Book Reviews on Parade!

Way, way, way behind in these things, but that’s how it goes …

The Summer of 1787 by David O. Stewart (2007):  Subtitled, “the Men Who Invented the Constitution,” this retelling of the formation and course of the Philadelphia convention to reform the national government of the newly united States is gripping and well-told, a look at political battles that make our own current Congress look like a model of civility and straightforwardness.  The biggest questions that come up are an endless series of what-ifs — what if this person hadn’t been there to push for or against an issue, what if that particular method of choosing the president had been chosen, what if that particular phrasing of the First Amendment had been the final wording.  The fact that our Constitution came  from such a wide array of political impulses and ideas — many of them proposed, rejected, re-proposed, re-rejected, snuck in and finally passed —  and that it’s worked as well as it has is the real “Miracle in Philadelphia.”  Great read.

Kitty’s House of Horrors by Carrie Vaughn (2010):  Seventh in Vaughn’s tale of a werewolf night-radio show host, this is probably the weakest of the series, as Kitty gets chosen for a “Real World” style TV show weekend at an isolated cabin with other supernatural characters (and a noted skeptic).  Things immediately go south, of course,  in Ten Little Indians style.  Not a bad book — entertaining light reading — but a bit less substance than this already casual Urban Fantasy series has shown to date.  I’ll be waiting for the next one, though.

The Last Colony by John Scalzi (2007):  I went through a mad rush through all of Scalzi’s work about 4-5 months ago.  This is the third of his “Old Man’s War” trilogy, focusing as much on daughter Zoe as on the series’ protagonist, John Perry, as we finally learn the secrets behind Earth’s government, the Colonial Union, and why Earth is so isolated.  The heroes of the tale clean up the whole situation, natch, in a satisfying if potentially too-neat fashion.  This Scalzi novel still has strong hints of Heinlein inspiration in it (Podkayne of Mars and Tunnel in the Sky most notably), but it’s still quite satisfying.  I’d recommend it (and anything else he produces). 

Embers by Laura Bickle (2010):  I really wanted to like this novel — a fire-elemental owning member of the Detroit Fire Dept. arson unit — but it ultimately became far too whiny, far too angsty, far too “I am all alone, unloved, something dark moving inside of me, everything good that touches me turns to ash, and the only person who I could possibly have hot monkey sex with  is a guy who’s trying to destroy the world.”  Um … no. Some good Detroit bits, and some of the supporting cast (particularly Sparky the Salamander) are fun, but … no.

A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh & Dorothy Sayers (2002):  An original Peter Wimsey novel based very loosely on the “Wimsey Papers” war-time correspondence that Sayers wrote during the early years of WWII. Walsh does a serviceable job of fleshing this out in to a 1940-based novel, with Harriet and her  children in the countryside during the Blitz, and dealing with a murder during an air raid.  Some lovely period detail about live in that time, and Peter does make appropriate appearances when not on mysterious missions overseas.  Not as good as the Real Thing, but far better than nothing at all for Wimsey fans.

The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson (2004):  Unlike the vapid movie based (very) loosely on the book, Goats starts off as a gonzo journalism look at a post-Vietnam military looking for 70s-era “personal transformation” formulae to makee super-soldiers, including (in one set of experiments) being able to kill by thought — as tried by the few men who claimed they had actually done so with goats in a secret military base lab.  From there, though, things start getting conspiratorially sinister — including ties to the take-down of Noriega in Panama, the torture of prisoners in Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, the deaths of the Branch Davidians and the Hale-Bopp suicides.  It’s difficult to tell where things begin to fade from silly spending programs at the Pentagon and CIA into seriously warped activities by those same groups, but it’s a fascinating (if increasingly disturbing) tale, and a quick and entertaining read.

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (2009):  The fourth Mercy Briggs story, pulling together a number of plot threads set up in earlier novels to set up conflicts both within the Tri-Cities area and beyond.  Briggs does a decent job balancing the whole vampire/werewolf thing, with enough fresh twists to the situation to keep it from being a rehash of the rest of the Urban Fantasy genre.  Nothing spectacular, but a decently entertaining read.

The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross (2004): Lovecraft meets The Office meets James Bond meets Dilbert, as we follow the travails of Bob Howard, who works as an IT specialist for an obscure (and politically unpopular) British government agency tasked with making sure that the world isn’t destroyed, either by Nazi demonic conspiracies or by someone publishing a physics paper that can be used to extrapolate highly destructive magic spells — all the while making sure that his expense reports are properly filled out.  Mordantly witty, alternating with terrifying and intriguing and just plain fun to read.  Triffic stuff.

Changeless by Gail Carriger (2010):  Second in the Alexia Tarabotti series, a lovely and elegant and witty and bloodthirsty horror of manners, with werewolves and vampires in the time (and service) of Queen Victoria, and the preternatural Alexia thrust into the middle of all their politics (though she is, in fact, an independent woman who rises to such challenges admirably.  Oh, and there are dirigible trips to Scotland, curses from Egypt, aetheric communication devices, and the use of highly unusual parasols.  Marvelous.

Victorious by Jack Campbell (2010): Sixth (and last, probably) of the Lost Fleet novels, as “Black Jack” Geary brings the fleet home — and immediately has to turn around and resolve both a century-long war and the secret war taking place behind it.  Loose ends tucked in admirably, a fine space opera (with both nicely crunchy space combat, strategic problems, and crew soap opera all getting resolved).  I recommend the series.

Nigger by Randall Kennedy (2002):  “The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word,” Kennedy reviews the history, abuse, legal cases, and possible future for the word considered the most inflammatory word in the English language.  Except when it’s not. Except even then some folks think it still is.  I’d argue it’s one of those books I’d put on my hypothetical “must-read list for every American.”  A thin volume, a quick read, on great conclusions reached but plenty of fodder to consider — not least of which is whether even including the titular word in my post will red-flag it for some filters (or readers).  (A 2003 Christmas gift from Mary — thanks, Mar!)

Changes by Jim Butcher (2010):  The most recent Dresden Files novel (and purchased in h/c only because Amazon had it so deeply discounted it approached p/b pricing), the title says it all, as Harry has much of his world stripped away from him, the world he exists in  undergoes some radical changes in the balance of power, and decisions made make certain that the next novel will see Harry working from a very different place.  All of it started by the first line. “They’ve taken our daughter.”  Oh, and there’s a very nice end-of-book cliff-hanger, too.  In some ways, this book does a very neat job of clearing out at least some of the underbrush and dangling plotlines and ever-escalating power levels of Harry Dresden’s world.  In other ways, it’s almost too deliberately done (in meta terms, as something the author is clearly trying to accomplish, not as an in-series conspiracy (although …).  Regardless, it’s all done done with Butcher’s effective “let’s drag him over the razor blades one more time, then have him say something laugh-out-loud witty” method of treating his poor, battered protagonist.  At any rate, I call it a fine installment (#12) in the DF series, and it leaves me (of course) panting for the next one. And thinking maybe I need to reread the series again …