Monday, June 30, 2008

1635: The Cannon Law, by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis

1635: The Cannon Law, by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis

A direct sequel to 1634: The Galileo Affair this book is more of the same recipe. The introduction of 20th century beliefs to the Catholic Church of the 17th century is causing wide discord, to the point of Spanish cardinals trying to impeach the Pope and causing a religious civil war. The action was quick and the characters were likable (especially Don Vincente and Ruy Sanchez) if a bit one-note in their behavior. The biggest drawback was that the book just stops; clearly another book (something like 1636: The Barberini Strike Back I’m sure) will be issued, but there aren’t enough loose ends wrapped up to have a satisfying conclusion to this volume. Flint sharing authorship of the Assiti Shards books have led to an amazingly rich universe of stories, but this one felt like the last third was missing. What is there is enjoyable, though; I’ll continue to read these as they appear.

First Sentence:
Don Vincente Jose-Maria Castro y Papas, Captain in His Most Catholic Majesty’s Army in the Two Sicilies, tried sneering at the stack of paperwork and the book and ledgers of the company he commanded.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The Toothpick, by Henry Petroski

The Toothpick: Technology and Culture, by Henry Petroski

I’ll admit it: this is the first book in years that I haven’t finished. I slogged through twenty chapters before giving up, but I just couldn’t bring myself to go any further. While clearly well researched (60 pages of endnotes!), the repetitiveness and minutia of anything and everything about the “earliest known nonlithic tool used by hominids” made reading a chore. The occasional interesting nugget (the United States Patent Office has over 500 patents registered around the manufacture and design of toothpicks) kept me turning pages for a while, but these factoids were too few and too far apart to capture my interest for long. I recommend this to anyone researching the toothpick industry or anyone with insomnia as a potential cure.

First Sentence:
Nothing can be more annoying than having a piece of food stuck between our teeth.

Natural Ordermage, by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Natural Ordermage, by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Another chapter in the Saga of Recluce and another winner. While the basic formula of nearly every Recluce novel (a young powerful mage without full control of his powers learns a craft as he matures) is intact, there are a few twists here. The magician doesn’t learn by rote, but instead by example—leading to exile because the establishment doesn’t know how to train him. While exile is common in this universe, instead of the usual Candar our hero is instead sent to Hamor, a land that we haven’t visited in the previous installments and has been portrayed as villainous more than once. The exploration of Hamorian culture and politics (“Create no law that is not absolutely necessary to maintain simple order. beyond the minimum for maintaining order, laws are like fleas or leeches. The more of them that exist, the more they vex a land and bleed it into chaos and anarchy...”) added a lot of depth to Modesitt’s world and kept his standard formula fresh. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and look forward to the conclusion.

First Sentence:
“Rahl... how are you coming on Tales of the Founders?”

Invisible Enemies, by Jeanette Farrell

Invisible Enemies: Stories of Infectious Disease, by Jeanette Farrell

While aimed at young readers, this is an informative discussion for all ages of seven deadly diseases: smallpox, leprosy, plague, tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, and AIDS. The biology, treatments, cures, and social attitudes towards these sicknesses are handled in a casual style that makes for very readable coverage of what I usually find obtuse topics. The chapter on cholera was my favorite; the author covers the same pump handle story (cholera was being spread via contaminated water from the public pump) that Tufte does in Visual Explanations but from a different angle. Coming across this historical episode in a new context was quite rewarding. I also discovered that the gin and tonic was created as a way of making the bitter drug quinine used to fight malaria more palatable to the British tongue. While a sixth grader may not find that interesting, I did! If you are looking to cure your ignorance of the history of infectious disease without a heavy dose of science or biology then this is your prescription.

First Sentence:
When George Washington first felt the soreness in his throat on that cold December afternoon in 1799, he must have known that even he, master of Mount Vernon, first President of the United States, conqueror of the British Army in the war for American independence, could be up against a foe he might not defeat.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay, by Michael Chabon

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay, by Michael Chabon

This is the tale of two boys—one a kid from Brooklyn and one a refugee from Nazi controlled Prague—that create a superhero that rivals Superman. While comic books have a prominent place in the book (my favorite scene has Stan Lee, Gil Kane, and Bob Powell discussing Seduction of the Innocent in a diner named the Excelsior Cafeteria) this is by no means a lightweight pleasure read. A Pulitzer Prize winner, we experience the struggles of two talented Jewish boys coming of age in the intolerant times before World War II. These boys (the Kavalier and Clay of the title) struggle for acceptance throughout: first looking for acceptance as artists in what is considered (even today to a large degree) a kiddie medium, then for acceptance in a society with strong anti-homosexual and antisemitic beliefs, and finally internal acceptance, seeking forgiveness and understanding from themselves. Significant themes told with humor, style, and grace made for a truly unforgettable read. I had a hard time putting this book down, and highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys a dramatic tale.

First Sentence:
In later years, holding forth to an interviewer or to an audience of aging fans at a comic book convention, Sam Clay liked to declare, apropos of his and Joe Kavalier’s greatest creation, that back when he was a boy, sealed and hog-tied inside the airtight vessel known as Brooklyn, New York, he had been haunted by dreams of Harry Houdini.

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