Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Alliance - Larry Millett

2001; 401 pages (plus 32 pages of notes).  New Author? : Yes.  Book #4 in Millett's Sherlock Holmes series.  Genre : Murder/Mystery.  Overall Rating : 6*/10.

    What on earth are Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson doing in Minnesota in 1899?  Helping their friends and fellow sleuths - Shadwell Rafferty and George Washington Thomas - solve a murder/mystery.  A labor activist has been killed, stripped, and then hanged.  Just to make sure the message is clear, a sign in hung around the victim's neck, reading "The Secret Alliance Has Spoken".  But was it really done by them?  Can our fact-finding foursome get to the bottom of this?  What do you think?

What's To Like...
    The action starts immediately.  We have a body by page 4; and Rafferty is on the case by page 13.  The murder/mystery is nicely constructed.  The solution is neither too obvious, nor too arbitrary.

    Larry Millett lives in the Twin Cities, and takes pains to give you a detailed "feel" for life there at the dawn of the 20th century.  But if historical details aren't your shtick, be of good cheer - most of the minutiae are in notes in the back of the book.  The subject of labor unions vs. industry management is given an even-handed treatment.  Greed has its counter in Extremism; and in 1899, any and all foes are conveniently labeled anarchists, just like today we conveniently call them all terrorists.

    Alas, this isn't the Sherlock Holmes I know.  This one is troubled by his dreams and gets guidance from his premonitions.  Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes would never do anything that subjective.  Also, Holmes and Watson don't arrive on the scene until almost halfway through the book (page 186, to be exact), and there are very few brilliant Holmesian deductions that we all look forward to.

    Finally, there are way too many back-reference plugs for earlier books in this series.  And Rafferty drops his g's with annoying  frequency.  Sharin'; tryin'; doin'; etc.

Kewlest New Word...
Flaneur : an idler; a loafer.

Excerpts...
    "Ah yes, Miss Addie O'Donnell, the outspoken friend of the workingman.  Have you gone through her place yet with your usual destructive thoroughness?"
    "No.  We do that and she'll raise a big stink in the newspapers."
    "True.  The First Amendment is a constant bother, isn't it, Dolph?  If the Founding Fathers had only started with the Second, our lives would be immeasurably easier."  (pgs. 32-33)

    "Am I callous?  Perhaps, but the reality is that I can do nothing about the accident any more.  Nothing.  I can only accept that what happened was part of God's plan."
    Rafferty had found that when people spoke of "God's plan" they were usually referring to someone else's misfortune, thereby confirming their own lofty status before the Almighty.  (pg. 230)

"Spite, you see, can be a form of idealism."  (pg. 77)
    Larry Millett's Sherlock Holmes will not supplant the original.  Ditto for the mystery itself, and the investigative techniques used to solve it.

    Which is a shame, because based on its own merits, this story is quite good.  If you edit out the two Englishmen (they aren't really necessary except for name-dropping), and rename the book "Shadwell Rafferty and the Secret Alliance", you avoid the inevitable comparison to Conan Doyle, and have yourself a very good historical murder-mystery.  This story rates 8* without Holmes, but only 4* with him.  That averages out to 6 Stars, so we'll go with that.

The Neutronium Alchemist - Peter F. Hamilton

1997; 1137 pages.  New Author? : No.  Book #2 of the Night's Dawn Trilogy.  Genre : Space Opera.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

    The battle between the Possessed and the Unpossessed rages throughout the galaxy.  The Possessed hasten to infect as many habitats as they can; the Unpossessed struggle with immense logistical issues while learning ways to repel the menace.

    In the midst of all the chaos, a new danger emerges.  Dr. Alkad Mzu has escaped her 30-year house asrrest on the habitat Tranquility and seeks to reclaim the Doomsday device she developed, called the Neutronium Alchemist.  And while it is a threat to all, it is also a prize.  If either side manages to seize the Neutronium Alchemist, or even just capture Dr. Mzu, they gain the upper hand in the cosmic warfare.

What's To Like...
    This is epic Space Opera - a multitude of detailed worlds, races, gadgets and characters to explore and get acquainted with.  There is despair and brutality, but there is also hope and goodness.  The sex has been toned down in this second book, and a bit of comic relief has been added. most notably through a flower child possessor with a magic bus, who's helping to save a bunch of unpossessed children.  Hamilton even brings back two historical figures, Al Capone and Fletcher Christian, and both occupy important roles in the drama.

    There are very few purely Good or Evil characters.  Indeed, there are a lot of what we old AD&Ders call "chaotic evil" and "chaotic good" players, who often hinder their causes more than they help it.  It's fun to watch "lawful evil" Al Capone as he gets frustrated with his chaotic minions.

    There is a "Cast of Characters" at the back of the book, which is very helpful because there are a zillion storylines and people to keep track of.  It is hard to see how everything will be tidily resolved in one more book, but that's the "hook" to keep reading.  Oh yeah, there are also a couple "super agents" who act as observers in the action, and their presence offers tantalizing possibilities of this whole crisis being manipulated by higher powers.

Kewlest New Word...
Orrery : a mechanical model of the solar system.

Excerpts...
    "I'm sorry, Ralph, but as I said, you simply cannot threaten me.  Have you worked out why yet?  Have you worked out the real reason I will win?  It is because you will ultimately join me.  You are going to die, Ralph.  Today.  Tomorrow.  A year from now.  If you're lucky, in fifty years time.  It doesn't matter when.  It is entropy, it is fate, it is the way the universe works.  Death, not love, conquers all in the end.  And when you die, you will find yourself in the beyond.  That is when you and I will become brother and sister in the same fellowship.  United against the living.  Coveting the living."  (pg. 165)

    Al knew all about kilometres; they were what the French called miles.  (pg. 93)

    "Wait!  What are you observing us for?"
    "To see what happens, of course."
    "Happens?  You mean when the Kingdom attacks?"
    "No, that's not really important.  I want to see what the outcome is for your entire race now that the beyond has been revealed to you.  I must say, I'm becoming quite excited by the prospect.  After all, I have been waiting for this for a very long time.  It's my designated goal function."
    Moyo simply stared at him, astonishment and indignation taking the place of fear.  "How long?" was all he managed to whisper.
    "Eighteen centuries."  Rosler raised an arm in a cheery wave and walked away into the shadows...  (pg. 909)

"And what is the purpose of life?"  "To experience."  (pg. 388)
    For all its entertaining Space Opera theatrics, Peter F. Hamilton's The Neutronium Alchemist also gives you some fascinating spiritual what-if's to ponder.  What if all your soul does when you die is fall into a giant repository of other souls?  If that was your eternal fate, what would you do if, say after 600 years,  you were given the opportunity of coming back, albeit at the expense of taking over someone else's body and life?  And if you were among the living when such a "beyond" was revealed, how would it affect your actions and spiritual beliefs?

    The Neutronium Alchemist, like any Book 2 in a trilogy, is neither the beginning or the end of the tale.  It is action-packed from page one; but I can't say whether the Doomsday device plays a vital part in the story, or is just a tangent whose only purpose is to tide you over until Book 3.  The Neutronium Alchemist is not a stand-alone book, so you commit to reading 3600 pages when you take up this trilogy.  So far, I'd say it's worth it.  8½ Stars. 

Earthman's Burden - Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson

1957; 189 pages.  Genre : 50's Science Fiction; Humor.  New Author(s)? : No.  Overall Rating : 5*/10.

    Earthman's Burden consists of six short stories (each about 30 pages long) about the Hokas, a race of Teddy Bear-like creatures on an alien planet.  You also meet their human plenipotentiary, Alexander Jones, and his wife, Tanni.  All but one of the stories originally appeared in various Sci-Fi magazines in between 1951 and 1955.  A couple "interplanetary memos" were later inserted to try to give some cohesion to the tales, but frankly, it wasn't necessary.

What's To Like...
      Hokas love everything about earth - our movies, our books, our history, our radio transmissions.  They take everything as absolute truth, so if they see a movie, say, about ancient Rome, they immediately try to build a settlement on their planet Toka to mimic it.

   Each of the stories in Earthman's Burden is set in one of these mimicries.  Specifically, the settings are (in order) : (1) the Wild West; (2) Don Juan; (3) Space Travel; (4) Sherlock Holmes; (5) Pirates; and (6) the French Foreign Legion.

    The stories all have a similar template.  Alex awakes to find the Hokas embracing a new bit of terra-culture; he gets embroiled in their antics; some sort of crisis arises; mayhem ensues, Alex devises an ingenious solution by going "in character", and all turns out well because of (or in spite of) the best-laid plans of the Hokas/Alex.

Kewlest New Word...
Tussock : an area of raised solid ground in a marsh or bog that is bound together by roots of low vegetation.

Excerpts...
    "Great jumping rockets!" exclaimed the other Hoka.  "Don't tell me the Coordinator didn't recognize you?"
    "It's the moonlight, probably," said the first Hoka.  "All clear and on green now, Coordinator?"
    "I- I-," stammered Alex.
    "Aye, aye!" repeated Jax Bennison crisply.  (pg. 68)

    Alex discovered the consensus among them was that the captain was becoming too obsessed with his navigation to pay proper attention to the running of the ship.  No one had been hanged for several weeks, and there hadn't been a keelhauling for over a month.  Many a Hoka standing on the sun-blistered deck cast longing glances at the cool water overside and wished he would be keelhauled (which was merely fun on a planet without barnacles).  There was much fo'c'sle talk about what act could be committed dastardly enough to rate the punishment.  (pg. 135)

"Damn the tiddlywinks!  Full speed ahead!"  (pg. 186)
    The stories are cute but formulaic and shallow.  This was my second Hoka book, and chronologically precedes the other one, which is reviewed here.  Frankly, I didn't find Earthman's Burden as entertaining as Hoka!.

    Maybe it was because Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson were still feeling their way around in the series.  Maybe it was because the attempt to string these six stories into a coherent overall novel was ill-advised.  Maybe it was because of the horrid printing job - each page was set on about a 10-degree angle.

    In any event, all six tales are still amusing to read, and a pleasant break if you're plodding through a 1200-page Space Opera like I am.  It's uninspiring fluff, but that's okay at times.  Anderson and Dickson would subsequently  tweak and refine their style, and their efforts would pay off when Hoka! came out.  And I do appreciate it when authors evolve and improve with each work they put out.  5 Stars (out of 10).

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Alexander Solzhenitsyn

1962 (Russian); 1963 (English).  139 pages.  Genre : Russian Lit.  New Author? : Yes.  Overall Rating : 9½*/10.

    The title says it all - the story is simply a single day in the life of a Russian prisoner serving a 10-year sentence at a Stalinist gulag in Siberia.  His crime?  Escaping from the Germans as a POW during World War 2.  The Russians suspect he is a spy for the Nazis.

What's To Like...
     The day is an ordinary one. There is no daring escape or dramatic confrontation.  The greatest excitement consists of smuggling a stub of a hacksaw blade into the campground.  Yet this is a powerful story (and probably more so in its original Russian) that will open your eyes to man's inhumanity to man.

  You will spend about 18 hours total with Ivan Denisovich Shukhov.  You will feel his hunger and his exhaustion.  You will rejoice over a pittance of food; you will freeze to the bone in the Siberian winter; you will ache from back-breaking labor.  But you will survive.  Because if you can survive one day, you can survive 3,650 days (his 10-year sentence).  Plus three more days for leap years.

    Not every prisoner makes it.  You must learn when to grovel, who to kiss up to, how to fool the guards, how to get extra food, when to share, and when to hoard.  Most of all, you must learn how to psychologically deal with your fate.  These lessons must be re-learned every day.

Excerpts...
    Work was like a stick.  It had two ends.  When you worked for the knowing you gave them quality; when you worked for a fool you simply gave him eyewash.
    Otherwise, everybody would have croaked long ago.  They all knew that.  (pg. 12)

    They sat in the cold mess hall, most of them eating with their hats on, eating slowly, picking out putrid little fish from under the leaves of boiled black cabbage and spitting the bones out on the table.  When the bones formed a heap and it was the turn of another squad, someone would sweep them off and they'd be trodden into a mush on the floor.  But it was considered bad manners to spit the fishbones straight out on the floor.  (pg. 13)

    Who is the zek's main enemy?  Another zek.  If only they weren't at odds with one another - ah, what a difference that'd make!  (pg. 101.  "Zek" is an abbreviation of Russian for prisoner.)

Scrape through today somehow and hope for tomorrow.  (pg. 69)
   One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a riveting story, made all the more believable because it is such an ordinary day.  But its importance extends beyond the literary world - its publication was a milestone in Soviet history as well.  Alexander Solzhenitsyn was a gulag survivor, and this book was the first one dealing with the gulags that the Soviet government (specifically Nikita Khrushchev) allowed to be printed in the USSR.

    Overnight, it changed the psyche of the Russian people.  Stalinist repression was dealt a mortal blow.  To quote Khrushchev :
    "It is our duty to gain a thorough  and comprehensive understanding of the nature of the matters related to the abuse of power.  Time will pass and we shall die, we are all mortal, but so long as we work we can and must clear up many points and tell the truth to the Party and to the people. ...  This we must do so that such things never happen again."

    ODITLOID is a short, powerful, sometimes painful piece of Russian literature that just might touch your very soul.  At 139 pages, what have you got to lose?  9½ Stars.

Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips

2007; 292 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Genre : Fiction; Humor.  Overall Rating : 6½*/10.

    You won't find any Greek gods on Mt. Olympus anymore.  Most of them now live in a house in London that they purchased way back in the 1600's.  Artemis is a professional dog-walker.  Aphrodite is doing phone sex.  And Apollo just shot the pilot for a phony clairvoyant TV show.

    They're all lousy housekeepers, so they've hired a (mortal) cleaner.  Who by a strange coincidence is...

What's To Like...
    This is a light-hearted read that also asks some weighty questions.  Why should we assume the Greek gods aren't around nowadays?  What do we really know about the afterlife?   If we could live forever here on earth, would we get bored?  How would we act if we were immortal?

    The two human protagonists are a cleaning lady and a nerdy engineer.  How kewl is that?  There's Romance and Sex; yet strangely, they never appear together.  Any book that showcases Greek mythology is a plus for me.  And the whole Underworld portion of the tale is fascinating.

Kewlest New Word...
Derisory : ridiculously small or inadequate.  (Get your mind out of the gutter; here it refers to a paycheck).

Excerpts...
    "You did what?" said Aphrodite, rising to her feet...
    "I...," said Apollo.  "I..."
    "You wouldn't heat up so much as a cupful of water for me, and yet you were willing to waste gallons of your power on transmogrifying some stupid mortal slut?"
    "She wasn't a slut," said Artemis.  "Not with him anyway.  I think that was the problem."  (pg. 16)

    In the kind of novels that Neil sometimes read in secret, this would be the moment when the hero took the heroine in his arms, pressed his lips roughly to hers, and then ravaged her.
    "I've got Scrabble on my Palm Pilot," he said.  "Multiplayer."  (pg. 23)

    "We haven't got the sun, we haven't got Apollo, and if we don't work together to keep the earth going, the world is going to end."
    "And then all the mortals will die?" said Hades.
    "Yes."
    "And this is a bad thing?"  (pg. 261)

"That isn't a lady.  That's a goddess."  (pg. 248)
    The underlying premise in Gods Behaving Badly - that of old deities still hanging around - is neat but not original.  This is Gaiman's 'American Gods' done a bit more lightly; or Pratchett's 'Pyramids' done a bit more raunchily.  There was even an old episode from the original (black & white!) Star Trek series that explored this theme.  But it's always nice to see a fresh take on it.

    There are some weaknesses.  The original conflict (which we won't detail here; this is a no-spoilers blog) is never resolved.  The R-rated language and situations serve no purpose.  The ending is somewhat prosaic.  The pacing felt choppy.  If you aren't versed in Greek mythology, you may find the gods to be 2-D.

    Still, it was an entertaining read, and I don't think Marie Phillips intended to write an epic.  Gods Behaving Badly is her debut book, and ANAICT, she hasn't penned any more.  Which is a shame because this had a "diamond in the rough" feel to it.  Once her style is polished up, her creative imagination will undoubtedly shine through.  6½ Stars.

The Hyde Park Headsman - Anne Perry

1994; 343 pages.  Genre : Murder Mystery.  New Author? : Yes.  Book #14 (out of 27) in the "Charlotte & Thomas Pitt" series.  Overall Rating : 7½*/10.

    With the unsolved Jack-the-Ripper murders still fresh in their minds, Londoners now face a new terror.  Someone keeps dumping decapitated bodies in Hyde Park at night.  The public and the elected officials want newly-promoted Police Superintendent Thomas Pitt to catch the murderer, and pronto.  Pitt has one thing going for him - at least the perpetrator has the decency to deposit the severed heads beside their torsos.

What's To Like...
   The action gets going immediately; by page 2 we have a victim (in two parts), and a hysterical populace.  The backstory was confusing for a while, especially trying to keep the women straight.  There's Charlotte and Caroline, Vespasia and Gracie, Emily and Grandmomma.  But once you get the cast squared away, things chug along nicely.

    The series takes place in Victorian (1890's) London, and I'm partial to murder/mysteries set in historical times.  The setting is for the most part handled well.  There are lots of bodies, lots of heads, lots of suspects, and lots of secrets.  Not all the pleasant characters are innocent, and not all of the unpleasant ones are guilty.  Pitt's assistant, Tellman, is a particularly interesting study - he's initially jealous and surly, but gradually he and Pitt learn to work together.

Kewlest New Word...
Consanguinity : related by blood.  (I guess I cooda figured that one out)

Excerpts...
    "What else do you know about it?" Pitt asked, looking up at Grover and leaning back in his chair...
    "Sir?"  Grover raised his eyebrows.
    "What did the medical officer say?" Pitt prompted.
    "Died of 'avin' 'is 'ead cut orf," Grover replied, lifting his chin a little.  (page 3)

    "Good God, man!  What is the world coming to when such an act can be perpetrated in a public place in London, and men see it and do nothing!  What is happening to us?"  His face was growing darker as the blood suffused his cheeks.  "One expects barbarity in heathen countries, outposts of the Empire, but not here in the heart and soul of a civilized land!"  (pg. 45)

"With a twisted cue and a cloth untrue, and elliptical billiard balls,
My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time..."  (pg. 246)
     The Hyde Park Headsman has the curious distinction at Amazon of having all the reviewers giving it one to three stars.  No 4* and no 5* ratings.  Wow.

    I'll grant this isn't a masterpiece.  Pitt questions lots of people, the bodies pile up, but you don't get the feeling that the story is progressing.  The key break is what I call a "Cold Case Moment" (*).  The ending has a nice twist or two, but still feels arbitrary.  Worst of all, it never is answered why the killer keeps transporting the bodies to Hyde Park; they aren't killed there.

    Still, it was captivating enough to keep me turning the pages.  Thomas Pitt won't supplant Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes as my favorite Victorian sleuth, but who will?  I'll probably buy a couple more of Anne Perry's novels the next time I'm at the used-book store.  7½ Stars.

(*) : Cold Case Moment.  Named because it got to where every Cold Case episode had one.  The detectives would be questioning someone, and it would go like this :
Detective :  "Yadda yadda.  Blah blah.  Hey, why are you wearing that odd pin on your jacket?"
Suspect (staring wistfully at the sky) : "It brings back memories, man."
Detective : "Oh. Yadda yadda.  Blah blah."

    See, the problem is - that would never be part of the dialogue unless it was the key break.  So even though Cold Case could go on another 40 minutes, you always knew they'd get back to this eventually, and use it to solve the murder.  Good murder-mysteries use this device to introduce red herrings.  Not-as-good murder mysteries use it to point straight to the perp.

Threshold - Caitlin R. Kiernan

2001; 312 pages.  Genre : Cozy Horror.  New Author? : Yes.  Overall Rating : 7*/10.

"I can see monsters," says Dancy Flammarion, the mysterious albino girl who wanders into Chance Matthews' life to solicit her help in dealing with them.  And a couple of Chance's Goth friends as well.

But are the monsters just in Dancy's head?  She's been in institutions, you know.  And if they are real, why the heck would they hang out in Birmingham, Alabama of all places?

What's To Like... 
Caitlin R. Kiernan has a distinctive writing style - in the present tense, and with lots of compound adjectives - about one per paragraph.  Some examples : velvetsoft, shoescuffed, housesifted, syrupslow, dustysafe, birdnervous.

The main cast of characters are fun-to-get-to-know anti-heroes, who for the most part don't have their sh*t together.  They drink, smoke, get stoned, and break into places they shouldn't enter just for the fun of it.  Though interestingly, Chance eschews the tobacco.

Hey, the book has lots of Paleontology in it; how kewl is that?!  And if you don't know much about Paleontology, there's a helpful appendix at the back.  If you don't care about Paleontology, there's still some good news.  The enjoyment of Threshold doesn't really hinge on it.

Kewlest New Word...
Travertine : a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs.  (Wiki it for some kewl images).

Excerpts...
    "Why are you a drunkard?" Dancy asks, finally turning away from the window, swiveling around to face him.  "Because you don't like hearing what the angels say, what they show you?"
    "There are no g*dd*mn angels!"
    "It doesnt matter what you call them," she says so calm, so confident.  "My momma said they usually don't care."  (pgs. 110-111)

    "We can't have people sleeping on the grass," the old woman says, and now she sounds as bewildered as she sounds indignant.  "This is a House of God.  We can't have people sleeping on the grass."
    "I'm sorry," Dancy says, and the sprinkler sweeps back over her, a few seconds of rain, and then it's gone again.  "I didn't mean to fall asleep."
   ""Well, okay," the old woman mumbles.  "Okay I guess, but you understand that we can't have people sleeping here,"  (pg. 151)

"Some stories don't have endings ... in some stories, there arent't even answers."  (pg. 259)
This is what I can only call a "Cozy Horror" story - most of the killing is done off-stage or recounted via flashback.  While that's certainly novel, I found it to be kind of an oxymoron.  If you want to scare me, I need some in-my-face action and violence.

    A lot of people hated the ending, but I found it to be non-trite and unforeseen.   It did feel "rushed" however, particularly with regard to our clique of anti-heroes.  It's also possible that their fate is taken up in some sequel that I'm unaware of.

   There are a lot of things - the present tense, the adjectives, the Gothiness, the science, the cozy horror, the ending - that will be hit-or-miss for the reader.  This was only Caitlin Kiernan's second novel, so her writing may well have evolved with time.  For me, the "likes" outpaced the "meh".  I'd give the Style a "9", and the Story a "5".  That averages out to 7 Stars.

A Bloody Field By Shrewsbury - Edith Pargeter

1972; 378 pages.  Genre : Historical Fiction.  New Author? : No.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

    It's 1399 AD, and uneasy rests the head that wears the English crown.  King Henry IV has deposed his cousin, Richard II.  Henry's son, Hal, is now the Prince of Wales.  But Hal's only 14 years old, so the king sends a close friend and ally, Harry Percy (aka "Hotspur") to Shrewsbury with Hal, to be his mentor.

    But the Royal Treasury is broke, Richard II dies under suspicious circumstances, the French are hostile, and Wales and Scotland are revolting.  What more could possilby go wrong for the King?

What's To Like...
    Edith Pargeter (who uses the pen-name Ellis Peters when she writes Brother Cadfael stories) is a fine historical fiction author.  All the characters are 3-dimensional and evolving; and none of them is all-white or all-black.  Like a Shakespearean tragedy, our main hero (Hotspur), although noble, has some far-reaching character flaws.

    The main battle only starts on page 332, so until then you have to be entertained by a couple of skirmishes and a lot of history, politics, and personal drama.  The book succeeds at this nicely.  There's even a little bit of romance for the ladies, but it's (seemingly) hopelessly doomed so guys can tolerate it.

Kewlst New Word(s)...
Two of them, just for a change.  Shriving : hearing the confession of, and assigning penance to (someone).  Sikker : certain; safe; secure.

Excerpts...
    "Doubts?  Ay, have I, and many and grievous, too!  Do you think there's one of us that is not looking back now in torment of mind, questioning at every move what we did well, and what was ill-done?  Death makes every man turn his head and re-examine his conscience."  (pg. 24)

    As what would she remember him?  She was not dependent upon love and lovers as women are wont to be.  She had married, and sickened of marriage, and chosen of her own will to look towards other satisfactions, this being soiled and spoiled for her, though not, please God, eternally.  You cannot die of disillusion at twenty, not with such a spirit in you.  (pg. 328)

"Every man's death is treading hard on his heels every day of his life. ... Yet it will not overtake until he flags."  (pg. 329)
    As with her Brother Cadfael series, Pargeter/Peters gives you a feel for everyday life in medieval England.  The people are real, their actions are believable, and their surroundings vividly detailed.

    If you aren't a history buff, A Bloody Field By Shrewsbury may not be for you, as Pargeter takes very little literary license with the historical facts.  But if you like knights and kings, and castles and calamities, then you will probably enjoy this book.

    The history recounted here will most likely be new to most American readers.  But Shakespeare found it important enough to write a tetralogy of plays about it : Richard II, Henry IV - Part 1, Henry IV - Part Two, and Henry V.   If it's good enough for the Bard, it's good enough for me.  8 Stars.

Against A Dark Background - Iain M. Banks

1993; 613 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Genre : Science Fiction.  Overall Rating : 6*/10.

    Everyone is after Lady Sharrow.  The Sad Brethren of the Sea House want her to steal something called the Lazy Gun as ransom for her half-sister.  The Huhsz (how would you pronounce that?) want to kill her so that one of their end-time prophecies might come to pass.  And two twin bald-headed dudes just like to torture her with a voodoo doll. 

    What can Sharrow do?  Assemble her elite combat team, go on a quest, run when outnumbered, and kick butt when not.

What's To Like...
Iain M. Banks (aka, "Iain Banks") is a master of words.  The description of the alien worlds (which are within a single solar system) and the civilizations thereon are compelling and vivid.  Sharrow is a fascinating character study, and there is a subtle ribbon of humor running throughout.

The Lazy Gun is one awesomely surreal weapon.  Shoot it at a person, and who knows what will happen to him?  An anchor might appear above him and drop down.  Giant electrodes might pop up on both sides and electrocute him.  Some wild animal might tear his throat out.  But you can also aim it at something like a tank, or even a whole city; and similarly bizarre dooms will unfold.

The ending (the last third of the book) is superb.  Along the way, Banks has some key things to say about religion, fate, governments, and android rights.  Finally, this is a stand-alone novel; a pleasant change from most sci-fi books nowadays.

Alas, there are some serious weaknesses.  Flashback scenes abound, but there is no signal when the present ends and the past commences.  The Lazy Gun, albeit kewl, turns out to be little more than a macguffin.  And if the ending is great, the storyline leading up to it is head-scratchingly illogical.

The Lazy Gun is well-guarded, but hardly hidden.  Lord knows why it takes Sharrow so long to find it.  She despises her half-sister, so that's a poor choice for a hostage.  The voodoo doll dilemma is never resolved; the Huhsz are never dealt with.  And don't try to solve the quest riddles with Sharrow; the answers are arbitrary and unfathomable.

Kewlest New Word...
Coprolite : Fossilized dung.  Used here as  an epithet.  I've got to try that one out.

Excerpts...
    "Get ...your...filthy...female foot out of my d-" he said, raising his gaze to find that he was lookng down the barrel of a large hand gun.  She pressed his nose with it.  His eyes crossed, focusing on the stubby silencer.
    He swung the door open slowly, his chain rattling.  "Come in," he croaked.
    The silencer muzzle left a little white circle imprinted on the gray flesh at the tip of his nose.  (pg. 44)

    "Indeed, your gracious Majesty," the monk said, looking down modestly at the carpet.  His voice sounded respectful.  "Our Belief - perhaps not so dissimilar from your own, more venerable and more widely followed creed - is that God is a Mad Scientist and we His experimental subjects, doomed forever to run the Maze of Life through apparently random and unjust punishments for meaningless and paltry rewards and no discernible good reason save His evil pleasure."  (pg. 289)

    "I must say," the one on the beach said.  "You don't seem terribly surprised to find us here, Lady Sharrow."  He sounded disappointed.  He accepted a tall glass from his twin, then drank and smiled up at her.  "We'd rather hoped you might be."
    She shrugged.
    "Typical, isn't it?" said the one in the chair to his twin.  "Women only go quiet when you'd actually quite like to hear what they have to say."  (pg. 366)

"We live in the dust of our forebears; insects crawling in their dung.  Splendid, isn't it?"  (pg. 80)
The Wikipedia article on Against A Dark Background indicates this was an early, unpublished story by Banks which he later reworked into a full-length novel.  That may explain why the storyline has so little cohesion.  It really should've stayed a short story or a novella.

The great ending and Banks' writing skills make up for the plot weaknesses, albeit just barely.  It seems Banks is better known for his sci-fi "Culture" series, and I have one from that set on my TBR shelf.  I have a feeling it's going to be a better read.  6 Stars.

Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett

1994; 368 pages.  Book #17 in the Discworld series.  Genre : Comedic Fantasy.  New Author? : No.  Overall Rating : 9*/10.

    When the inscrutable Agatean Empire on the faraway Counterweight Continent sends a message tio Ankh-Morpork requesting "the great Wizzard", they can only mean one person.  That would be Rincewind, who is so thoroughly incompetent that even the one word on his hat is misspelled : "Wizzard".  Why would the Agateans want such a schlep?  That's inscrutable.

What's To Like...
    It has Rincewind, who's probably my favorite Discworld character.  It has The Luggage.  It has Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde.  DEATH makes a cameo appearance.  And we meet up again with Twoflower, whom we hadn't seen since Book #2.

    The Agatean Empire is an obvious embodiment of China, so that's a big plus for me.  There are lots of references to Chinese culture and history, as well as the Mandarin language itself.  It verges on stereotyping, but I'll give Pratchett the benefit of the doubt, and assume it's all tongue-in-cheek. 

    This is mostly a light-hearted tale, but woven within is some subtle commentary about revolutions ("Meet the new boss; same as the old boss") and lessons that geriatric geezers can still teach young 'uns.

Kewlest New Word...
Leylines : Alleged alignments of a number of places of geographical or metaphysical interest.  (Who knew there was such a term?)

Excerpts...
    Cohen smiled proprietorially.
    "Truckle used to be reckoned one of the biggest badasses in the world," he said.
    "Really?  Him?"
    "But it's amazing what you can do with a herbal suppository."
    "Up yours, mister," said Truckle.  (pg. 84)

    Agatean was a language of few basic syllables.  It was really all in the tone, inflection, and context.  Otherwise, the word for military leader was also the word for long-tailed marmot, male sexual organ, and ancient chicken coop.  (pg. 92; and very true of Mandarin)

    "How about Organdy Sloggo?  Still going strong down in Howondaland, last I heard."
    "Dead.  Metal poisoning."
    "How?"
    "Three swords through the stomach."  (pg. 333)

"When many expect a mighty stallion they will find hooves on an ant."  (pg. 118)
    At  book #17, Interesting Times is a "tweener" in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.  The early books were pure tale-telling; and the later ones deal with heavier themes, such as hooliganism and bigotry.  This is a nice blend of those two motifs.

    The storyline moves along nicely, and builds to an exciting and unexpected (unless you're Rincewind) climax.  The only things it's missing are the complex and divergent subplots that are typically present and which Pratchett always deftly weaves into a coherent conclusion.  I am of course in awe of his ability to do this, but their absence here seems to allow Interesting Times to stay more focused than usual throughout.  9 Stars.

The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson

2006 (Swedish); 2009 (English).  724 pages.  New Author? : No.  Genre : Murder Mystery.  Book #2 of the "Millennium Trilogy".  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

Three people are gunned down execution-style, and there's forensic evidence that links Lisbeth Salander (and only her) to each one.  Mikael Blomkvist believes she is innocent.  Even if she is mentally unstable.  With violent tendencies.  And never wants to see him again.  And despite the fact that one of the victims is...

What's To Like...
    This is a fine sequel to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  Blomkvist is no longer bedding every biped he meets, and the storyline is a lot more focused.  Larsson still gets detail-obsessed at times (such as describing every last thing the Lisbeth buys for her apartment), but he keeps it more under control.

Fermat's Last Theorem is in the book (Wiki it), which is always kewl.  And there's some chess too.  The book does start a bit slow (the first murder doesn't occur until page 245), but from there on in, it's a real page-turner.  The ending leaves a couple frayed ends, but I presume this is so it can segue right into the third book, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.

Once again, the characters created by Larsson are wonderful studies - even the baddies.  And he is a master at writing a good murder-mystery.

Kewlest New Word...
None really.  I think that's because it's a translation.

Excerpts... 
    She would have considered staying longer had she not made an enemy of a slow-witted young hoodlum who haunted the bar of her backstreet hotel.  Finally she lost patience and whacked him on the head with a brick, checked out of the hotel, and took a ferry to St. George's, the capital of Grenada.  (pg. 14.  I told you she has violent tendencies.)

    It was a one-bedroom apartment in Enskede.  Svensson and Johansson had been going out for a few years, but had finally taken the plunge and moved in together a year ago.  (pg. 114.  Swedes apparently have a different view of what "commitment" entails.)

    There are no innocents.  There are, however, different degrees of responsibility.
    Bjurman was dead because he had chosen not to play by the rules she had stipulated.  He had had every chance, but still he had hired some f**king alpha male to do her harm.  That was not her responsibility.  (pg. 462)

Lisbeth was first.  Camilla was beautiful.  (pg. 109)
    I liked The Girl Who Played With Fire better than TGWTDT.  Lisbeth is now the central character, and she's much more interesting than Blomkvist. 

    Larsson's writing seems to have gotten more polished, although perhaps that's just a matter of a better translator.  The identity of the perpetrator(s) will keep you guessing, as will the motive(s).

    The ending will strain your believability tendon once or twice, but it wraps up the plotline nicely and lays the foundation for Book 3.  It is best if you read these in order, which means you commit to 2100 pages or so when you decide to take up Larsson.  It's well worth it.  8½ Stars.

Fuzzy Sapiens - H. Beam Piper

1964; 235 pages.  Genre : Classic Science Fiction.  New Author? : No.  Overall Rating : 7*/10.
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Fuzzy Sapiens is the sequel to Little Fuzzy (which is reviewed here).  The Fuzzies have been declared sentient, which means you can't kill them, skin them, and/or eat them.  They now have certain rights to their planet, even if all they want to do is snuggle up to the humans and eat their Extee-3 rations.
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But a planetary governemnt has to be established, the Fuzzies need to be protected, and a stable economic system needs to be implemented.  Who knew that these mundane issues would turn out to be so complex?
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What's To Like...
This is "hard" science fiction (meaning 'realistic') from before there was such a sub-genre.  What little thrills-&-spills action there is comes late in the book, and half of it is off-stage.
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Instead you get to help solve a number of real-world issues.  The Fuzzies' Infant Mortality Rate is excessive to where they will be extinxt in a couple generations.  They only eat land prawns and Extee-3 and the planetary supplies of those is such that they'll starve to death before they become extinct.
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The Fuzzies are amenable to be "adopted" by humans, but the demand outstrips the supply.  Will a black market spring up?  Their homeland is ripe for mineral exploitation, and sentient or not, humans are coming by the thousands to colonize the planet.
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For a change, chemists - and even large corporations - are given a fair shake.  Some of the Bad Guys from Little Fuzzy become Good Guys,  and some of the Good Guys from Little Fuzzy develop character faults.
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Kewlest New Word(s)...
I'm tempted to go with Nifflheim, which Piper uses as a euphemism for 'Hell', except that towards the end he just up and uses the h-word anyway.  So instead, we'll go with : Mumchance (adj.) : mute, not speaking.
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Excerpts...
And this red upholstered swivel chair; he hated that worst of all.  Forty years ago, he'd left Terra to get the seat of his pants off the seat of a chair like that, and here he was in the evening of life - well, late afternoon, call it around second cocktail time - trapped in one.  (pg. 8)
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Titanium, he thought disgustedly.  It would be something like that.  What is it they called the stuff?  Oh, yes; the nymphomaniac metal; when it gets hot it combines with anything.  (pg. 153)
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    "Miss Tresca, can't you keep your bench in better order than this?" he scolded.  "Keep things in their places.  What are you working on?"
    "Oh, a hunch I had about this hokfusine."
    Hunch!  That was the trouble, all through Science Center; too many hunches and not enough sound theory.  (pg. 158)
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"Last war's enemies; next war's allies."  (pg. 127)
To a certain degree, H. Beam Piper ignores the greater issues of humans colonizing an already-inhabited planet.  The Fuzzies are migrating, and in droves, but nobody bothers to ask why.  The full impact of overwhelming hordes of humans descending on the Fuzzies habitat is not assessed.  Nobody asks what the Fuzzies ate before they got hooked on Terran Extee-3.
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But I think this misses the point of Fuzzy Sapiens.  There may be some significant issues to be faced, but the target audience is still Young Readers.  To fully address "the big picture" would mean perhaps a 1000-page opus.  Instead, Piper presents only a slice of it, and takes less than 250 pages to do so.  He thereby subtly entices Young Readers to consider becoming chemists, and to explore what we call the Scientific Method.  I think that's kinda kewl.  7 Stars.

The Number of the Beast - Robert A. Heinlein

1980; 511 pages. Genre : Sci-Fi. New Author? : No. Overall Rating : 3½*/10.

The Universe consists of Time and Space. Space has three dimensions, so why shouldn't Time have three also? That's what Dr. Jacob Burroughs postulates, and in testing it, he discovers Time- and Dimension-Travel, and builds a device to do just that. He, his daughter, and their respective spouses set off to explore limitless other worlds and times. And hopefully avoid the "Black Hats" who keep trying to blow them up.

What's To Like...
There's plenty of Chrono- and Dimension-Hopping.  There are also visits to fictional places such as Oz and Lilliput.  Maybe this is where Jasper Fforde got his idea for the Thursday Next series.

There's lots of sex - straight, gay, group, free-love, incest; you name it.  The only one Heinlein doesn't seem comfortable with was male gay sex.  There's also a lot of nudity.  NBD in a book, but if this ever gets made into a movie, they won't have to spend much of wardrobes.

For us geeks, there is a lot of math and physics, but it won't overwhelm non-geeks.  The two main women are strong characters; Heinlein would've supported ERA.

Alas, there is also a lot wrong with this book.  There is way too much dialogue, extended stretches of slow spots, only sporadic action, and an obsession with computer program commands.  The title is misleading, and our four heroes are just way too advanced over everyone they meet.  The storyline wanders, sputters, stalls, and finally sinks into senility.

Kewlest New Word...
An acronym, actually.  TANSTAAFL.  Which means "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch".  Really.  Hey, there's even a Wikipedia entry on it.

Excerpts...
    "Gosh, what big words you know.  Mister.  I mean 'Doctor.'"
    "'Mister is correct.  On this campus it is swank to assume that everyone holds a doctorate.  Even I have one.  Ph.D.  Do you know what that stands for?"
    "Doesn't everybody?  I have a Ph.D., too.  'Piled Higher and Deeper.'"  (pg. 12)

    She was dressed, if  "dressed" is the word.  "Wheeeewhoo!"
    "Like it?"
    "I can't wait to get into mine.  It is the most indecent outfit I've ever seen, with no other purpose than to excite lewd, libidinous, lascivious, licentious, lecherous, lustful longings in the loins of Lotharios."
    "Isn't that the purpose of clothing?"  (pg. 456)

"'Time is out of joint, O curséd sprite, that I was ever picked to set it right.'"  (pg. 358)
The Number of the Beast was written late in Heinlein's life; right after he had recovered from some serious health problems.  It has the "feel" of an author waxing wistful over his career and wanting to give account of it.

He starts by showing you his childhood influences - Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barzoom series, Oz, Wonderland, Lilliput, and a couple other fictional settings that I was unacquainted with.  Then he gives a gracious nod to all sorts of other writers that he admires, with only a slight self-deprecating mention of himself.

Finally he incorporates all the major characters from his biggest novels into the last third of the story.  Lazarus Long is here, and you can grok him to your heart's content.

So this is primarily Robert A. Heinlein writing for Robert A. Heinlein.  Heinlein Trekkie-types (I'd call them 'heinies' but that's pejorative; so maybe 'heinlies' will do) who have memorized all his works will enjoy this nostalgic stroll.  For everyone else though, TNOTB is a skipper.  3½ Stars, but lots more if you're a Heinlie.

Uncle John's Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader

2004; 518 pages. Genre : Humor, Reference. New Author? : No. Overall Rating : 7*/10.

I can't see doing a formal review on an Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. I've read a couple of these; this one's as good as - but no better than - any of the others.

.What's To Like...

Here are a couple articles that I really enjoyed in this volume. Happy Eostre! (pg. 75) - a review of the various Easter traditions (bunnies, baskets, eggs, Sunday) and how they got started. Banned Books (pg. 80) - 8 of them, a couple of which (Little Red Riding Hood; the American Heritage Dictionary) you might be surprised that they were taken off the shelf. Word Origins (pg. 87) - how words like Marmalade, Dumbbell, Jinx came into our tongue. The Man Inside The Terminal (pg. 99) - meet Merhan Karimi Nasseri, and learn why he's lived for 15 years (as of the book's publishing) inside Terminal One of Charles deGaulle Airport.

.The Zombie Quiz (pg. 233) - Test your knowledge of the undead critters. Pay special attention to question #9 - what's the best weapon when trying to kill a zombie? Say Goodnight, Gracie (pg. 269) - eight of Gracie's best one-liners from the old Burns & Allen TV show. Sagan Says (pg. 390) - some great quotes by the late Carl Sagan. (Not) Coming to a Theater Near You (pg. 435) - a bunch of movies started but never completed. Including one "miss" by Uncle John, as Avatar is on the list. Apparently in 2004, this looked like one with no chance of ever being made.

"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it's forever." (Carl Sagan)

If you don't know what an Uncle John Bathroom Reader is (and I find that hard to imagine), head on down to your local bookstore or Target and pick one up. They are all equally good; so don't spend too much time deciding which one to buy.

.I suppose the only way to rate a Bathroom Reader is on its entertainment value. Some of the articles are "misses" (such as the one on Birthstones); but what bores me may amuse you. For every dud, there were probably 10-15 kewl articles, so we'll give UJSIBR 7 Stars; and especially recommend it for Trivia buffs.

Jitterbug Perfume - Tom Robbins

1984; 342 pages. New Author? : No. Genre : Modern Lit. Tom Robbins' 4th novel. Overall Rating : 9*/10.

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In an 8th-century kingdom in Bohemia, they have a strange custom. At the first sign of old age, the king is ritually killed and replaced with someone younger. In this way, the "spirit" of the tribe is kept strong.

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King Alobar has never had a problem with this edict. Until the day the first gray hair appeared in his beard. He plucked it out, but more took its place. Alobar discovers he is not quite ready to put his head on the chopping block, so he fakes his death and flees eastward. But Death can be a persistent chaser.

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Meanwhile, in the present, we are introduced to a waitress in Seattle, two Cajun ladies in New Orleans, and a French business family in Paris. All are trying to concoct the perfect jasmine perfume. How is Tom Robbins going to bring all three of these parties together, not to mention tying Alobar into the story as well? And what do the prominently-themed beets have to do with anything?

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What's To Like...

Jitterbug Perfume is a wonderful read, combining serious issues (religion, business ethics, philosophy, self-determination and above all, immortality) with some clever plot twists, literary devices (puns, metaphors, and similes), and hilarious topics (the secret of the beet, Einstein's last words, the "King of the Bean", and of course, perfumery).

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The supporting cast are as fun to follow as the main characters. You meet the Greek god Pan, Dr. Dannyboy Wiggs, Bingo Pajamas, and the dancing, chanting Bandaloop Doctors. There's also a love story. And a lot of sex. It keeps you young, you know.

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Kewlest New Word...

Loa : the spirits in the (Haitian) Voodoo world.

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Excerpts...

"Ricki, do you believe in immortality?"

"I'll try anything once." (pg. 113)

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Their quarreling chewed through the curtains, pierced the casements, and rattled over the cobblestones outside. How strange it must have sounded, this quarreling about dematerialization, voluntary aging, goat gods, and immortality, to a city that was primed for the Age of Reason, a populace that was beginning to put Descartes before des horse. (pg. 174)

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"One last thing about death, " said Wiggs.

"What's that?" Pris asked rather morosely. She was still staring at the spot where his teardrop had hit the water.

"After you die, your hair and your nails continue to grow."

"I've heard that."

"Yes. But your phone calls taper off." (pg. 285)

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"I may be mad ... but I prefer the sh*t of this world to whatever sweet ambrosias the next might offer." (pg. 29)

The clever wit of Jitterbug Perfume will keep you turning the pages as you read it in bed, but Tom Robbins' views on the serious themes will keep awake thinking long after you've turned out the light.

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Overall, his two main points seem to be : 1.) There is not a shred of empirical evidence that the afterlife exists, let along any solid details on what it's like. 2.) That being the case, all theological explanations - Salvation, Reincarnation, the pantheon of Greek Gods, etc.; are equally plausible.

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Jitterbug Perfume presents its own account of the afterlife, but you certainly don't get the impression that Robbins expects you to take it seriously. Indeed, the "moral" of the book is given in a single German-sounding made-up word : Erleichda. Which loosely translated means "Lighten up!"

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Jitterbug Perfume is a fine follow-up to Robbins' Still Life With Woodpecker (reviewed here). Highly recommended. 9 Stars.

Lord Valentine's Castle - Robert Silverberg

1980; 447 pages. Laurels : 1981 Locus Award winner; 1981 Hugo Award nominee. New Author? : Yes. Genre : Fantasy; Sci-Fi. First book (out of 10) of the "Majipoor" series. Overall Rating : 7½*/10.

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It is a special day in Pidruid. The world's ruler (aka "the Coronal", aka "Lord Valentine") is paying the city an official visit; something that only happens once every 10 years or so.

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Out in the crowd, a drifter (who is also named Valentine) watches the royal procession, even making eye contact with the Coronal. Something stirs in him - a bond of some sort. Something from his past. Although now that he thinks about it, there is very little that Valentine remembers of his past.

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What's To Like...

Lord Valentine's Castle is more sci-fantasy than sci-fi. There is a whole planet to explore with Valentine, and it is filled with vividly detailed and fascinating flora, fauna, and alien races.

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Valentine learns juggling and joins a wandering troupe - not your usual role for a hero. The troupe itself has some kewl personalities, and they gradually become the core of his "merry band" as he tries to figure out Who he is, and What happened to him.

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The storyline is a bit prosaic and some of the deux ex machina devices are a tad too convenient. Valentine develops a Jedi-like mind-control gift ("These are not the droids you are looking for") and gets too many dreams ("sendings"). All too often, these are used to get him out of scrapes, and reveal things about his past.

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But who cares? There's a world out there to explore. The aliens are kewl, original, and "gray" (no orcs, elves, dwarves, or hobbits here). There's a good ending which is also "gray", and which sets up the host of sequels and prequels that Robert Silverberg penned in this series.

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Kewlest New Word...

Acidulously: in a slightly sour, harsh, or acidic manner. (Not to be confused with "assiduously").

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Excerpts...

"(W)hy would I want to be Coronal?"

"The power," said Shanamir, wide-eyed. "The fine clothes, the food, the wine, the jewels, the palaces, the women-"

"The responsibility," Valentine said somberly. "The burden. Do you think a Coronal does nothing but drink golden wine and march in grand processions? Do you think he's put there just to enjoy himself?"

The boy considered. "Perhaps not."

"He rules over billions upon billions of people, across territories so huge we can't comprehend them. Everything falls on his shoulders. To carry out the decrees of the Pontifex, to sustain order, to support justice in every land - it tires me to think of it, boy. He keeps the world from collapsing into chaos. Let him have the job." (pg. 4)

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"There's a paradox in your dilemma, Valentine. You strive to renounce purpose; but your renunciation itself has a purpose. Do you see? Your speaker surely does."

"Of course I see. But what do I do? How do I pretend not to care whether I stay here forever?"

"Pretense is impossible. The moment you genuinely don't care, you'll move forward. Not until then."

Valentine shook his head. "That's like telling me that my salvation depends on never thinking of gihorna-birds. The harder I'd try not to think of them, the more flocks of gihornas would fly through my mind." (pg. 265)

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Spare a royal, spare a crown,

Gentlefolk, come sit ye down.

Astonishment and levity-

Come and see our jugglery! (pg. 74)

In terms of the history of science fiction, this is a "tweener". It's deeper and more adult-themed than the 200-page 50's sci-fi classics that are geared toward teenage boy readers. OTOH, it's not as complex as today's epic sci-fi stories/series. Overall, Lord Valentine's Castle feels like a forerunner to Space Operas. So it's hard to say who the target audience is. It's too shallow for an adult; yet has too much sex for the kiddies.

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But the plusses - the juggling, the ending, the characters, and the marvelous lands of planet Majipoor - more than compensate for the "tween-ness". I picked LVC up because I'm always interested in how Science Fiction evolved from the 1950's through the present. I ended up with an enjoyable journey through a brave, new, and original world. 7½ Stars.

Last Lion - Peter S. Canellos

2009; 409 pages (plus another 54 pages of notes). Full Title : Last Lion : The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy. Genre : Non-Fiction; Biography. New Author? : Yes. Overall Rating : 8*/10.

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Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy (02/22/32 - 08/25/09) was the fourth-longest serving US Senator in history, being there just shy of 47 years. He was the youngest of nine children. This book, Last Lion, was published in February 2009, after Senator Kennedy had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and about 6 months before his death.

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What's To Like...

The book moves along at a nice, steady pace and has some kewl photos. There are a zillion events to recount, so none is covered in a lot of depth. Some quick notes...

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Early Life : he grew up under Joe and Rose's strong-willed tutelage. It would be nice to be Kennedy-rich (the kids lacked for nothing), but it came at the cost of a highly dysfunctional family and incredible amounts of sibling rivalry. JFK-RFK : It must be painful to lose all your older brothers; with lots of unanswered questions. Chappaquiddick : Covered objectively, but there are lots of unanswered questions. US Senate : a champion of the people; a deal-broker; and probably the biggest reason we have Health Care Reform. Later Years : The family rebel becomes the family patriarch. He finds true love late in life.

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Kewlest New Word...

Accretional : marked by growth or increase in size by gradual external addition, fusion, or inclusion.

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Excerpts...

"My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life," Ted said, looking down, "but be remembered simply as a good and decent man who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it. Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world." (giving Bobby Kennedy's eulogy; pg. 136)

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His personal exposure to health care challenges only strengthened his determination to achieve his central goal in the Senate, the mission that drove both his daily schedule and his long term agenda: he wanted every man, woman, and child in American to have access to decent health care. In theory, it was a goal that could be accomplished with one, big national health care program, a plan that would ensure that pregnant women would have prenatal care, that children would get their vaccinations, that sufferers of rare diseases would have access to the medicines they needed, that workers could change their jobs without worrying about losing their health insurance, and that seniors would not have to choose between food and prescription durgs. In practice, Kennedy would spend decades trying to make those things happen piece by piece. (pg. 323)

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Contribute something worthwhile. (pg. 17, a Kennedy family edict)

Last Lion is an even look at Ted Kennedy's life. The warts are presented, but without being lurid. The accomplishments are presented, but without being maudlin. The book was actually written by a team of Boston Globe jourenalists, and it has a "newspaper article" feel to it.

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"Last Lion" is a fitting title. He was the last lion of liberal causes, the last lion of the Senate (just look how many incumbents have announced they won't seek re-election), and the last lion of the "Camelot" generation of Kennedys. All in all, it is a beautiful and respectful way to pay tribute to one of the giants of 20th-century US politics. 8 Stars.

The Devil's Novice - Ellis Peters

1983; 214 pages. New Author? : No. Genre : Medieval Crime Mystery; Sub-Genre : "Cozy". Book #8 in the "Brother Cadfael" series. Overall Rating : 7½*/10.

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On a dark and rainy day, 19-year-old Meriet Aspley petitions to join the abbey. He has a maximum of determination, a minimum of zeal, and strange dreams that leave him screaming in his sleep. Coincidentally, the Bishop's envoy (and by extension, the King's) goes missing, immediately after sojourning at the Aspley manor. Could these two events be related?

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What's To Like...

The Devil's Novice is is another of the Brother Cadfael cozies, and takes place in 1140 AD, during turbulent times along the Welsh-English border. As such, it is as much a piece of historical fiction as it is a mystery story. Peters gives an interesting (albeit tangential) account of oblates - young children vowed and given by their parents to monastic life. Enlightening, but I'm glad it is no longer a practice.

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As usual, Ellis Peters weaves the crime-mystery story deftly. Bits of information are revealed gradually, with a nice it-all-makes-sense-now ending. The perpetrator's fate, however, is unexpected, which made for a nice change.

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Despite the title, there is no Satanism in the story. But Ms. Peters does take a gentle swipe at those who would see demonic posession in all too many people and places.

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Kewlest New Word...

Ellis Peters' books always have a slew of great medieval vocabulary, so choosing one is difficult. For now, we'll go with - Briaut : an overgarment worn by both sexes (but mostly women) during the 11th-13th century. Its salient characteristic was long, flowing sleeves. Victorian artists were big on painting these. Google-Image it and you'll recognize the garment.

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Excerpts...

Afterwards, of course, there were plenty of wiseacres pregnant with hindsight, listing portents, talking darkly of omens, brazenly asserting that they told everyone so. After every shock and reverse, such late experts proliferate. (pg. 7)

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"Was this well done, brother? Falsely you brought me here! You told me my son was mortally ill."

"So he is," said Cadfael. "Have you not his own word for it how close he feels his death? So are you, so are we all. The disease of mortality is in us from the womb, from the day of our birth we are on the way to our death. What matters is how we conduct the journey." (pgs. 168-69)

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(T)here's many a young man has got his heart's dearest wish, only to curse the day he ever wished for it. (pg. 62)

It has to be said that the "break" in the case has a rather random feel to it, and you'll be wasting your time if you try to solve it alongside Brother Cadfael. But really, that doesn't detract from the tale. The Devil's Novice is a short read, so sit back and enjoy an entertaining story from a long-gone time. 7½ Stars.