David's Irreverent Book Reviews

License Renewed

2011-05-09T07:00:00.005-05:00

By John Gardner

Written in the Ian Flemming style, Gardner seems to match Flemming pretty well. He is not quite as descriptive about the food and so far has not mentioned the clothes Bond wears like Flemming did, but pretty close.

As for the plot. James is to go undercover as a mercenary for the Laird of Mulcany who it is feared has a plot involving nuclear plant meltdowns? Q branch has a women technician nicknamed Q'ute. She is girl 1 in the book so far. If you know what I mean.

The Laird will cause nuclear plant meltdowns so that the world will implement his new, safe nuclear plant design. After knowing Bond for a few days he tells him most of the plot. Then takes him to a secret ops room. Really?! Oh yeah Gardner seems to be more of a movie style Bond story. Back to the plot. Terrorist groups around the world have been arranged by Franco (a henchman). Bond is hired to kill Franco. The Laird will have the terrorist groups ransom the nuclear plants at threat of meltdown (china syndrome) for $50 billion in diamonds. The world will have 24 hours.

The Laird also is really a fraud and will have to have the real heir to his title offed. There is a scene near the end of the book in the rear of a C-141 that is very much like The Living Daylights.

Needless to say Bond saves the day and beds the real heir, Dilly.

Overall this was an entertaining story. I enjoyed it. It was a fast read. More like the movies than the Ian Flemming books. Though it's been a while since I've read those. I'm looking forward to the rest.

The Planet of the Apes

2011-04-25T07:00:00.005-05:00

So finally we make it to 2011. Yeah there was quiet a back up with the 2010 books. Oh well.

By Pierre Boulle

At only 128 pages this is a fast moving story. Having seen the movies many times all I knew going into this book was that the ending was different.

The movie followed the book fairly closely. The biggest differences: the names of the astronauts; Taylor is Ulysses. The men on the planet destroy the space capsule and their clothes. Ulysses mates with Nova, she gives birth to a son who can speak and awakens in her the ability to learn to speak.

Other scientific apes (other than Dr. Zaius as in the movie) suspect that there was life before the apes ruled. Evidence is found that these people were intelligent homo sapiens.

Finally, and here is a big spoiler alert, at the end Ulysses, Nova and son Sirius escape in the astronauts orbiting space ship and fly at light speed back to Earth. Arriving Earth time some 700 years after leaving. They land at Orly in Paris. It looks as if nothing has changed. A car drives out to meet them. It's hard to see who's driving due to the glare of the sun. As the person gets out they see it is a gorilla!

Overall this isn't much of a PA story. It was quite enjoyable though. I liked reading a deeper explanation of the rise of apes on Soror. I would say this is one of the few instances where I like the movie more than the book. But that could be because I can't separate the entire movie series in my mind.

Blue at the Mizzen

2011-04-11T07:00:00.002-05:00

By Patrick O'Brian
Pg. 262

At last. Number 20. The last book in the series. The last finished book that is.

Picking up right after the last book Jack and company finally make their way to Chile to help liberate the country. What follows is a standard PO'B story. Descriptions of sailing, repairs made, training of the new midshipmen. Really nothing new. If anything the later books in the series have very little ship fighting. Though this book takes place during peacetime so not much can be expected.

We are treated to an aging Jack Aubrey, although I believe the book time frame is only 15 years or so the sailors have a hard life. Injuries abound as well as the occasional bout of starvation and dietary deficiency. Like the title says the book ends with Jack recovering from battle injuries weeping tears of joy at learning he is to sail to the South African station and once there hoist his flag, blue at the mizzen. I tear up writing this. First with joy that these characters I've gown to love during the past two years have reached their goal, well Jack has, as well as the sadness of ending the series.

I would highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys well told tales and deep, interesting characters. I enjoyed seeing the interaction between Jack and Stephen. Dare I say I looked forward to reading more about Stephen than Jack?

This isn't really a series you can pick up and read any one book. I've said before but this series reads as one long book. And there lies the only problem I have. I've never quiet gotten used to the abrupt scene changes from one paragraph to another with no space break. But I learned to accept it. If you were to ask me my favorite book(s) in the series I am at a loss. They just don't stand out.

Story wise I enjoyed the campaign in the Mauritius, sailing after whalers in the Pacific, heading towards the Spice Islands, the on shore descriptions of preparing the ship for sail. Stephen. The ship battles were usually exciting and suspenseful. Unfortunately they tended to end after a few pages and often mid-battle at the denouement of the battle and that was the end of the book.

Going into this series I knew next to nothing of sailing. Yet knowledge of sailing is not needed to appreciate the story. A dictionary and Internet access are a help to define many of the archaic terms. If you have the time and dedication, again, I highly recommend this series.

Eventually I'll make time to read the PO'B biography and some of his other books that came with the set I purchased. Maybe I'll even try book 21?

The Hundred Days

2011-04-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

By Patrick O'Brian
320 pages

For the penultimate (though to be fair PO'B may or may not have already decided to carry the series beyond the 20 he initially planned. I'm not sure) novel this one was pretty lackluster. Jack in the Surprise harasses French shipyards (now that Bonaparte's army is back after his escape from Elba.) Stephen helps to get them burnt by Louis XVIII sympathizers, accelerating the destruction.

Like a few previous novels we are treated to a Stephen adventure (this time with fellow intelligence agent Dr Jacob) in and around Algiers.

There is a short ship battle. No boarding. And really that's the problem with this volume. While it held my interest whilst reading, it was really a bit below average. There wasn't a lot of Jack/Stephen camaraderie. Even previous books with their short (couple of pages) intense battles that end the book at the denouement, when thinking about in memory those were more satisfying than the battle in this book, an okay length ship chase with not much detail of the sailing and shooting.

I really hope that the last book is at least slightly above average to end this wonderfully rich story on a high note.

The Yellow Admiral

2011-03-28T07:00:00.002-05:00

By Patrick O'Brian
320 pages

Nearly the end of the series at volume 18. This book sets up the beginning of the end of Jack's career. The hoisting of his flag. But with peace near and an influential Admiral angry at Jack for stopping the enclosure of common land where Jack has a house, he is threatened to be "Yellowed". He will be made Admiral yet not given a squadron, never allowed to hoist his flag and end his illustrious career shamed.

This was another fairly slow story. Moderately interesting. On the naval side Stephen and Joseph Blaine work out a way for Jack to be removed from the list, miss the culling after the peace, and be reinstated later. Stephen has a deal with the Chileans for Jack to go over as a surveyor and start their navy. Giving him a chance at further distinguishing himself. Currently they are on the Brest blockade under Admiral (? I don't remember) who dislikes Jack and speaks poorly of him in official reports.

At home Sophie finds the love letters from Amanda Smith, giving proof of Jack's infidelity after their marriage. She kicks him out.

All is mostly worked out in the end on both fronts. Especially as during a stop off in Portugal (with the wives and kids on the Surprise) on way to Chile, they learn Napoleon has escaped from Elba and Jack has been summoned to catch him.

My thoughts: there isn't much to comment. It's painful to see how the relationships between the higher ups in the Navy help Jack on some accounts and his actions cause others to be strained or become adversarial. His past actions in life come back to haunt him. Stephen is forever helping him on the sly. Fortunately Jack knows when to go along with Stephen's advice/requests without question. The trust they place in each other is quite touching.

The Commodore

2011-03-21T07:00:00.005-05:00

By Patrick O'Brian
352 pages

After the success of the last big story arc Jack is made Commodore first class and given a squadron to stop the French from liberating Ireland. With a deception mission of stopping slavers in the Benint of Benin. Aka western Africa.

The slave part of the mission goes swimmingly well. Many prizes and money for each person rescued! Then the sailing from Africa to Ireland takes all of a paragraph! I had to go back twice to try and find out how I had missed the sailing back to Ireland. Well I didn't, it just didn't exist. They catch the French by surprise. Only two ships get away. The rest caught or sunk.

Pretty much all this happens in the last bit of the book. The battle with the French is classic PO'B and only takes up 3 pages or so.

What's the rest of the book made up of? Mostly about Jack stressing out with being a Commodore. Given a couple of ships to be under him, two are trouble. One manned by a sodomite and the other by a flogger who likes shining brass and perfect paint, perpendicular masts, and is no seaman. Neither are much at battle.

Back home, Stephen finds Diana gone. Run away. Padeen and Clarissa and even himself threatened by the Duke of Habachsthal who is the high up mole for the French.

Well unlike the last few books all the strings are tied up in the end. Then Diana forbids Stephen from ever going back to sea. What?

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read. Short on fighting and not a whole lot of descriptive sailing, now that Jack is the planner rather than being in charge of the day to day sailing. There was a funny bit where Reade takes a boat within biscuit toss of the rocks racing around a cape, literally tossing a biscuit, to the joy of all the sailors aboard. We see just how valued Stephen is when on the Bellona he finds the medical area so deficient that he threatens to leave if it is not completely altered. Jack and Pullings don't hesitate to make the changes.

An average book in the series. Nothing special, not to memorable. Engrossing while I was reading it.

As the end of 2010 approached I made a push to read only Patrick O'Brian books so that I could get this series finished in two years. So expect a plethora of PO'B books from here on out.

The Wine-Dark Sea

2011-03-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

By Patrick O'Brian
261 pages

This one started out kinda slow and never really picked up the tempo. Not to say it wasn't a bad volume.

Picking up right where the last volume left off, the Surprise takes the Franklin and a few whalers. The plot is for Stephen to help Peru and Chile free themselves from Spain's rule. Unfortunately the charismatic Dutourd (a prisoner on board) enchants some of the crew (namely the Knipperdollings) with his talk of a free society.

Stephen tells Jack not to let Dutourd onto shore. But the hands sneak him ashore. He helps to cause Stephen's mission to be undermined.

Stephen escapes through the high plains (Andes?) reminiscent of the other book when Stephen went up in the mountains while in India. Only shorter and a bit more interesting.

Back aboard Stephen has news of 3 Chinamen laden with goods. While trying to find a way around Cape Horn they fight with an American warship. 38 guns.

They get away but lose masts to an iceberg and lighting. In the end, this volume served to get the men on their way back to England.

Sorry but there just wasn't much to say about this volume.

The Truelove aka Clarissa Oakes

2011-03-07T07:00:00.001-06:00

By Patrick O'Brian
256 pages

Some can say that not much happens in this book. The fighting starts around page 228 and lasts for 3 pages. Maybe less. There isn't even very much build up.

No this volume was all about daily life in the Surprise as it travels from New South Wales (Australia) to Mahou (a made up island in the Sandwich islands group. Hawaii. ) A women has been snuck on board. A convict! But with Padeen on board it's tough for Jack to throw her off. She is claimed by Oakes and they are married. She is indifferent to sex and physical affection and sleeps with many sailors(?) Stephen befriends her and finds she knows who was helping Leward and Wray!! Oh, now to get the action back to England. Though looking ahead that probably won't happen next book.

I have to say I loved this volume. I found the pace steady, not slow. I often was amazed to find I had just read 50 pages with nothing of notice really happening and yet I enjoyed every minute of it. Thus the greatness of this series continues.

At the start of reading this series I anticipated looking forward to the battles and yes, the provisioning of the ships at shore. But I didn't anticipate enjoying the daily life aboard the ship so much. Though knowing my interest in the daily life of everyday folks during the middle ages, I shouldn't have been surprised. The alternate name for the book title has to do with the USA release being named The Truelove, a ship, and the British version after the stowaway, Clarissa Oakes.

The Shallows

2011-02-28T07:00:00.001-06:00

By Nicholas Carr

I got distracted by this book. Hearing a noise, I would get up to look out the window. I got a drink of water. Checked my email. Thought of something to look up on wikipedia. The list goes on and on.

Normally I wouldn't have given a second thought about doing this but then The Shallows is all about distraction. How electronic devices are allowing us to remain forever connected to the Internet. They have distracted us from the other going on's in our life. Our brains may even be changing their wiring to cope with the fire hose of information.

There is a chapter on brain plasticity. One on Google. Really there was no answer to how to disconnect from the electronic distraction or even if you should. The book is more to make you aware of the problem. And that's the only downside I have to reading books like this one and the Unwanted Sound book. I'm made aware of the problem, now what?

The Nutmeg of Consolation

2011-02-21T07:00:00.003-06:00

By Patrick O'Brian
384 pages

So I was just over half way through with the book when I lost it. Yeah I left it at a hotel? I'm not really sure where I left it. After searching my house over and over I finally broke down and bought another copy. This is why I had a gap in the PO'B books.

So we start with Jack and company shipwrecked. They are rescued by some local traders (with the help of Stephen) and make it back to Bativia. With a new ship they head out for New South Wales. Along the way we have one battle on land, another on ship, rejoin the Surprise, and rescue Padeen aka Patrick Coleman.

I really enjoyed this volume. Quite a bit happened story wise. Jack was given the lead in the first half of the book, while Stephen and Martin occupied the main story storyline of the second half.

After the slowness of the last book I'm glad that this book was an exciting page turner. I look forward to the last 1/4 of the series.

Oh and I found my original copy. Figures. It was tucked into a pocket in my luggage that to my knowledge I've never used before. Nice.

The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want

2011-02-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

By Garret Keizer

Noise is a weak issue. We must learn to live more quietly.

This is the gist of the book. This book is a bit hard to describe. The subject is pretty broad. The author tries to limit his discussion to unwanted sounds. He succeeds. I was amazed at just how many experts he finds around the world who study different aspects of noise. It's at it's best when Garrett tells stories about the conflicts caused by noise along with the resolutions (if any.) To me the slowest chapter was the one about the history of noise throughout the ages. It was just hard to get through.

Some interesting facts from the book: Cultures where people know their neighbors tend to be quieter. You have more respect for people you know. Which is why America has so many problems. We don't know our neighbors. Also we hold individual parties that disrupt others. In cultures where they have large community or city wide parties people tend to be a be quieter.
The ancient Egyptians described tinnitus!

Everyone enjoys their sounds but when it's someone else it's just noise. The conflicts have lead to death. In my own life, we saved up and installed soundproof windows in the bedrooms to keep out the noise of the neighbors. Was it worth it? Well YES! Even fireworks sound like distant pops now.

To go with the book the author started www.noisestories.com. Seeing that the best parts of the book are the stories of noise problems you might be better off just going to the website.

Update

2011-02-07T07:00:00.026-06:00

Well it's been a while. I took August off to study for work and then in my free time I read mad magazine. More about that in a bit.

In September I was reading books again but here it is February and I've yet to post about any of them.

As for the Mad magazine. I got the Absolutely MAD Magazine on DVD-ROM. All the issues up 2005 or so. I was hesitant about getting this as many reviews said the quality wasn't very good.

Well I love it. I started with 1980 and I'm up to mid 1983. The movie and TV show satires are hilarious. More so if you are familiar with what is being made fun of. They really capture the essence of the show and poke fun at it. Lots of the stories seem familiar. I realized that it's not because I read them originally but because in the big specials they had every quarter or so they would have stories from years past. The only downside to me is that the scans are not good enough to allow you to see the marginals. You can almost make them out but not really. My dad had trouble reading the magazines. Once you increase the size behind a couple 100% it is very hard to read. The scans are just not that good. Sometimes there are wrinkles or problems with the original magazine they scanned that shows up in the PDF files. I've been reading the magazines mostly on my iPhone with very little problems other than the aforementioned marginals.

And the fold ins? Yeah they are there and they get folded in at a click. Pretty sweet.

I plan on posting the rest of the 2010 books before I start with the 2011 books.

The Thirteen Gun Salute

2010-08-23T07:00:00.001-05:00

By Patrick O'Brian

For as good as the last two books were this one was 368 looooong slooooow pages. How can this be you ask? Doesn't this book begin with Jack capturing more prizes, and getting reinstated to the Post-Captain list at his former seniority? Yes and yes. Then the book jumps ahead many months as they are almost to the Sultan of Pulo Prabang, a piratical Malay state in the South China Sea. Their duty is to bring Mr. Fox, the Foreign Office envoy, to beat the French in getting a treaty signed.

The problem was that the negotiations were not really part of the story, every thing gets wrapped up mostly off screen, so to speak. It took me a while to finish reading this book because I just couldn't get into the book. Starting after Jack gets restored to the service and continuing till almost the end, I felt the story dragged on and on. Even the side quests of Jack and Stephen seemed uninspired. Stephens especially seemed like it didn't fit into the rest of the story.

I sure hope the next book is better.

The Language of Bees/The God of the Hive

2010-08-09T07:00:00.034-05:00

By Laurie King

It was nice to get back to this familiar tale. Especially after the last book that was but really wasn't Sherlock Holmes. The thing was that these two books read as one and the story was kinda slow.

The first has Russell working mostly with a pilot and in the second with Robert Goodman, a man they meet after the plane crashes. Oh there are interesting back stories to both characters but if you're really interested you can find them out when you read the book.

The second book delves deeply into Mycroft's dealings and life which I found very interesting. I didn't care how this book was in the fashion of current modern suspense thrillers. Very short chapters. I'm not a fan of the format.

What I really missed was the interactions and long discussions between Holmes and Russell. The mystery of the bees in the first book is sort of worked out? Maybe? I felt like it was a lame plot thread that seemed kinda pointless. It merely served to give Russell something to do when Holmes went away.

The bad guys were interesting. Reading how Mary and Sherlock tracked them down and put the clues together gave me a hint of a reminder to why I enjoyed the previous books so much. Also I had forgotten that in the first (or maybe second?) book *gasp* Holmes' son was mentioned. Well we learn all about him in these two books.

On a side note I liked how Laurie King slips in references to Cannon (eg. mentioning The Strand) and I think having bolt holes scattered throughout the city is a neat idea.

Overall I liked the earlier books better.

The Reverse of the Medal, The Letter of Marque

2010-07-26T07:00:00.003-05:00

By Patrick O'Brian

Well it's been a while but I'm back starting the second half of the Patrick O'Brian books. Why did I ever wait so long? I want to say that these two books are the best on the series so far, but in a series of richly told stories that read as one, well then these two volumes only stand to further enhance the wonderfully told tale of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Mautrin.

Back from the far side of the world JA is awash in money. Never a good spot to be in for a sailor on land. Before he even gets home he is given a stock tip on the coach into London, and so begins a walk that will lead Jack to having his commission to the Navy pulled out from under him. Struck from the Naval Seniority List. His life is over!

Enter our favorite surgeon. Who is intelligent in everything but knowing how much money he has, yet has just inherited a fortune unimaginable.

I don't want to give away the plot but suffice it to say that Stephen buys the Surprise when it is released from the service, Jack is beyond lucky in his sailings under a Letter of Marque, don't call him a priviteer, and Stephen and Diana reconcile?

Between the two books there really isn't the ship to ship battle action that one might expect yet I flew through the pages, 571 total, savoring the richness of the story and hanging on every twist and turn.

I realize that the story thread of these two books is not complete by the end of The Letter of Marque and I am quite excited to continue reading this series.

There are two bits of interest to note. In The Reverse of the Medal there is a mention of the marthambles, an affliction that Mr. Barrow is advised to consult Dr. Mautrin on next time it comes down. So what is the marthambles? Well read more about it here. The short answer is that is doesn't exist. The long answer is much more interesting.

Then at the end of The Letter of Marque they are all singing "ah tutti contenti saremo cosi." Thanks to the internet I was able to look up this phrase and find a recording of the song on youtube! It really is quite moving.

The Coming Population Crash

2010-07-19T07:00:00.003-05:00

By Fred Pearce

Fascinating.

I really enjoyed this book. It doesn't answer any questions. It doesn't solve any problems. It even acknowledges that the problems of too many people or a population crash have been predicted before and ended up never happening due to various reasons that were unpredictable.

The book starts out talking about Thomas Robert Malthus (read about him at the link) and how his views of population actually lead to actions that caused or worsened famines and thereby lead to his way of thinking to become true.

The book goes around the world looking at and trying to explain birthrates. My only complaint is that there is very little focus on the Americas.

A couple of interesting bits from the book:
In some parts of what was East Germany, to hide(?) the dearth of people, abondonded buildings and areas are torn down and converted back to open space. To disguise the fact that some towns have seen population drops of over 50%?

Only about 1/3 of China is subject to the one child policy yet some parts of China have a birth rate of 0.45!

Europe, which is currently struggling with the influx of immigrants from Africa and the Middle East may soon be so short of people (due to generations of below sustainable birthrates from which there might be no recovery) that they will NEED foreigners to come and keep the societies alive.

There are big changes for the world by 2100 and maybe even earlier.

While this isn't a post apocalyptic book by any stretch of the imagination it is an interesting read from a PA perspective. Could there be a scenario where homo sapiens die out with a whimper? Where people make the conscious choice to have so few children for so long that we won't rebound? Maybe. The book doesn't really say what could happen, and tells that the population should still increase till about 2050.

Only time will tell.

The Story of Stuff

2010-07-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

By Annie Leonard

I don't really know how to describe this one. Odds are if you're reading this book you already are concerned with the waste that is produced as a result of all the stuff that is consumed. I found the book extremely interesting and a bit depressing.

Why was it depressing? Most of our waste is produced upstream of the end consumer. So when you recycle your trash you are diverting only a small fraction of the waste produced by the making of the good used. In the USA only 2.5% of waste is from municipal sources! This from 2009. It's the part of the production that's out of the hands of almost everyone that needs to be changed.

I recall reading about how Toyota (and there are other companies mentioned in the book) that are trying for zero waste. That means changing the way the raw materials are mined, processed, packaged, and distributed. Is this a lofty goal? Yes but even having a goal to shoot for is a pretty good start.

Since reading the book I've felt pretty guilty buying single serving food packaging. Especially as it's all packaged in some form of plastic. While there is often a number in a triangle of arrows (the universal recycling symbol) most plastic is unrecycleable. Only 1,2 where I live. Nice huh?

If you're Interested in the stuff we buy from extraction to disposal this is the story for you. It also was a 20 min film to began with. I'll have to try to check it out some day. It looks like you can view it on her website.

Bleak House

2010-06-21T07:00:00.002-05:00

By Charles Dickens

I was flipping through the pages of I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School by Caroline Taggart and I read this regarding Charles Dickens: the plot of Bleak House centers around the ongoing case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce, which eventually eats up all the money that is being disputed.

That sentence lead to me reading this tome. Here are some thoughts that I wrote down while reading the book.

Originally released in 20 monthly installments, I can't for the life of me see why anyone read installment two. There wasn't much gripping about the first couple of chapters that would have made me pick up next months chapters. Alas I have been sucked into the book and can't stop reading.

At 200 pages in, I still wasn't really sure what the point of the story was. I mean the court case J vs J looms over everything but it's like each chapter is a separate episode in the lives of the characters. Right now Ada, Richard, Miss Sommerson aka Ester. And Mr. Jarndace.

It's like I just KNOW something will happen so I keep reading. And the other characters they meet; Krook, the distrustful illiterate bottle and rag shop owner, Mrs Jellyby and Mr Turveydrop (he of deportment) who are cruel to their offspring and care only for themselves and how they look to others. Oh I could say a lot about Mrs. Jellyby (a certain Thanksgiving comes to mind) her of Boolaboola-Gha.

Yet I keep reading.

In Cady Jellyby's wedding, all the people there on her side all are pushing their mission, eg. her mom and Africa and it's all they talk about. But they don't want to listen to anyone else talk about their mission.

Esther to marry Mr. Jarndyce but he transfers it to Mr. Woodcot. What??? You can do that? And Esther? She is excited to now be marring Mr. Woodcot. Oh it's giving me a headache. Then Mr. Guppy asks again to marry Esther. When Mr. Jarndyce says no for her to Mr. Guppy and his mom get furious. Again. What!? Upset? They are only the most casual of acquaintances.

Yeah if the above train of thought didn't make much sense, it's okay. You're getting the idea of Bleak House. It was hundreds of pages into the book, it's 850ish pages long, before I really had an idea of the overall story and how all the separate threads were supposed to connect. It had a lot of help from online summaries to keep everything straight. The book is also slow reading and took me almost a month to finish.

Would I recommend Bleak House? No. Though it was strangely gripping and kept me turning the pages. If you want to read it for free you can. Here's a site. Also there have been many TV versions made. Yeah I don't think I'll be trying any of those.

Oh and the case? Yeah it was settled. I guess I should have expected it to be a let down but I felt really dissatisfied at the conclusion of the court case. I see, looking back, that Dickens ended the case as he did to further his criticism for the Chancery courts. It was kind of hard for me to take. All that time and reading for nothing...

The Postman

2010-06-07T07:00:00.002-05:00

By David Brin

Wow! I really got into this story. 16 years after war ended the world (3 years of nuclear winter) it's around 2009 and most people are just trying to survive. Holonists are militia types who are trying to rule by force and create a new feudalism in Oregon.

Enter the hero Gordon Krantz a traveling minstrel who stumbles on an old postal truck, dons the uniform to stay warm, and begins the recreation of the US through lies? Well, yes. There are still those alive who remember what was lost and they are quite eager to bring back some semblance of the old normality. They jump to believe that the postal service had been restored.

The book is full of small societies lying to themselves and each other to keep things going. Gordon lie is telling everyone that back east the Restored US has put him in charge of starting up the postal service to restart lines of communication. He hits on a deeper truth. When does the lie cease and the truth begin. By restarting the postal service, saying that you are now part of the restored US, having many towns accept and follow this idea are you not making your lie become truth?

As a PA story this one didn't go to deep into what the leftover remains looked like. Corvallis is the town where they are trying to keep technology alive. Bullets seem to have survived fairly well. No this is a story about the fight to recreate society and who gets to determine which viewpoints and beliefs will rule.

The author David Brin has a lot of discussion about responsibility, how power attracts those who are corruptible, people with good in them struggle to accept their role in creating society, the responsibility of giving more of your self for the whole of humanity and not just your small part in the world. Thought provoking subjects indeed.

I was a little bit put of by the end confrontation in the book. Brin pulled out a deux es machina bit with the two soldiers. The ending leaves a bit of hope for the survival of humanity and the recreation of civilization. If you saw the movie The Postman (which I vaguely remember as not holding my interest) try the book. It was an intriguing story.

The City of Ember

2010-05-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

By Jeanne Duprau

Back to the Post-apocalyptic stories. This is a young adult (ages 9-12) book series that for the most part I found to be engaging. It pulled me right into the world.

How the world ended: four wars three plagues. We learn this in the 2nd book. The world ended in the late 21st century.

I'll quickly cover each book separately.

1st the Emberits don't even know they have been underground for past 250ish years. Really? Come on? They are now almost out of supplies and the struggle of what to do is looming. Their hydroelectric generator is failing and without it they will be plunged into darkness. Who put them there? Who built everything? They only known it was done by the builders.

Doon and Lina, two of the almost teenagers in the story find a way out of Ember. This in an interesting society. All kids are assigned jobs at 12. It is three years before they can change. The city has most of comforts of modern society. Electricity. Running water.

2nd book. The action moves to the topside. We meet, surprise surprise, the people of the town of Sparks. They live in a post-disaster society. There are roamers who scavenge from left over cities. No electricity, running water. Mostly agrarian. Friction between the 400 Emberites and 300 Sparks. Fighting about food. Work out differences and come together by the end.

4th book. A few pages are left from a book that is titled "Instructions for the people of Ember." Bought by Doon, it indicates that there was something left for the Emberites when they exited the city. So Doon an Lina head back to Ember. The town is dark. Or is it? The Troog family, a group of roamers, has set up camp living in the abandoned city. The father shows Doon a diamond he found outside the top entrance to the cave. We later learn that the diamonds are a type of solar cell that can be used for electricity. The book would have been a book of detailed knowledge on how to recreate the world that has ended.

The 3rd book? Yeah skip it. It is billed as a prequel but is it? It sort of has a brief connection to the other books. There are two items that connect it to the tale of Ember. It was a quick semi-interesting read. Well, seeing that you could read all four books in probably three afternoons you might as well read this one as well.

Of all the PA books I've read this one really has a positive ending for humanity. It did a nice job showing how humanity might survive after the apocalypse. Using leftover items, creating new, trying to figure out what was left and how it was used.

An interesting tidbit that takes a while to explain is that above ground there are songs passed down that tell of hidden treasure below the cities. What is it? It's the Emberites! Something else that lets you know this was geared towards younger children was no mention of alcohol or smoking. There is talk of bandits but no killings.

The first book has been made into a movie. I haven't seen it but you might give it a shot.

The books (except for the third) read as one continuous story. Sure, if you stop and think about it there are quite a few problems with the initial scenario in the first book which doesn't really get resolved in the later books. I'm still bothered how no one has figured out how that they are underground. I guess the vitamin D deficiency is explained by their taking vitamins? I don't know. If you don't look to deeply into the books and accept the story as is I think you'll like these.

Salt

2010-05-10T07:00:00.002-05:00

By Mark Kurlansky

Right on the heels of Nathanial's Nutmeg, I was excited to learn more about our everyday spices. What better choice than the king of them all. Salt.

Yeah don't get your hopes up. I'm usually a pretty quick reader. Depending on the time available I usually finish a book in two weeks which is about 6 days of reading. An hour or two a day. Salt took me over three weeks.

It wasn't that this book isn't interesting. Nor that it wasn't. Filled with interesting facts and a history of how salt has shaped the world. Compared to Nathanial's Nutmeg which was one continuous story over a 100+ years, Salt jumps around the world and throughout time. It made it a bit tough to follow. It was more like a bunch of separate essays all about salt.

There are lots of different salts. Chemically that is. Natron, used by the Egyptians for mummification has very little sodium chloride, what most of us would consider salt. Who knew? In case you were wondering: natron today is considered to be sodium carbonate decahydrate (hydrated soda ash.)

I like to browse through footnotes and bibliographies in the books I read, yet I don't really check facts. The one in his book I did check was about Buffalo New York. Salt says that Buffalo got it's name as bison created trails to the area the city is now in to eat the salt grass growing there. Everything I can find says that there were definitely no bison in buffalo.

Salt. Necessary for preservation. But not for reading.

Nathaniel's Nutmeg

2010-04-19T07:00:00.001-05:00

By Giles Milton

A history of the English and Dutch East Indian Companies regarding the Spice Islands. Once home to the world's only source of nutmeg, mace and cloves.

Quite a violent tale. I found this book quite engaging, fascinating and quite the page turner. With the numerous names mentioned and the long time frame, 100ish years, it was a little bit difficult keeping track of everyone. My main beef with the book is the title. For a 375 page book, Nathaniel doesn't make his debut until about page 200. His story is sprinkled into the next 100 pages and then he is killed. It makes you wonder why his name is attached to the title. Milton tries to show how his actions eventually lead to the island of Run (England's foothold in the Banda island archipelago) being traded for Manhattan island with the Dutch. I found this a bit thin, but point made.

The book gave great insight into where the aromatic little jars you pick up in the spice aisle originally came from and the hardships people went through to bring these spices back to Europe. Amazingly in the beginning the English lost most of the men and ships they sent to Asia, yet were still extraordinarily profitable due to the 10x inflation in price of the spices paid at their source compared to being sold in Europe.

The story really made me wonder about where more of our spices originate from. The book didn't really go into much detail about how the fruits were harvested. There is an epilogue which tell how the island fairs some 400 years after the tale told in the book. Hint: not very well as the British were eventually able to get nutmeg and clove plants off of the islands and transport them to Singapore, Ceylon and other countries. I found it funny that the current residents of Run weren't that impressed by pictures of Manhattan island.

Here is a view from one of the Banda Islands to give you an idea of what they look like.

The Day of the Triffids

2010-04-12T07:00:00.001-05:00

By John Wyndham

A PA story with a science fiction twist written in 1951.

A meteor shower/comet dazzled the world with a light show that almost everyone world wide goes outside to view. The next morning they all wake up blind. This causes the world the abruptly end. Millions starve and commit suicide. The few sighted survivors (and the previously blind who are able to cope just fine) divide into two broad categories. Those who want to let the blind die off, then start rebuilding society; and those who want to try to keep the blind alive (by various ways; using the sighted to provide, using the blind as labor guided by the sighted.)

The two main characters Bill and Josella end up learning how to be self sufficient. They acknowledge in a book from the '50s that people have become so specialized that no one remembers how to do everything needed to live. Imagine today. This would be even worse.

The PA aspect of the story was interesting, gripping and well done. The book brought up interesting points about who is the cruel one, those helping the blind - prolonging their ultimate demise, or those letting them die quickly. Do you keep societies rules or forge new ones to help you survive in a new world. They even speculate that the meteor shower was really some man made bomb from a satellite.

Now to the Sci-fi aspect of the story. The triffids. If I figured it right, some two decades before the blindness happens these plants show up all around the world. They are raised as a novelty mostly and then later for their oil. They are carnivorous plants with an ability to walk and extend a poisonous whip. Yeah you read that right. No they aren't alien but rather it's believed man-made.

The Triffids attack the humans after the blindness. They congregate around the few settlements left, attacking whenever the humans get near. It's kinda creepy. Normally I don't think I'd enjoy a story this far fetched but this was a well written story. I eagerly kept turning the pages to see what happened.

The book ends about 6 years after the end of the world with a good promise of the humans discovering a way to defeat the Triffids. So quite a happy ending for a PA book.

The biggest problem I had with this story and the one that keeps bugging me is the blindness. If the whole world saw the lights in the sky at night then it took what, 24 hours for the entire world to be exposed, when everyone wakes up the next morning, say 6 hours after exposure maybe?, they are blind. What? No one could call and warn the rest of the world? I don't know, I can't place my finger on it but the whole thing really bothers me.

This story has been made into a movie, radio drama, and various television broadcasts over the years. I haven't seen any but it should make for an entertaining show.

The Long Tomorrow

2010-03-29T07:00:00.003-05:00

By Leigh Brackett

Is this really a PA story?

The world ended by... Well it didn't go into details but 100 years ago all the cities were bombed (around the world, I got the feeling) and those left alive didn't know how to survive. But the Amish and Mennonites did. So now there are five million people in the US and they are varying sects of Mennonites, mostly.

This was really a coming of age story if you ask me. The two main characters, cousins Len and Esau find a radio (a banned object; in fact all technology is banned.) Only steam engines exist. Town size limited. Education is provided to the children but it to is limited. To say talking about the past is taboo is an understatement. Everyone avoids what remains of the cities.

Their parents are very angry and upset when the radio is discovered. They hit the kids with a belt to punish them. It's the last straw and they run away to find Bartorstown. A place where legend has it technology exists and you are free to learn what you want.

The book is divided into three books or parts. After running away the kids work in a river town and eventually are brought into the fold of Batrtorstown.

Bartorstown is not what they thought. I won't spoil it here, but after a while Len realizes that you're free to learn in Bartorstown but only slightly more than the rest of the world. They can never leave. The residents are really just a different kind of fanatic. in the end Len and a girl escape only to be caught and brought back.

I had a hard time trying to find the message in the story. I mean it was set in a PA world but it wasn't really part of the story. Was the author trying to tell us to be happy with where you are because the grass isn't always greener on the other side? Learn to live under the rules of society? Fear can make normal people go crazy and succumb to mob mentality? Nuclear weapons/power are evil? You can take away knowledge but people are curious and will eventually rediscover what has been taken away?

After reading The Scarlet Plague I found the contrast in the treatment of the elders interesting. In TSP the grandfather is free to tell his grandchildren what life used to be like but they don't really care. In TLT, talk of the past is kept in the past. When Len and Esau try asking their grandma what it was like when she was little she has no problem telling them. Later their parents chastise all of them for talking about such things. In the book the powers that be, in their efforts to prevent the world from ending again set up rules to try and keep the world from advancing. The folks of Bartorstown realize that this is impossible. Yet the majority of the population doesn't really question the rules. The just go along with them.

As a story TLT was average. It wasn't the greatest PA book I've read. It held my interest but wasn't a gripping page turner. Try to remember that this book was written 1955, it helped me put it into perspective.

The Scarlet Plague

2010-03-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

By Jack London

2013 the world ended. Now it's 60 years later.

This was an interesting short story. About 90 pages. A grandfather is telling his grandsons the story of the scarlet (or red if you prefer, like some of the boys do) plague. The tale takes place 60 years after. Only about 450 people live on the west coast of North America. Wow what a death it must have been.

The story really didn't go into detail about how the people now live but it touches a bit on it. It was interesting to see that not much of anything is used from the old world. There's no electricity, gas, airplanes. In fact it would seem that they have gone to a preindustrial revolution lifestyle.

Also, like in Threads, English speech and literacy has deteriorated. The grandfather talks about how he saved books, and lessons on how to learn how to read them, so some day the knowledge of his world could be rediscovered. Yet his grandsons can't read and they chide him for using fancy words all the time.

I also found it interesting that London took a bit of a different approach than many of the other PA books I've read. With so many people dying the grandfather talked about how no one was left to run/keep up modern technology. The backgrounds of the few survivors he talks about were mostly domestic servants, or the recipients of their services. One of the boy's grandfathers is said to have been mechanical but he didn't see fit to pass on any of his knowledge.

This was an interesting story and I quite enjoyed it. Though it is a bit disheartening to think of humans going out with such a whimper. As the story is public domain you can read it free online here. I read it on my phone. It wasn't bad for such a short story.