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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 14, 2019 20:49:13 GMT -5
A Sloop of War by Philip Allan
While there are some things that are a bit predictable about this 2nd installment in the career of Alexander Clay, there is plenty in it to make it unique in the very specific yet crowded landscape of Napleonic Era naval fiction.
Unlike most that save something like a land siege for a latter installment, Allan goes right to it as the crew of the Rush take part in the British capture of St. Lucia. With the new ship, of course, there's some changes in the cast, and they are good ones. The new purser is a pretty fun character, and while the ex-slave they add to the crew, Able Sedgwick, it a bit too perfect to be a real character, he serves his purpose well in the narrative.
There are, of course, a few lucky coincidences and a last second rescue, and the only bad thing is practically an after thought, but that's to be expected in this sort of series.
My only complaint is I wish it more known/popular here in the US, but it tells to how much of an enjoyable read it is that I was actually willing to pay list price online to read it.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 16, 2019 15:25:10 GMT -5
Her Pilgrim SoulAlan Brennert, 1990 More goodness from Brennert, this time a collection of short stories (eight in all). All but two have some kind of speculative or magical aspect, and they're all quite good to excellent. Three of them - the title story, plus "Healer" and "Voices in the Earth" - were also adapted into episodes of the revived Twilight Zone in the 1980s (or rather, I think Brennert adapted the screenplays for those episodes into stories). My favorites here were the first and last stories, "Sea Change" and "Her Pilgrim Soul." Both of them in particular deal with the themes that Brennert seems to excel in portraying: loving relationships between women and men in all of their complexity.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 16, 2019 17:18:28 GMT -5
I've never read any of Brennert's prose. You'd think I would have as much as I love his comics work. But, alas, no.
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Post by berkley on Sept 16, 2019 23:12:13 GMT -5
First I've heard of Brennert. What's he known for in comics - or in books, for that matter? I see from his wiki page that he worked in tv quite a bit, but the comics they listed seemed to be mostly the scattered single issue here and there, no extended runs, that I noticed.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 17, 2019 2:59:51 GMT -5
I've never read any of Brennert's prose. You'd think I would have as much as I love his comics work. But, alas, no. As I've noted in my brief reviews here of his 1980s output, his prose work is really worth checking out. I'm really looking forward to reading his more recent books, i.e., those published after 2000.
Well, it's true that he didn't write much for comics, but most of what he did do is outstanding. I think he's best known for "The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne" from Brave & the Bold #197 (basically the story of how Earth-2 Batman and Catwoman fell in love). In my opinion, that's one of the best Batman stories ever - and it's my personal favorite. His story in B&B #182 (Batman and Earth-2 Robin) is also top-notch.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 17, 2019 13:00:31 GMT -5
Valley of Creation Edmond Hamilton c. 1948 (my copy has the same art, but is a later edition with the red border and .60 cover) The comics I'm read by Edmond Hamilton are all very Silver Age... and this story would fit right in to that mold... though of course those comic were toward the end of his long writing career. This one espouses to be 'in the mold of Burroughs and Howard' but really feels more like Lost Horizon than anything. The main character, Eric Nelson is a mercenary stuck in China at the time of the communist revolution, and gets caught up in a fight in a hidden valley in Tibet between 'The Brotherhood' (who are people who talk to super intelligent animals mentally) and 'the Humanites' (who think said animals should know their role and shut up, to quoth the Rock). It takes Nelson more than 1/2 the book and a 'only in classic sci fi' punishment to get on the right side. The ending fight seen is pretty good, but the big revelation at the end is just what was obvious. It feels a bit ahead of it's time for 1948, but nothing remarkable.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 19, 2019 15:27:52 GMT -5
Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times by Joel Richard PaulOne of a recent rash of biographies of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court and probably the most important jurist in American history. Marshall took the helm of a Court that was, at best, an afterthought in the American political system in the early days of the nation and transformed it into a co-equal branch of the government. Prior to Marshall, the position of Supreme Court Justice was not a prestigious one and the Chief Justice was not exception. Of Marshall's three predecessors John Jay spent significant time while on the Court working on Jay's Treaty with Britain and twice running for Governor of New York, resigning when he won the 1795 election. John Rutledge was a recess appointment who failed to be confirmed by the Senate and Oliver Ellsworth spent time while the Chief Justice as an envoy to France and resigned after four years due to ill health. Marshall took an underfunded Court with no home of its own that was under almost constant attack by the Executive Branch and through brilliant maneuvering, compromise with the other justices and writing of opinions forged an independent judiciary that was able to withstand brute force attacks from the other branches. Marshall penned the bulk of the opinions delivered by his Court, landmark cases that are still the basis of the American legal and political system. Marbury v. Madison is still the most important decision issued by the Court. Likewise, McCullough v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden defined the way the branches of government and the federal and state governments would interact. Even those cases that Marshall recused himself from (Martin v. Hunter's Lessee) had his fingerprints all over them. Obviously I studied these cases in law school. But there is a lot of background on the cases, both historical and political, that you don't get simply from reading the cases as written. And a lot of political maneuvering that went in to how the cases were decided...and even pursued at the lower court levels. The book covers Marshall's entire life. From his hardscrabble childhood to his time as a soldier in the Revolution. His work that was instrumental in getting Virginia to ratify the Constitution. His time as Envoy to France and as Secretary of State. But it's the background on the Court and the Court decisions that really make the book. The second half flew...the first half not so much. I think it might make some sense to read this book in tandem with a biography of Thomas Jefferson. The two were cousins and life-long rivals and political enemies. While the author (a Constitutional Law professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law) gives lip service to the virtues and failings of both Marshall and Jefferson, Jefferson does not come off looking good in this book. The other thing that struck me is that the more things change the more they stay the same. The political partisanship, the virulent hatred of the press, the animosity between state and federal officials, the outright corruption of various officials and the lengths their supporters would go to ignore it...seemed remarkably modern. There's a lot here to like. And if you're interested in the background of the landmark cases in the early history of the U.S. this is a great place to start.
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Post by Prince Hal on Sept 19, 2019 17:26:01 GMT -5
Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times by Joel Richard PaulOne of a recent rash of biographies of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court and probably the most important jurist in American history. Marshall took the helm of a Court that was, at best, an afterthought in the American political system in the early days of the nation and transformed it into a co-equal branch of the government. Prior to Marshall, the position of Supreme Court Justice was not a prestigious one and the Chief Justice was not exception. Of Marshall's three predecessors John Jay spent significant time while on the Court working on Jay's Treaty with Britain and twice running for Governor of New York, resigning when he won the 1795 election. John Rutledge was a recess appointment who failed to be confirmed by the Senate and Oliver Ellsworth spent time while the Chief Justice as an envoy to France and resigned after four years due to ill health. Marshall took an underfunded Court with no home of its own that was under almost constant attack by the Executive Branch and through brilliant maneuvering, compromise with the other justices and writing of opinions forged an independent judiciary that was able to withstand brute force attacks from the other branches. Marshall penned the bulk of the opinions delivered by his Court, landmark cases that are still the basis of the American legal and political system. Marbury v. Madison is still the most important decision issued by the Court. Likewise, McCullough v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden defined the way the branches of government and the federal and state governments would interact. Even those cases that Marshall recused himself from (Martin v. Hunter's Lessee) had his fingerprints all over them. Obviously I studied these cases in law school. But there is a lot of background on the cases, both historical and political, that you don't get simply from reading the cases as written. And a lot of political maneuvering that went in to how the cases were decided...and even pursued at the lower court levels. The book covers Marshall's entire life. From his hardscrabble childhood to his time as a soldier in the Revolution. His work that was instrumental in getting Virginia to ratify the Constitution. His time as Envoy to France and as Secretary of State. But it's the background on the Court and the Court decisions that really make the book. The second half flew...the first half not so much. I think it might make some sense to read this book in tandem with a biography of Thomas Jefferson. The two were cousins and life-long rivals and political enemies. While the author (a Constitutional Law professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law) gives lip service to the virtues and failings of both Marshall and Jefferson, Jefferson does not come off looking good in this book. The other thing that struck me is that the more things change the more they stay the same. The political partisanship, the virulent hatred of the press, the animosity between state and federal officials, the outright corruption of various officials and the lengths their supporters would go to ignore it...seemed remarkably modern. There's a lot here to like. And if you're interested in the background of the landmark cases in the early history of the U.S. this is a great place to start. I wonder if Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, Thomas and Kavanaugh would learn anything from reading this. >Sarcasm emoji<
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 19, 2019 20:52:03 GMT -5
Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times by Joel Richard PaulOne of a recent rash of biographies of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court and probably the most important jurist in American history. Marshall took the helm of a Court that was, at best, an afterthought in the American political system in the early days of the nation and transformed it into a co-equal branch of the government. Prior to Marshall, the position of Supreme Court Justice was not a prestigious one and the Chief Justice was not exception. Of Marshall's three predecessors John Jay spent significant time while on the Court working on Jay's Treaty with Britain and twice running for Governor of New York, resigning when he won the 1795 election. John Rutledge was a recess appointment who failed to be confirmed by the Senate and Oliver Ellsworth spent time while the Chief Justice as an envoy to France and resigned after four years due to ill health. Marshall took an underfunded Court with no home of its own that was under almost constant attack by the Executive Branch and through brilliant maneuvering, compromise with the other justices and writing of opinions forged an independent judiciary that was able to withstand brute force attacks from the other branches. Marshall penned the bulk of the opinions delivered by his Court, landmark cases that are still the basis of the American legal and political system. Marbury v. Madison is still the most important decision issued by the Court. Likewise, McCullough v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden defined the way the branches of government and the federal and state governments would interact. Even those cases that Marshall recused himself from (Martin v. Hunter's Lessee) had his fingerprints all over them. Obviously I studied these cases in law school. But there is a lot of background on the cases, both historical and political, that you don't get simply from reading the cases as written. And a lot of political maneuvering that went in to how the cases were decided...and even pursued at the lower court levels. The book covers Marshall's entire life. From his hardscrabble childhood to his time as a soldier in the Revolution. His work that was instrumental in getting Virginia to ratify the Constitution. His time as Envoy to France and as Secretary of State. But it's the background on the Court and the Court decisions that really make the book. The second half flew...the first half not so much. I think it might make some sense to read this book in tandem with a biography of Thomas Jefferson. The two were cousins and life-long rivals and political enemies. While the author (a Constitutional Law professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law) gives lip service to the virtues and failings of both Marshall and Jefferson, Jefferson does not come off looking good in this book. The other thing that struck me is that the more things change the more they stay the same. The political partisanship, the virulent hatred of the press, the animosity between state and federal officials, the outright corruption of various officials and the lengths their supporters would go to ignore it...seemed remarkably modern. There's a lot here to like. And if you're interested in the background of the landmark cases in the early history of the U.S. this is a great place to start. I wonder if Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, Thomas and Kavanaugh would learn anything from reading this. >Sarcasm emoji< I shall largely avoid being political (though it's against my nature), but...I will say that I've seen some signs that Roberts is a bit concerned about how history will see his Court and it's been a bit of a moderating effect on him. I haven't developed on opinion on Gorsuch yet. But Thomas is arguably one of the most intellectually flaccid Justices ever and is easily the dumbest of at least the last half Century. Alito is Scalia without the restraint and intellect. Kavanaugh is the culmination of oligarchical control of our system of government.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 24, 2019 12:30:56 GMT -5
War Comes to the Big Bend Zane Grey
When I pick up a Zane Grey novel, I'm expecting a western... not unreasonable, right? This book, which has black and white photo of a solider in what I would guess is a Union uniform, one might guess Civil War related.. but now.
Grey wrote this as a contemporary novel (1918).. it's about a German wheat farmer and his struggles with the onset of World War I. The majority of the plot is a tragic romance.. the type where the characters do dumb things that make you want to grab them and shake them, with the intent to make you happy when they finally stop being dumb... not really my thing.
Also, there's practically a textbook about wheat in the first part of the book, and lots of long, loving descriptions of wheat fields. If that's your thing, you'll love this book.
There's also quite a bit about labor unions.. here the union men are all evil German sympathizers, terrorizing the poor capitalists. That part was kinda interesting... but one they moved on to the war, honestly I lost interest. Descriptions of WWI basic training, battlefields, and trench conditions are just not something I care about. There was quite a bit of skimming to get to the bit where everyone (mostly) lives happily ever after.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 25, 2019 6:23:05 GMT -5
Puttering About in a Small LandPhilip K. Dick (written in 1957; first published in US in 1985) This one of Dick's non-genre (i.e., non-SF) novels that he wrote early in his career but that was only published after his death. It's mainly set in southern California in the early 1950s, and focuses on a married couple, Roger and Virginia Lindahl, who live in the suburbs with their young son, Gregg. Roger owns a small TV and radio shop with a repair service, and although he's doing pretty well he's not really satisfied with his life. (In the first half of the book, there's also flashback chapters that recount how Roger and Virginia met in Washington DC during World War II, where they were both working at the time.) When they decide to send Gregg to a boarding school in Ojai, they eventually become acquainted with another couple, Liz and Chic Bonner, whose sons are going to the same school. Chic is otherwise the owner of a bakery that supplies bread to local stores, and doesn't have much to do as the company pretty much runs itself. As they get to know each other, Chic wants to become a partner in Roger's business, even as Liz and Roger start having an affair - and Virginia pretty quickly finds out about it. So things get complicated and if you've ever read anything by Dick, you know there's no happily ever after. This is the fifth of Dick's nine non-genre books I've read, and I just have to say: it's good that he mainly focused on writing science fiction. That's not to say it's completely bad, but like pretty much all of his 'mainstream' efforts (with the exception of two), I found this lacking in a lot ways. It just didn't have the spark or readability of most of his SF novels and stories, even though they're all thematically interesting: Dick was really focused on portraying the underbelly of the seemingly prosperous and content (white) suburbia of 1950s America. I'd only recommend this, if like me, you're kind of completist for PKD's work.
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Post by berkley on Sept 27, 2019 1:12:54 GMT -5
I liked Puttering About, myself, but I understand what you're saying. Still, I was impressed enough that I'm looking for his other mainstream novels.
Actually, I have read one other one - Confessions of a Crap Artist, which was printed in the 70s by one of the publishers that used to release his SF books back then, and in the same format. It's excellent.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 27, 2019 6:36:31 GMT -5
Confessions of a Crap Artist seems to be widely praised as Dick's best non-SF novel (it was even adapted into a movie in France), and I agree that it's quite good - it's one of the two I mentioned above as exceptions to my generally lukewarm feelings about his non-genre work. Personally, though, I think Humpty Dumpty in Oakland is by far his best non-genre novel. It's such a damn-near perfect exploration of themes like alienation and paranoia (which he so often dealt with in his SF), set in the very mundane milieu of 1950s Oakland.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 3, 2019 10:25:50 GMT -5
Flashman and the Tiger by George MacDonald FraserThe penultimate book in the Flashman series is a definite departure for Fraser. The book contains three short works starring a aged to elderly Flashy. It was an interesting experiment that I feel worked out quite well for covering some small stories in the illustrious life of Sir Harry. The first and longest story starts with Flashy helping journalist Henri Blowitz to obtain a copy of the Treaty of Berlin before it is officially announced (and an opportunity to vex old foe Otto von Bismark). It then flashes forward five years and we find Flashy hopping on the initial run of the Orient Express, again at the behest of Blowitz (but mostly to try to avoid going to The Sudan with Gordon) and ultimately being coerced into trying to stop an assassination attempt on Emperor Franz Joseph. Along the way he runs in to the son of an old foe and we see Flashy as the groveling poltroon he was born to be. The second is a shorty that looks at Flashy's involvement in and solution to the Tanby Croft royal baccarat scandal. I was completely unaware of this incident and it's this kind of thing that Fraser does so well and that make for the best Flashman tales. This wasn't the flashiest story in terms of action. But it was a nice change of pace and it focused on a little known (to me) incident. The final (and title tale) deals with Flashman's relationship with Sherlock Holmes villain Tiger Jack Moran. The story leads us from the Battle of Isandlwana to the Battle of Rorke's Drift to London of 1894 and an elderly Flashy attempting to save his grand-daughter's virtue from the dastardly Tiger Jack. This is another of Flashy's earlier adventures coming back to bite him in the ass and he's saved in the end from an unexpected quarter. Overall a very successful experiment and one that I'd have had no issue with Fraser using more often had he had the chance.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 5, 2019 11:08:52 GMT -5
Alien Planet Fletcher Pratt I found this book to be an interesting mix of eras... in many ways it resembles the 'travelogue' style that Burroughs uses, with the author claiming to have 'found' the manuscript of the adventure, yet there's alot of elements of the later sci fi of the 50s and 60s. The plot is pretty basic, and alien crash lands, and the two men that discover him decide to help him get home. One ends up going home with him to give us a glimpse of his planet. There's a fair amount at the attempt of scientific explanations of how a star ship might work, but many things that would be essential and obvious to today's readers are ignored... food, water, gravity, the effects on the body of not moving for like 3 years, to name a few of the most blatant. I'm not sure if the author intended the alien civilization to be a utopia or a warning.. it's basically socialist, with a rigid caste structure and overtones of government mind control. Not my idea of a great place, but the cover calls it Utopia. Of course, this was printed not only 30 years after appearing in the magazines, but after the author's death, so that doesn't mean much. The main downside of the book was it seriously peters out at the end, as if the author was bored with it. With the excuse that 'the manuscript got more messy'.. the last couple chapters skip around alot and the ending is both vague and disappointing. Worth reading if you're a old time sci-fi fan though as an interesting transition between the turn of the century writers and the 60s.
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