The packing continues. By the end of the weekend, we will probably have packed all of the books. Probably.
Only one book this week:
William Fowler, Jr. - An American Crisis: George Washington and the Dangerous Two Years After Yorktown, 1781-1783
Non-fiction. More or less what it says on the box - a historical analysis of the end of the American War of Independence. The crisis in question is the lack of public interest in the war after Yorktown. Throughout the war, Congress had trouble convincing the various states to pay taxes, and thus struggled with paying the army, especially the officers. The British army was trying to leave the US, but didn't want to do it in such a way that they might get ambushed by the American army. The American army needed to stay in the field to make sure that the British didn't launch any further attacks. The army teetered on the edge of mutiny, as it was forced to sit around upstate New York not actually doing anything, but not getting paid. The country teetered on the edge of flying into pieces. Congress, increasingly, looked useless. All exciting stuff. So how did Fowler make the whole thing dry and boring?
Ok, dry and boring is a little harsh - the book wasn't that bad. I finished it after all. But it was a little dry. And a little circuitous. For instance, in the last chapter, Fowler tells us how Washington hired his personal secretary. But the secretary was hired in 1779, long before the events at the end of the book. Why wait until the end to introduce us to this guy, when it would work so much better at the beginning? As an historian, I felt inclined to "gut" the book (although I didn't). A lay reader might find the work a little dense. There's a lot of good stuff in there, but it's a little hard to get at.
As an historian, I'd like to have seen a little more "history from the bottom." Fowler focuses fairly heavily on Washington. This makes sense. Washington was prominent. He stood between Congress and the army, both calming the troops and trying to twist Congress' arms into paying for the army. He was also key in the negotiations with the British. At the same time, from my point of view, the story is really about the soldiers who have struggled through the war, and now demand, quite reasonably that they get paid for the work they've done. To be fair, the records on the soldiers are a little hard to pin down - soldiers involved in mutinies, or even proto-mutinies, are not inclined to sign their names on things. Still, a little more balance would have been nice.
So. There was, as I say, lots of good stuff in the book. I even pulled a reading for my students out of it. At the same time, it was dry, circuitous, and dangerously close to a "great man" history. Maybe dip into it, find the interesting bits, and ignore the rest - ie, gut it.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Ummmm. Tuesday Library Post, 2/07
Right. I went to the library yesterday, and then out to dinner at a friend's house, and then it was kinda late, and I watched tv instead of writing a post. (I'm watching White Collar, which is a delightful cross of caper and police procedural, and I'm 3 seasons into How I Met Your Mother, which is just quirky, and full of running gags, which, as you know, I lurve unreservedly. I love my Netflix instant queue, and I double love my Roku...)
Three books this week:
Kevin Hearne - Hounded
Hearne has written written a trilogy about the last druid, an immortal shapeshifter living in Arizona, running an occult bookstore. I seem to recall he did a Big Idea about the series over at Scalzi's Whatever - I believe, if I remember correctly, that the big idea is "An immortal Irish Druid would be kick ass!" Clearly, Hearne takes himself very very seriously. I'm hoping for quirky.
Adam Selzer - Extraordinary*
*the true story of my fairy godparent, who almost killed me, and certainly never made me a princess
So, as you know, I have a personal interest in books about fairy godparents, since I'm sorta writing a book about a fairy godparent. Thus, I must read this, to check out my competition. I think the title tells everything you need to know, except it looks like an interesting mix of unreliable narrator and counter-narrator. I'm hoping for running gags.
Ally Carter - Uncommon Criminals
The sequel to Heist Society - finally back in the library! Yay! Either they bought a new copy, or, hopefully, the person who walked off with it brought it back. Anyway, caper novel, yay!
Hmmm. No police procedural. Oh well.
Three books this week:
Kevin Hearne - Hounded
Hearne has written written a trilogy about the last druid, an immortal shapeshifter living in Arizona, running an occult bookstore. I seem to recall he did a Big Idea about the series over at Scalzi's Whatever - I believe, if I remember correctly, that the big idea is "An immortal Irish Druid would be kick ass!" Clearly, Hearne takes himself very very seriously. I'm hoping for quirky.
Adam Selzer - Extraordinary*
*the true story of my fairy godparent, who almost killed me, and certainly never made me a princess
So, as you know, I have a personal interest in books about fairy godparents, since I'm sorta writing a book about a fairy godparent. Thus, I must read this, to check out my competition. I think the title tells everything you need to know, except it looks like an interesting mix of unreliable narrator and counter-narrator. I'm hoping for running gags.
Ally Carter - Uncommon Criminals
The sequel to Heist Society - finally back in the library! Yay! Either they bought a new copy, or, hopefully, the person who walked off with it brought it back. Anyway, caper novel, yay!
Hmmm. No police procedural. Oh well.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Saturday Review Post, 2/4/2012
That's the bookcase in the living room, several months ago. Today, the top three shelves are mostly empty of books. We're moving. We signed a lease on a new apartment this afternoon. This should not affect my posting schedule - it will be as erratic as always - but it does mean that we're closer to a different library than before. But it's a library that I like, and Lora will still be working downtown next to the library that we've been going to regularly, so there should be no change there either.
However, in the process of pulling books off of shelves and putting them into boxes, we have discovered several books that we're not sure why we own them. Any thoughts on what we should do with them?
Ok. One book this week:
James Corey - Leviathan Wakes
This was a monster of a book. It is accurately described as space opera - science fantasy, perhaps - in that it's set out in space, and the science is only as solid as necessary. There is no deep explanation of how the propulsion drives work or any of that, but there's no scenes where people walk around in hard vacuum without space suits either, so that's all good.
Plotwise - Detective Miller works on Ceres, an asteroid that has been hollowed out and houses a significant population of people in the asteroid belt. Ceres serves as a significant port and waystation between the inner planets and the Belt. Miller works for a for-profit police force. His boss calls him in and gives him a case - locate a young woman and return her (involuntarily if necessary) to her parents. As Miller begins this, Jim Holden more or less destroys the solar system (socially, not physically).
Jim Holden is the second in command on Canterbury, an ice freighter, carrying ice from the rings of Saturn to the residents of the Belt - the ice provides water, which, obviously, can't be produced on an asteroid. The Canterbury answers a distress signal. While Jim and part of the crew are investigating the signal, an unknown force shows up and destroys the Canterbury. Holden broadcasts this to the whole solar system, implying that Mars had something to do with it. War between Belter separatists and Mars ensues. Miller loses his job, and decides to follow up his last case independently of his former employer.
Holden and Miller end up helping each other out. They mess it up with Mars, and with a shadowy Earth corporation. They fight zombies. (yes, really. And it's cool, it all makes sense.)
So. I really liked the book. Although it's the first book of a projected trilogy, it had a solid, satisfying ending. The implication, from the teaser for book 2 (which I glanced at, but did not read - I rarely read teasers) implies that each book will be entirely self contained. In a way, then, this was an exercise in extended world-building. As such, it was excellent - I liked the world that Corey created, and would certainly read another book set in the world. I'm also glad that it will feature different characters, because Jim and Miller kinda grated by the end. Miller is a Belter (born and raised in low gravity), and Jim is from Earth, and there's a lot of (interesting) discussions of morality based in learned environments and such, but the upshot is that the two characters don't mesh well - they work together, but at arms length, and only under duress.
I did think the book was a little over long. There were a couple of places that I thought it could have ended. I'm not sorry that it continued - had it ended elsewhere, the story would have been less than complete - but there were a couple of places where I was "oh, there's more? Why?" and then found out why.
The writing was collaborative - James Corey is actually Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Franck is the assistant to George Martin, which may well explain why the book was so long. At any rate, I didn't know that until I got to the author's note at the end - it didn't show. Perhaps they traded off sections - the chapters alternated between Miller and Holden - but whatever they did, the whole meshed nicely, and there were no visible seams.
The impulse behind the book - to write a solid space opera set in the middle future (not the "just around the corner, but with Robots!", nor the "In the distant future, Mankind will have two heads!") - is interesting. In the author interview (Orbit does this "added value" thing in their books, it's cool) , Corey suggests that no-one else is writing in that middle future at the moment. This may be true - the book was reminiscent of C.J. Cherryh and Jule Czerneda, but Cherryh's space stuff is a little older than I like to think. Czerneda is more current, but perhaps less widely read? I don't know - my initial reaction to the statement was "well, but I can think of several authors who write in the middle future," but now that I ponder it, perhaps several of them are in the more distant future, where humanity has expanded well beyond our solar system. If this series prompts more books like this, I'll be happy. If you like gritty stories set in the spaces between the hard vacuum, and involving (but not dominated by) large spacecraft armed with heavy weapons, you may well like this book too.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Library Monday, 1/30/2011
Two this week. I didn't want a whole pile, because that Martin is looking at me from the pile.
Karen Duvall - Knight's Curse
A highly trained knife fighter, an evil sorcerer, and a handsome warrior-protector? Where could this possibly go wrong? It's a Luna press publication, which is the fantasy imprint of Harlequin, which just makes it all the more delicious.
Henry Alford - Would it Kill You to Stop Doing That?
Alford is the etiquette columnist for Vanity Fair, and contributes regularly to NPR. He has a delightfully sharp and snarky tone. Who among us couldn't so with some etiquette? Plus, I am promised a scene in which he teaches Miss Manners how to steal a cab in NYC - how could I resist?
Karen Duvall - Knight's Curse
A highly trained knife fighter, an evil sorcerer, and a handsome warrior-protector? Where could this possibly go wrong? It's a Luna press publication, which is the fantasy imprint of Harlequin, which just makes it all the more delicious.
Henry Alford - Would it Kill You to Stop Doing That?
Alford is the etiquette columnist for Vanity Fair, and contributes regularly to NPR. He has a delightfully sharp and snarky tone. Who among us couldn't so with some etiquette? Plus, I am promised a scene in which he teaches Miss Manners how to steal a cab in NYC - how could I resist?
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday Review Post, 1/28/2012
Two books this week.
Steven Brust - Iorich
Thursday or Friday last week, Amazon sent me the copy of this I had ordered (for 12th Night, sort of). Tor has clearly decided not to publish further editions of the Vlad Taltos in mass market paperback, so this is a Trade Paperback, which means it doesn't match my existing collection, which is surprisingly distressing, while not really being that important. Also, not to judge a book by it's cover, but this has the same sort of rubbery feel as Dark Jenny, which I reviewed several months ago. As with that book, I did get used to the feeling of the cover while reading, but it bugged me every time I picked up the book.
Ok. All that aside, the book was really quite good. It picks up sometime after Dzur. Vlad returns to Dragaera City when he learns that Aliera has been arrested. His efforts to get her acquitted plunge him into a complex plot to subvert the Empire. Meantime, he's busy dodging assassins who are still trying to kill him.
None of the big issues of the series are resolved. Vlad and Cawti have some civil conversations, and Vlad gets to know his son a little better, but there isn't a simple way even beginning to find a way of fixing that mess without there being a way of fixing the mess with the Jhereg, and there probably isn't a way of fixing that second mess. The novel begins with Vlad on the run, and it ends with Vlad on the run. The Empress owes him a favor, but cannot help with his significant problem. We still do not know what happened to Vlad's finger, even.
That being said, all of the issues within the novel are resolved. Brust presents an interesting legal drama twined around some political issues. There seems to be some gentle propagandizing about the nature of war - could be a reference to Vietnam, could be a reference to Iraq, could just be musing on the nature of war, it's really hard to tell sometimes. If you already feel that Brust is too political, you probably won't like this - but then, you probably stopped reading several books back anyway, right?
This book is somewhat less fun than some of the books set, chronologically, earlier in the series. At the same time, it's nowhere near as sad as, say, Teckla - about even, really. There are some nice jokes within the text - and Brust ends the book with a series of "deleted scenes" - snippets of dialog, mostly, positing how the book would be different if written in different styles. The scenes conclude with a snippet in the tone of Paarfi, which is both spot on and absolutely hilarious.
This is not the book to read if you are just starting the series - it assumes a certain familiarity with the characters and their various back stories.
Jill Lepore - A is For American
I've reviewed one of Lepore's works earlier - The Whites of their Eyes - and so, when I saw this book at the book fair, I knew I would like it. I was right. Lepore explores issues of language in the United States, mostly before the Civil War. There was considerable interest, prior to 1860, to create some sort of unifying language which would paper over the divisions between North and South. (and, by "prior to 1860", I mean "from the 1780s on" - this wasn't a last ditch effort to unify the country, it was a lasting movement to respond to well known tensions.) Lepore discusses that, and also various ways in which language is used to define a culture - either to bring that culture more in line with the dominant culture of the region, or to set a minority culture more solidly apart.
Lepore presents Noah Webster (who wrote the American dictionary), Samuel Morse (inventor of the telegraph and Morse code), William Thornton (who tried to invent a universal alphabet, which would allow all languages to be learned by all people) Sequoya (who developed a syllabary for the Cherokee language - not quite an alphabet, but a collection of symbols for the various sounds in Cherokee - a non-universal language), Thomas Galludet (who introduced French sign language to the United States - and who was convinced that sign language was the "natural" language of humanity; the common means of communication which would unite all people and bring about the Millenium), Abd al-Rahman Ibrahima (who used his knowledge of Arabic to win his freedom from slavery), and Alexander Graham Bell (who, while promoting his father's "Visible Speech", ended up inventing the telephone). All of these men, Lepore suggests, are linked through their thinking about language, what it is for, and where it comes from.
The book is scholarly, with extensive footnotes and considerable evidence of research. At the same time, it is written in an accessible style - I think that the educated layman could easily handle this book. My only complaint is that, in her concluding chapter, Lepore makes what feels like a clumsy attempt to connect the rest of the book to the current moment, with a discussion of the Graffiti alphabet designed to help people write on Palm PDA computers. In 2002, when the book was published, Palm PDAs were state of the art - they aren't anymore, and so the Epilogue dates the book a little. More, though, it feels tacked on, and unnecessary. Other than that, an excellent book. Scraps of it have already started showing up in my lectures.
Steven Brust - Iorich
Thursday or Friday last week, Amazon sent me the copy of this I had ordered (for 12th Night, sort of). Tor has clearly decided not to publish further editions of the Vlad Taltos in mass market paperback, so this is a Trade Paperback, which means it doesn't match my existing collection, which is surprisingly distressing, while not really being that important. Also, not to judge a book by it's cover, but this has the same sort of rubbery feel as Dark Jenny, which I reviewed several months ago. As with that book, I did get used to the feeling of the cover while reading, but it bugged me every time I picked up the book.
Ok. All that aside, the book was really quite good. It picks up sometime after Dzur. Vlad returns to Dragaera City when he learns that Aliera has been arrested. His efforts to get her acquitted plunge him into a complex plot to subvert the Empire. Meantime, he's busy dodging assassins who are still trying to kill him.
None of the big issues of the series are resolved. Vlad and Cawti have some civil conversations, and Vlad gets to know his son a little better, but there isn't a simple way even beginning to find a way of fixing that mess without there being a way of fixing the mess with the Jhereg, and there probably isn't a way of fixing that second mess. The novel begins with Vlad on the run, and it ends with Vlad on the run. The Empress owes him a favor, but cannot help with his significant problem. We still do not know what happened to Vlad's finger, even.
That being said, all of the issues within the novel are resolved. Brust presents an interesting legal drama twined around some political issues. There seems to be some gentle propagandizing about the nature of war - could be a reference to Vietnam, could be a reference to Iraq, could just be musing on the nature of war, it's really hard to tell sometimes. If you already feel that Brust is too political, you probably won't like this - but then, you probably stopped reading several books back anyway, right?
This book is somewhat less fun than some of the books set, chronologically, earlier in the series. At the same time, it's nowhere near as sad as, say, Teckla - about even, really. There are some nice jokes within the text - and Brust ends the book with a series of "deleted scenes" - snippets of dialog, mostly, positing how the book would be different if written in different styles. The scenes conclude with a snippet in the tone of Paarfi, which is both spot on and absolutely hilarious.
This is not the book to read if you are just starting the series - it assumes a certain familiarity with the characters and their various back stories.
Jill Lepore - A is For American
I've reviewed one of Lepore's works earlier - The Whites of their Eyes - and so, when I saw this book at the book fair, I knew I would like it. I was right. Lepore explores issues of language in the United States, mostly before the Civil War. There was considerable interest, prior to 1860, to create some sort of unifying language which would paper over the divisions between North and South. (and, by "prior to 1860", I mean "from the 1780s on" - this wasn't a last ditch effort to unify the country, it was a lasting movement to respond to well known tensions.) Lepore discusses that, and also various ways in which language is used to define a culture - either to bring that culture more in line with the dominant culture of the region, or to set a minority culture more solidly apart.
Lepore presents Noah Webster (who wrote the American dictionary), Samuel Morse (inventor of the telegraph and Morse code), William Thornton (who tried to invent a universal alphabet, which would allow all languages to be learned by all people) Sequoya (who developed a syllabary for the Cherokee language - not quite an alphabet, but a collection of symbols for the various sounds in Cherokee - a non-universal language), Thomas Galludet (who introduced French sign language to the United States - and who was convinced that sign language was the "natural" language of humanity; the common means of communication which would unite all people and bring about the Millenium), Abd al-Rahman Ibrahima (who used his knowledge of Arabic to win his freedom from slavery), and Alexander Graham Bell (who, while promoting his father's "Visible Speech", ended up inventing the telephone). All of these men, Lepore suggests, are linked through their thinking about language, what it is for, and where it comes from.
The book is scholarly, with extensive footnotes and considerable evidence of research. At the same time, it is written in an accessible style - I think that the educated layman could easily handle this book. My only complaint is that, in her concluding chapter, Lepore makes what feels like a clumsy attempt to connect the rest of the book to the current moment, with a discussion of the Graffiti alphabet designed to help people write on Palm PDA computers. In 2002, when the book was published, Palm PDAs were state of the art - they aren't anymore, and so the Epilogue dates the book a little. More, though, it feels tacked on, and unnecessary. Other than that, an excellent book. Scraps of it have already started showing up in my lectures.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Monday Library Post, 1/23/2012
Yay, Library Day returns to Monday, where it rightfully belongs! I'm firmly convinced that there is a better selection of books at the library on Mondays than on Tuesdays. Because they are re-shelving all the stuff that got dropped off between 5pm Saturday and whenever they open Monday morning, and fewer people have had a chance to get the good stuff than on Tuesday. It's probably academic, since I don't go until the afternoon, but , you know, it feels true.
Two books this week:
Art Spiegelman - MetaMaus
Spiegelman set the graphic novel world on its ear when he published Maus, a cartoon biography of his parents' story of surviving the Holocaust, using mice as protagonists rather than people. This is the two volumes of Maus, with editorial commentary and thoughts about why he wrote the original books, and why he used mice and etc. It's all very exciting.
George R.R. Martin - A Dance With Dragons
This is the most recent of Martin's Song of Fire and Ice; the second half of A Feast for Crows. I've been working up to it, it was there today (because it's Monday!) so I grabbed it.
Two books this week:
Art Spiegelman - MetaMaus
Spiegelman set the graphic novel world on its ear when he published Maus, a cartoon biography of his parents' story of surviving the Holocaust, using mice as protagonists rather than people. This is the two volumes of Maus, with editorial commentary and thoughts about why he wrote the original books, and why he used mice and etc. It's all very exciting.
George R.R. Martin - A Dance With Dragons
This is the most recent of Martin's Song of Fire and Ice; the second half of A Feast for Crows. I've been working up to it, it was there today (because it's Monday!) so I grabbed it.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Saturday Review Post, 1/21/2012
John Donohue - Deshi
I read this on the train from DC to Philly, rounding out my trashy book week. Connor Burke is an Irish-American academic martial artist. His chosen martial art is kendo, the art of the sword, but it is implied that he is also a black belt in at least two other arts - judo and akido, I think. His brother is a New York City detective. Connor gets called in by his brother when an execution style murder scene includes some Asian calligraphy - Connor needs to translate, and then explain. This, of course, pulls Connor into a complicated mystery involving power among gangs in New York and honor among martial artists.
It's a creditable novel. Donohue (an Irish-American academic martial artist, oddly enough) knows his material. The martial arts are all well described (but not overly so - there were only a couple of places where I felt like "you know, I don't really need to know how that particular fight went down, thanks"), and the whole work held together very well. A good mystery, with a reasonable motive and a satisfactory ending.
This is the second book in what looks to be a trilogy. Donohue does an excellent job of giving enough detail from the first book that you know the connections between the characters, but not so much that you feel like you really should have read the first book. (Nor anywhere near so much that you feel that reading the first book would be unnecessary.) I'm going to look for the first book (Sensei).
Thomas Mullen - The Revisionists
A sci-fi spy thriller. The premise is twisty. Z has come from the future to our present. So, ok, you're thinking Terminator, right? And, ok, fine - think Terminator. But Z is not Kyle Reese. Z is the Terminator. His mission is to ensure that horrible thing happen to us so that his perfect society can blossom out of the ashes of our destruction. In particular, Z has been sent to protect a series of events from "hags" - historical agitators - who have come back out of some misguided attempt to "save" us from ourselves. Z is equipped with a replica of a present 9 millimeter, and some impressive skull based equipment, including a Genescan which allows him to see hags, and mental access to thousands of files in a database, which allow him to accurately predict when, where, and to whom things are going to happen.
Leo is ex-CIA. He may or may not have leaked information about torture at black sites to the New York Times. He is currently working for a civilian government contractor, doing more or less the same things he used to do for the CIA. His current job is to monitor the activities of an anti-war anti-government secrecy group (essentially wikileaks, but not quite). While shopping for groceries one day, he runs into a confused Indonesian woman also shopping for groceries, and discovers that she is the deeply unhappy (and sadly abused) servant of a South Korean diplomat. Sensing that this could be a way to redeem himself with his former superiors (and, frankly, wanting to get to know the woman better), Leo begins weaving a plot to get information out of the diplomat's residence.
Tasha is a young African-American lawyer working in a corporate law firm in order to pay off her law school debts. Her brother died in Iraq. She doesn't believe the official story of why. When she reads memos from a client of the firm indicating that they had delayed shipping equipment to soldiers in Iraq (including armored vests and ammunition) in order to save a little money, she agonizes for a bit, then leaks this information to the New York Times, where it causes a minor sensation, then vanishes. She becomes involved in periphery of the anti-war group that Leo is investigating. She also runs into Z, who is using the alias Troy Jones, and they begin a relationship of sorts.
So, it's a spy story. It's a political thriller. It's an odd utopian/dystopian sci fi story. All mooshed together in a delightful way, and then twisted until the reader isn't sure what's really happening, and who it's really happening to. Z, who is the only point of view character, is quickly shown to be an unreliable narrator. I'm going to mask some spoilers here (those who don't mind spoilers can decypher the following here - simply cut and paste into the obvious box, and click the button.):
Nobhg n lrne ntb, Ebova Ynjf ena n tnzr ba uvf yvirwbheany pnyyrq Natryf naq Bcrengbef. Vg jnf onfvpnyyl n pubbfr lbhe bja nqiragher tnzr. Rnpu jrrx, Ynjf jbhyq cbfg n yvggyr ovg bs gur fgbel, naq raq jvgu n fheirl; fbzrgvzrf gjb pubvprf, ohg bsgra sbhe be svir. Ernqref jbhyq ibgr va gur fheirl, naq gur bcgvba jvgu gur zbfg ibgrf nsgre n ernfbanoyr crevbq bs gvzr jbhyq or jung unccrarq. Gur punenpgre jr jrer pbyyrpgviryl cynlvat jnf n uhzna ntrag bs gur natryf. Gur natryf hfrq uvz gb svtug ntnvafg gur Bcrengbef, tenagvat uvz gur novyvgl gb frr Bcrengbef nf gurl gehyl ner haqre gurve uhzna qvfthvfrf. Ubjrire, jura gur ntrag jnf abg arrqrq ol gur natryf, ur erfvqrf va n zragny vafgvghgvba, jurer ur vf tvira n zrq juvpu gheaf bss gur novyvgl gb frr Bcrengbef... V qba'g npghnyyl erpnyy vs gur dhrfgvba bs "ernyyl na ntrag, be npghnyyl fpuvmbcueravp" jnf rire ernyyl erfbyirq, orpnhfr gung jnf gur prageny grafvba bs gur fgbel. Zhyyra qbrf fbzrguvat fvzvyne gbjneqf gur raq bs guvf obbx, naq qbrf abg erfbyir vg rvgure - rvgure M vf na ntrag bs fbzr shgher tbireazrag frag gb cebgrpg riragf va bhe cerfrag, naq znfdhrenqvat nf Gebl Wbarf va beqre gb svg va, be Gebl Wbarf vf na rk AFN ntrag jubfr oenva fanccrq jura uvf jvsr naq xvq qvrq va n pne nppvqrag, naq jub abj, va n fpuvmbcueravp shthr, oryvrirf uvzfrys gb or M, na ntrag bs n shgher tbireazrag frag gb cebgrpg riragf va bhe cerfrag.
In the end, it doesn't really matter. Either possibility results in the same excellent story, and the tension between the two possibilities merely makes the story that much deeper and twistier and, as I suggested yesterday, mind-fuckerier. Which it was to begin with.
It's a slow read, because the events are complicated. Also, expect to dream of spies and such for most of the week while reading it - at least, I did, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. Some readers may find Mullen a little too cynical in re: current politics, and that may be a fair assessment - he has not, however, written a work of propaganda, so I didn't mind. There are no "good guys" and "bad guys" here - the pro-government and anti-government groups are equally a-moral and, almost, slimy. I'm ok with that.
I read this on the train from DC to Philly, rounding out my trashy book week. Connor Burke is an Irish-American academic martial artist. His chosen martial art is kendo, the art of the sword, but it is implied that he is also a black belt in at least two other arts - judo and akido, I think. His brother is a New York City detective. Connor gets called in by his brother when an execution style murder scene includes some Asian calligraphy - Connor needs to translate, and then explain. This, of course, pulls Connor into a complicated mystery involving power among gangs in New York and honor among martial artists.
It's a creditable novel. Donohue (an Irish-American academic martial artist, oddly enough) knows his material. The martial arts are all well described (but not overly so - there were only a couple of places where I felt like "you know, I don't really need to know how that particular fight went down, thanks"), and the whole work held together very well. A good mystery, with a reasonable motive and a satisfactory ending.
This is the second book in what looks to be a trilogy. Donohue does an excellent job of giving enough detail from the first book that you know the connections between the characters, but not so much that you feel like you really should have read the first book. (Nor anywhere near so much that you feel that reading the first book would be unnecessary.) I'm going to look for the first book (Sensei).
Thomas Mullen - The Revisionists
A sci-fi spy thriller. The premise is twisty. Z has come from the future to our present. So, ok, you're thinking Terminator, right? And, ok, fine - think Terminator. But Z is not Kyle Reese. Z is the Terminator. His mission is to ensure that horrible thing happen to us so that his perfect society can blossom out of the ashes of our destruction. In particular, Z has been sent to protect a series of events from "hags" - historical agitators - who have come back out of some misguided attempt to "save" us from ourselves. Z is equipped with a replica of a present 9 millimeter, and some impressive skull based equipment, including a Genescan which allows him to see hags, and mental access to thousands of files in a database, which allow him to accurately predict when, where, and to whom things are going to happen.
Leo is ex-CIA. He may or may not have leaked information about torture at black sites to the New York Times. He is currently working for a civilian government contractor, doing more or less the same things he used to do for the CIA. His current job is to monitor the activities of an anti-war anti-government secrecy group (essentially wikileaks, but not quite). While shopping for groceries one day, he runs into a confused Indonesian woman also shopping for groceries, and discovers that she is the deeply unhappy (and sadly abused) servant of a South Korean diplomat. Sensing that this could be a way to redeem himself with his former superiors (and, frankly, wanting to get to know the woman better), Leo begins weaving a plot to get information out of the diplomat's residence.
Tasha is a young African-American lawyer working in a corporate law firm in order to pay off her law school debts. Her brother died in Iraq. She doesn't believe the official story of why. When she reads memos from a client of the firm indicating that they had delayed shipping equipment to soldiers in Iraq (including armored vests and ammunition) in order to save a little money, she agonizes for a bit, then leaks this information to the New York Times, where it causes a minor sensation, then vanishes. She becomes involved in periphery of the anti-war group that Leo is investigating. She also runs into Z, who is using the alias Troy Jones, and they begin a relationship of sorts.
So, it's a spy story. It's a political thriller. It's an odd utopian/dystopian sci fi story. All mooshed together in a delightful way, and then twisted until the reader isn't sure what's really happening, and who it's really happening to. Z, who is the only point of view character, is quickly shown to be an unreliable narrator. I'm going to mask some spoilers here (those who don't mind spoilers can decypher the following here - simply cut and paste into the obvious box, and click the button.):
Nobhg n lrne ntb, Ebova Ynjf ena n tnzr ba uvf yvirwbheany pnyyrq Natryf naq Bcrengbef. Vg jnf onfvpnyyl n pubbfr lbhe bja nqiragher tnzr. Rnpu jrrx, Ynjf jbhyq cbfg n yvggyr ovg bs gur fgbel, naq raq jvgu n fheirl; fbzrgvzrf gjb pubvprf, ohg bsgra sbhe be svir. Ernqref jbhyq ibgr va gur fheirl, naq gur bcgvba jvgu gur zbfg ibgrf nsgre n ernfbanoyr crevbq bs gvzr jbhyq or jung unccrarq. Gur punenpgre jr jrer pbyyrpgviryl cynlvat jnf n uhzna ntrag bs gur natryf. Gur natryf hfrq uvz gb svtug ntnvafg gur Bcrengbef, tenagvat uvz gur novyvgl gb frr Bcrengbef nf gurl gehyl ner haqre gurve uhzna qvfthvfrf. Ubjrire, jura gur ntrag jnf abg arrqrq ol gur natryf, ur erfvqrf va n zragny vafgvghgvba, jurer ur vf tvira n zrq juvpu gheaf bss gur novyvgl gb frr Bcrengbef... V qba'g npghnyyl erpnyy vs gur dhrfgvba bs "ernyyl na ntrag, be npghnyyl fpuvmbcueravp" jnf rire ernyyl erfbyirq, orpnhfr gung jnf gur prageny grafvba bs gur fgbel. Zhyyra qbrf fbzrguvat fvzvyne gbjneqf gur raq bs guvf obbx, naq qbrf abg erfbyir vg rvgure - rvgure M vf na ntrag bs fbzr shgher tbireazrag frag gb cebgrpg riragf va bhe cerfrag, naq znfdhrenqvat nf Gebl Wbarf va beqre gb svg va, be Gebl Wbarf vf na rk AFN ntrag jubfr oenva fanccrq jura uvf jvsr naq xvq qvrq va n pne nppvqrag, naq jub abj, va n fpuvmbcueravp shthr, oryvrirf uvzfrys gb or M, na ntrag bs n shgher tbireazrag frag gb cebgrpg riragf va bhe cerfrag.
In the end, it doesn't really matter. Either possibility results in the same excellent story, and the tension between the two possibilities merely makes the story that much deeper and twistier and, as I suggested yesterday, mind-fuckerier. Which it was to begin with.
It's a slow read, because the events are complicated. Also, expect to dream of spies and such for most of the week while reading it - at least, I did, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. Some readers may find Mullen a little too cynical in re: current politics, and that may be a fair assessment - he has not, however, written a work of propaganda, so I didn't mind. There are no "good guys" and "bad guys" here - the pro-government and anti-government groups are equally a-moral and, almost, slimy. I'm ok with that.
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