THE TERROR BY DAN SIMMONS: In a historical epic that rivals Simmons’s science fiction epic Hyperion, The Terror is the incredible fictional story of the journey made by Captain Sir John Franklin and his expedition to discover the northwest passage, which departed from England in 1845. Written mainly from the viewpoint of Captain Francis Crozier, who runs the crew on the ship HMS Terror (Franklin is in charge of HMS Erebus), The Terror will take readers to the very limits of their imaginations, tactile abilities, and hopes and dreams; leaving them exhausted but very satisfied by the end.
The story begins with both ships trapped in the ice. Simmons overloads with description of this frozen wasteland which is an everyday struggle, as the crews fight to keep warm, fed, and the boilers in the ships running, otherwise they’ll all freeze to death very quickly. The men try to make the most of it, even having a masked ball on the ice in mimicry of Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death.” Then there is the decreasing citrus stock, with the full realization that cases of scurvy will begin very soon. But everything is still frozen, even though it is summer and there seems little hope left for them. Crozier seems to know this, taking heavily to what alcohol there is on Terror and keeping it for himself, as his grasp on reality lessens a little each day.
Then there is the monster. A terrifying beast that has been taking and killing men, leaving nothing but bloody smears on the white ice. The beast matches descriptions of a giant bear, an abominable snowman, and possibly a nightmare from an Inuit folk tale. But little can be done as the men continue to disappear one by one. Franklin eventually abandons the Erebus which has stopped working, while some of its crew have turned violent and insane. But they cannot all stay on Terror, and the decision is eventually made to venture into the icy waste in a presumed direction to an Inuit habitation. Whether they will make it through or all die of exposure is a reality that will be faces each day they travel further across the ice.
Simmons takes on a classic legend that has few facts and turns it into an incredible story of adventure, survival, and testing the very limits of humanity. He has outdone himself with his complex, complete characters, interesting plot developments and subplots, and skillfully balancing the fantastic fiction with the true story, giving possible answers to one of the greatest mysteries in history. The Terror is a book not for the faint of heart, but for those who seek to know what it is that keeps the human spirit going when all hope is lost, this is the book for you. Especially if you have a thing for cannibalism.
Check out Dan Simmons interview on BookBanter in Episode 4.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 8, VOLUME 3: WOLVES AT THE GATE BY JOSS WHEDON, ET. AL: The latest collected volume of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 features a single issue scripted by Joss Whedon, as Buffy comes to a startling realization with her personal life that mixes with her job as the lead slayer over all the Chosen. The development continues in the Wolves at the Gate series as an attack is made on the Chosen base in Scotland by a horde of vampires that can turn into wolves, fog, and even a swarm of bees. Enlisting the help of a very old and forgotten friend who is a natural wealth of information on the events at hand, Buffy travels to Japan with her powerful army to find out who or what is behind the group of Goth Japanese vampires who have these incredible powers.
Wolves at the Gate continues Buffy’s adventures in classic fashion, with all the main characters, leaving the reader impatiently waiting for the next collection, as well as to some possible answers to why Buffy is doing what she is doing, and what’s behind it all. Clearly the writers have a master plan building that will hopefully see more light in the next trade coming in May.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com
CRETACEOUS DAWN: 65 MILLION YEARS IN THE PAST, THE JOURNEY BEGINS BY L. M. GRAZIANO AND M.S.A. GRAZIANO: The authors of Cretaceous Dawn --Lisa M. Graziano, former professor of Oceanography, writer and researcher; and Michael S. A. Graziano, professor of Neuroscience – are clearly experienced when tackling the subject of what life was like 65 millions years ago, during the age of the dinosaurs. In an adventure style like that of Jurassic Park and Ray Bradbury’s short story “Sound of Thunder,” Cretaceous Dawn is a fun play on what if people existed with dinosaurs.
Julian Whitney is a paleontologist and a college professor who feels his life has little to offer in the way of entertainment, and he spends his days teaching his classes and hoping something will happen between him and the attractive physics professor Yariko. Whitney is surprisingly called to Yariko’s government funded and guarded lab to check on photos of unusual beetles at the start of the book. As he studies the photos that were taken very recently, he can’t believe what he is seeing: the insects appear to be of a species that hasn’t existed since the dinosaurs, which Whitney is used to seeing in fossilized form.
As Yariko and Whitney study the photos, her colleague, Dr. Shanker, starts up the quantum particle accelerator, while the two security guards return from lunch. There is a sudden explosion. Yariko, Whitney, Dr. Shanker and his dog (who was in the lab at the time) and one and a half security guards are miraculously transported back in time and find themselves alive and relatively well living in the world of dinosaurs. Meanwhile police chief Sharon Earles is left with a much destroyed physics lab, a government-funded project gone horribly wrong, and half the body of a guard.
Cretaceous Dawn is a compelling story with plenty of plot and subplot going on. The authors do an excellent job of creating the juxtaposition between the 65 million year old world and the present day police investigation, keeping the reader interested until the end.
EUROPE BETWEEN THE OCEANS: 9000 BC – AD 1000 BY BARRY CUNLIFFE: Barry Cunliffe, a leading archaeologist, and emeritus professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford, presents his next epic tome that will delight archaeology readers and scientists alike. Europe Between the Oceans takes one on a long and fascinating journey into our deep past, beginning with the ancient when humanity was split into nomadic groups and first began changing their sedentary ways, to the end of the first millennium when the world was a very different place.
Beginning with a few chapters to set the stage, Cunliffe explains the unique setting of the Eurasian continent with its consolidated landmass being surrounded by so much water with its various lakes, seas, bays, and oceans, as well as its convoluted shaping, offering an extensive coastline. Along with plenty of maps, diagrams, and photos, he also explains the extensive river network that exists and existed in Europe and how this has change over time. With this solid foundation in the water systems of the continent, Cunliffe begins his thorough history lesson, starting at 9000 BC and the ancient peoples who were just beginning to settle down and develop technology, after having barely survived a harsh ice age.
Europe Between the Seas is split into chronological periods with each chapter: 6000-3800 BC, 4500-2800 BC, 2800-1300 BC, 1300-800 BC, 800-500 BC, 500-140 BC, 140 BC – AD 300, AD 300-800, AD 800-1000. Cunliffe spends time in various geological locations, as well as pointing out the important time periods of great change, such as “The Three Hundred Years That Changed the World: 800-500 BC,” and “States in Collision: 500-140 BC.” Along with an extensive bibliography and index, one can’t help but feel they are receiving an annual class worth of knowledge in one book. Europe Between the Oceans answers many questions, as well as presenting fascinating and oftentimes surprising thoughts and perspectives to a monumental period in the history of civilization.
FAST SHIPS, BLACK SAILS EDITED BY ANN AND JEFF VANDERMEER: While this may not be the first pirate story anthology, Fast Ships, Black Sails doesn’t hold back, with its captivating cover featuring a classic pirate standing proud at the prow of his ship, while small glowing-eye dragons fly around, a tiny dragon skeleton sits on his shoulder, and in the cloudy distance is what appears to be a ghost pirate ship. This collection edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer features a combination of classic swashbuckling pirate tales, as well as fascinating stories of the fantastic from authors like Conrad Williams, Garth Nix, Elizabeth Bear, and many more.
In the opening story, “Boojum” from Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette – possibly the best in the collection – we are in space, and the mighty spaceships are living entities that grow and change and have mouths; they are biomechanical. The authors do an excellent job of creating an interesting world that leaves the reader wanting more. In Naomi Novik’s -- author of the successful Temeraire series – “Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake,” the daughter of a very important noble is kidnapped by pirates and thought murdered, but Araminta is a special woman with some unique powers allowing her to outwit the pirates who have taken her hostage. In Michael Moorcock’s too short story “Ironface,” there are pirates in space and Ironface is the most feared in the solar system, who makes the trip to Venus to accept the expensive bribe that he collects each decade, then his ship, Pain, floats back out into the dark realms of space.
Fast Ships, Black Sails has the perfect pirate story for any reader, as it presents both the classic and the unusual stories of privateers and buccaneers sailing the high seas, as well as the dark matter clouds of the cosmos.
Ken Scholes will be interviewed on a future episode of BookBanter.
JUST AFTER SUNSET BY STEPHEN KING: Stephen King’s latest short story collection, Just After Sunset, is a case of hit and miss, with a little something for everyone. In his introduction to Constant Reader, King talks about his editing the Best American Short Stories collection for 2007 and how he rediscovered his love for writing short stories, learning and educating himself in reading the many short stories for the collection. Featuring less stories than his usual collections, Just After Sunset features some of King’s best short stories he’s ever written, as well as a blend of action-packed, artistic, and outright disturbing stories in the classic, morbid King style.
Just After Sunset begins with the best of the collection, “Willa,” an unusual tale about a group of people at a train station. David has found that his wife to be, Willa, has left the station and gone into town. He must bring her back before the train arrives. He finds her at a bar where there is music, drinking and merriment. And it is here he discovers a realization that changes the very world around him.
In “The Gingerbread Girl,” Emily Owensby has had enough of her life and runs away to her father’s vacation house in the Florida Keys. It is here that she must find out what she wants to do with her life, but as she pays a visit to a neighbor, she finds herself thrown into a situation that threatens her very life.
“Mute” is a story about an acquaintance between a supposed deaf-mute person and Monette and what happens when he reveals his true feelings. “N.” is the dark tale about a man’s destroyed psyche as he supposedly fights to maintain the fabric of reality and prevent the monsters on the other side from breaking through. In the final story, “A Very Tight Place,” King explores the idea of what would happen if one were in a Port-A-Potty that got tipped over on the door side, trapping the person within.
Just After Sunset is not one of Stephen King’s best short story collections, for some of the stories just try to hard, or aren’t that good, and yet there are some, like “Willa,” “N.,” and “Mute,” that fire the imagination and leave the reader wanting more.
NORTHLANDERS, VOLUME 1 BY BRIAN WOOD AND DAVIDE GIANFELICE: In a new graphic novel series from Brian Wood, author of DMZ and Demo, and illustrated by Davide Gianfelice, comes Northlanders, Volume 1: Sven the Returned. Northlanders offers up a fresh historical graphic novel, like that of Eric Shanower’s Age of Bronze and Warren Ellis’ Crecy, as Wood brings the world of the Vikings to light with the detailed and gory art style of Gianfelice.
Sven is a disowned Viking. After his father is killed when he is a boy, and, as the heir apparent, he dishonors his mother by not protecting and defending her from his uncle Gorm who rapes her and takes control of the people and holdings, Sven flees from the northlands. He is captured and made a slave for most of his childhood until he is set free and refers to himself as a Varangian: a Norseman who has left his home. He spends his years in the great city of Constantinople as a member of the Royal Guard, until he is ready and returns to the north for revenge. The year is 980.
His old home is in the Orkney Islands, and he finds it not much changed from when he left, but having lived in Constantinople for so long, he must learn to live in the harsh climes once again. He also must gain the respect of his people. Sven begins fighting back against Gorm, employing all the skill and knowledge he has gained. The question is when he finally defeats Gorm and restores his family’s honor, will he still want to be king and rule?
Northlanders is a fresh historical graphic novel that is a little shaky at first with this new storyline, but there is good character development and potential for the future volumes. With a fresh art style that captures the tone of the period, as well as being accurately detailed through the art, Northlanders is a series I look forward to reading in volume 2: The Cross + The Hammer.
REINVENTING THE SACRED: A VIEW OF SCIENCE, REASON, AND RELIGION BY STUART A. KAUFFMAN: Stuart A. Kauffman is the founding director for Biocomplexity and Informatics, is a professor at the University of Calgary, and is the author of The Origins of Order and At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity. In his new book, Reinventing the Sacred: A View of Science, Reason, and Religion, he attempts to create a natural linkage between science and religion, or at least between science and spirituality. On the one side there is religion and the idea that God created and controls everything, and on the other there is the cold universe of science explained by facts and the constant motion of microscopic particles; Kauffman says there is a third option, bringing these two opposing views together.
Beginning with a brief history lesson on science, Kauffman cites the age of reason and enlightenment as the time when scientists removed all sense of spirituality and creativity from science, with the move towards reductionism. Through reductionism, science boiled all life and reality down to its base, microscopic levels with the various atoms and their components. In the twentieth century reductionism went one step further, venturing into the world of sub-atomic particles and how it is the movement of these infinitesimal particles that is reality and existence as we know it, with future events and actions being predictable through this model.
And yet there are still events and occurrences, Kauffman says, that science was entirely unable to predict, such as certain evolutionary traits that animals and people develop, which should, under this reductionist paradigm, be predictable, and yet come as a total shock to scientists when they occur. Another example is with sociology and the economy: with our vast global population, science is unable to predict events occurring within populations and economies, even when precise models exist for them. It is here that Kauffman says there is something special going on, a spirituality of life that makes impossible, unpredictable things happen.
This is the crux of Reinventing the Sacred and at times Kauffman tends to repeat himself over and over with ideas already expressed, as well as sayings that become all to familiar. Nevertheless, Reinventing the Sacred does offer up some very original and refreshing ideas on how one can view the university in its astonishing complexity and brilliant creativity.
THE 7TH VICTIM BY ALAN JACOBSON: In Alan Jacobson’s third novel, The 7th Victim, he presents a well-defined and fascinating new character in Karen Vail, one of the very few female FBI profilers. As a member of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, joining with a crack team of experienced detectives, it’s up to her to create the solid profile that will lead them to the identity and locate of the Dead Eyes killer. The murders are garish and gruesome, as Vail investigates the crime scene of each victim, until an important person of stature is horrifically murdered changing the whole profile of the killer, but also presenting some terrifying links to Vail herself.
Jacobson has spent seven years researching The 7th Victim, working with the FBI’s renowned profiling unit, as well as one of the few female FBI profilers. Karen Vail is a well rounded character who has plenty of personal issues going on in her life with an abusive soon to be ex-husband and a young child who she cares for more than anything in the world. She also teaches future FBI agents, and fights to maintain her profile as a high-ranking and well respected profiler.
The 7th Victim is an entertaining, fast-paced read in the style of Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta series, but adding a further grittiness and realism with the killings and the harsh everyday fights Vail must go through as an FBI profiler and mother. It is hopefully the first of more to come in the world of Karen Vail.
Alan Jacobson will be interviewed in Episode 22 of BookBanter, available December 15th.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK BY NEIL GAIMAN, ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVE MCKEAN: It seems inevitable in some ways that Neil Gaiman would one day write a book about a graveyard; and furthermore would make it a children’s book; and even furthermore write a wonderful tale about growing up, learning from your mistakes, and appreciating life to it’s fullest. Welcome to The Graveyard Book.
Nobody Owens is doomed to begin with. After his family is tragically killed by a determined and terrifying murderer who is now after him to finish the job, Bod finds himself in a graveyard adopted by some very strange ghosts and a father figure, Silas, who is neither dead nor alive, but somewhere in between. His growing up and education is not one filled with arithmetic and grammar, but abilities of the dead like Fading and Dreamwalking.
It is no surprise that the book Gaiman was destined to write – and has spent many years working on and putting the pieces slowly together – features some of the strongest characters he has ever written. First off there is Bod Owens, a wonderful young boy you can’t help falling in love with as you grow up with him and experience his many adventures. Silas, the strong, paternal caretaker who is shrouded in mystery as to his origins and what it means being one of the “Honor Guard.” Miss Lupescu, an Eastern European lady who looks after Bod for a summer, teaching him, and forcing him to eat her unusual foods. It is a relationship that begins with hate, but ends in love and respect. Liza Hempstock, a witch buried in potter’s field, shunned by most in the graveyard, but becomes an unusual acquaintance for Bod. Scarlett, a living girl who considers Bod an imaginary friend at first, and then something more later. There is even an appearance from the Lady on the Grey for the Danse Macabre.
At the end of The Graveyard Book, the reader is moved to sadness, as all things must come to end. Gaiman has said that many readers told him they cried at the end, which is no surprise when we feel a little part of Bod in all of us. It is the innocent, adventurous spirit within that harkens back to stories like Peter Pan and The Jungle Book, which Gaiman references in his acknowledgements. The Graveyard Book doesn’t end with a bang or a whimper, but with a moving expression of hope: “But between now and then, there was Life; and Bod walked into it with his heart and his eyes wide open.”
THE HERO OF AGES BY BRANDON SANDERSON: In Sanderson’s thrilling and resounding conclusion to his Mistborn trilogy, he doesn’t hold back, skillfully bringing all the different pieces, sub-plots, and characters together in a fitting end to the series. While Sanderson has admitted that he may return to the mistborn world one day, it will be set hundreds of years in the future or past. Nevertheless The Hero of Ages weighs in at almost six hundred pages and offers a very satisfying finish for its complex and powerful characters.
The Well of Ascension has been found by the supposed Hero of Ages, Vin, and the power has been released, except it is an evil spirit, Ruin, who seeks to end the world with the help of its deadly inquisitors. The ash from the ashmount is falling thicker and stronger, choking the lands, preventing life from growing or surviving, while the great volcanoes are beginning to thunder to life, and the mists continue to terrify everyone, leaving some dead, others deathly ill, perpetuating the mystery.
Elend Venture, now emperor of the realm has two kingdoms to ally with in preparation for the end and the oncoming battle. Leaving with Vin, he heads to Fadrex City which was formerly Cett’s kingdom, but is now under the control of the obligator Lord Yomen, along with his army of koloss. Spook, Ham, Breeze and others head for Urteau under the control of the maniacal Quellion. But Ruin is somehow able to control both Yomen and Quellion, as well as stealing control over the koloss, outweighing the odds against Emperor Venture and his people.
Then there are the mysterious kandra race who are in a crisis of faith, for their sole existence is based upon the Contract which was written by the Lord Ruler, who is no longer; does the Contract therefore no longer apply? There is the trial of TenSoon who has slain one of their own. The First Generation of kandra sit silent and undecided, while the later generations are anxious and impatient, unsure whether to adhere to the Contract or rebel.
Finally there is the great Sazed, the scholar who has lost his faith and will having researched every religion but one and finding nothing but lies and obfuscation. It is with this last religion, the religion of his Terris people that is somehow tied to that of the kandra, that he holds on with a sliver of hope, seeking some final answers to the meaning behind the world, its gods, its peoples.
In The Hero of Ages, Sanderson ratchets everything up to its highest point, with the end times approaching and all hope dwindling. The reader is hooked to the very last page, unsure of what will happen, who will survive, and wondering if this might really be the end of everything?
Check out Brandon Sanderon's interview on BookBanter in Episode 2.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com
THE TALES OF BEEDLE OF THE BARD BY J. K. ROWLING: In this original collection, J. K. Rowling explores the mythology and fable world of Harry Potter. So imagine all the great stories you read and were read to you as a kid, of fairy tales and heroes, with lessons to teach you, only add characters who are wizards and witches and warlocks who have real magic! The five short tales in this collection are stories to treasure and enjoy over and over, lacking only in their short length. Fortunately, Albus Dumbledore provides his own commentary to each story, as well as Rowling explaining some terms and concepts for Muggles.
In “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot” there is a magical cauldron that has a silver foot and hops around curing everyone of their illness and problems, only it’s new owner doesn’t care about anyone and has no intention of helping others, until the “Hopping Pot” has something to say about it. In “The Fountain of Fortune” three witches and a knight travel up a hill to find the fabled fountain and cure their problems, but they must make sacrifices along the way, and in so doing discover true things about themselves. “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart” is a tale about a wizard who has always hidden his emotions from others and has never known love; through the Dark Arts he has trapped his heart away in a cage, only to finally discover love one day. In “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump” an ignorant king and a charlatan use a witch and her powers for their own pride and fame, only to have the whole “show” backfire on them. In the last tale, “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” three wizards find Death waiting for them and are each granted a wish to avoid death for now, but ultimately what they choose for a wish will determine how soon they will be meeting Death for the last time.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a wonderful collection of tales that make it a perfect holiday gift for anyone, regardless of how familiar they are with the Harry Potter world. Plus, with each purchase of the book, all sales are donated to The Children’s High Level Group, a charity co-created by J. K. Rowling benefiting impoverished children.
WASTELANDS: STORIES OF THE APOCALYPSE EDITED BY JOHN JOSEPH ADAMS: In this riveting collection edited by John Joseph Adams, it is everything post-apocalyptic. We know one day the world is going to kick it, and here’s what some writers think might happen. Wastelands runs the gamut from a rapture story; to how we might survive in a dead world (even if we’re disfigured mutants); to stories that may not be about the end of the world, but at times certainly seem like it. Featuring a wide variety of renowned authors like Stephen King, Orson Scott Card, George R. R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, Jonathan Lethem, and Octavia E. Butler, it is a sobering collection that delves into humanity as a species, as it fights for survival.
In the opening story from Stephen King, “The End of the Whole Mess,” when the whole world is going to hell in a hand basket fast, a unique spring is discovered in Texas which somehow makes people nicer and less violent towards each other. Concentrating and harnessing this water, it is emptied as rain around the world, and for a little while there is world peace. Then the cases begin and a terrifying realization is made about this water that was supposed to save humanity and has instead damned it.
In George R. R. Martin’s “Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels,” some of our distant race return to Earth to see if there’s anyone still around and are shocked to discover a devolved, primitive form of humanity living beneath the ground like animals. What they don’t know is that these people possess special abilities never before seen. Jonathan Lethem reveals a world of virtual reality and shows its advantages and disadvantages. Tobias Buckwell, in “Waiting for the Zephyr,” reveals a reformed world of simple ways and wind power and the hope of one girl to travel across the planet on the great Zephyr. “Artie’s Angles” by Catherine Wells examines the circumstances if space travelers returned to Earth to discover the Rapture had happened and they had were the only ones left behind.
In the best story of the collection, “When Sysadmins Ruled the World” from Cory Doctorow, it is a world much like ours that on this doomed day suffers a terrible sickness unleashed by terrorists around the world and there are not many left. But the Sysadmins, secured safely in their airtight computer buildings, struggle to keep the Internet alive and communicate with each other through Newsgroups, and elect their own form of government via the web.
Like The Living Dead, Wastelands is another fascinating collection revealing the variety of imagination and writing skill that many of our greatest authors possess today, as well as delving into the dark recesses of humanity and uncovering some horrifying truths. Whatever you’re looking for in a story about the end of the world and if we make it through, you will find something you like in this collection.
THE WELL OF ASCENSION BY BRANDON SANDERSON: In the riveting sequel to Mistborn: Final Empire, Sanderson doesn’t hold back, continuing on from where he left off: the Lord Ruler is gone, but this was just the first mighty battle in the ongoing war. In The Well of Ascension times are still hard for many, even though the skaa have been freed and Elend is now king of Luthadel and the surrounding territories. The nobles must now learn to live in a democratic society where they cannot have slaves. It is a different world for many.
Before the dust even has time to settle, King Elend faces problems from various fronts: there is dissension in his democratically elected cabinet who wish to return to the old ways; then there are three armies marching toward Luthadel. Before our main characters can decide what to do, they find themselves under siege from two massive fronts. One is controlled by Lord Straff Venture, Elend's father who wants his son to hand over his kingdom to him, no questions asked. Then there is Lord Cett looking to seize control of Luthadel with his own substantial army. Elend finds himself in a unique position where he can ally with one army and therefore be able to overthrow the other. The question is who to ally with?
As he contemplates this a third army arrives, of koloss. These are tall 9-15 feet creatures that vary in size but are terrifying to humans. Originally created by Lord Ruler for his army, their skin is extremely wrinkled and hangs off them in places like loose clothing; while there are great tears in the skin and yet the koloss ignore this. But their red, blood-rimmed eyes strike terror in all who view them. They may seem dumb and slow, in battle they are fierce and destructive, and it's unknown whether they may lost control at any second and begin rampaging into the city of Luthadel.
Then there is Sazed, a loyal member of the group who is a Terrisman, a special person with the ability to store thoughts, memories, and knowledge in metal that is worn in the form of rings or armbands. Stored in these armbands are also other abilities such as great strength and speed. But in Sanderson's world, it's all about balance, as the energy stored in each armband is finite, and in some cases can take many years to be stored up, but can be used and extinguished in a matter of minutes. Sazed is a scholar and knows much is not right with the world. Somehow the mists that are feared by many for a long time throughout the realm begin killing people and even wiping out whole villages. There is the Deepness, a mythological force that was supposedly stopped when the Lord Ruler came to power, but is not fully understood and may bring terrible things to pass. Sazed must also find the correct location for The Well of Ascension, for it is here that the Hero of Ages – who he believes Vin to be – will release the power and save the world.
Then there is the OreSeur, a kandra, an ancient race who are able to absorb the bones of a dead person or animal and take that form and appear almost identical to them. OreSeur is Lord Straff's kandra, and is sent to spy on Vin, but it's also discovered that there's another kandra somewhere within Luthadel who, with the kandra abilities, could literally be anybody.
Finally there is the supposed Hero of Ages, Vin, who isn't sure what she is, but knows she is one of the most powerful people in existence, but must use her power wisely and not kill recklessly. She befriends another allomancer, Zane, who seems very familiar, and she becomes close to him, for they have so much in common, and yet he is the allomancer for Lord Straff and therefore an enemy.
Sanderson continues the complexity of the world, with many moral and sociological questions coming into play, as well as adding new plots and subplots. While it may seem a little overbearing, he skillfully keeps everything organized and separate and maintains the reader's interest throughout. It is a sequel worthy of its name, as The Well of Ascension keeps the pace going from the first book, making the reader hunger for more at the last page. The trilogy is concluded in The Hero of Ages.
Check out Brandon Sanderon's interview on BookBanter in Episode 2.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com
MISTBORN: THE FINAL EMPIRE BY BRANDON SANDERSON: The first novel in New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy is an introduction to a fantasy world of class and standing where the poor suffer under the iron fist of the nobility who ignore them and pretend they don’t exist. Mistborn: The Final Empire reveals a unique realm where the mistborn possess powers of magic never before seen in any other fantasy novel.
Vin is a sixteen year-old skaa, a peasant girl who has never really known her parents, abandoned by an abusive brother, and spends her days working in a field with no hope of change. That is until a tall and imposing stranger by the name of Kelsier shows up, dismisses her abusive boss like he is garbage and pays attention to her for the first time. He tells her she possesses powers she is unaware of and then takes her away from her life of slavery, for she is mistborn.
The mistborn are very few in number, but the powers they possess are to be feared by many throughout the realm. By ingesting small amounts of metals, a mistborn is able to “burn” a particular metal and exert a certain kind of power with it, also known as an allomancer. Different metals that are burned result in different powers. Steel allows one to push on metal objects such as railings, doors, coins, belt buckles, wherever there is metal nearby to be used, allowing one to push themselves into the air to great heights. Iron allows one to pull on metals in one’s surroundings, pulling them up walls and across open spaces. Zinc allows the mistborn to inflame emotions in others, to make them angrier or sadder, or more fearful. Brass is a soothing metal, allowing the user to calm and dampen other’s emotions. Bronze allows the mistborn to detect whether allomancy is being used by others nearby. Copper allows mistborn to hide their use of allomancy. Pewter, one of the most useful of the metals for an allomancer, allows them to greatly enhance their physical abilities, so they can be stronger, have faster reflexes, and move exceedingly fast. Pewter also allows them to sustain injuries and barely notice the pain and not be hindered when under attack. Tin enhances one’s senses, allowing them to detect sounds, sights, and smells better than any human. These are the basic metals that all mistborn can use. But when the small supply of ingested metal is extinguished, the allomancer must find more, or find themselves with simple, ordinary human abilities.
Then there is the metal atium. A very rare metal that can only be found in small amounts within the crystalline caves of the Pits of Hathsin. It is here that prisoners are put to work to search for the metal and suffer constant wounds from crawling through the narrow tunnels. If the prisoner does not find a piece of atium, he or she is executed. Atium serves as the most expensive metal in the realm, which everyone hungers for. The Lord Ruler gives out small amounts to his nobles and keeps the rest for himself. But when a mistborn swallows and uses atium, they have the ability to see future actions, choices made by an opponent during a fight, making it the most important and useful metal for an allomancer.
As Vin begins training with Kelsier, who is also a mistborn, she discovers she is to be part of a group plotting to overthrow the Lord Ruler, who has controlled the world for over a millennium, subjugating all to his tyrannical and merciless power. With the help of the religious group, the Steel Ministry, which is controlled by the Inquisitors: a trained and bred group of people with giant spikes hammered into their eyes; they are feared by all for their terrifying appearance, as well as for their allomantic abilities.
But there are those – Pewterarms, Seekers, Soothers, Rioters, Lurchers, and Coinshots – who are able to use only one of the metals, and Kelsier has chosen the gang carefully, selecting specific people with specific talents and powers, and fully believes he can kill the Lord Ruler and the make the world better.
Sanderson’s first book in his planned trilogy opens up a world with unique magical powers and astounds the reader, as well as keeping him or her reading nonstop to find out what happens next to the well developed and fascinating characters. Mistborn: The Final Empire will make the reader go out and buy the next two books – Well of Ascension and Hero of Ages – in the series, just to find out how it all ends, and who remains alive on the last page.
Check out Brandon Sanderon's interview on BookBanter in Episode 2.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com
ELANTRIS BY BRANDON SANDERSON: The city of Elantris is a paradise, a heaven in this realm, but not all are chosen to become Elantrians. Only those who receive the glowing condition that deems them as an Elantrian may enter the city of Elantris and become supreme beings. But then the great change happens, the catastrophe that changes the world forever.
After a quick prologue, Elantris opens to a different and less than idyllic world. Those who are now chosen to be Elantrians find themselves physically altered overnight. They awake to find themselves covered in weeping sores, mottled skin, and are unrecognizable by their own family members. They are banished to Elantris, sealed in the fortress of the once great city which has now fallen into disrepair and ruin. Like lepers or the unwanted, they are ignored by society and hated for the way they look and the way they are.
Raoden was the crowned prince of Arelon, loved and respected by everyone in the realm. That is until the opening page of the first chapter, where Raoden wakes to find himself doomed to be an Elantrian. His disfigurement is hidden by his father, the king, and he is tossed into Elantris. Inside he discovers a horrific world where its people have given up on life. With this curse, its people no longer need to eat for they are essentially dead, and yet feel the pangs of starvation. Any wounds they suffer refuse to heal, while they continue to feel the pain of the wound each day. But Raoden is still the same person inside, and isn’t giving up. In time he begins to change and improve the once great city and the people who have lost all hope.
Hrathen is a devout high priest of Fjordell, looking to become the new ruler in Arelon and will do all he can to scare the people into believing and hating the Elantrians even more. He will stop at nothing for his ego and his beliefs, even if it means causing the collapse of the monarchy.
Sarene is the princess from Teod who was destined to marry Raoden and form a strong family alliance. But Raoden is in Elantris, and yet through an evil law, Sarene is forced to join the royal family of Arelon. While pretending to be the prim and kind princess to the king who sees little in women of power, Sarene is first trying to comprehend what has happened to Arelon and Elantris, as well as trying to deal with Hrathen. She knows there is more going to than there appears and will need to do something if the kingdom is to survive.
Check out Brandon Sanderon's interview on BookBanter in Episode 2.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com
THE AGE OF SUTTON HOO EDITED BY MARTIN CARVER: In 1938 an excavation was made at Sutton Hoo by the Ipswich Museum after years of rumors of “untold gold” being buried within the area. The site was found to be that of a ship burial, possibly for an East Anglian king known as Redwald. A veritable treasure hoard was found of decayed weaponry, armor, and a variety of everyday use items, as was the procedure when burying a person of stature in the early Middle Ages. Most of these items are now kept in the British Museum, the two most famous of which are a large solid gold Celtic knot work belt buckle (http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/families_and_children/online_tours/sutton_hoo/belt_buckle.aspx) and the reconstructed warrior’s helmet (http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/families_and_children/online_tours/sutton_hoo/helmet.aspx).
In this new collection of articles from Boydell & Brewer, edited by Martin Carver, new insights are presented about the Sutton Hoo ship burial and the artifacts that were discovered there. But The Age of Sutton Hoo goes much further than a dry and simple book on the burial site, presenting fascinating articles on the specific period in which the burial took place, what the nation of England was like at that time, as well as Pictland (then Scotland), and Europe. Articles into the development of Old English, the Anglo-Saxon language reveal insights into how language varied between England and Europe. Numerous articles document the undeniable similarities between Sutton Hoo and the tale of Beowulf, which, coupled together, help to create a more complete and detailed story of the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries of medieval Europe.
One does not need a history degree to understand the articles of The Age of Sutton Hoo, which are presented in a clear and concise tone, keeping the reader interested from page to page. The book is a must for any fan of Sutton Hoo, as well as anyone interested in this crucial period of history when Europe was recreating and redefining itself as a continent.
THE PESSIMIST’S GUIDE TO HISTORY: AN IRRESISTIBLE COMPENDIUM OF CATASTROPHES, BARBARITIES, MASSACRES, AND MAYHEM – FROM 18 BILLION YEARS AGO TO 2007 BY DORIS FLEXNER AND STUART BERG FLEXNER: Optimists have ruled the world in popularity since the first optimist made a comment about the beautiful weather, leaving the pessimists behind, ignored, and looked down upon; but now that’s all going to change with the “freshly updated” Pessimist’s Guide to History. For every happy comment, witty repartee, and overly-positive statement, pessimists will now have the fodder to fight back with this reference manual.
The book begins with the most catastrophic event in the history of the universe: the big bang which started all life and everything as we know it. Then a few entries are dedicated to mass extinctions, destructive meteors, volcanic eruptions, and massive climactic changes. With the advent of humanity beginning its slow but thorough conquest of the planet, authors Doris Flexner and Stuart Berg Flexner don’t hold back in presenting every horrible, destructive, plague-ridden event throughout history. The entries vary in length from short quick events: “217 B.C.: One Hundred Cities Destroyed by Killer Quake. A deadly quake rocked much of North Africa in 217 B.C., demolishing one hundred cities and killing more than fifty thousand people”; to longer entries spanning a couple of pages as more setting, detail, and information is needed about specific horrific events like: “1812: Moscow Burns,” and “1888-1891: Jack the Ripper Terrorizes Whitechapel,” and “1902: Mount Pelée’s Deadly Eruption.
The first third of the book covers the beginning of the universe up to the end of the nineteenth century. The rest of the book is dedicated to the last hundred-and-seven years bringing the book up to the present with the many terrible events of the last hundred years. Whether you want to read the book cover to cover, or simply flip through and reference different dates and times, different events, The Pessimist’s Guide to History will have all the horrible and detailed answers you crave. At the end of the book there is even an extensive index of each event, categorized by the type. The adamant pessimist will never again be without a horrific comeback.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: CONVERSATIONS WITH DEAD PEOPLE BOARD BY DARK HORSE COMICS: With the growing enterprise that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer – even though the show is long finished – doing very well with the successful comic book series co-written by creator Joss Whedon; Dark Horse Comics presents the original Buffy game: Conversations With Dead People.
The board game is essentially a fancy-looking Ouija Board lavishly designed with clear letters and flowery corner patterns. With a large planchette that makes the board very easy to use, it is the ideal gift for any Buffy fan who has ever wished to dabble in the “dark arts” and take a step into the “supernatural world.” It is also an excellent Ouija Board for those looking, regardless of their interest in the successful show.
And for those novices looking at the Ouija Board for the first time, there is a one-page entertaining comic-page instruction featuring Willow, Dawn, and Xander as the wise witch gives Xander the details on how to use the board, and that it is not for fun, to which Xander replies, “What? I’m serious . . .”
THE OXFORD BOOK OF MODERN SCIENCE WRITING EDITED BY RICHARD DAWKINS: Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene, The Ancestor’s Tale, and The God Delusion, needs no introduction having established himself as a reputable voice when discussing science in its many forms. His latest effort is The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, in a hefty tome, where Dawkins attempts to present a concise view of science to the world in many short passages from many different scientists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries that tessellate together to form a beautiful volume of writing.
The book is divided into four parts, as Dawkins organizes the vast wealth of science writing available not in chronological order, but groups the extracts into the following categories: “What Scientists Study,” “Who Scientists Are,” “What Scientists Think,” “What Scientists Delight in.” Organizing it this ways serves to make the book more entertaining in the variety of subjects that are presented when the book is read from cover to cover. Should the reader want to use the book more as a reference tool or to look up some specific authors or terms, there is a thorough index at the end of the book. With each extract, Dawkins offers up his own commentary and reason for choosing the specific piece.
All the great scientists make an appearance here: Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Francis Crick, Brian Greene, Jared Diamond, Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan, Primo Levi, the list goes on and on. But this list is not reserved for the greats of science, but many of the women and men who have worked hard in their lives to further the knowledge of science in areas such as genetics, evolution, string theory, relativity, and mathematics. The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a weighty, comprehensive book with almost everything science has had to offer in the last hundred years or so, and while it may not be for the science novice, the ideas, theories, and hypotheses expressed in this book have reshaped science, and offered up hope and ideals for future answers and theories that will continue to change the world as we know it.
BARBARIANS TO ANGELS: THE DARK AGES RECONSIDERED BY PETER S. WELLS: Peter S. Wells, professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota, and author of The Battle That Shaped Rome and Barbarians Speak, takes on a bold new subject as he attempts to prove that the so called “Dark Ages” really weren’t that bad at all, but were a time for important trading, the long-term migration of different peoples, and that most of what we consider to know about the period from the fall of Rome in approximately 410 to the takeover of England by William the Conqueror in 1066 is actually not correct.
Wells begins with Late Antiquity and the fall of the Roman Empire explaining how this all came about and what state Europe was left in once Rome was gone. But instead of painting the invading tribes as desecrating the relics of the once great empire, he creates a whole new canvas in revealing that the migration of foreign tribes and peoples in the former Roman Empire was a gradual one that took place while the Empire was still thriving. There was not necessarily a “hostile takeover,” but a replacing of government with people who were not indigenous to the region and had lived there for some time.
Wells creates the same setting for the mass migrations of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes from Western Europe to Britain as not an event that occurred within a hundred years, but something that took place over centuries. The author attempts to prove all these findings which are quite contrary to common thought on the subject with photos and evidence of the regions apparently revealing that the migrating people had been there for a lot longer than thought, or in the case of the Anglo-Saxon migrations, that the populations were never that large to begin with.
The other part to Barbarians to Angels, according to Wells, is that the “Dark Ages” were not a return to an ignorant and primitive way of life for many, with the power lying in the hands of the church, but a time of life similar to that experienced during the Roman Empire, with extensive trading throughout the continent of Europe. With this trading there would’ve been an exchange of cultural knowledge and education leading to better developed societies.
Peter Wells does an impressive job in revealing perhaps a different world and way of life for the people of the Early Middle Ages. His failing lies in the amount of evidence presented, which may be partially due to the limitations in the length of the book, but may also lie with there simply not being enough evidence to help prove his point. As a medieval historian, I am not thoroughly convinced with the case he presents in Barbarians to Angels, however there are some very interesting ideas, with evidence that cannot be ignored. The most sobering and perhaps convincing item is that of a bronze figure of Buddha that was crafted in India northern in the sixth century and was recovered in Helgö, Sweden, which leaves one at least contemplating the ideas expressed in Barbarians to Angels.
THE RABBI’S CAT 2 BY JOANN SFAR, TRANSLATED BY ALEXIS SIEGEL: After the success of Sfar’s Rabbi’s Cat, along with receiving the prestigious Jury Prize, the eccentric and entertaining gray cat returns to his usual antics and journeys, while a strong, educating, and meaningful story surrounds him. The Rabbi’s Cat 2 continues on, and increases the humor and fun, but also the fascinating story of this strange cat in North Africa.
In the first story, while the rabbi is away on his own journey, his cat takes a trip with Malka of the Lions, who some believe to be the pious Jew, others a disliked womanizer. The cat meets a talking snake which seems little more than an annoying character, but in a region filled with biblical history, the symbolism and possible subtext of this animal is undeniable.
In the second story, the rabbi’s cat is unimpressed with Zlabya’s husband, but discovers an interesting character in a misplaced Russian escaping from his country because of his ethnicity. At first thought to be a golem, all but the cat are surprised to discover he is still alive after being transported in a box for so long. The Russian befriends the cat for he is able to communicate with it. When the Russian announces the existence of a dark-skinned African people who observe and practice the Jewish faith, along with the rabbi and the sheikh – a cousin of the rabbi – they set off to discover this hidden group.
The Rabbi’s Cat 2 is a worthy sequel, maintaining the entertainment value from the first volume, but also adding a depth of story and meaning that make the book all the more fascinating.
VICTORY OF EAGLES BY NAOMI NOVIK: Bestselling author Naomi Novik returns with the fifth book in her Temeraire series – which has since been optioned by Peter Jackson – Victory of Eagles, where the war is not going so well for Britain, as Napoleon lands on her shores with his army of men and dragons fighting for his empire.
Temeraire is uncertain of the fate of his master and dearly close friend Captain Laurence, after the events of Empire of Ivory, Laurence now finds himself sentenced a traitor and awaiting execution. Relieved of service and residing in some breeding grounds in Wales, Temeraire must battle great odds to defy the military conduct, find, and rescue Laurence. In his journey, Temeraire gains some allies and begins a small army of his own, composed solely of dragons and no commanders, who fight by their own code and conduct. Eventually joining the British force against Napoleon, Temeraire demands pay and rights for the dragons, equal to those given to any member of His Majesty’s service. It is up to Temeraire and his army to first find Laurence and then to help defend Britain again Napoleon’s invading forces, or all may be lost.
Victory of Eagles is a stunning addition to the series that adds new elements and subplots, making the continuing story more interesting and riveting. Like the others, Victory of Eagles leaves readers hungrily waiting for more.
THE LIVING DEAD EDITED BY JOHN JOSEPH ADAMS: After the success of John Joseph Adams’ last anthology Wastelands: Stores of the Apocalypse, he returns with a new fantastic collection, The Living Dead, with stories from the greatest horror fiction writers in publication: Stephen King, Clive Barker, Laurel K. Hamilton, Neil Gaiman, Dan Simmons, and many others. It is a fascinating collection for is proves to the reader that no zombie story is the same, and what amazing settings and situations authors can come up that involve zombies.
In the first story, from Dan Simmons, “This Year’s Class Picture,” Ms. Geiss, a former high school teacher, has barricaded herself in her old high school. A barbed wire fence and wall surround the school, along with a moat filled with gasoline. Geiss spends her days with her class, a class of zombie children. After hitting them with a tranquilizer, she chained them to their chairs and each day shows them pictures of humanity, the beauty of the world, and the greatness of the human race, trying to make a connection, trying to get a reaction. But each day she is greeted by the dead stares in their faces, with their eyes hungry for human flesh.
In Neil Gaiman’s “Bitter Grounds,” the narrator has had enough with his life and just up and leaves one day. Meeting an anthropology professor presenting a paper on zombies in New Orleans, he steals the man’s identity, and never expecting to go through with it, finds himself in New Orleans being the professor. At night in the streets of the old city, he meets some people that later he considers may not be human. He presents the paper as the professor, semi-believing in its intention, especially after his experiences of the night before.
In “The Dead Kid” from Darrell Schweitzer, David is a young boy who wants to hang out with the big kids who are always bullying him; he wants to be like them so they’ll stop bullying him. So one day they show him “the dead kid”: a very young child that is being kept trapped in a box in a cave in the forest. It is very pale, twin empty sockets where its eyes should be, and spends its days slowly writhing, trying to get free of its prison.
The Living Dead is a sobering read in that it primarily reveals to the readers the horrors zombies are capable of, but also presents the dark and evil side of humanity and what it is capable of when pitted against these walking corpses. The idea of the zombie forces one to face the reality of death and how in this way it may be cheated, but when the cost is a term that has become synonymous with something that is dead but alive, incredibly stupid, and hungers for flesh; it makes one yearn all the more for an undisturbed grave.
THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF THE DEPARTURE OF MISS FINCH BY NEIL GAIMAN AND MICHAEL ZULLI: In this original story from Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli, who have collaborated before on graphic novels, with see the story of Miss Finch and her enigmatic disappearance as recounted through the eyes and memories of those who witnessed it.
The tale begins with the narrator and his two friends, a couple, who wish him to join them and Miss Finch on a fun night out. The man grudging agrees and is surprised when he meets Miss Finch, who is a strange and unique looking woman, giving nothing of herself away except for her mysterious attire. They decide to go to this circus they’ve heard about, which is unlike anything ever done before. With a total of fifty people, they enter into the main room after finding the front door to the basement of a run down building. They are soon greeted to an introductory show of many strange creatures in many colors and looks. Everyone assumes them to be people in costumes, but they do look uncannily realistic.
They are then greeted by the man in charge who bears more than a striking resemblance to Alice Cooper, who guides them to the first of many rooms where bizarre events are taking place. There is the breathtaking knife throwing act; the Frankenstein-like creature with incredible strength; the room of black light creatures that again seem too real; and the room with the strange guillotine act. After taking a break at what seems like the end, the four members find themselves alone and enter into another room where they are greeted by darkness and then wild animals and a wild woman who looks familiar. Thinking they are about to die, the room turns to black and they leave the room only to find Miss Finch is no longer with them.
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch is a strange story that makes one question what one is actually seeing, what is supposed reality and what is not. Through the skilful writing of Gaiman and the haunting artistic style of Zulli, it is a book that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.
SATURN’S CHILDREN BY CHARLES STROSS: Charles Stross, author of a number of books including Halting State and Glasshouse, boldly goes where no author has really gone before with an entire book about robots and no humans. He presents a universe in the distant future where humanity have over-industrialized and commercialized themselves to oblivion, making them extinct. All that remains is the considerable population of robots who performed and continue to perform a variety of services. This is a universe where there are those that do jobs without question , whether it be transportation, manufacturing, or some other day-to-day job that is required to continue the functioning of this civilization. Then there are those robots whose jobs have become obsolete.
Freya Nakamichi-47 is a femmebot, which is exactly what you think it is. She is the last of her kind still functioning, able to perform duties for an extinct species, unsure what to do with herself in the twenty-third century. Meanwhile the civilization of robots continue the hopes and dreams of humanity in exploring space, mining asteroids, and building extravagant cities on distant planets. Having learned from Homo sapiens’ mistakes, the robot civilization exists in a hierarchical society with humanoid aristo rulers at the top, governing and controlling, while salve-chipped workers perform the menial tasks at the very bottom. Freya doesn’t feel like she fits anywhere in this robotic society, but when she accidentally angers the wrong robots who want what she has, Freya is now on the run for her survival.
Saturn’s Children is a different world which presents a fascinating look into a possible future outlook. The narrative pace, while engaging, gives little to be desired with these robots who continue performing the tasks of an extinct humanity with no drive or goal for continued existence. It leaves the reader questioning at times why they should keep reading. And yet, there is a compelling chase at the heart of the story that keeps one interested enough.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS: 50 YEARS BY BRIAN MURPHY: As only a recent fan of the San Francisco Giants, I know of the 2002 World Series defeat, Barry Bonds’s race to reach and beat Hank Aaron’s homerun record, and the young and magnificent arm of the 22 year-old pitcher Tim Lincecum. I know the names of the great Giants like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Juan Marichal; but the period from the 1958 move of the New York Giants to San Francisco up to the end of the 1990s is a time I know little about. Thankfully 2008 is the fiftieth anniversary of the San Francisco Giants, and to commemorate it a beautiful book has been published, written by Brian Murphy (a host for the KNBR sports radio station), celebrating the fifty years of San Francisco baseball history with the Giants.
The cover of San Francisco Giants: 50 Years captures the book perfectly with a split picture: on the top is Seals stadium, formerly a place for minor league baseball, it was where the new San Francisco Giants played their first games; at the bottom is the breathtaking AT&T Park, where the Giants currently reside. A foreword from longtime fan Danny Glover takes the reader back to moments in Glover’s history as a little boy watching the greats play as Giants. Brian Murphy then sweeps you back to the first days of the New York Giants gracing the streets of the city by the bay as the new San Francisco Giants. Murphy uses a descriptive style that congers images in one’s mind of the history of this baseball team, not overloading the book with stats and numbers, but providing facts and details where necessary, informing the reader of the many great strides the Giants have made, as well as the crucial times they came within reaching distance of the World Series ring: in 1962 against the New York Yankees, in 1989 against the Oakland Athletics, and in 2002 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Brian Murphy takes the readers through the many highpoints of the San Francisco Giants history, as well as the many low points. There is the miraculous story of the pitcher Dave Dravecky, a star for the team until a tumor was found in his pitching arm, who after surgery and recovery returned to pitch one of his best games ever. In the following game, he snapped his humerus bone, and eventually had to have his arm amputated. The story of the great Bobby Bonds, as his son hung around the clubhouse and watched his father and god father, Willie Mays. The career of Barry Bonds who came to the Giants in 1993 and spent the next fourteen years smashing records and creating news goals for future players to reach. And hints at possible future greats for the San Francisco Giants like Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, who pitched in the 2008 All Star Game at Yankee Stadium. The book ends with a superb finish: an afterword from the great Willie Mays, as he recounts some of his memories as a Giant.
San Francisco Giants: 50 Years is a treasure for any sort of fan of the Giants bursting with photos, booklets featuring team photos and opening day lineups for all fifty years, along with an audio CD recounting fifty years of play-by-play highlights. It is a book that will never spend long on the shelf, as readers will keep picking it up again and again, whether to look up a detail of history, check on a team member or stat, or simply to look at some of the greatest players the world of baseball has ever known.
PENNY ARCADE VOLUME 5: THE CASE OF THE MUMMY’S GOLD BY JERRY HOLKINS AND MIKE KRAHULIK: The Penny Arcade team are back again with their next long-awaited volume of the online comic: The Case of the Mummy’s Gold. Volume 5 features a Hardy Boys classic looking cover as Gabe and Tycho stand wary by a door in geeky-looking outfits that bare a resemblance to classic Star Trek uniforms, as a pair of mummy’s arms stretch from the open doorway.
Volume 5 features some familiar characters, including our infamous fruit crushing friend, as well as some new concepts like their take on the Oriental Last Rites comic. With the advent of popular Mass Multi-Player Online (MMO) games like World of Warcraft and the Star Wars MMO, Penny Arcade embarked on a new chapter of online comics with lascivious praise on some games like the former mentioned above, and scornful berating and insult on games like the latter. Penny Arcade also became aware of their growing popularity and the fact that many people read the blogs and the comic and took the advice they offered. With this power they began ridiculing and mocking different companies in the games industry much to the amusement of the fans. It’s what really launched the comic into superstardom as it began fighting back for the fans.
Whether you’re picking Penny Arcade up for the first time, or simply addictively adding the next volume to your collection (like me), The Case of the Mummy’s Gold will be a welcome recruit, with lots of extra sketches from the different conventions they attended, including the actual paper tablecloth doodles they made to pass the time. And if that’s not enough, there’s always the entertaining comments they’ve made on each comic about whether they liked it, or thought the concept totally failed, or simply have no recollection of what they did or were attempting to do.
CLAPTON: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY ERIC CLAPTON: Now out in paperback, the story of Eric Clapton’s life as written and told by himself is not necessarily a happy one, but it is one that is true to his life, as he recounts the moments when he wrote and recorded some of the world’s favorite songs. He tells of the times he wrote and recorded the great songs like “Layla,” “Wonderful Tonight,” “Bell Bottom Blues,” and many more, as well as discussing his obsession with Pattie Boyd and the effect it had on his friendship with George Harrison.
Eric Clapton, like many British musicians, began life in a poor family with very little, the son of a builder. Discovering the great music of the 1950s, he made it his goal at a young age to become a great guitarist. Clapton’s career began slow, with his lack of money, his first guitars just weren’t that good and hindered his creativity, as well as his ability to teach himself to play. Nevertheless, he began his playing in a time that was bursting with creative music talent, giving him many avenues to practice and improve. From the beginning, Clapton was both a perfectionist with his music, and somewhat stuck up and arrogant about the sound he wanted. He saw the Beatles as too commercial, looking for a purer and more complex sound. This is why he spent little time with bands, going from one to the next like The Yardbirds, Cream, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and Blind Faith. And yet with each band he improved and became more popular in the eyes of the fans, developing the nickname “Slowhand” as well as the chant “Clapton is God!”
At the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 70’s, Clapton was at a highpoint in his career, wealthy for the first time, and because of the time, took very heavily to drugs, alcohol, and smoking, and was soon a heroin addict. While Clapton never really openly discusses why he became an addict for so many vices, he is upfront in revealing the disappointment his father always had for him in pursuing a career in music, as well as an awkward first sexual experience that led to many problems in his life. In 1970, Jimmy Hendrix, a good friend and revered as a hero by Clapton, died from unexplained circumstances, but was known to be a very heavy drug and alcohol user. The parallels were obvious to Clapton, but instead of swearing off everything, he went the other way and spent years depressed, constantly drinking and taking heroin.
Through the 1970s and early 80’s this addiction sadly continued with Clapton, even though some of his best music was written and recorded during this period. Clapton is honest in saying that he cannot remember as much as he would’ve liked to of his life. Going through serious rehab, he eventually stopped the drug abuse, but simply switched to alcohol and smoking. The 1980s were a time in which Clapton spent most of the day drunk, and yet still managed to transcend the world of music in his guitar playing and writing. It was not until the 1990s that he finally stopped drinking completely, as well as eventually ending his smoking habit.
It was not until the late 90’s that Clapton found his current wife and admits that it has only been in the last ten or so years of his life that he has been truly happy. This is visible in his music, with the album Pilgrim on through to the present; it is a more mature and happier sound, with less anguish, as if Clapton really is enjoying what he is doing in his life for the first time.
Clapton: the Autobiography is the life of Eric Clapton through his memories and thoughts. It is a life of sadness, depression, heartache, alcohol and drug abuse. In some ways it tarnishes the joy and happiness fans find in his music, when he cannot even recall recording a favorite song. Nevertheless there is a silver lining and a happy ending that makes the reader realize that in the later years of his life, Eric Clapton is finally at peace with his past and enjoying the great music he continues to make.
CATHEDRAL OF THE SEA BY ILDEFONSO FALCONES: Released in May of this year, Spanish author Ildefonso Falcones’ Cathedral of the Sea has been a runaway bestseller in Europe. A medieval historical fiction epic in the vein of Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, the book centers on fourteenth century Barcelona living through the war and plague and one character’s plight to have a good and happy life.
Arnau Estanyol is someone who’s never had anything handed to him on a platter, but then it is fourteenth century medieval Spain, and times are especially hard if you’re a peasant. In this feudal system, the peasants are essentially slaves to the landlord, whom they must pay in labor and crops grown. Fighting for their freedom, Arnau and his father fleet to the big city of Barcelona, where if they remain uncaptured for over a year, they will gain their emancipation.
Arnau finds the great Barcelona to be a wondrous and new place and falls in love with the growing cathedral that is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Wanting to help however he can, he forces his way in to becoming a bastaix—the workers who carry the giant boulders for the building of the great cathedral. As the youngest bastaix ever, Arnau proves he can carry the giant rocks from the quarry to the growing church.
In the city of Barcelona, Arnau finds love and much loss, feuding and vengeful families, and loving people, plague and war, as well as a respect and befriending of the Jewish people who are hated by all. When the plague hits, wiping out a considerable percentage of the population, the people blame the Jews, saying they poisoned the wells. Arnau must defend his new friends, and in this way is introduced to a new and lucrative career choice.
While at times it seems Falcones is borrowing a little too much from Follett, in making revenge and despair prevalent actions and emotions in the people of his world, the reasoning and meaning behind their intentions is unclear and at times seemingly pointless. There is a lacking in depth of character and storyline that has made Follett’s historical epics so popular. Perhaps it is in the translation, which seems to simplify the story too much, that makes the book seem a little too unrealistic. Nevertheless, Cathedral of the Sea is an interesting read in the systems of peasants and nobles in a fourteenth century city, in the different levels of society, and how different careers are performed, as well as what it means when war is declared by the king.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 8, VOLUME 2: NO FUTURE FOR YOU BY JOSS WHEDON, BRIAN K. VAUGHAN, AND GEORGES JEANTY: Buffy and Joss Whedon fans were delighted to discover that there would be a graphic novel version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, continuing on from the end of the show. But fans also know there are two true slayers currently alive in the Buffyverse, and in No Future For You, with help from writer Brian K. Vaughan (of Y: The Last Man) we get the story on what the other slayer has been up to.
Watcher’s Council extraordinaire Rupert Giles needs the help of Faith, the other slayer who has always seen Buffy as the perfect blond who can do no wrong, while she is a convicted murderer, and has always had to fight for everything in her life. But Giles has a mission for her now: to infiltrate the mansion of a rich family in England and take out a girl who is using all her power and resources to kill slayers and anyone with slayer abilities. Faith will have to go through a rigorous training process in being a proper English noble. She will also have her faith tested in being a good person, as she finds she has a lot in common with this girl who wants to put an end to Buffy.
Meanwhile back in the castle where Buffy is, Dawn still has her “giant” problem, Xander is making with the hilarities, while Willow continues to be an awesome witch with a scary amount of power, and there is the strange sigil that continues to have deep and sinister ties. The graphic novel story continues to be an entertaining tale as good as the original TV series.
A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF AMERICAN EMPIRE BY HOWARD ZINN, MIKE KONOPACKI, AND PAUL BUHLE: Activist, author, and teacher Howard Zinn is probably best known for the consistently bestselling A People’s History of the United States, with the help of writer Mike Konopacki and artist Paul Buhle, now presents A People’s History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation. With the popularity of books like Persepolis, 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation, and Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, the genre of journalism through graphic illustration is a growing one, and now has a solid member with Howard Zinn’s book.
A People’s History of American Empire begins at the beginning with the growing American colonies and subjugation of minorities on the North American continent. The book does not hold back in putting blame on the US government, as we pass through the civil war, and the World Wars, spending time in revealing the apparent need of the government to be in charge of everything. It becomes obvious that something strange has been going on for over a century, where the American government seems obsessed with controlling the governments and peoples of developing countries in Central and South America. The term “empire” is key for the book as it extols on America’s need to be dictating the actions of other countries. As we reach the 1960s, the authors go into detail about the transference of this “American empire” from the Americas to the Middle East, when oil became such a necessary natural resource. The book does an excellent job in showing just who it is that suffers most: the poor, whichever country they may be in. Many die and A People’s History shows this as a necessary sacrifice, for ultimately it’s not Americans dying.
A People’s History of Empire is a sobering look at American history through the actions of its government, its presidents, and its politicians. The artwork aids the writing, in showing an emotion and character of the people and events, making a stronger impression on the reader. It reveals a true history rarely seen or discussed in history books that makes the reader wonder at times why so many other countries revere the United States as the land of the free, with the amount of blood that has been spilled in its past over personal gain.
THE BETRAYAL: THE LOST LIFE OF JESUS BY KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR AND W. MICHAEL GEAR: Renowned husband and wife authors W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, of the First North Americans and Anasazi Mysteries series, return with their most controversial book to date. Also archaeologists, the Gears apply over thirty years of research with their backgrounds in biblical archaeology, religious studies, Greek, Latin, to reveal a new and relatively unknown and historically unsupported biography of Jesus Christ, or Yeshua.
The Betrayal is told from two viewpoints; the first is that of Yeshua, as he travels in his time, changing the world in his way, and while one would consider this to be the important character of the book, this plotline serves more as an additional realization to the main viewpoint and character of the book, Brother Barnabas. The monk Barnabas, living in the year 325 after Yeshua, is a student and copier of the ancient holy texts, the texts that tell the true story of Yeshua, some in his very own words. These books portray a Jesus different from the commonly known one: heretical and radical, contrary to the contemporary Church’s teachings. The Ecumenical Council of Bishops has now decided that these holy texts are nothing more than “a hotbed of manifold perversity,” contrary to the Christian faith, and are therefore not to be read or copied by anyone. Emperor Constantine decrees that all copies of the sacred texts are to be destroyed and anyone found with them will be executed as a heretic. But Brother Barnabas knows that the texts tell the true story of Jesus, and he makes it his mission, as ordained by God, to save them for the world and the future, at no matter what cost.
While The Betrayal seems well researched and given the Gears’ background, they clearly know what they are talking about, the reader is left wondering how much of this is really true, and could this really be a giant conspiracy hidden by the Church after all this time. The book is classed as fiction and shelved in that section in bookstores, as well as featuring a favorable quote from Lewis Purdue, author of Da Vinci Legacy. In fact, The Betrayal does bear some resemblances to the likes of Da Vinci Code, Rule of Four, and other books published in the last decade which question the religious dogma, much to the outrage of the Church. It begs the question as to whether the Gears are looking more for the true story of Jesus, or perhaps a bestselling novel in this popular genre, or perhaps both? The reader will have to decide for him- or herself.
BRYSON'S DICTIONARY FOR WRITERS AND EDITORS BY BILL BRYSON: Bestselling author Bill Bryson has already amassed quite a career for himself with successful travel writing books like A Walk in the Woods and In a Sunburned Country, as well as books on literature and language like The Mother Tongue and Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, and even attempting to present a concise history of science with A Short History of Nearly Everything; Bryson now returns with Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors.
He admits in his preface that it is a personal collection, "built over thirty years as a writer and editor in two countries," and that some of the obscure references and definitions may not be useful to many, like the name of the Sydney district Woolloomooloo, or that the residence of the Danish Royal Family in Copenhagen is the Amalienborg Palace. Nevertheless, Bryson addresses many of the common issues that make a writer hesitate – amoral or immoral? Effect or affect?. He dispenses with the dictionary’s phonetic alphabet, instead providing pronunciation help where necessary; as well as cross indexing so that in the example mentioned above, the entry can be found filed under both amoral and immoral for the writer's and editor's ease.
Bryson's Dictionary is filled with innumerable references and spellings for authors, book titles, series, philosophers, scientists . . . you name it, making them even easier to find than looking up on the Internet. Bryson also includes appendices of punctuation and its definitions, words ending in –able and –ible, a list of the world's airports and their codes, the different currencies of the world, conversion tables, and an extensive glossary on grammar.
Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors is the ideal book for most people who do any sort of reading and writing, whether it is the freshman heading off for college for the first time, the freelance writer looking to get published, or the retired crossword addict looking for exact spelling at their fingertips.
PANIC IN LEVEL 4: CANNIBALS, KILLER VIRUSES, AND OTHER JOURNEYS TO THE EDGE OF SCIENCE BY RICAHRD PRESTON: Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and The Wild Trees returns with Panic in Level 4 featuring six of his articles which have appeared over the recent years, in some form, in the New Yorker. While the title refers to the highest level, Bio Safety Level 4 (BL-4), of biosecurity in the laboratory, the articles run the gamut of subjects from the number Π, to the search for the origin of Ebola, to a unique type of cannibal.
In Preston’s introduction, “Adventures in Nonfiction Writing,” he tells a story of the time when he was finally granted access to Level 4, offering description step by step as he is taken to the room where the suits are, each baring the name of its owner, and is handed a suit with no name; Preston takes this as a bad sign. Inside Level 4, Preston observes these daredevil scientists who face the risk of infection and death as their day job, watching them investigate blood samples of a possible Ebola victim. As Preston bends down to look into a microscope, the front part of his suit bursts open and Preston is rushed from the lab and checked for Ebola infection. Since Panic in Level 4 has been written and published, Preston obviously survived his brush with one of the most lethal viruses ever discovered.
In “The Mountains of Pi,” we meet two brothers who live in a small apartment in New York and spend their time building supercomputers and furthering their research into Π and its possible pattern. In “The Search for Ebola,” Preston travels to different countries in Africa, tracing the history of Ebola outbreaks to their original sources in an attempt to find the genesis of the deadly virus. In other articles, Preston discovers a treasure-trove of wondrous trees in the most unlikeliest of places; as well as the finding of an ancient tapestry at the Metropolitan Museum that when turned over for repair, reveals a back side that has rarely seen the light, still in its original breathtaking detail. In the final article, “The Self-Cannibals,” Preston educates the reader about the rare disease Lesch-Nyahn syndrome, where a single altered letter in one’s DNA makeup creates the occasional mental state that your limbs are out to attack you and must be stopped through self-cannibalism and self destruction. Preston meets and becomes friends with sufferers of the syndrome, revealing a human side to this devastating disease, making the reader realize that even those these people are threatened by their very own body, they are still people just like you or I.
Preston seems justifiably proud about the fact that he seeks out the humanity in the difficult subjects he writes about, and in this way it is accessible and understandable to anyone, no matter your background. Panic in Level 4 aims to not just educate the reader in some of the mysteries of this world, but also to reveal the complexity and incredible brilliance of the human species.
STANDING UP TO THE MADNESS BY AMY GOODMAN AND DAVID GOODMAN: The award-winning and bestselling brother and sister team Amy Goodman (popular and successful host of the TV and radio show Democracy Now!) and David Goodman (an investigative journalist), authors of Static and Exception to the Rulers return with Standing Up to the Madness. The Goodmans strike out on a new path in, aiming to not retread on the familiar ground of endlessly criticizing the Bush administration and its endeavors, but to report and record grassroots stories of people from across the country who have suffered under the current regime, and how they have fought back and gained some ground.
The stories in the book are grouped into subjects on how science is being threatened, schools and education being threatened, the war in Iraq, and simply “Standing up to the Madness.” There is the story Malik Rahim, a native of New Orleans who was there when Hurricane Katrina struck, and is still there now trying to rebuild the ravaged country and its torn and exiled people. Rahim tells of the little help he has seen from the government, and what there remains now. He also provides startling insights into the horrific acts of racism that are now commonplace in the ruins of the city. But Rahim has started a charity group from scratch, Common Ground, that is now strong and increasing in size and popularity, providing aid and shelter to the many citizens of New Orleans that still have no where to call home.
Raed Jarrar, a US citizen originally from Iraq, tells the story of his being prevented from flying on JetBlue because he was wearing a T-shirt that read “We Will Not Be Silent” in both English and Arabic. Clearly it was because of the color of his skin, and with help from the original manufacturers of the T-shirt, he was able to make a stand for freedom of speech. Librarians across the country tell their story of standing against the Patriot Act and its supposed allowance of turning over library members reading histories. Psychologists speak out against the use of their members being used as litmus tests and decision makers when witnessing torture at Guantanamo Bay. American soldiers back from Iraq tell the true story of what was really taking place in the Middle East, and why every day is another step in the wrong direction.
It is easy to criticize the Bush administration, but the authors of Standing Up to the Madness challenge the reader to do something other than criticize. Through the voices and lives revealed in this book, one can see that change and justice is possible, and with an epilogue of advice and suggestions, it gives one fuel to begin the change that is necessary to make American the land of the free once again.
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SWORD AT SUNSET BY ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF: The late Rosemary Sutcliff was a prolific writer from the 1950s through the 1970s, publishing a number of children's books, including the Eagle of the Ninth series and a series of Arthurian novels, as well as over twenty other children's books on historical subjects. She also penned nonfiction works and adult fiction, including Sword at Sunset, originally published in 1963 and re-released on May 1st of this year.
Sword at Sunset features an introduction by Canadian author Jack Whyte, writer of the successful Camulod Chronicles, a nine-book series beginning several generations before Arthur was born. Whyte freely admits that when he first discovered Sword at Sunset it changed his life, which becomes all too clear when one has read both authors. The characterization, the tone, and the painstaking attention to historical detail and accuracy are prevalent in both works, to the point where one might think Whyte owes Sutcliff more than an introduction and homage.
In Sword at Sunset, Sutcliff creates a world where the Roman legions have left Britain, yet the sense of Romanitas remains strong, especially in the noble characters of Ambrosius and Artos the Bear. They retain not just the armor, style of combat, and the Roman military organization, but a superior, almost arrogant sense of belonging to something that was once great and could be again. Sutcliff's early medieval world is not as “dark age” as normally depicted in fiction, but thriving with trade and societal infrastructure across Europe still seemingly intact. Artos the Bear spends the beginning of the book traveling to southern France where he looks to purchase strong breeds of horses to bring back to Britain to create a strong cavalry force to fight against the invading Anglo Saxons and maintain the British control and rule.
While it is not completely clear how Artos the Bear has risen to such great prominence, he nevertheless has the backing of the people, which spurs him on to defeat the Saxons in many battles. Sutcliff introduces many familiar characters from the Arthurian world, though there is no Merlin or Lancelot (the latter originally an addition made by Chrétien de Troyes in the twelfth century), but an important appearance is made by Arthur's incestuous sister Medraut (or Morgan). Sword at Sunset reads like a historical military text with its calculated and descriptive battle scenes that make the world come alive, to the point where the reader may indeed believe such events transpired in the fifth century, leaving the common storylines of romance and chivalry out of the story completely, much as they were in the original time of Arthur.
THE DANGEROUS ALPHABET BY NEIL GAIMAN AND GRIS GRIMLY: A is for the author and artist of this book, Neil Gaiman and Gris Grimly. B is for the beautiful artwork on the pages that make you smile. C is for the creative design of The Dangerous Alphabet, which is impressive and astonishing. D is for the descriptive writing of Neil Gaiman, which keeps you turning every page. E is for the exiting story about the two children and their gazelle. F is for the funny things that happen in this book that make you laugh. G is for Gris Grimly who has done artwork for thirteen books, including this one. H is for the happy ending that almost wasn’t. I is for the impressive ways the children keep getting away. J is for the jumping cute gazelle who also gets away. K is for the kiss that’s in the middle of this book. L is for the big letters on each page that Gaiman uses to tell the story. M is for the monsters, the scary monsters that are everywhere in The Dangerous Alphabet. N is for the narrow escapes, as the children slip through the monsters’ fingers. O is for ordinary, which this story is not by any means. P is for the pretty gazelle again, because she’s so cute. Q is for the quandary that the children find themselves in in this story. R is for racing, as the children race across the pages, from beginning to end. S is for the silly but fun way this story and review are told. T is for the terrible things that the monsters do and almost do. U is for the unbelievable way the children must go to make it to the end. V is for the vim of the characters in this book; they are defiant and unstoppable. W is for wary, which you must be when reading The Dangerous Alphabet. X marks the spot near the end. Y is for your yell of joy when the children and the gazelle get away. Z is for the ZZZs everyone needs after this great adventure is finally over.
THE POST-AMERICAN WORLD BY FAREED ZAKARIA: Fareed Zakaria, author of The Future of Freedom, and editor for Newsweek International, offers up a sobering yet fascinating look at the possible future of the United States and its stake as the global superpower in the first half of the twenty-first century. The Post-American World is part business, part political, part historical, and part sociological; as Zakaria analyses how the United States has arrived at the state it is in internationally, and what the future holds for the two global giants of India and China on the horizon.
Zakaria begins by discussing how the United States – as well as its citizens – has continued to perceive itself, from the end of the Cold War to the present, as the sole global superpower and utopian democratic and capitalist nation by which the rest of the world should admire it and follow suit. This is all too clear with the globalization of numerous American companies such as the McDonalds and Starbucks franchises, which can now be found almost anywhere in the world, on every continent except Antarctica. But in that time, the United States has lost uncountable jobs, manufacturing industries, and development institutions to other countries, which is now causing serious problems with unemployment and the cost of goods and services to the nation and its citizens. Zakaria points out:
“Generations from now, when historians write about these times, they might note that, in the early decades of the twenty-first century, the United States succeeded in its great and historic mission – it globalized the world. But along the way, they might write, it forgot to globalize itself.”
Coupled with this is the continued downfall and disinterest the rest of the world now has in the United States with the choices and decisions it has made. “The world is moving from anger to indifference, from anti-Americanism to post-Americanism,” Zakaria says. And it is not until the United States fully comprehends this, that things will begin turning around and improving.
With the United States left in the wake of globalization, Zakaria turns the reader to the next two giants that will become the next so-called superpowers due to the variety and number of industries already situated within their borders, as well as the exploding workforce that is available at a much cheaper rate than the Western World. Zakaria spends most of the book, with specific chapters each on India and China, giving their history and development over the centuries and how it is that they now stand at this brink to become the next superpowers. He also offers sobering statistics in a world that is becoming more environmentally inclined: “Between 2006 and 2012, China and India will build eight hundred new coal-fired power plants – with combined [carbon dioxide] emissions five times the total savings of the Kyoto accords.” And yet the growth in these countries is unstoppable and how is America to critique this when it is one of the largest contributors of carbon dioxide in the world?
In the last chapter, Zakaria addresses what the United States needs to do to become the once great shining nation it was. “It needs to stop cowering in fear. It is fear that has created a climate of paranoia and panic in the United States and fear that has enabled our strategic missteps.” While at this moment in time, this seems more of a lesson for its government than its people, it is the last paragraph in The Post-American World that makes the most sense to the reader:
“For America to thrive in this new and challenging era, for it to succeed amid the rise of the rest, it need fulfill only one test. It should be a place that is as inviting and exciting to the young student who enters the country today as it was for this awkward eighteen-year-old a generation ago.”
WHY WE LEFT ISLAM COMPILED AND EDITED BY SUSAN CRIMP AND JOEL RICHARDSON: In this original collection Susan Crimp and Joel Richardson take a big but important risk in the publishing of Why We Left Islam: Former Muslims Speak Out. With currents events and the success of books like Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall and Escape by Carolyn Jessop, the controversial book Why We Left Islam doesn’t hold back in voicing the vehement opinions of those who have fled the religion and life of Islam.
Twenty-three different people speak about the situations they found themselves in under the controlling regime of Islam, what sacrifices they made, most importantly in the lacking of rights that many American citizens take for granted every day. While real names are rare in Why We Left Islam, the authors knowing the possible consequences, they do not hold back in ranting and excoriating the system of government and faith they found themselves oppressed under. These real life stories are moving and filled with emotion, as the reader learns of the many people who have died, been sacrificed for Islam under a rule that gives next to no respect or recognition for women, while threatening and coming after any who oppose their system of government and religion.
The book somewhat fails in showing the other side and what is good about Islam, but then it is called Why We Left Islam, and the real stories within show nothing but pain and suffering and now relief at being free. The book, albeit one sided, is a sobering look at some of the possible worlds that people have had to live through while under the rule of Islam.
YOUR INNER FISH BY NEIL SHUBIN: Neil Shubin is a professor and associate dean at the University of Chicago. Also a paleontologist, Shubin made headlines around the world in April 2006 when he discovered the “missing link” in the world of fish with Tiktaalik, a fish with many features like that of tetrapods or four-legged animals. When asked to teach a human anatomy course, Shubin discovered that a lot of the structures and evolutionary processes of the human body could be better explained through the evolution of fish anatomy. Thus was born Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5 Billion-Year History of the Human Body.
Shubin breaks everything down into its fundamental parts, with specific chapters on genes, teeth, scents, ears, and sight. He traces the evolutionary history of the important organs of the body, tracing their development over the millions of years through fish and other animals. It is a fascinating study into how the evolutionary marvel of the incredibly complex human body came to be; how organs, tissues, and vessels changed and improved through a process of natural selection to become the most beneficial. The result is a never-stopping fast-running factory house with over a million continuous processes that is taken for granted by most of the world’s population.
Shubin writes in a simple and easy style that makes it accessible to any reader, no matter their scientific knowledge or background. Filled with pictures and tables and graphs illustrating the facts, Your Inner Fish is an interesting read into our evolutionary history as seen through the developing bodies of the animal kingdom.
HYPERION BY DAN SIMMONS: Hyperion is the first book in Dan Simmons’ epic Hyperion Cantos tetralogy. In this opening tale, seven unique travelers are brought together on a journey, a pilgrimage to the distant and mysterious planet of Hyperion, where they will face the Time Tombs and perhaps the dreaded Shrike. The galaxy is on the brink of Armageddon, and the pilgrims hope to somehow save it, and ultimately find their destines on Hyperion.
Employing the structure of the Canterbury Tales, Simmons brings seven very different characters together. It is some centuries in the future, Planet Earth is no more, having been destroyed in a science experiment now known as the “Great Mistake.” But humanity has conquered the stars and traveled far throughout the galaxy. It is a great age, when one can skip across thousands of light years in the blink of an eye with the use of a Farcaster: a teleportation door that takes you where you want to go, created and developed by the AI TechnoCore.
But the Ousters are coming. A distant alien civilization about which little is known, except that they are hostile and a grave threat. It could all end now. The important vantage point is the distant planet of Hyperion, not even a member of the Hegemony of Man, where there are the Time Tombs. These ancient tombs are shrouded in mystery and suspicion; all that remains of an ancient race known as the Shrike, but they may be the salvation that humanity has been waiting for. And now these seven travelers hope to somehow activate these Time Tombs and save civilization.
Simmons begins the story in medias res, introducing the reader to these seven strangers in a world about which nothing is known, but he skillfully reveals everything through the minds, imaginations, and stories of these seven characters. There is Het Masteen, a member of the Templars, a tall and proud but quiet race who created and control the powerful Treeships that possess the Hawking Drive which is able to send ships across the stars at astonishing speeds; Masteen is the captain of the Yggdrasill, the ship that will take the pilgrims to Hyperion; he is also one of the pilgrims with his own unique story to tell. There is Father Lenar Hoyt, whose story is The Priest’s Tale, about the Catholic world and existence of the parasite known as the cruciform which can reincarnate life. Colonel Fedmahn Kassad, a member of the FORCE military who is searching for a supernatural figure that has come to him many times in his dreams in The Soldier’s Tale. Martin Silenus, in The Poet’s Tale, tells of his life as a failed poet who nearly loses his life and then begins his opus that will make him remembered throughout the centuries.
The Scholar’s Tale from Sol Weintraub is the most moving story from the pilgrims as he recounts how his daughter, Rachel, was an archaeologist studying the Time Tombs and after a strange accident begins to grow younger each day. She returns to her family to live with them as she decreases in age, needing to have her story recounted to her each day as she no longer remembers. Eventually a short and easy version is made to be told by Sol each morning to her. Sol and his wife, Sarai, relive the raising of their daughter backwards through time. And now it is up to Sol to return to the Time Tombs with baby Rachel who is now just weeks old and will soon simply disappear.
The Detective’s Tale from Brawne Lamia is a noir tale of her job as a private eye with a client who is a cybrid: a cloned human with electronic implants controlled by the TechnoCore. Someone is trying to kill him and destroy his memory, and it’s up to Lamia to figure out who is behind it all. In the final story, The Consul’s Tale, as the Consul talks of his grandparents on the planet of Maui-Covenant which was once a paradise but when the first Farcaster was opened, became a tourist destination and its beauty was destroyed forever. The Consul also talks about his work as a secret agent for the Hegemony in infiltrating the Ousters.
The book ends with the pilgrims finally reaching the Time Tombs. While the sequel, Fall of Hyperion, is the book which explains a lot more of the world and everything that eventually happens, there is a specialty about Hyperion, a uniqueness with it’s original characters and their incredible stories. Simmons epic universe employs multiple forms of the science fiction genre, making it a complex and fascinating world in which most people would like to live in. In a way, Simmons has essentially rewritten the Canterbury Tales of the far future, with some incredible stories that stand out as moving novellas on their own, and a cast of characters readers won’t soon forget.
Check out Dan Simmons interview on BookBanter in Episode 4.
AFTER DARK BY HARUKI MURAKAMI : In Haruki Murakami's latest novel, After Dark, he tells a unique and compelling story of what goes on after midnight on the streets of Tokyo. It is a very different world from that of the daytime, with very different people. Murakami makes this clear by revealing that the rules of physics and reality don't necessarily apply.
The story begins with a young girl, Mari Asai, reading a book at Denny's after midnight, but it immediately jumps to the unusual, as Mari is greeted by a boy she hasn't seen in a while who sits opposite her and begins conversing. She admits she plans on spending the night out, doing anything other than sleeping. The boy, Tetsuya Takahashi, tells her about his late night band practices - he is a trombonist. After he leaves for his practice, a short while passes before a strange, rough looking woman comes into Denny's and walks straight up to Mari, telling her she is the manager of a love hotel and has found a beaten girl who only speaks Chinese in one of her rooms; Takahashi told her Mari speaks Chinese. So begins an adventurous - and at times dark and morbid - night.
After Dark tells of various characters who all go about their lives during the early morning hours in Tokyo, but who are intrinsically linked and will cross paths one or more times during the night. At the heart of the story is Mari and her love for her beautiful sister, to whom she is no longer close. Eri Asai was a girl born with a special beauty, but recently gave up on life and now spends her days and nights in a deep, almost catatonic sleep. But she is just one cast member whose life is affected on this particular night.
Murakami uses a floating camera narrator to take the reader everywhere and anywhere, where there are no bounds, where things are dark and scary. After Dark is a short, but haunting tale with some special characters who will stay with you long after you have closed the book and put it aside.
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN BY CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN : Christopher Golden has established himself as a talented writer within the horror genre. In The Boys Are Back in Town, he tells an incredible story, one that reminds readers there are still great books being written that will suck you in from the first page, and make you want to shut off from your life and commitments until you get to that last page.
Will James is in his late twenties and while he hasn't necessarily managed to follow his dreams, he is a journalist working for a newspaper and is happy with the life he has. He suffers suspicion from others due to his pursuit of the supernatural and any story involving magic. However, he considers it his job to debunk these people and reveal them as the frauds they are. The high point for his weekend is his ten-year high school reunion, which begins Friday night with a meeting with Stacy, a former friend who has become an interesting and beautiful woman. But when Will asks where his best high school friend Mike is, he is greeted with anger and furious stares, and a short while later memories surface of Mike dying in a horrific hit-and-run accident during their senior year. Will is confused, for he has vaguer memories - shadows in his mind - of knowing Mike through college and receiving an e-mail from him just the week before about coming to the reunion.
The next day at the Homecoming game, Will makes a comment to another close friend, Ashleigh, about the Homecoming Queen during their senior year, but then is corrected by her. She says that it was a different person because the girl was raped the night before. Before his eyes, Will watches Ashleigh visibly change, as she recounts how she was also raped, which is why she can't have children. Will feels his mind splitting, since he recalls visiting Ashleigh and her husband last Christmas, and seeing their beautiful twins. He knows there is something very wrong going on here, not just someone playing a prank on him; someone is messing with his timeline, his reality, changing events. He has some ideas about who is involved, but he's going to have to go back to the life of magic that he had deliberately forgotten; it will require using a spell that will take him back to his high school years. He's going to have to stop whoever is doing this, whoever is rewriting history, and changing his life before his very eyes.
The Boys Are Back in Town will horrify and astound, as well as bring back memories of your high school era. Golden writes with a skill and emotion that brings these years to life on the page, while adding a deadly element - for memories are meant to stay the same, and are not supposed to change on the fly.
Check out Christopher Golden's interview on BookBanter in Episode 12.
BONK: THE CURIOUS COUPLE OF SCIENCE AND SEX BY MARY ROACH : We are now eight years into the twenty-first century and the world has made many great strides in areas like medicine, anthropology, sociology, politics, and increasing our knowledge and respect for our planet and the many different peoples who live on it. And yet the United States is still a country that views sex as an act to be hidden behind closed doors, performed infrequently (preferably for the purpose of reproduction), and as quick and easily dispensed with.
In the May issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, 'a survey of sex therapists concluded the optimal amount of time for sexual intercourse was 3 to 13 minutes'. Now Mary Roach, author of the bestselling Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, has turned her scientific mind to an act that can only be performed in specific ways according to laws in certain U.S. states.
The empirical study of sexual intercourse has certainly come a long way since humanity began having problems with performing the act, and Roach does a fantastic job of showing just how much work and research has been performed in the name of science on the subject of sex. While the author does go back to the days of ancient Greece, Bonk is not arranged chronologically, but rather by subjects ranging from human sexual response; to how the shape, size and placement of the sexual organs can vary from person to person and how this affects people having sex; to sex toys and devices; to what exactly is going on biologically during an orgasm.
Roach continues as she did with Stiff to turn off readers as she goes into detail on what takes place during penis surgery, having seen it performed before her very eyes; as well as revealing the scientific fact that because an orgasm is essentially a reflexive response to specific stimuli over time, a dead body would be able to have one. Roach makes a giant leap for humankind into the world of sexual study in volunteering herself and her husband to be studied scientifically while performing intercourse.
Just as in the author's other books, Bonk is an eye-opener for readers, no matter their background; after absorbing it cover to cover one feels educated enough to make diagnoses for those experiencing sexual dysfunction. But then this may be one of the reasons Roach wrote this book: for those too ashamed to seek clinical help. She makes her point clear: that sex isn't something to be hidden especially when problems affect people's everyday lives. There's a group to help everyone - even a special one for the disabled who are unable to have sex in ordinary ways - and offer advice and help in maintaining a healthy sexual relationship.
After finishing Bonk, one can see how this subject has been taboo for so long, and this continues to be the case with the current U.S. administration being a major advocate of abstinence over contraceptives. But at the same time it is clear that many people over the years have devoted their lives to the scientific study of sex, and here we see a different world of those who want to help and educate others. Ultimately, whatever goes on between consenting human beings behind closed doors is their business, but is there any reason why it shouldn't be enjoyable?
Check out Mary Roach's interview on BookBanter in Episode 7.
UNACCUSTOMED EARTH BY JHUMPA LAHIRI : Jhumpa Lahiri, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Interpreter of Maladies, and author of The Namesake, returns after five years with Unaccustomed Earth, a collection of eight stories that are longer than short stories but not quite novella length. It's split into two parts. The first consists of five individual stories, while the second part consists of the last three tales, each involving the same two characters, Hema and Kaushik.
The first story, "Unaccustomed Earth," involves a family who recently moved to Seattle. After the death of Ruma's mother, she is left feeling guilty over the decision of whether or not to invite her aging Baba (father), to live with them. Not sure how to handle this, she invites him to stay with her for a week. Over the course of their time together, father and daughter rekindle their relationship, while secrets are revealed about their separate lives. Baba also meets and falls in love with Ruma's son Akash, looking after him, teaching him some Bengali, and treating him like a grandfather should - giving him more respect and attention than he has ever given Ruma. At the end of the week, Baba goes back home to his secret girlfriend and life of travel, leaving Ruma unsure, and the reader wanting more. "Unaccustomed Earth" sets the tone for the book, which offers stories of lives with problems and decisions and changes that affect all the characters. But it is those of Indian descent who have to deal with how much of their original culture they hold on to in their American lives.
"A Choice of Accommodations" is an interesting story about an interracial couple who are having problems with their marriage. During a weekend attending a friend's wedding, they rediscover their love and respect for each other. The most compelling story of the collection is "Nobody's Business," involving a young Indian girl, Sangeeta, who is involved with an Egyptian man, but continuously has suitors calling her with the hope of a meeting and eventual marriage. What makes the story interesting is that it is told from the perspective of the roommate, Paul, who has a crush on Sang, and finds himself unavoidably involved in her romantic and personal life while trying to complete his doctorate. While at first the story seems to go in an obvious direction, it eventually moves off on a new tangent as things change in Sang's relationship and she ends up moving back to England, with Paul having to deal with the leftover pieces.
Lahiri continues to do what she does best, creating strong, unique characters who stay with readers after the story is over. Sadly, Lahiri fails to take risks with her writing, always portraying Indian characters who – like herself – come from an affluent, upper class upbringing, in most cases in New York or New England. Perhaps in her next work, Lahiri will branch out from her write what you know world and venture into new territory. Nevertheless, Unaccustomed Earth is a fascinating collection of stories involving Indian characters struggling with issues involved in being American, but at the same time keeping their original heritage and culture alive.
THE ISLAND BY ARMIN GREDER : Originally published in 2002 in German, and winner of multiple German and French book awards, Armin Greder's The Island is now available in English. While this picture book might be disturbing for the very young, it is an allegory that can be appreciated by all ages (the publisher indicates 8-18). It only takes a few minutes to read, but leaves you contemplating its implications and greater meanings.
This is the story of an island where some big, angry, racist people live simple, everyday lives, loving the routine and normalcy of it. When a strange looking man arrives in a shoddy raft, the natives see that he is different from them and immediately despise him, trapping him in a goat pen, hiding him away and ignoring him, going back to their lives. Then one day he comes to them, asking for food, and they are shocked and horrified. They think about who should take care of him, but no one wants him, thinking that he will destroy whatever he touches. Eventually he is put back on his shoddy raft and sent out to sea. They build a giant wall around the island, protecting them from the outside world and people who aren't the same, as well as killing any birds that come to the island, so that it will never be discovered by anyone else.
On the surface it is an unusual short story, but it would be little more to an alien who knows nothing of the history of humanity. For all of us who were born on this planet, this story of hate for anyone different is an all too familiar one that has had many horrific chapters in our history. It is also sadly a reality that continues in today's world. With hard, charcoal-colored, sharp-edged images that evoke Edvard Munch's The Scream as well as the music video to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall," The Island is a story that will be read and reread, as a commentary on humanity's failings.
THE DEL REY BOOK OF SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY: SIXTEEN WORKS BY SPECULATIVE FICTION'S FINEST VOICES EDITED BY ELLEN DATLOW : One of the most important and prolific editors of science fiction and fantasy anthologies today returns with The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Sixteen Works by Speculative Fiction's Finest Voices. The key term here is speculative, for while most of these shorts lack the science fiction and fantasy elements that have come to define such stories for genre readers, they are all set in seemingly ordinary worlds with outlandish and incredible plots that defy the imagination.
After an inspiring introduction from Datlow on the importance of short stories in the genre of fantastical fiction, the collection begins with The Elephant Ironclads, set in an alternate 20th century world, where a Navajo nation aims to become a recognized world power, but at the same time wants to maintain its unique culture. Pat Cadigan's Jimmy is a supernatural story set just a short time after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Elizabeth Bear's Sonny Liston Takes the Fall takes readers on an emotional and moving journey about the famous heavyweight fighter's life and death. The high point of the collection is Margo Lanagan's The Goosle, a dark and twisted Hansel and Gretel retelling, involving mass murder, the bubonic plague, and sexual slavery.
The perfect choice for science fiction and fantasy fans looking for new authors and truly original ideas, The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy offers up sixteen special stories from today's freshest voices.
THE MCSWEENEY'S JOKE BOOK OF BOOK JOKES BY MCSWEENEY'S : When Mountain Man Dance Moves: The McSweeney's Book of Lists hit book shelves with the cover of a triumphant, ethereal, blue, rearing unicorn, readers curiously started reading and then found themselves bursting with laughter, buying the book, and entertaining friends with it. The editors of McSweeney's return with The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes; and if the title doesn't capture your interest, maybe the cover of a plucked headless chicken - with a smoking cigarette in one flabby wing, while smoke effuses from its cylindrical hole of a neck - will.
With an introduction from John Hodgman about the cash cow industry of satire, McSweeney's aims its new book at the intellectual crowd as jokes and humor are procured at the expense of classic works and authors revered in collegiate halls. The first piece, The Recruitment of Harry Potter, is from the viewpoint of a quidditch coach looking to recruit Harry Potter to the team. It warns to stay away from talk about He Who Must Not Be Named and anything involving family. From this we go to George Samsa, currently dealing with his life as a cockroach, having his disability claim denied by Social Security for very specific reasons.
McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes runs the gamut of literature, leaving no book unopened or unmocked. There are short pieces, such as Possible Titles For Future Sue Grafton Novels After She Runs Out of Letters, including: "/" Is for Slash and "Ctrl+X" Is for Cut; and there are longer pieces like Submission Guidelines For Our Refrigerator Door. Then there are plain weird and unusual pieces like Thirteen Writing Prompts, including 'Write a story that ends with the following sentence: Debra brushed the sand from her blouse, took a last, wistful look at the now putrefying horse, and stepped into the hot-air balloon,' and 'Your main character finds a box of scorched human hair. Whose is it? How did it get there?'
Whether it's Jane Eyre Runs for President or Jean-Paul Sartre, 911 Operator, or Klingon Fairy Tales, readers will be laughing out loud and rolling on the floor - or if you prefer LOLing and ROFLing - for hours. And for all those people forced to read long and boring classics, or listen to their teachers verbally worshiping dead writers, McSweeney's Joke of Book Jokes is a restorative tonic, the book you've been waiting for that will make those hours and hours of late night reading of lengthy, overwritten prose worth it, because you'll get all the jokes!
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE NORTH BY PHILIP PULLMAN : It's been some time since Philip Pullman has published anything set in the world of His Dark Materials; the last offering was a very short story called Lyra's Oxford. In Once Upon a Time in the North, Pullman returns with an original tale about Lee Scoresby the aeronaut, weighing in at just under a hundred pages - and while fans would wish for three times as much, it's certainly much better than nothing.
In a poker game in his native Texas, twenty-four year old Lee Scoresby has just won his very own hot air balloon and half an instruction manual. His first voyage takes him across the world to the Arctic waters where he lands at Novy Odense. Looking for a place to stay and a way to make some money, Scoresby is immediately embroiled in the complex politics of the town. Mayoral candidate Ivan Poliakov hopes to take care of the bear problem, supported by the shady Larsen Manganese group. Taking no one's side, but not wanting the town to be exploited, Lee soon befriends a polar bear by the name of Iorek Byrnison - whom he mistakenly calls York - and finds himself in a fierce gun battle involving a hired killer with a familiar face on the other side.
Once Upon a Time in the North is a great adventure tale with - at first glance - an entertaining and straightforward story. But in Pullman's usual style, there is a deeper and more complex subplot that is not fully explained or resolved here. So fans can hope that there is more to tell in the world of His Dark Materials. And if that were not enough, Pullman also created a special board game for the book, which is included as an insert to the inside back cover.
MYSTERIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES: AND THE BEGINNING OF THE MODERN WORLD BY THOMAS CAHILL: In the fifth book in his Hinges of History series, Thomas Cahill takes on the period of the middle ages, going into depth on the important people of the era and what effect they had on the history. Regardless of the actual content of the book, Mysteries of the Middles Ages deserves an award for excellence in design and layout. It is one of the most ornate and beautifully designed books I’ve ever read. As soon as one opens the cover, one is greeted by color and lavish design, colorful photographs and paintings, as well as eye-catching and picaresque fonts.
Cahill begins with a somewhat lengthy introduction spending a little too much time on the content of his past books and leading through the centuries up to the fall of Rome and the beginning of the Middle Ages. He then skips past the “Dark Ages” and jumps to the twelfth century with Hildegard of Bingen. There is very little mention, and certainly no chapters on the likes of Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, or William the Conqueror, who were all incredibly important people in first setting in motion specific events, ideas, and practices that gave rise the High Middle Ages and the great strides made therein, as well as creating precedents and standards that are used in today’s modern age. Subtitling this as “And the Beginning of the Modern World,” is somewhat insulting when only in a small aside does Cahill discuss Muhammad and the birth of Islam in the late sixth century, after spending a quarter of the book on Jesus.
Nevertheless, for what Cahill does spend his time talking about, he does well and thoroughly. Using a conversational and at times jocular tone, making this a book for the layman, he begins with Hildegard of Bingen and then goes on to Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most important women in the history of the western world. It is here that Cahill digs into the deep and complex history of the High Middle Ages with the rise of the universities and the growth of science and math and art and the crucial stirrings of what would come to be known as the Renaissance, beginning in Paris, then Oxford, and finally to Italy with Padua, Florence, and Ravenna, concluding with Dante.
While Mysteries of the Middle Ages should not be considered a complete telling of the important people and “hinges” of the Middle Ages, it nevertheless is an excellent book on the High Middle Ages, and some of the important people who made great strides and leaps – sometimes at the cost of their own lives – to help create the civilized and advanced world we live in today.
PORTABLE ATHEIST: ESSENTIAL READINGS FOR THE NONBELIEVER EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Christopher Hitchens has made quite a name for himself with his National Book Award nominated book God is Not Great, and before the paperback edition is even out, Hitchens returns with an edited collection of “essential readings for the nonbeliever.” The Portable Atheist may not necessarily be that “portable,” as it is a thick and oversized paperback; but is nevertheless a unique collection of atheist writings taken from the history of the written word.
The collection begins with a lengthy introduction from Hitchens as he waxes rhapsodic about the growth of atheism as a belief, the futility of religion, and how it has caused more harm than good. The first piece comes from Titus Lucretius Carus in his De Rerum Naturum (On the Nature of Things), a Roman philosopher who lived in the first century BCE. Lucretius discusses the theory of atoms and how everything is composed of these minute building blocks; an everyday fact of life now, but something that was laughed at and mocked for much of history. In the brief passage, Lucretius speaks of devastating storms and catastrophic events not attributable to the gods, but of something quite natural and ordinary; he even hints that there is no afterlife. Mark Twain, a staunch evolutionist and ever a satirist of religious faith has this to say: “Unless evolution, which has been a truth ever since the globes, suns, and planets of the solar system were but wandering films of meteor dust, shall reach a limit and become a lie, there is but one fate in store for him.”
Emma Goldman, a Russian-born anarchist who became a champion of civil liberties and labor rights in the United States, who was deported to Bolshevik Russia in 1919, was a strong voice in the early atheist movement: “Atheism in its negation of gods is at the same time the strongest affirmation of man, and through man, the eternal yea to life, purpose, and beauty.” H. L. Mencken who worked against religious fundamentalists trying to ban alcohol and the teaching of evolution, and was made famous for his accounts of the Scopes “monkey trial” in Tennessee in 1925, in this amusing piece asks: “Where is the graveyard of dead gods?” For the numberless amount of gods throughout the history of humanity haven’t survived – some completely forgotten, others barely recollected – and his final almost solemn comment is: “All are dead.” Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller fame offers an insightful piece about being certain in his atheist beliefs and how it is important to use the time we have now and not to waste time on thinking about the afterlife: “Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O, and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.”
The renowned atheist proponents are featured in The Portable Atheist: Bertrand Russell, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel C. Dennett; as are authors like H. P. Lovecraft, George Orwell, George Eliot, Ian McEwan, and John Updike; so are poets such as Percy Blysshe Shelley and Philip Larkin; as well as scientists like Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin and Carl Sagan. It is a fascinating and captivating collection of atheist writings that one can simply pick up at any point, wherever one may be, and pick a reading of their choosing – whatever length or format they wish.
The final piece is from bestselling author of Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who “escaped” Islam and its oppressive faith; she offers up this sobering outlook: “The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism. It is not a creed. Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more.”
THE WORLD FROM BEGINNINGS TO 4000BCE BY IAN TATTERSALL: The World From Beginnings to 4000 BCE marks the first in a brilliant new series from Oxford University Press, bringing a short but thorough history of the world known as The New Oxford World History. The series will be split into three sections: Chronological Volumes, Thematic and Topical Volumes, and Geographical Volumes, each at the affordable paperback price of $19.95, with The World From Beginnings to 4000BCE starting off the Chronological Volumes.
Ian Tattersall, a curator in the Division of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History, begins the book with an introduction and explanation of evolutionary processes, what exactly Charles Darwin was talking about, and a clear and precise definition of natural selection. This serves as a foundation to the subsequent chapters which cover fossils and paleontology, when humanity began walking on two feet, as well as the history (as we know it, according to evidence) of the Homo genus. It is at this point that our ancestors are clearly defined as being separate, different, more intelligent than any other life on the planet, and why that was and what it meant to us as a species.
In the final chapter, leading up to the prehistoric-approaching-historic date of 4000BCE, Tattersall discusses the beginning of settlement and the inception of towns and eventual cities in Mesopotamia, in what is today Iraq. Tattersall doesn’t let his writing just speak for itself, using pictures, graphs, and charts to explain the facts and the evidence. The World From Beginnings to 4000BCE is an ideal reference book, or laymen’s history book for those interested in this crucial defining period in our ancestry.
THE WORLD THAT MADE NEW ORLEANS: FROM SPANISH SILVER TO CONGO SQUARE BY NED SUBLETTE: Ned Sublette, author of Cuba and Its Music, embarks on a daring undertaking in a detailed and complete history of the Big Easy. Sublette spent the 2004-2005 year in New Orleans, leaving just three months before Hurricane Katrina hit and the levees broke, changing the city forever; making this book all the more meaningful and emotional.
With extensive research, Sublette starts at the very beginning, explaining the topography and geology of the Mississippi River and the substantial yet flooded Mississippi Delta, and how there was simply nothing that could really be built there before the advent of water pumps and the possible draining of the area. In a time when the land that would one day be Louisiana, was being fought over and used by the Spanish, French, and British, while every piece of natural resource in this part of the world was being used for the benefit of the Western World, coupled with the unceasing influx of slaves; a group of settlers began a town that would one day become the great city of New Orleans. The town was somewhat doomed from the beginning, with a influx of forced citizens from France consisting of prostitutes and convicts.
From its genesis, New Orleans was composed of an entire world of nationalities, cultures, faiths, and languages. Like the spine of the book, Sublette uses music as the backbone of The World That Made New Orleans, discussing the influences and developments of these different people, many of them slaves. It is a city that, after the catastrophic events of Hurricane Katrina, is a city that will never be the same – like New York missing the World Trade Center skyline. Thankfully, Sublette does an incredible job of revealing the many chapters in the history of New Orleans.
NEAR DEATH ON THE HIGH SEAS EDITED BY CECIL KUHNE: The sense of adventure is a facet of humanity, and while some choose to ignore it, others indulge in it: dabbling with the dangerous, playing with the portentous, and facing one’s fears. Near Death on the High Seas is a collection of real life stories about people who strive for thrill and adventure, through the medium they love: a boat and the open sea.
Beginning with an inspiring foreword from the late William F. Buckley Jr., the first story begins simply about a man and his boat; having traveled the seas many times over, he is a skilled seamen but on this particular day there’s a storm that will give him a run for his money and leave his beloved boat in pieces, while he barely escapes with his life. Provocative, descriptive, and well-written, the important thing to remember is that each of these stories actually happened, and while at times they seem to copy each other, these are real lives being brought close to the edge here, and in some cases where not all the characters survive, real people have sadly died in these catastrophic events. Near Death on the High Seas also includes memorable and renowned high seas stories from Thor Heyerdahl on his Kon-Tiki traveling to Eastern Island, as well as Sir Francis Chichester on his Gipsy Moth traveling around the world.
Near Death on the High Seas is a book that will take you across the icy cold seas of the world, through torrential storms and typhoons, as well as the horrors of the deeps; all from the comfort of the comfortable seat you choose to be sitting in at that moment. The key is to remember that while these are incredibly written stories of daring and destruction, they are stories about real people who faced these real dangers for the thrill to be on the water in a boat.
INFECTED BY SCOTT SIGLER: Scott Sigler is a special, new kind of writer to join the publishing world; one might even call him an author of the twenty-first century. He wanted to bring his work to the people of the world, for free. He began on March, 2005 by podcasting his book Earthcore a bit at a time, with continuous updates. Earthcore was branded as “the world’s first podcast-only novel,” and Sigler started off with three listeners; at the end he had over ten thousand subscribers. He followed this with Ancestor, Infection, and The Rookie, and currently has over thirty thousands subscribers. And now, with a big name publisher, Sigler brings Infected to the people of the world in book form (a free version is also available on podcast).
In Infected, something is seriously wrong with the world. Something is making people crazy, crazy to the point where they are driven to kill others, their family, and then to horribly mutilate themselves, finally taking their own lives. The government is trying its best to keep this whole thing a secret, and at the same time trying to find out what’s making people do this and find a solution as fast as possible. CDC is working non-stop, the big problem is once they get to one of the bodies of these “special” people, the rate of decomposition is so rapid that they don’t have enough time to perform autopsies and fully exam the bodies before they are left with nothing more than a black murky puddle.
Sigler has done his research, giving the novel a classic Michael Crichton feel, going into the science and the biology as members of the CDC try to find out what sort of “infection” this is making people kill others, and more importantly how contagious it is. While there is a lot of “head jumping” from various characters that can leave the reader a little disoriented, and the writing at times seems to need some editing, with the flow being disjointed; Sigler clearly has a unique voice in Infected that will only get better with successive books.
WORLD WITHOUT END BY KEN FOLLETT: There are books that you read, with vaguely interesting stories, that sometimes within less than a month have been forgotten, ignored, barely recollected except for title, author and a minor recall of plot. Then there are books that change your mind on life, that give you a thrill as you read them and think about how much you’re loving to read this particular book, and how it’s making such an impression on you, and how you’re going to remember it for a long part of your life. I don’t need to tell you which kind of book World Without End is. I’m also not going to give you a formal, regurgitated plot summary that you can find in just about any review of this book. I am however going to try to convince you why you should read this book with the intention that it will have the same pivotal impression on you as it did on me.
While I have never been a fan or proponent of the seemingly omnipotent Oprah and her book club, she nevertheless has the power to make a considerable number of Americans do, and more importantly, read whatever she tells them. In January of this year, Oprah nominated Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth for her book club and overnight people of all different kinds, and of unexpected types, picked up this lofty paperback tome set in the Middle Ages and documenting the fascinating building of a giant cathedral with immense architectural detail. It’s one of my favorite books, and to see so many people buying it and reading it made me happy. Naturally, once these people got to the last page of Pillars of the Earth, and assuming they enjoyed it as much as Oprah said they would, they would then turn to World Without End. Follett’s new book has been labeled as the sequel of Pillars of the Earth, which is not exactly correct, for none of the original characters are in the new book, and it is set in a later period, however it involves descendants of the main family in Pillars of the Earth, and there is the memory and impression left by characters both in historical record and physical form, such as the cathedral. But World Without End takes many giants leaps further forward as a deeper and more complex book than Pillars of the Earth ever did, equivalent to an ant making its way along a path, while a person looks down upon the ant as they walk by. Perspective is the key here, and if one has some knowledge of the fourteenth century, one will enjoy the book all the more.
Don’t look for the good guys to always win out, and the bad guys to fail in World Without End because, like real life, this world does not reward those who do good and punish those who do bad; it’s a harsh world that gives more opportunity to the survivors of the fittest. You must also remember that this is the fourteenth century, the time of the peasant and noble, a time where class distinction was at the most severe and was a defining character of every person. Though while there is all this suffering, one cannot help but think at some point it must get better for the characters you like, and worse for the characters you hate, and this is after all a novel, but don’t expect Follett to do anything you might predict.
The fourteenth century had a lot going on throughout Europe, and what makes World Without End an incredible novel, is that Follett uses the monumental and catastrophic events in microcosm focused on couple of small towns in England. There was a cooling of temperatures, which led to crop failure and starvation for many peasants, known as the Great Famine; coupled with this was the uprising of peasants against their noble overlords, who had subjugated and oppressed them for so long, known as the Peasant’s Revolt. There was the growing guild system, where anyone wanting to become skilled in a trade would have to be invited to become a member of a guild. Then there was horrific plague that was estimated to wipe out half the population of Europe, known as the Black Death. There was also the moving of the papacy from Rome to Avignon, France, which created a fission in the Christian faith and led to questioning and critique of the absolute religion. Finally there was the seemingly never ending Hundred Years War.
Follett skillfully uses these events in World Without End, weighing in at 1024 pages, but never overtly calls out any of them for what they are, partly because a lot of the terms and names for the events were not yet in existence, and because he seeks to be less overt and obvious, but to have these events occur in most cases beyond the scope of these small towns, to be events occurring far away that have little importance and effect on the citizens of the town – much like the Iraq War is for the American people today. At least this seems the case at first, and then the subliminal effects come into play, where men head off to war, craftsmen have to fight to get into guilds, peasants are suffering and in some cases starving, the church is overbearing in its control and being questioned, and finally with the arrival of the plague, the people’s lives and the towns are changed forever.
World Without End takes you on a journey through the fourteenth century, but not via a history lesson, but in the important and complex lives of some ordinary townspeople of varying classes, their loves and losses, their hopes and dreams, their despair and suffering. It’s a moving and some might say depressing book, but as I mentioned, the fourteenth century was a tumultuous time to say the least. But when you get to the last page, you’ll wish it had never happened, you’ll wish for more story, for more characters, you’ll wish to remember this incredible story for a long time.
FOOTNOTE: Just as World Without End has 1024 pages, conveniently (and maybe with a little effort on my part) these review has 1024 words.
THE LITTLE BOOK OF ATHEIST SPIRITUALITY BY ANDRÉ COMTE-SPONVILLE, TRANSLATED BY NANCY HUSTON: We are living in a time when Atheism is becoming an increasingly popular belief system for many people around the world. While the likes of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris are looking to expose religions for their apparent hypocrisy and cause of violence and many of the world’s problems; the renowned French philosopher, André Comte-Sponville, author of A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues, seeks to educate people about a less antagonistic form of Atheism which he refers to as an Atheist spirituality.
André Comte-Sponville has very little in common with Dawkins, Hitchens or Harris, for he is not out to challenge peoples beliefs and make them convert to reality and science. He respects everyone’s religion and/or beliefs, for they are always entitled to them. He just believes, like many of us, that all the religions of today are simply not true. However, the ideas of being a good person in a lot of the world’s religions are to be admired and used.
The book is split into three parts, and in the first, “Can We Do Without Religion?,” he dispels the idea that religious people are often a proponent of: that morality cannot exist without religion; Comte-Sponville takes his time in explaining that this is simply not true. While it is possible to be without religion, there are three key elements that exist in religion, and that we as human beings also have instilled within us: communion, fidelity, and love.
Comte-Sponville says that “it is possible to commune with something other than the divine and the sacred” and that “no society can dispense for any length of time without communion.” As people in this world, we simply need to be around and with other people, it is what makes us human, and what makes our civilization exist, but also run relatively smoothly. No religion is necessary here, but the communion with other people is key, to exist in this world.
With regards to fidelity, Comte-Sponville says, “Fidelity is what remains when faith has been lost.” This is where our “moral, cultural, and spiritual” values come from as people of this world. The automatic and common sense understanding of what is good or bad, right or wrong; to feel bad when causing someone (be it another person or another animal) pain and discomfort makes one feel bad also. While these important values of society are often part of the foundation of religions and have so been instilled in us, the religion is not required. I don’t believe in God or anything akin to a supernatural deity, but I know that stealing and causing pain to others is wrong, and makes me feel bad whether I want it to or not.
“Love is more precious than hope or despair,” Comte-Sponville says, as he discusses how most religions seem to have a driving hope for the future, for something to happen, for one to eventually die and ascend to heaven, or whatever the afterlife beliefs may be, and this is often coupled with a requirement to do certain things in this life to a creed written in a book long ago. But then why is the saying “you only live once” also so true and often used? We are people, we are alive now, and this our life, existing right now. It’s not about what happened before, or what is going to happen; these cannot be changed and affected; the now is all we can control. The love is for humanity as a whole, to love each other coupled with communion and fidelity, to marvel at how far we’ve come and what we’ve accomplished. Comte-Sponville ends this section with:
“Is there life after death? No one can say. Most Christians believe there is. I do not. There is life before death, however. On that much we can agree, at least!”
In the second part, “Does God Exist?,” Comte-Sponville discussed this with three arguments that led him not to believe in God: 1) The weakness of the so-called proofs of God’s existence, 2) If God existed, he should be easier to see or sense, and 3) His refusal to explain the supposed existence of God by the Bible and automatic faith, which he understands even less. The other three arguments are which led him to believe that God does not exist: 1) The existence and enormity of evil in the world, 2) “The mediocrity of mankind,” 3) That God seems to fulfill our dreams and wishes to such at degree that it seems apparent he was created to fulfill them in every way; “this makes religion an illusion in the Freudian sense of the term.” While Comte-Sponville does say that the above reason do not completely rule out the possibility of God’s existence, there has yet to be anything beyond the parameters of the reasons mentioned above, best summed up with: “Religion is a right, and so is irreligion.”
In the final part, “Can There Be An Atheist Spirituality?,” Comte-Sponville discusses a spirituality separate from beliefs, faith, or religion. It was here I was shocked to discover something I’d been doing for most of my life. Atheist spirituality, for Comte-Sponville, is a love, respect, and appreciation for the world and the universe in its completeness, infinity, and entirety. He best illustrates this in a specific moment in his life when he was out camping with some friends and while walking a trail at night, he stopped momentarily, looked up, and studied the many millions of stars in the infinite black universe; coupled with this was the communing with nature in the forest, and for a moment he experienced a sense of euphoria and complete happiness; an ecstatic joy that he had never felt before. Having spent many moments of my life in similar ways, whether it be studying the magnificent night sky, or appreciating a collection of beautiful clouds on a sky-blue day, or admiring the tessellation of colors on the trees, leaves, and sky background. It makes one stop and realize the incredible complexity of reality and all the millions of details that have been seemingly miraculously (though that can be explained by science) brought together to produce something so breathtaking. There are similar ideas in the Buddhist and some of the eastern religions. Comte-Sponville says that a similar experience can be received from a particularly moving piece of music, and in this way – coupled with the communion, fidelity, and love – one once again marvels at incredibility of humanity.
André Comte-Sponville does not seek to convert those of religious belief, or to turn Atheists against those beliefs and people. Everyone is entitled to believe what they want; what we have to respect is the right to this, and that it is our choice as human beings, and not our choice to tell others what to believe. Comte-Sponville tells a story about a lecture he was giving once on godless spirituality and afterwards was approached by a Catholic priest who came to thank him and tell him that he’d very much enjoyed his lecture. Comte-Sponville’s response was, “‘Surely you can’t agree when I say I don’t believe in God or the immortality of the soul!,’” where the priest responds with, “‘Oh . . . those are just secondary matters!’”