understand both sides of the dilemma and the horror of this battle from this story. It is a riveting tale told through the eyes of his characters, involving both fictional and real people from those times.
While I will admit to being disappointed initially that this wasn't much of a Kydd story, I came to admire Inferno for being a fine piece of well-crafted historical fiction told in the Thomas Kydd universe. Kydd and Kydd characters do show up from time to time in the story, and Kydd fans can enjoy that while enjoying Stockwin's attention to detail and being true to history.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Monday, October 03, 2016
The Fever Code: The Well Rounded Back Story to The Maze Runner Series
Book Review: The Fever Code by James Dashner
Version: Public Library
I finally finished the series - the three originals and the two sequels, and it was all a great read!
The Fever Code (2016) takes off some time after The Kill Order leaves off. One character from the latter book survives that story (DeeDee), although you don't find out about who that is until about halfway through the former.
The Kill Order was about the initial purposeful spread of the Flare by government forces to reduce the population after the Sun flared and made the Earth unsustainable. But the virus morphed and ran beyond the government's ability to control it. The Fever Code is about the government's effort to find a cure for it. Or so you as a reader and the main characters are led to believe.
If you are a fan of The Maze Runner series (The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure), you likely wondered about the back story on all those interesting characters. The Kill Order tells that story, too. We meet Thomas, Teresa, Newt, Minho, Alby, Gally, Chuck, and others for the first time. Also Aris and Rachel. Jorge and Brenda, too. We also meet the minds behind WICKED for the first time. And it brings us right up to the moment Thomas emerges from the cage into the Glade. This is how the Maze was built, how Thomas and Teresa help create it, and how the kids got there.
Just as with its predecessors, The Kill Order is a well written, well paced, well told sci-fi thriller in the young adult genre pitting innocent teens against the scheming adults. The kids are made to believe they are part of an effort to find a cure for the Flare, but along the way they begin to wonder if they are just being manipulated, if this isn't all some sick effort by morbid adults to torture them. And one young man's acquiescence to help the adults to help save humanity becomes a drive to save his friends. This is the second prequel to The Maze Runner series, through which this theme eventually runs, but everything in this book is set up before Thomas's mind is wiped of its memories. And you learn here the subtext for Thomas's motivations for the story lines to follow.
I'm a big fan of Dashner's series. His characters are well rounded, the plot is well thought out and developed, and the setting is amazing. I read through it in a few quick days. While most of us began by reading The Maze Runner (because it was published first), if you're new to the series I would begin with The Kill Order and read it order that the story unfolds, following up with The Fever Code, then The Maze Runner, and so on. That way it all makes sense. However, if you want to make the adventure a bit more mysterious, begin with The Maze Runner series and then pick up the prequels to fill in the back story. Any way you do it, the five books are a great read. The Fever Code was the perfect bridge between.
Version: Public Library
I finally finished the series - the three originals and the two sequels, and it was all a great read!
The Fever Code (2016) takes off some time after The Kill Order leaves off. One character from the latter book survives that story (DeeDee), although you don't find out about who that is until about halfway through the former.
The Kill Order was about the initial purposeful spread of the Flare by government forces to reduce the population after the Sun flared and made the Earth unsustainable. But the virus morphed and ran beyond the government's ability to control it. The Fever Code is about the government's effort to find a cure for it. Or so you as a reader and the main characters are led to believe.
If you are a fan of The Maze Runner series (The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure), you likely wondered about the back story on all those interesting characters. The Kill Order tells that story, too. We meet Thomas, Teresa, Newt, Minho, Alby, Gally, Chuck, and others for the first time. Also Aris and Rachel. Jorge and Brenda, too. We also meet the minds behind WICKED for the first time. And it brings us right up to the moment Thomas emerges from the cage into the Glade. This is how the Maze was built, how Thomas and Teresa help create it, and how the kids got there.
Just as with its predecessors, The Kill Order is a well written, well paced, well told sci-fi thriller in the young adult genre pitting innocent teens against the scheming adults. The kids are made to believe they are part of an effort to find a cure for the Flare, but along the way they begin to wonder if they are just being manipulated, if this isn't all some sick effort by morbid adults to torture them. And one young man's acquiescence to help the adults to help save humanity becomes a drive to save his friends. This is the second prequel to The Maze Runner series, through which this theme eventually runs, but everything in this book is set up before Thomas's mind is wiped of its memories. And you learn here the subtext for Thomas's motivations for the story lines to follow.
I'm a big fan of Dashner's series. His characters are well rounded, the plot is well thought out and developed, and the setting is amazing. I read through it in a few quick days. While most of us began by reading The Maze Runner (because it was published first), if you're new to the series I would begin with The Kill Order and read it order that the story unfolds, following up with The Fever Code, then The Maze Runner, and so on. That way it all makes sense. However, if you want to make the adventure a bit more mysterious, begin with The Maze Runner series and then pick up the prequels to fill in the back story. Any way you do it, the five books are a great read. The Fever Code was the perfect bridge between.
Friday, September 23, 2016
Tom Clancy Commander in Chief: Powerfully Entertaining Read
Book Review: Tom Clancy Commander in Chief by Mark Greaney
Version: Public Library
The next novel in Mark Greaney's Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan series is Commander in Chief. When you look at the Russia of Vladimir Putin, you see a vivid reflection in the plot behind this spellbinding 2015 novel.
In this story, the Russian president is named Valeri Volodin. He has many ambitions, but many of his plans have failed, thanks to world economic sanctions and the dropping price of oil. The Russian economy is in free fall and the oligarchs who support him aren't happy - aren't happy enough to consider deposing him. This calls for drastic actions on his part.
Volodin begins a series of bold underhanded attacks around the world planned to boost the price of oil. Of course, they are made to look like the actions of others, but the United States has an inkling who is really behind them. And U.S. President Jack Ryan and independently his son, Jack Ryan, Jr., who works for a CIA-tied security consulting firm, work to figure out all the twists and turns and conflicts behind the actions to prevent more world chaos.
Knowing he hasn't much time to please the oligarchs who have threatened him, Volodin decides to hedge his bets by trying to secretly move his multi-billions in cash to offshore accounts. He hires a hedge fund manager he can trust and who doesn't work for the other oligarchs to move his money quickly and quietly, sending along his most trusted security agent to make sure his money stays his. But Jack Ryan, Jr., and a host of other security consultant characters, track them down with the goal of boxing in Volodin while they can still track his money.
The biggest contest, however, is a chess match Volodin has set up in Eastern Europe between members of NATO, as he threatens to invade Lithuania and Poland, recognizing the unwillingness of NATO members in Western Europe to defend its newest members against a battle they refuse to accept is certain to happen. And President Ryan must decide whether to commit U.S. troops alone in defense of NATO allies or give in to Volodin's misadventure. Jack Ryan, Jr., and his colleagues are sent in as intelligence assets, putting their lives further at risk, too.
Commander in Chief is detailed, well written, and suspenseful. The characters are well drawn and the scenes are vivid. As a political thriller, it's a top notch read and in today's geopolitical world, it's totally believable. If you've read Greaney's Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, which preceded this novel, you will know what a powerfully entertaining read this novel is, too. I'm happy to say that I highly recommend it.
Version: Public Library
The next novel in Mark Greaney's Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan series is Commander in Chief. When you look at the Russia of Vladimir Putin, you see a vivid reflection in the plot behind this spellbinding 2015 novel.
In this story, the Russian president is named Valeri Volodin. He has many ambitions, but many of his plans have failed, thanks to world economic sanctions and the dropping price of oil. The Russian economy is in free fall and the oligarchs who support him aren't happy - aren't happy enough to consider deposing him. This calls for drastic actions on his part.
Volodin begins a series of bold underhanded attacks around the world planned to boost the price of oil. Of course, they are made to look like the actions of others, but the United States has an inkling who is really behind them. And U.S. President Jack Ryan and independently his son, Jack Ryan, Jr., who works for a CIA-tied security consulting firm, work to figure out all the twists and turns and conflicts behind the actions to prevent more world chaos.
Knowing he hasn't much time to please the oligarchs who have threatened him, Volodin decides to hedge his bets by trying to secretly move his multi-billions in cash to offshore accounts. He hires a hedge fund manager he can trust and who doesn't work for the other oligarchs to move his money quickly and quietly, sending along his most trusted security agent to make sure his money stays his. But Jack Ryan, Jr., and a host of other security consultant characters, track them down with the goal of boxing in Volodin while they can still track his money.
The biggest contest, however, is a chess match Volodin has set up in Eastern Europe between members of NATO, as he threatens to invade Lithuania and Poland, recognizing the unwillingness of NATO members in Western Europe to defend its newest members against a battle they refuse to accept is certain to happen. And President Ryan must decide whether to commit U.S. troops alone in defense of NATO allies or give in to Volodin's misadventure. Jack Ryan, Jr., and his colleagues are sent in as intelligence assets, putting their lives further at risk, too.
Commander in Chief is detailed, well written, and suspenseful. The characters are well drawn and the scenes are vivid. As a political thriller, it's a top notch read and in today's geopolitical world, it's totally believable. If you've read Greaney's Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, which preceded this novel, you will know what a powerfully entertaining read this novel is, too. I'm happy to say that I highly recommend it.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect: Relevant Riveting Read
Book Review: Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect by Mark Greaney
Version: Public Library
Tom Clancy novels have a habit of ringing true to the events of the day. As I read Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, the North Koreans were testing more ICBMs and nuclear weapons, and here these very actions were appearing in the words I was reading in this excellent novel from October 2015, written by author Mark Greaney. (Note: Tom Clancy passed away in 2013.)
The main plot is a young North Korean dictator who wants to exert power and enhance his own prestige by building a bigger, better nuclear missile program. To do so, he must break through world economic sanctions and blockages of ships delivering parts, and he needs a new source of income to afford it all. His Chinese neighbors help him discover a wealth of rare earth minerals buried in the North Korean fields, and the dictator moves heaven and earth to extract it and refine it, with the help of a North Korean intelligence leader and a new minerals management official - both under threat of death by attack of hungry dogs, including their families, if they fail. U.S. President Jack Ryan knows he must thwart this effort at any cost to protect the U.S. West Coast from North Korean missile attack, and with the help of the CIA and a private consulting company of ex-CIA agents, including the president's son, they expose the dictator's scheme and foil the dictator.
This is one among several Tom Clancy novels in the familiar theme of CIA analysts and operatives living a life of danger preventing world chaos and imminent danger to American interests. They are good quick reads, well paced, and thoroughly believable owing to their detail and how closely they track to current events. In this case, it was a Tom Clancy franchise novel written by author Mark Greaney.
It isn't one of those thoughtful, feel-good books or even something you will leave thinking a great deal about afterwards. But it is a relevant, riveting read that, given free time, you can knock off quickly. I enjoyed what is likely a very good look at life inside North Korea and the thrill of the chase.
Version: Public Library
Tom Clancy novels have a habit of ringing true to the events of the day. As I read Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, the North Koreans were testing more ICBMs and nuclear weapons, and here these very actions were appearing in the words I was reading in this excellent novel from October 2015, written by author Mark Greaney. (Note: Tom Clancy passed away in 2013.)
The main plot is a young North Korean dictator who wants to exert power and enhance his own prestige by building a bigger, better nuclear missile program. To do so, he must break through world economic sanctions and blockages of ships delivering parts, and he needs a new source of income to afford it all. His Chinese neighbors help him discover a wealth of rare earth minerals buried in the North Korean fields, and the dictator moves heaven and earth to extract it and refine it, with the help of a North Korean intelligence leader and a new minerals management official - both under threat of death by attack of hungry dogs, including their families, if they fail. U.S. President Jack Ryan knows he must thwart this effort at any cost to protect the U.S. West Coast from North Korean missile attack, and with the help of the CIA and a private consulting company of ex-CIA agents, including the president's son, they expose the dictator's scheme and foil the dictator.
This is one among several Tom Clancy novels in the familiar theme of CIA analysts and operatives living a life of danger preventing world chaos and imminent danger to American interests. They are good quick reads, well paced, and thoroughly believable owing to their detail and how closely they track to current events. In this case, it was a Tom Clancy franchise novel written by author Mark Greaney.
It isn't one of those thoughtful, feel-good books or even something you will leave thinking a great deal about afterwards. But it is a relevant, riveting read that, given free time, you can knock off quickly. I enjoyed what is likely a very good look at life inside North Korea and the thrill of the chase.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Nominations for the National Book Awards Announced
Nominations for the 2016 National Book Awards were just announced. There are four categories, with 10 nominees listed for each category:
Winners will be announced on November 16. Congratulations to all the nominees. See the complete list at the National Book Foundation site here.
- Fiction
- Non-fiction
- Poetry
- Young People's Literature
Winners will be announced on November 16. Congratulations to all the nominees. See the complete list at the National Book Foundation site here.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Summer Reads Lists
Just found an article in Google News headlined as "The books critics say you should read this summer" (via Quartz blog). Take a look and let me know what you think. Any titles you'll be picking up for your bookshelf this summer?
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Chasing the Last Laugh: More Documentary than Interesting Read
Book Review: Chasing the Last Laugh by Richard Zacks
This will be a short review. I found this book tedious reading. Although I was once a fan of Mark Twain and, in fact, have a collection of his works, this biography of his latter years came off for me as more documentary than interesting narrative.
At the end of the 19th century, Mark Twain was once America's best paid author. But through faulty investing and a senseless trust in those who handled his money, Twain fell on hard times. His wife Livy had a rich inheritance and Twain spent through a good part of that as a result, but she felt honor bound to pay back their debts, even as they faced the embarrassment of bankruptcy.
This book is about the solution Twain and a close associate devised to help pay off their debts and earn money to live on. And that was a year long trip across the United States and to Australia, New Zealand, India, and other parts of the world on a speaking tour, where Twain could entertain audiences with his wit and wisdom. It gets into very specific detail about his debts, their causes, and those who tried to help him overcome them.
In all fairness to the reader, I didn't finish the book. It was a depressing read and I found it not humorous as his writings often were. The detailed accounting of his life's miseries and setbacks dragged me down. I suppose it was important to tell the whole story, but it wasn't my kind of read.
Mark Twain was an American original. Knowing about his later years probably makes this an important read, if you can wade through the detail and get through the morbidity of his failures. But then you lose the sense of the mythological humor figure that was Samuel Clemens. In this case, you aren't chasing the last laugh at all.
This will be a short review. I found this book tedious reading. Although I was once a fan of Mark Twain and, in fact, have a collection of his works, this biography of his latter years came off for me as more documentary than interesting narrative.
At the end of the 19th century, Mark Twain was once America's best paid author. But through faulty investing and a senseless trust in those who handled his money, Twain fell on hard times. His wife Livy had a rich inheritance and Twain spent through a good part of that as a result, but she felt honor bound to pay back their debts, even as they faced the embarrassment of bankruptcy.
This book is about the solution Twain and a close associate devised to help pay off their debts and earn money to live on. And that was a year long trip across the United States and to Australia, New Zealand, India, and other parts of the world on a speaking tour, where Twain could entertain audiences with his wit and wisdom. It gets into very specific detail about his debts, their causes, and those who tried to help him overcome them.
In all fairness to the reader, I didn't finish the book. It was a depressing read and I found it not humorous as his writings often were. The detailed accounting of his life's miseries and setbacks dragged me down. I suppose it was important to tell the whole story, but it wasn't my kind of read.
Mark Twain was an American original. Knowing about his later years probably makes this an important read, if you can wade through the detail and get through the morbidity of his failures. But then you lose the sense of the mythological humor figure that was Samuel Clemens. In this case, you aren't chasing the last laugh at all.
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