The Philosophy Book - Will Buckingham

   2011; 774 pages.  Full Title: The Philosophy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained.   New Author? : Yes.  Genres : Philosophy; Biographies; Non-Fiction; Reference.  Overall Rating: 9*/10.

 

    Quick, what exactly is the definition of the word “Philosophy”?  My best try would be something like “Trying to know the Unknowable”, which is both oxymoronic and pretty useless.

 

    The Philosophy Book, by Will Buckingham has a better answer, and it comes in both a long and a short version.  The long one is:

 

    “Any sustained rational reflection about general principles that has the aim of achieving a deeper understanding.”  That’s not much better than mine.  The short one is:

 

    “The love of wisdom.”

 

    I like that one much better.

 

What’s To Like...

    The subtitle of The Philosophy Book is worth noting: Big Ideas Simply Explained.  At 774 pages, this book introduces the reader to an incredible array of philosophers and philosophies from all parts of the world (not just Western civilization) and down through the ages (from 750 BCE to the present).  Altogether, 107 philosophers are examined, and in a roughly chronological order.

 

After an introductory overview, the book is divided into six sections:

    01. The Ancient World  (700 BCE – 250 CE)

    02. The Medieval World  (250 – 1500)

    03. Renaissance and the Age of Reason  (1500 – 1750)

    04. The Age of Revolution  (1750 – 1900)

    05. The Modern World  (1900 – 1950)

    06. Contemporary Philosophy  (1950 – present)

 

    The template for presenting each philosopher is:

First Page

    Catchy Aphorism

    Philosopher’s Name, Year Born, Year Died

Second Page

    Branch of Philosophy

    Approach

    Those “Before” who influenced the philosopher

    Those "After" who were influenced by the philosopher

Text

    Introduction to the philosopher

    Flow Charts (usually)

    Quotations (occasionally)

    Discussion of philosopher’s main tenets

    Biography

    Key Works

    “See Also”

    Pictures (usually)

 

    Additional sections in the back include a Directory (great for looking up any philosopher, famous or obscure), a Glossary (great for looking up any of the -isms, -ologies, and other technical terms coined in the book), and Contributors, which lists all those who helped Will Buckingham write this book.  All of the writers are English, so you occasionally run across spellings like: sceptical, judgement, defence, furore, no-one, artefact, and fulfil.  But curiously, some effort seems to have been made to Americanize the text, with spellings such as judgment and color.

 

    I liked that the book didn’t limit itself to European and American philosophers; there were a sizable number of Arab, Eastern Asian, and African philosophers included.  Ditto for Women and Black philosophers, at least when we got to modern times.

 

    “Felicific Calculus” made me chuckle; it’s an algorithm by which you can supposedly calculate happiness.  I loved reading about Rumi and Sufism with the “Whirling Dervishes”.  Mozi was new to me, but his thoughts resonated with me.  I enjoyed getting reacquainted with the mystic Moses Maimonides, whose works I read way back in my Metaphysical Days.  And I was amazed to read that the first Atomic Theory was developed strictly through reasoning and put forth in the fifth century BCE!

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.6/5 based on 3,237 ratings and 583 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.17/5 based on 4,779 ratings and 364 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    We may think it is not “good” to make a fool of ourselves in public, and so resist the urge to dance joyfully in the street.  We may believe that the desires of the flesh are sinful, and so punish ourselves when they arise.  We may stay in mind-numbing jobs, not because we need to, but because we feel it is our duty to do so.  Nietzsche wants to put an end to such life-denying philosophies, so that humankind can see itself in a different way.  (loc. 4270)

 

    In the introduction to The Second Sex de Beauvoir notes society’s awareness of this fluidity: “We are exhorted to be women, remain women, become women.  It would appear, then, that every female human being is not necessarily a woman.”  She later states the position explicitly: “One is not born but becomes a woman.”

    De Beauvoir says that women must free themselves both from the idea that they must be like men, and from the passivity that society has induced in them.  Living a truly authentic existence carries more risk than accepting a role handed down by society, but it is the only path to equality and freedom.  (loc. 5626)

 

Kindle Details…

    The Philosophy Book sells for $8.99 at Amazon right now.  Will Buckingham has at least 10 other e-books available, in a wide variety of subjects, including Philosophy, Self-Help, and Children's Tales, ranging in price from $3.99 to $46.50.

 

“When one thinks like a mountain, one thinks also like the black bear, so that honey dribbles down your fur as you catch the bus to work.”  (loc. 5763)

    It’s hard to find things to nitpick about in The Philosophy Book.  Some reviewers groused about the lack of depth in the book, but hey, if you’re going to cover 2,700 years and 100+ philosophers in the book, I am happy the text limited itself to just the basics.

 

    The flow charts and pictures added a nice touch to the book, but that came at the cost of a huge file size.  Amazon lists it as being 192,824 kilobytes.  Think twice about downloading this if your Kindle is almost full, maybe opting for the paperback version which right now is only a couple dollars more than the e-book.

 

    My last nit to pick is a personal one.  How come Martin Buber wasn’t included in the 107 philosophers selected??  His magnum opus, “Ich und Du” (“I and Thou” in English) was required reading in a Sociology class I took in college, and the professor’s favorite reference book.  To be fair, Buber does get mentioned in The Philosophy Book, but only in passing.

 

    Enough quibbling.  The Philosophy Book is a fantastic reference source for anyone who wants to learn more about what all those thinkers have been thinking about for the past 27 centuries, but who don’t want to have to wade through their voluminous tomes.  That was me, and I am totally glad I read this.

 

    9 Stars.  We’ll close with an excerpt that, in a way, illustrates why I don’t read a lot of books about philosophy.  We’re quoting directly from the Glossary of The Philosophy Book.

 

 Metaphilosophy: The branch of philosophy that looks at the nature and methods of philosophy itself.

 

    How perplexingly tautological.

Hard Eight - Janet Evanovich

   2002; 326 pages.  Book 8 (out of 29) in the “Stephanie Plum” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Crime–Humor; Women Sleuths; Beach Novel.  Overall Rating: 8*/10.

 

    It’s time to branch out a bit.

 

    After seven books’ worth of hauling in FTA’s (“Failures To Appear”), bounty hunter Stephanie Plum elects to do a favor for her parents’ neighbor, Mabel Markowitz, and go looking for Mabel’s daughter Evelyn and 7-year-old granddaughter Annie.

 

    It’s a pro bono job, and Stephanie still has to nab two FTA’s in her spare time.  But Evelyn’s recently divorced and everyone’s pretty sure she’s just gone into hiding with her daughter to keep the ex-husband from getting custody of Annie.  Foul play seems unlikely, and even the ex-hubby seems to want them found.

 

    But take care, Steph.  Other parties seem to also be interested in Evelyn’s and Annie’s whereabouts, and they’re not shy at all about resorting to violence.

 

     Including a rabbit and a bear.  Both about six feet tall.

 

What’s To Like...

    Hard Eight is the eighth book in Janet Evanovich’s great Stephanie Plum series.  I’ve been reading the series in order, although I don’t think that’s necessary.  The standard formula for these books still holds true here: what starts out as a seemingly straightforward task—locate the mother and daughter on the run—rapidly gets more complicated.

 

    Stephanie gets a new, and unwanted, sleuthing partner here, a bumbling lawyer named Albert Klougn (pronounced “Clown”), who adds yet another comedic character to the cast.  I hope Janet Evanovich plans to make him a recurring character.  Valerie’s daughter Mary Alice returns, she who is convinced she’s a horse, although for a while here, she’s also a reindeer.

 

    Stephanie still has to chase down two FTAs (gotta do something to pay the bills), and as usual, hilarious misadventures arise.  There’s also the series-long love triangle involving Stephanie, Ranger, and Joe Morelli to keep the reader entertained.  The recurring effort by Stephanie to choose between the two is once again present, and it’s not a spoiler to say that dilemma will carry over to Book Nine.

 

    The main storyline is the search for Evelyn and Annie, but there are various subplots to keep the reader’s interest.  Who sent the snakes, and why?  Who dumped a body in Stephanie’s apartment?  What’s with the Rabbit and Bear, and later on, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton?  Who does Stephanie’s arch rival, Jeanne Ellen Burrows work for and why is she so interested in all this?

 

    I enjoyed learning about both death cooties and TastyKake therapy.  It was neat to find out that Stephanie’s “perfect” older sister Valerie once won a spelling bee in school, since I did the same many years ago.  Determining the bad guy’s identity is pretty easy for both Stephanie and the reader, but that’s okay.  This isn’t a whodunit, it’s a “whydunit”.

 

Excerpts...

    “Wait a minute.  I have a theoretical question.  Suppose you were watching television with me.  And we were alone in my apartment.  And I had a couple glasses of wine, and I sort of passed out.  Would you try to make love to me, anyway?  Would you do a little exploring while I was asleep?”

    “What are we watching?  Is it the play-offs?”

    “You can leave now,” I said.  (pg. 175)

 

    Halfway through the movie, the doorbell rang.  It was Ranger.  Dressed in his usual black.  Full utility belt, looking like Rambo.  Hair tied back.  He stood there in silence when I opened the door.  The corners of his mouth tipped slightly into the promise of a smile.

    “Babe, your couch is in the hall.”

    “It has death cooties.”

    “I knew there’d be a good explanation.”  (pg. 265)

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.7*/5, based on 3,088 ratings and 945 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.16*/5, based on 121,011 ratings and 2,443 reviews.

 

“What are you, nuts? (…) I can’t shoot an unarmed rabbit.”  (pg. 281)

    There are a couple nits to pick.

 

    As usual there’s a bunch of cussing; I counted 23 instances in the first 20%.  There are two rolls-in-the-hay, and one indecent exposure incident.  Overall, this is about average for a Stephanie Plum book.

 

    For me, the bigger issue was the ending.  The tension builds towards an exciting showdown, but then all the action occurs offscreen.  We don’t witness the reunion with Evelyn and Annie, we don’t get to see the bad guys get their comeuppance, and worst of all (ANAICT) we don’t find out why Stephanie’s stun gun malfunctions at the most critical times.

 

    Still, those bad guys do get their comeuppance, and all ends well for the two runaways.  Hard Eight is full of interesting characters, snarky dialogue, romantic tension, and LOL humor.  That’s what I expect in a Stephanie Plum book, and this one delivered on all counts.

 

    8 Stars.  For those who keep track of such things accomplished by Stephanie:  Total Cars Wrecked: 3.  Total Handbags Lost: 1.  Total Handcuffs Lost: 5.

The Rembrandt Stratagem - Kellie Austin

   2023; 288 pages.   New Author? : Yes.  Full Title: From the Paranormal Case Files of Bishop Kincaid: The Rembrandt Stratagem.  Genres: Pulp Fiction; Paranormal Fantasy; Superheroes.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

 

    What if lots of those creatures that you read about in fantasy novels really exist?  The good ones as well as the bad ones, the cute and fuzzy ones as well as the magical and threatening ones. Gnomes, and elves, trolls and vampires, centaurs and werewolves.

 

    Well, they’re all sentient beings, so chances are they’d interact and dwell among humans.  There’d be variants in each species – more than one type of vampire or werewolf; and they’d definitely be outnumbered by us humans, since we seem to reproduce at alarming rates.

 

    Because they’re visibly different from us, you’d almost certainly find hatred and bigotry among a subset of humans.  But that would be balanced by others of us who’d advocate mutual tolerance and cooperation.  And no matter what, all of us are mortal, we'll all die at some point.

 

    Well, not quite all, if you throw a few mythical figures into the mix—such as Prometheus—and a cosmic deity or two.  Then what kind of world would you end up with?

 

    In our case, you'd have the setting for From the Paranormal Case Files of Bishop Kincaid: The Rembrandt Stratagem.

 

What’s To Like...

    The Rembrandt Stratagem is set in and around an alternate New York City, and is the first book in a new Pulp Fiction series penned by Kellie Austin featuring a fascinating and enigmatic protagonist, Bishop Kincaid.  He’s blessed with some powerful talents, but he’s also got a rebellious streak and is presently in deep doo-doo with his supernatural superiors.  His character is definitely “gray”, which is how I prefer my fictional heroes.

 

    There are a bunch of interesting characters to meet and keep track of.  Gant, Bishop’s bodyguard and driver, is a Neanderthal; and Devin, one of Bishop’s fellow “grays”, is a Gorgon.  Kane and Abel are a pair of sentient knives.  Some of those who seem to be humans, aren’t; and even the Cosmic Spiral has a certain flair to its personality.  The main paranormal group in the tale, Vampires, come in several genetic variations.

 

    Like any good Pulp Fiction novel, the action starts in Chapter One, and the thrills-&-spills are nonstop from there on.  There’s plenty of intrigue as well.  Who’s targeting Bishop?  Where’s the governor?  Why’s someone killing mermen?  What’s with all the Moraturi disappearing?  And perhaps most important of all, how the heck do you kill a Moraturi Worm?

 

    There’s a smattering of romance mixed in with all the adventure.  Dani Darling is married to D.A. Dan Dickens, but she was previously hooked up with Bishop.  Dan and Bishop have to occasionally team up to accomplish mutual goals, and it is interesting to watch how they handle Dani, who by career is a reporter that’s always in search of a news story.

 

    Everything builds to an ending that’s full of exciting, to-the-death bloodshed on several fronts.  The world is saved, but it comes at a heavy cost.  The immediate evil is vanquished, but greater threats lurk in the shadows, waiting to manifest themselves in a sequel, which, I’m told, is in the works.

Ratings…
    Amazon:  *.*/5 based on 0 ratings and 0 reviews.

    Goodreads: *.**/5 based on 0 ratings and 0 reviews.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Precession (n.) : the slow movement of the axis of a spinning body around another axis due to a torque (such as a gravitational influence) acting to change the direction of the first axis.

 

Excerpt...

    “You mentioned silver.  We have a connection.”

    “What connection, Kincaid?” said the Commissioner.  “You mean silver and a true Vampire?  I graduated from high school.  Got a C- in Paranormal vs. Genetic aberration.  Even I know that silver kills a true Vampire.  Not on Genetics, you see, only on natural bloodsuckers.”  He beamed with a sense of accomplishment on knowing information that illustrated why he was in his new position.

    “Right.  You’re a smart man, Mr. Ross, truly befitting for a man in your stature,” replied Bishop, feeding Commissioner Ross’s ego.  (loc. 1841)

 

    “I shouldn’t be telling you these things.  I’m breaking a vow of the eternal library.  See, I just made a choice that was the right one, no matter the cost of that decision.  I will accept the punishment for doing so.  You are of the gray, Bishop.  Don’t be an avatar of heroism because you feel guilt over events of the past, be an avatar because you choose to be a light in this world of shadows, darkness, and death.

    “Bishop, it’s all about choice.”  (loc. 3018)

 

Kindle Details…

    Right now, The Rembrandt Stratagem sells for $3.99 at Amazon.  This is Kellie Austin’s debut full-length novel, but she has also contributed two short stories to Charles F. Millhouse’s fantastic “Pulp Reality” series.

 

“Oh my god,” she screamed again.  “I’m going to die horribly twice!”  (loc. 2449)

    The cussing is impressively sparse in The Rembrandt Stratagem, just 11 instances in the first 50% of the book; and I noted only one “adult situation”.

 

    A couple of the secondary plot threads, such as the governor’s whereabouts and the Dan/Dani/Bishop triangle, remain unresolved at the book's end, but I presume these will be addressed in subsequent books in the series.  Bishop is a long way from achieving redemption by the Cosmic Powers, and I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

 

    The book could use another round of copy-editing.  The punctuation needs work, the Glossary needs alphabetizing tweaks, and a couple character names have two spellings (Kane/Cain, Devin/Devon).  All of this can easily be corrected in the next edition of the book.

 

    Enough of the nitpicking.  The Rembrandt Stratagem is a fine debut entry in the Pulp Fiction genre by Kellie Austin.  It’s filled with lots of excitement, interesting characters, and a truly unique world setting.  Bishop Kincaid is a character I can empathize with: he made difficult choices a long time ago and now is steadfastly willing to live with the cosmic retribution that he knew would inevitably follow.  That might sound “dark”, but I think the book’s message is: despite all the hatred, bigotry, and violence we have to face every day, in the end, by choosing to confront and overcome it, we can make the world a better place.

 

    8½ Stars.

Daisy's Run - Scott Baron

   2018; 366 pages.  Full Title: Book 1 (out of 5) in the series “The Clockwork Chimera”.  New Author? : No.  Genre : Space Opera; Science-Fiction.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    It's always a bummer to wake up early, even if it's only a few minutes ahead of schedule.

 

    So you can’t blame Daisy Swarthmore and the rest of the crew on the spaceship Váli for being a bit testy when it happens to them.

 

    Especially when they’re roused six months early.  Especially when it’s the ship’s AI, nicknamed “Mal”, who’s waking them up.  Especially when it means being disturbed from a cryogenic sleep during their interstellar return home to planet Earth.  There had better be a very good reason for this.

 

    There is.  Something crashed into the Váli and the ship’s now on fire.

 

What’s To Like...

    Daisy’s Run is the first book in Scott Baron’s 5-volume Space Opera “The Clockwork Chimera”.  The storyline takes place across three settings: Outer Space (mostly on board the Váli), Earth, and the Moon.

 

    The overarching storyline involves Daisy learning about her past history, her present crewmates, and her inner abilities.  Nothing is as it seems, and although there is a steady trickle of hints as to the answers, most of them just lead to more questions.  I had fun tagging along with Daisy, trying to figure out what was going on, and enjoyed musing on the philosophical conundrums of “how do you know for sure you’re a human?” and “is eating rabbit venison bad for your karma?”

 

    I liked the nods to other sci-fi classics: 2001: A Space Odyssey (“Mal” is eerily similar to “Hal”), Alien, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, and PKD’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?  I chuckled at the name-choice of the Los Angeles-based "Schwarzenegger Space Port", and had to look up what the Qi Gong meditation routine was.  The Neuro-Stims were a nice detail, as was the fascinating sport of Chess-Boxing.  I’m pretty sure that last one really exists; I vaguely recall reading about it many years ago.

 

    There aren’t a lot of characters to keep track of, but Scott Baron does a good job of making them an interesting and varied cast.  Daisy encounters a bunch of different critters, including humans, AIs, cyborgs, robots, and aliens, and sometimes it’s hard to discern exactly which species they are.  The writing style is storyline-driven, with a bunch of Daisy’s snarky banter with those around her mixed in.

 

    The ending is not particularly exciting, but does provide answers to most of the plot threads.  Daisy finds out who she is, what the Váli’s mission really entails, what the cosmic situation is, and what the rest of the crew have planned for her next.  The Epilogue is a catchy teaser for Book 2 in the series, Pushing Daisy, presumably chronicling how she reacts to all those revelations.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.3/5 based on 731 ratings and 139 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.99/5 based on 830 ratings and 143 reviews.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Horking (v.) : vomiting; coughing up.

 

Excerpts...

    “Okay, listen to this one.  They wrote, ‘Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong.  No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has already got there first, and is waiting for it.’

    Sarah was silent a moment.  “That’s kind of messed up, Daisy.”

    “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

    She stopped crawling.

    “Hey!”

   “Hang on a minute,” Daisy said, the pulled a fresh pen from her pocket and scratched out a message of her own, then started crawling again.  “’Without a little darkness from time to time, man would forget that he dwells in the light,’” Sarah read.  "Who said that one, Daze?"

    Daisy continued her crawl for the exit.

    "I did."  (loc. 715)

 

    “What’s the next step in our evolution?  In theirs?  Are they trying to bastardize mankind until we are as much machinery as they are?  And why do humans have exposed metal, while full-on robots are covered with flesh?”

    “They’re probably just trying to make us feel comfortable around them, is all.  Familiar faces and all that.”

    “But why cyborgs?  I mean, take Barry for instance.  He’s basically a sentient toaster covered in steak—”

    “I think he might take issue with that description.”  (loc. 2083)

 

Kindle Details…

    Daisy’s Run goes for $0.99 at Amazon right now.  The other four books in the series are all in the $2.99-$3.99 range; or you can buy the entire series in a bundle for $7.99. Scott Baron has several other Sci-Fi series for your Kindle, and they seem to follow the same pricing strategy: $0.99 for the first book in the series, $2.99-$3.99 for the others, and bundles appropriately discounted.

 

“Yet here you are, a chatty ghost in my head.”  (loc. 2891)

    I couldn’t find much to quibble about in Daisy’s Run.  The pacing seemed a bit slow at first, and the text felt overly-descriptive at first, but that was inevitable since Scott Baron has world-building to do, plus characters and enigmatic plot threads to introduce.  Once that’s done, the action speeds up nicely.

 

    There’s a fair amount of cussing (27 instances in the first 10% of the book) and a couple of rolls-in-the-hay, but nothing lewd and lurid.  Some reviewers were put off by the sex passages, but hey, that’s a common occurrence in Space Opera novels.

 

    Other reviewers felt Daisy was an unlikeable protagonist, one going so far as to accuse her of being a bigot.  Well, it’s true she gets called that at one point in the story, but the alleged bigotry is against robotic entities, and is ultimately proved false.  Methinks someone had a grudge against the author.

 

    My only big gripe has to do with the Amazon blurb for the Kindle edition, where one of the genres is listed as “Humorous Science Fiction”.  Amazon lies.  If you pick up this book for the LOL’s, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.  In fairness though, neither of the other two formats – Audiobook and Paperback, label this as a humorous sci-fi novel.

 

    8 Stars.  Overall, Daisy’s Run kept me interested and fully lived up to my expectations for a Space Opera.  Now that the main characters have been established and the requisite world-building is done, it’s time to get kicking some Chithiid ass in the sequel.

The Dark Monk - Oliver Potzsch

   2009 (German) and 2012 (English); 448 pages.  Translator: Lee Chadeayne.  New Author? : No.  Book 2 (out of 7) in the “Hangman’s Daughter” series.  Genres : Murder-Mystery; Historical Fiction; Thriller, German Literature.  Overall Rating: 9*/10.

 

    Eating too many donuts can shorten your lifespan.  That was true even way back in 1660 AD.  Just ask Pastor Andreas Koppmeyer, the parish priest at St. Lawrence Church, in the tiny hamlet of Schongau, Bavaria.  Well, he can't answer you.  He died shortly after eating a couple of donuts.

 

    If you want to get technical about it though, it wasn't the donuts that killed him, it was the honey coating on the donuts.  And if you want to get technical about that, it wasn’t the honey that did him in, it was the hemlock poison that someone spiked the honey with that was responsible for Pastor Koppmeyer’s demise.

 

    Who would want to kill some small-time priest in a backwater town like Schongau?  And why?

 

    There are a bunch of people who want to find out, and several are more than willing to take part in the investigation.

 

What’s To Like...

    The Dark Monk is the follow-up to the eponymous first book in this series, which I read in 2016 and is reviewed here.  That book's three main characters – Simon, Jakob (the Hangman), and Magdalena (the Hangman’s Daughter), are back, joined this time by Benedikta, the slain priest’s sister.

 

    Once again, Oliver Potzsch weaves a pleasant blend of Historical Fiction and Murder-Mystery into a fascinating tale.  The plot threads flit among the four sleuths' POV as they conduct their investigations, sometimes solo, sometimes as teams.  There's a nice “feel” of 17^th century Germany as the Bavarian populace struggle against a raging plague and murderous robbers harassing anyone daring enough to venture out beyond the city walls.

 

    For lovers of intrigue there are riddles to solve (think Da Vinci Code), treasure to find, tombs to search, and relics to desecrate.  For those who like Romance in their novels, there’s a love triangle involving three of our protagonists.  For enthusiasts of blood and gore, there are robbers to find and fight, public torture exhibitions, and wrongdoers to hang.  And for foreign language fans, there’s lots of Latin, German, and French phrases, including several colorful expletives.

 

    All our heroes brave the lawless countryside to visit nearby towns in search of clues.  There’s a map of the area in the front if you’re a stickler for geographic accuracy, plus a Cast of Characters which I found to be very useful.  In the back, there are sections called “A Few Words in Conclusion” which is well worth your time, and “A Travel Guide Through The Priests’ Corner” which will be worthwhile if you ever plan to vacation in Bavaria.

 

    The ending is exciting and has several nice twists to it.  The mysteries are solved, the bad guys are dispatched, and the heroes can rest up for the next adventure, The Beggar King, which resides on my Kindle.  All the plot threads are tied up save one, which is left as a “Natural or Supernatural?” conundrum for the reader to muse upon.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.4*/5, based on 2,643 ratings and 2,038 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.87*/5, based on 21,375 ratings and 1,590 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    Only now did Simon notice that the corpse lay directly over a tombstone with a relief of a woman who looked like the Virgin Mary.  The words of an inscription circled her head like a halo.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

    “Thus passes the glory of the world…” Simon mumbled.  “So true.”  He had often seen this inscription on gravestones.  As far back as early Rome, it was the custom for a slave to whisper these words to a victorious general on his triumphal march through the city.  Nothing of this world lasts forever…  (loc. 264)

 

    “I’m telling you, Benedikta is a slut!”

    “Aha!  A slut?”  Simon lost his patience now, and his voice took on an icy tone.  “This…slut has more decency and education than you’ll ever have in three lifetimes.  She knows how to behave, she speaks proper German without stammering and stuttering, and she can even speak French!”  (loc. 1773)

 

Kindle Details…

    The Dark Monk presently sells for $6.49 at Amazon, with the rest of the books in the series ranging in price from $5.49 to $6.99.  Oliver Potzsch has another half-dozen or so e-novels in English; they will run you anywhere from $4.99 to $13.99.

 

“Fat, effeminate moneybags! Even the Swedes wouldn’t have accepted them as hostages.  (loc. 1126)

    There’s not much to quibble about in The Dark Monk.  The cussing is sparse - just 15 instances in the first 20%, and I don’t remember any of the violence being graphic.

 

    For me, the riddle-solving seemed obscure and forced.  Even when I read The Da Vinci Code many years ago, I couldn’t help but wonder the why anyone would hide something incredibly valuable, but then leave a trail of riddles behind.  And here, if you’re hoping to solve the riddles before our heroes do, all I can do is wish you “good luck”. 

 

    There were a couple of all-too-convenient twists to the murder-mystery aspect.  The poisoned honey only came into play because the parish cook ran out of good honey that day.  Are you telling me the baddies carry around toxic honey “just in case” such a mishap occurs?  Similarly, the Ultimate Baddie (and titular “Dark Monk”), is ever so careful in everything he does, yet leaves a strong odor of violets behind him wherever he goes, due to his heavy use of perfume.

 

    But I quibble.  The violets and lethal honey contribute to the page-turning tale, and I enjoyed watching our heroes solve those obtuse riddles, much to the consternation of the baddies who were also trying to solve them.  The Dark Monk was every bit as entertaining as The Hangman’s Daughter, and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

 

    9 Stars.  We’ll close with a Latin phrase which plays a crucial role in The Dark Monk:  “Deus le vult”, which translates into “God wills it”, and which was used down through the ages to justify all sorts of reprehensible acts in the name of religion.

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

   1996; 370 pages.  New Author? : No, but it’s been a while.  Genres : Urban Fantasy; British Contemporary Literature; Paranormal Fiction.  Overall Rating: 8*/10.

 

    Richard Mayhew has a good life.  He’s got a decent job and a girlfriend, Jessica, whom he loves very much, even if she is working very hard on changing him into a better man.

 

    Richard Mayhew is an honorable guy.  When he comes across a girl crumpled and bleeding on the sidewalk, he knows to do the right thing: take her to his apartment and tend to her wounds as best he can.

 

    Richard Mayhew is a bit naïve.  His girlfriend Jessica is not amused by his act of chivalry and lets him know it in no uncertain terms.  And that’s just the beginning of Richard’s troubles.  He’s about to lose Jessica, lose his job, and lose his apartment.  Amazingly, he's also about to lose the very city he lives in—London, England.

 

    All because he took pity on the injured girl named Door.  Hmm.  I wonder why they call her that?  Probably it’s short for “Doreen”.

 

    What other explanation could there be?

 

What’s To Like...

    Neverwhere was published in 1996 and was Neil Gaiman’s first “solo” novel, coming six years after he co-authored Good Omens with Terry Pratchett.  Both of these novels are fantasy tales, but where Good Omens is steeped in comedy (what else would you expect from the pen of Terry Pratchett?), Neverwhere is a darker work of Urban Fantasy.

 

    The story is set entirely in the two London.  The first half of the book focuses almost exclusively on worldbuilding, which is a Neil Gaiman forte.  Richard and the reader explore “London Below”, aka "The Underside”, meeting all sorts of strange characters and otherworldly species, while getting entangled in all sorts of dangerous plotlines.

 

    The main storyline finally gets underway in the second half of the book, and the major story threads include: a.) finding an angel named Islington; b.) acquiring some sort of “key” and bringing it to Islington; c.) helping Door figure out who killed her family, and why; d.) assisting Hunter in her quest to kill “the Beast of London”; and e.) somehow getting Richard back to “London Above” (aka “The Upside”) and back in good graces with Jessica.

 

    Gaiman’s attention to the details of London Below is masterful, to the point of almost overshadowing the action.  Among the things Richard and the reader encounter are The Floating Market, Earl’s Court, The Great Beast of London, Black Friars, The Velvets, The Golden, The Sewer Folk, and the Rat-Speakers.  I chuckled at “Blaise’s Reel” (be careful what you wish for!), and got a greater respect for the admonition “Mind The Gap!”

 

    The ending is spread out over the last 50 pages or so.  It’s a bit predictable, but I nevertheless found it to be fun.  Most of the plotlines get tied up nicely, and the last chapter serves as both an Epilogue and a teaser for a sequel which, ANAICT, was never written.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Vol-au-vents (n., plural) : small, round pastries filled with a savory mixture, typically of meat or fish, in a richly flavored sauce.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.6*/5, based on 11,364 ratings and 3,607 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.17*/5, based on 490,956 ratings and 26,644 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “Young man,” he said, “understand this: there are two Londons.  There’s London Above —that’s where you lived—and then there’s London Below—the Underside—inhabited by the people who fell through the cracks in the world.  Now you’re one of them.  Good night.”  (pg. 127)

 

    “We were looking for you,” said Richard.

    “And now you’ve found me,” croaked the marquis, drily.

    “We were expecting to see you at the market.”

    “Yes.  Well.  Some people thought I was dead.  I was forced to keep a low profile.”

    “Why . . . why did some people think you were dead?”

    The marquis looked at Richard with eyes that had seen too much and gone too far.  “Because they killed me,” he said.  (pg. 295)

 

“’Nice’ in a bodyguard,” lectured the marquis, “is about as useful as the ability to regurgitate whole lobsters.”  (pg. 118)

    As with any Neil Gaiman novel, trying to find things to grouse about in Neverwhere is a challenge.

 

    The cussing is light – just nine instances in the first 30% - which once again reinforces my maxim of “the more skilled the author, the less cusswords are needed for effect."

 

    Spending half the book on worldbuilding is probably not to everyone’s literary tastes, and that includes mine.  But if anyone can pull it off, it’s Neil Gaiman.  That’s all the quibbles I can come up with.

 

    I enjoyed Neverwhere but I wouldn’t call it Neil Gaiman’s best effort.  That’s reserved for American Gods (2001), Anansi Boys (2005), and The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013).  It isn’t that Neverwhere is bad, it’s that those other three books are just so good.  Want a second opinion?  Wikipedia notes that China Miéville, one of my favorite present-day novelists, cites Neverwhere as one of the major influences for his stellar book, Un Lun Dun.

 

    8 Stars.  Neil Gaiman is currently involved in a major Graphic Novel series titled Sandman.  To date, there are nine books in the series.  I have the first one on my Kindle, and Santa brought me Books 2 and 3 for Christmas last week.  I think I'll begin reading them very soon.