Genre: Non fiction
The Great Railroad Revolution: The History of Trains in America, takes us throught the initial birth of rail travel in the U.S, to the present times.
A large portion of the book focuses on the 18th and 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. The current state of railroads gets a perfunctory treatment.
The subject matter the book tackles, is quite interesting. The history of railroad is full of colorful characters and interesting events. The book however never hit its stride and the pace of the book is plodding. The end result is a book that will only appeal to folks who already have a interest in the railroads.
Rating: 3 / 5, recommended if you have a interest in railroads.
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Book review: Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
Genre: Fiction.
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk has Carl Streator, a journalist, who while researching sudden infant death syndrome, comes across a African poem, that when read out, kills people. Along the way he teams up with Helen Hoover Boyle a real estate agent, who sells and resells the same haunted houses, for a tidy profit. She knows the culling song too. Her assistant assistant Mona, who is a wiccan, and Mona's boyfriend Oyster. Oyster likes to blackmail businesses by threatening class action lawsuits for non existent issues.
All this sounds like the premise of a pretty decent book. Unfortunately, what we get instead is a lazy book. The plot is thin. The characters and the dialogues are terrible. The book resorts to cheap tricks to pad it thickness, uses list of words, repeated sentences, whose sole purpose is to occupy space. You don't like or hate the characters, you just don't care about them.
Avoid this.
Rating: 1 / 5; Skip it.
Book review: Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
Genre: Science fiction.
Fuzzy nation by John Scalzi is a rewrite/reboot of the novel, Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper. While Little Fuzzy is in the public domain, Scalzi released Fuzzy Nation with the permission of the Piper estate. I have not read Little Fuzzy, so I do not know how it compares to the original.
The hero in Fuzzy nation is Jack Holloway, a independent prospector, working on a world being mined by ZaraCorp. ZaraCorp's modus operandi is to find a planet worth exploiting and to then strip it bare of its resources. On this particular planet, Zarathustra, Jack Holloway encounters some cat like creatures, that he names Fuzzies. He starts to discover that these creatures are pretty intelligent, and the possibility is raised that these creatures might be sentient. Sentient creatures on Zarathustra would mean that ZaraCorp would no longer be allowed to exploit the planet. This is the premise around which Scalzi develops his story.
Fuzzy nation by John Scalzi is a rewrite/reboot of the novel, Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper. While Little Fuzzy is in the public domain, Scalzi released Fuzzy Nation with the permission of the Piper estate. I have not read Little Fuzzy, so I do not know how it compares to the original.
The hero in Fuzzy nation is Jack Holloway, a independent prospector, working on a world being mined by ZaraCorp. ZaraCorp's modus operandi is to find a planet worth exploiting and to then strip it bare of its resources. On this particular planet, Zarathustra, Jack Holloway encounters some cat like creatures, that he names Fuzzies. He starts to discover that these creatures are pretty intelligent, and the possibility is raised that these creatures might be sentient. Sentient creatures on Zarathustra would mean that ZaraCorp would no longer be allowed to exploit the planet. This is the premise around which Scalzi develops his story.
The book flows very well and the writing is excellent. Scalzi gets us to like the good guys and the bad guys are believable. The plot is entertaining and well fleshed out and even when one can see a plot twist coming, the way Scalzi executes the plot twists is satisfying and entertaining.
Seeing how well this book turned out, I now feel like reading the original Little Fuzzy, to see how they both compare.
Rating: 5 / 5; Highly recommended.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Book review: Four fish: The future of the last wild food by Paul Greenberg
Genre: Non fiction
Related: Hooked, pirates poaching the perfect fish by G. Bruce Knecht
Four fish, looks at Salmon, Tuna, Bass and Cod, as the most common wild fish, that can grace supermarket shelves. That we have over exploited many fish species to a point of collapse, is well known. These four fishes have not fared any better. Paul Greenberg has done a good job however, of not focusing only at this negative, but tries to chart a workable way forward with regards to our consumption of fish.
For each of the fish Greenberg looks at - how they were fished throughout human history, how we over fished them, what efforts have been made to keep the wild catches sustainable, what efforts are being made to farm these fishes, whether this farming is sustainable or better then catching them in the wild. For each of these fishes he also looks at other fishes, with similar flavor and texture profile that may be used to replaces these.
One of the strong points he make is that none of these fishes are suited for being cattle. It would be better to select species of fish more suited to that role, before we attempt to domesticate and farm them.
All in all the book flows well, and is a brisk read.
Rating: 5 / 5; Great. Get it.
For each of the fish Greenberg looks at - how they were fished throughout human history, how we over fished them, what efforts have been made to keep the wild catches sustainable, what efforts are being made to farm these fishes, whether this farming is sustainable or better then catching them in the wild. For each of these fishes he also looks at other fishes, with similar flavor and texture profile that may be used to replaces these.
One of the strong points he make is that none of these fishes are suited for being cattle. It would be better to select species of fish more suited to that role, before we attempt to domesticate and farm them.
All in all the book flows well, and is a brisk read.
Rating: 5 / 5; Great. Get it.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
Genre: Fantasy
Joe Abercrombie's The Heroes, would like you to know that it is full of - misfits, flawed characters, anti heroes; everything but heroes.
It hammers this lack of heroes and that war is hell incessantly. In the book, we find ourselves in midst of a war between the barbarian northerners and the civilized union. The narratives alternates between description of various battle/skirmishes and some character building. The description of the battles is suitably gory and gritty, leaving you with little doubt that war is hell. The character buildup, done via reaction of the characters to current events and some flashbacks, is nicely done. The pace of the book is brisk and it flows well.
While there is a little twist at the end, the book really is, a bit surprisingly - All the smaller battles/skirmishes leading to a final climatic battle. The book is not pulpy enough to carry such a simple plot. All this focus on creating anti-heroes means that despite the good character buildup, you don't really care for the characters that much. A better plot would have elevated this book over average territory.
Rating: 2.5 / 5. Average
Atlantic by Simon Winchester
Genre: Non fiction.
Atlantic ( with a long subtitle - Great sea battles, heroic discoveries, titanic storms, and a vast ocean of a million stories) is a biography of this vast ocean.
Writing a biography of the Atlantic ocean is a ambitious undertaking. How do you weave a common thread through extremely diverse fields, that may have a passing link to the Atlantic ocean ? This book does not manage to find that common thread.
What we get instead is chapters, and sub-chapters that tackle diverse topics like the geological history of the ocean, ancient and modern battles on this ocean, cities along the coast, how the west explored this ocean and found the American continents, fishing, pollution, ocean conservation etc.
The writing in the book is good, and the authors personal experiences with the ocean give it some character. Sadly, none of this is able to overcome the lack of coherence in this book.
Rating: 2 / 5, Meh, skip it.
Atlantic ( with a long subtitle - Great sea battles, heroic discoveries, titanic storms, and a vast ocean of a million stories) is a biography of this vast ocean.
Writing a biography of the Atlantic ocean is a ambitious undertaking. How do you weave a common thread through extremely diverse fields, that may have a passing link to the Atlantic ocean ? This book does not manage to find that common thread.
What we get instead is chapters, and sub-chapters that tackle diverse topics like the geological history of the ocean, ancient and modern battles on this ocean, cities along the coast, how the west explored this ocean and found the American continents, fishing, pollution, ocean conservation etc.
The writing in the book is good, and the authors personal experiences with the ocean give it some character. Sadly, none of this is able to overcome the lack of coherence in this book.
Rating: 2 / 5, Meh, skip it.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The Precipice by Ben Bova
Genre: Science fiction.
Decades of greenhouse gas emissions have taken their toll, and Earth has now warmed. Floods and various other environmental disasters are causing havoc all around, and the world is in crisis. This is the setting for the novel "The Precipice" by Ben Bova.
In this book Dan Randolph, an industrialist, pits his wits against his rival, Martin Humphries, in a race to develop and control fusion drives for space travel. Fusion drives are critical, since apparently there are the only thing that would let us tap the resources of the asteroid belt. Dan Randolph wants to do this so that he can move earth based industries into space and help mitigate climate change related chaos, while Martin Humphries wants control of this so that he can make more money.
Sounds like some cheesy soap opera plot? Unfortunately, the writing and plot in the novel never raise it above the cheesy soap opera level. The rivalry and corporate maneuvering between the two main characters is infantile. There is no plot or story to speak of. I can't think of any redeeming qualities for this book.
Rating: 1 / 5; Terrible. Don't bother.
Decades of greenhouse gas emissions have taken their toll, and Earth has now warmed. Floods and various other environmental disasters are causing havoc all around, and the world is in crisis. This is the setting for the novel "The Precipice" by Ben Bova.
In this book Dan Randolph, an industrialist, pits his wits against his rival, Martin Humphries, in a race to develop and control fusion drives for space travel. Fusion drives are critical, since apparently there are the only thing that would let us tap the resources of the asteroid belt. Dan Randolph wants to do this so that he can move earth based industries into space and help mitigate climate change related chaos, while Martin Humphries wants control of this so that he can make more money.
Sounds like some cheesy soap opera plot? Unfortunately, the writing and plot in the novel never raise it above the cheesy soap opera level. The rivalry and corporate maneuvering between the two main characters is infantile. There is no plot or story to speak of. I can't think of any redeeming qualities for this book.
Rating: 1 / 5; Terrible. Don't bother.
Eye of the Red Tsar: A Novel of Suspense by Sam Eastland
Genre: Thriller / Mystery.
Eye of the Red Tsar is a detective novel set in Russia, in the years following the communist revolution. The lead character of the book is named Pekkala. Pekkala used to be a big shot investigator under the czar but has had to endure hard times under the communist.
Sam Eastland attempts to develop Pekkala's character by flashing back to his childhood and his time under the czar. However this character development ends up feeling forced and I found it hard to care or feel sympathetic towards Pekkala. A major reason for this is the simplistic attempt to paint the czar and his family as some sort of idealized royalty and the communist as bad guys.
The plot and mystery in the book is not exceptional. It is however not bad either and with better characterization would have made a above average book. The writing is decent and does not get in the way.
Rating: 2.5 / 5; Average. Nothing special.
Eye of the Red Tsar is a detective novel set in Russia, in the years following the communist revolution. The lead character of the book is named Pekkala. Pekkala used to be a big shot investigator under the czar but has had to endure hard times under the communist.
Sam Eastland attempts to develop Pekkala's character by flashing back to his childhood and his time under the czar. However this character development ends up feeling forced and I found it hard to care or feel sympathetic towards Pekkala. A major reason for this is the simplistic attempt to paint the czar and his family as some sort of idealized royalty and the communist as bad guys.
The plot and mystery in the book is not exceptional. It is however not bad either and with better characterization would have made a above average book. The writing is decent and does not get in the way.
Rating: 2.5 / 5; Average. Nothing special.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Book review: From the dust returned by Ray Bradbury
Genre: Fantasy
From the dust returned is a collection of short stories packaged in the form of a novel. The stories center around a strange family in Illinois. This is a family of vampire like creatures, ghosts and other mythical and fantastical creatures. The stories themselves lack any real punch to them. The fantastical nature of the characters is simply used to dress up their shallowness and make them a bit less forgettable. The poetic nature of the prose and quality of writing do provide some entertainment, but there is no substantial value here.
Rating: 2 / 5, Below Average.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Book review: Remarkable Trees of the World by Thomas Pakenham
Genre: Non-fiction
Thomas Pakenham went around the world looking for remarkable trees and when he found them he took photographs of them. If you like trees ( like I do ) then the premise of the book is extremely interesting. Thomas does not try to find record holders (like largest tress or tallest tree), though he may have visited some of them. Rather he is looking for interesting trees, trees with character. Each chapter of the book focuses on one aspect, like gaints, dwarfs, Methuselah (old trees) and so on, with Thomas finding interesting examples of these.
Thomas textual description of the trees and the environment he encounters them is good, poetic sometimes even. The photographs in the book are lovely. I really wish that there were many more photographs in the book though. This kind of a book demands a large number of high resolution photographs. Perhaps If this book was written more recently and Thomas used a modern high resolution digital cameras we would get many more gorgeous photos. Thomas likely lugged around a old school film camera and so had to be careful with what he shot.
So any cons of this book are really a function of when it was written and nothing more.
Rating: 3 / 5, Good, wish it had many more photos though.
Thomas Pakenham went around the world looking for remarkable trees and when he found them he took photographs of them. If you like trees ( like I do ) then the premise of the book is extremely interesting. Thomas does not try to find record holders (like largest tress or tallest tree), though he may have visited some of them. Rather he is looking for interesting trees, trees with character. Each chapter of the book focuses on one aspect, like gaints, dwarfs, Methuselah (old trees) and so on, with Thomas finding interesting examples of these.
Thomas textual description of the trees and the environment he encounters them is good, poetic sometimes even. The photographs in the book are lovely. I really wish that there were many more photographs in the book though. This kind of a book demands a large number of high resolution photographs. Perhaps If this book was written more recently and Thomas used a modern high resolution digital cameras we would get many more gorgeous photos. Thomas likely lugged around a old school film camera and so had to be careful with what he shot.
So any cons of this book are really a function of when it was written and nothing more.
Rating: 3 / 5, Good, wish it had many more photos though.
Book review: Elminster Ascending: Sage of Shadowdale by Ed Greenwood
Genre: Fantasy
This collects three books in the Elminster saga - Elminster: The Making of a Mage, Elminster in Myth Drannor, and The Temptation of Elminster. I read it as one big Novel. For such a large book there was surprisingly little story to it. The initial character and plot development was solid. There is however no epic story that unfolds in these 3 books. Ed Greenwood has a god acting mysteriously in the book and sending Elminster of on random tasks to "increase the use of magic in the world". Why ? And to what ends ? None of these questions get answered. Some clues into why the God was getting Elminster to perform these tasks would have helped peaked interest in the sequels that followed. These books simply feel like episodes of a soap opera that you know will never end or resolve anything in a meaningful or satisfactory manner.
If you are desperately hankering for some fantasy fiction then consider this book. Else give this a pass.
Rating: 2.5 / 5, Meh average.
This collects three books in the Elminster saga - Elminster: The Making of a Mage, Elminster in Myth Drannor, and The Temptation of Elminster. I read it as one big Novel. For such a large book there was surprisingly little story to it. The initial character and plot development was solid. There is however no epic story that unfolds in these 3 books. Ed Greenwood has a god acting mysteriously in the book and sending Elminster of on random tasks to "increase the use of magic in the world". Why ? And to what ends ? None of these questions get answered. Some clues into why the God was getting Elminster to perform these tasks would have helped peaked interest in the sequels that followed. These books simply feel like episodes of a soap opera that you know will never end or resolve anything in a meaningful or satisfactory manner.
If you are desperately hankering for some fantasy fiction then consider this book. Else give this a pass.
Rating: 2.5 / 5, Meh average.
Book review: Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Genre: Fantasy.
This book is a modern day retelling of Dante's Inferno. In this version we follow a science fiction author who lands in hell and follow his journey as he attempts to get out of hell. The book is jointly authored by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, two well respected authors.
Never having read Dante's Inferno, I can't comment on any links between the two tales. The concept of a science fiction author in a hell or a hell like place is intriguing. The first third of the book was fun to read as the authors explore the initial concept. However after the initial exuberance has waned, the shallowness of the plot starts to come through. The book is basically composed of "Allen Carpentier" the main character of the book and "Benito", his guide / companion visiting various levels of hell and seeing the punishment being meted out. The plot is thin and the conclusion is insipid.
This is not a bad book however, namely because the writing style is good and there is some entertainment to be had from the description of a modern (well 70'e era) hell. However instead of fulfilling its promise of being a special book, we end up with one that is just average.
Rating: 2.5 / 5; Average.
This book is a modern day retelling of Dante's Inferno. In this version we follow a science fiction author who lands in hell and follow his journey as he attempts to get out of hell. The book is jointly authored by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, two well respected authors.
Never having read Dante's Inferno, I can't comment on any links between the two tales. The concept of a science fiction author in a hell or a hell like place is intriguing. The first third of the book was fun to read as the authors explore the initial concept. However after the initial exuberance has waned, the shallowness of the plot starts to come through. The book is basically composed of "Allen Carpentier" the main character of the book and "Benito", his guide / companion visiting various levels of hell and seeing the punishment being meted out. The plot is thin and the conclusion is insipid.
This is not a bad book however, namely because the writing style is good and there is some entertainment to be had from the description of a modern (well 70'e era) hell. However instead of fulfilling its promise of being a special book, we end up with one that is just average.
Rating: 2.5 / 5; Average.
Book review: Plant (DK Eyewitness Books) by David Burnie
Genre: Casual non fiction
This is a well presented introduction to plants. The book consist of chapters of a couple of pages each, that focus on a aspect of plants like leaves, flowers, propagation method etc. These chapters then present the information visually using highly detailed photographs and little blurbs that detail out the illustration. A surprisingly large amount of information is packed into each of this chapter. This information is presented in a way that is clear and extremely easy to understand.
A great read for anyone have a casual interest in learning more about plants or a great gift if you are looking to spark a interest in plants in some one else.
Rating: 5 / 5; Highly recommended.
This is a well presented introduction to plants. The book consist of chapters of a couple of pages each, that focus on a aspect of plants like leaves, flowers, propagation method etc. These chapters then present the information visually using highly detailed photographs and little blurbs that detail out the illustration. A surprisingly large amount of information is packed into each of this chapter. This information is presented in a way that is clear and extremely easy to understand.
A great read for anyone have a casual interest in learning more about plants or a great gift if you are looking to spark a interest in plants in some one else.
Rating: 5 / 5; Highly recommended.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Book review: The street lawyer by John Grisham
Genre: Fiction. Drama with some elements of a thriller.
This book tells the tale of a lawyer Michael, whose climb up his law firms corporate ladder is interrupted when a homeless man takes him and his co-workers hostage. This incident forces him to reevaluate his life. Along the way he also starts to dig into why his firm was targeted by the homeless man and uncovers a mystery.
Michael's philosophical crisis and his journey through it is not that interesting. The crisis might have been triggered by a dramatic incident, but it is basically a upper middle class lawyer having a mid-life crisis. The mystery in the book never quite develops and there are no intelligent twists and turns. There is nothing interesting or exciting about this book but it is not badly written. The end result is a solidly average book.
Rating: 2.5 / 5. Average.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Book review: Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Genre: Fiction, Steam-punk with zombies
Ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords and heavily armed pirates in late 1800's Seattle with a steam-punk vibe. That sounds like a premise of a pretty entertaining book. Unfortunately Boneshaker fails to deliver on this.
The book tells the story of a mother - Brair and her teenage son Ezekiel. Boneshaker is the name of the a machine that destroyed much of Seattle and let loose a gas that created the undead. Boneshaker was created and piloted by Brair's husband.
The first 6 chapters of the book is a attempt to define Brair and Ezekiel's character. It however does not do a good job with this and it is hard to care about what happens to them. These chapters end up being really slow and boring.
The books picks up a bit when Ezekiel goes into the undead infested city and his mother follows him in. But the plot soon starts to meander around and does not really develop into anything substantial.
The ending of the book is pretty decent and if this were a short story it would have been a good one. Personally I was just relieved that I had managed to finish the book.
Rating: 1 / 5, Terrible, skip it.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Book review: Hooked, pirates poaching the perfect fish by G. Bruce Knecht
Genre: Non fiction.
Hooked deals with the story of Patagonian toothfish aka. Chilean sea bass. The main plotline in the book deals with a chase between the Australian patrol boat, Southern Supporter and Viarsa, a boat they suspected of pirating toothfish.
This plotline is well written and the author manages to convey a sense of excitement and a little bit of thrill to the chase. Keep in mind, the chase is basically one boat chasing another for period of months, so don't expect too much action.
Interwoven with the chase are several other threads. In one he explores the commercial discovery of the fish and how it ended up being such a popular fish in the US. Another thread attempts to gives us some background on a couple of fishermen on the Viarsa and how they got into fishing for toothfish. Yet another thread deals with some of the conservatory efforts done for the Patagonian toothfish. These threads and a few other fit in well with the book.
The final half of the book has a couple of narratives that don't quite gel with the book, one deals with the arrest of a American businessman dealing with toothfish. The other focuses quite a bit on a conservationist Daniel Pauly, including giving us details on his upbringing. The book is not large enough to give enforcement and conservation efforts any justice and these 2 seem to be a attempt to pad the book a bit.
The book itself is a light quick read. Since this is a non fiction book, I suspect a lot of people might not like the ending and will find it anti-climatic. I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend this to others.
Rating: 4 / 5, Recommended, a good light read.
Hooked deals with the story of Patagonian toothfish aka. Chilean sea bass. The main plotline in the book deals with a chase between the Australian patrol boat, Southern Supporter and Viarsa, a boat they suspected of pirating toothfish.
This plotline is well written and the author manages to convey a sense of excitement and a little bit of thrill to the chase. Keep in mind, the chase is basically one boat chasing another for period of months, so don't expect too much action.
Interwoven with the chase are several other threads. In one he explores the commercial discovery of the fish and how it ended up being such a popular fish in the US. Another thread attempts to gives us some background on a couple of fishermen on the Viarsa and how they got into fishing for toothfish. Yet another thread deals with some of the conservatory efforts done for the Patagonian toothfish. These threads and a few other fit in well with the book.
The final half of the book has a couple of narratives that don't quite gel with the book, one deals with the arrest of a American businessman dealing with toothfish. The other focuses quite a bit on a conservationist Daniel Pauly, including giving us details on his upbringing. The book is not large enough to give enforcement and conservation efforts any justice and these 2 seem to be a attempt to pad the book a bit.
The book itself is a light quick read. Since this is a non fiction book, I suspect a lot of people might not like the ending and will find it anti-climatic. I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend this to others.
Rating: 4 / 5, Recommended, a good light read.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Book review: Queen Victoria:Demon Hunter by A. E. Moorat
Genre: Historical horror/fantasy.
The tag line for this book goes - 'She loved her country. She hated zombies.' Based on this tag line I expected to get a 19th century, Buffy the vampire slayer book.
The book is not a 19th century, Buffy the vampire slayer. Nor is it a romance novel as some might believe, reading the blurb on the back of the book.
The book focuses on the time period just before Victoria's coronation to a few years after that. One might expect a 19th century Royal court to have various intrigues. In this book those intrigues involve Demons, Zombies, werewolves and such.
The book is well written with the author trying a fair bit, to humanise and build up the characters. For the most part he succeeds. The plot line in the book is functional and simplistic. There are no complex twist and turns here. There are a few sub-plots and surprises that keep it interesting though. The pace of the book is very brisk with events happening at a rapid pace. The book contains a lot of gore. I liked the gore in the book and thought it fit in well with the tone of the book. But a fair warning, if you don't like gore, you will find it gratuitous.
Quimby a side character in this book, ends up stealing the show. And that is the most severe failing of this book, since Victoria's character does not end up dominating the book, as one might expect of the title character.
All in all this is a light fun read as long as you don't mind the gore.
Rating: 4 / 5, Recommended
The tag line for this book goes - 'She loved her country. She hated zombies.' Based on this tag line I expected to get a 19th century, Buffy the vampire slayer book.
The book is not a 19th century, Buffy the vampire slayer. Nor is it a romance novel as some might believe, reading the blurb on the back of the book.
The book focuses on the time period just before Victoria's coronation to a few years after that. One might expect a 19th century Royal court to have various intrigues. In this book those intrigues involve Demons, Zombies, werewolves and such.
The book is well written with the author trying a fair bit, to humanise and build up the characters. For the most part he succeeds. The plot line in the book is functional and simplistic. There are no complex twist and turns here. There are a few sub-plots and surprises that keep it interesting though. The pace of the book is very brisk with events happening at a rapid pace. The book contains a lot of gore. I liked the gore in the book and thought it fit in well with the tone of the book. But a fair warning, if you don't like gore, you will find it gratuitous.
Quimby a side character in this book, ends up stealing the show. And that is the most severe failing of this book, since Victoria's character does not end up dominating the book, as one might expect of the title character.
All in all this is a light fun read as long as you don't mind the gore.
Rating: 4 / 5, Recommended
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Book review: The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
Genre: Non-fiction - Biographical, Adventure oriented.
This book came about from the authors obsession with a early 1900's British explorer - Percy Fawcett whom he stumbled upon while researching another story. Fawcett along with his son and his son's best friend disappeared into the Amazon while they were searching for a (perhaps mythical) City, Fawcett rather dramatically called Z.
To discover Fawcett's fate, Grann would himself have to sniff out the trail to Z. Grann estimates that around 100 people have already lost their lives searching for Fawcett and Z. Knowing this and despite being a self confessed city boy Grann decides to get on with the search.
The book in spite of the title is not purely focussed on the search for Fawcett and Z. The book also takes a biographical look at Fawcett's life. There are 2 main narrative threads here - first one is Fawcetts life and his exploration leading to his final expedition and the second one is Grann's pursuit of this story.
Besides the main narrative threads there are plenty of little stories, anecdotes and titbits that keep thing interesting and the book moving along at a nice pace.
I liked the writing style and pacing of the book, which combined with the shortish chapters and change in topics made this book a real page turner.
Rating: 5 / 5; Highly recommended.
This book came about from the authors obsession with a early 1900's British explorer - Percy Fawcett whom he stumbled upon while researching another story. Fawcett along with his son and his son's best friend disappeared into the Amazon while they were searching for a (perhaps mythical) City, Fawcett rather dramatically called Z.
To discover Fawcett's fate, Grann would himself have to sniff out the trail to Z. Grann estimates that around 100 people have already lost their lives searching for Fawcett and Z. Knowing this and despite being a self confessed city boy Grann decides to get on with the search.
The book in spite of the title is not purely focussed on the search for Fawcett and Z. The book also takes a biographical look at Fawcett's life. There are 2 main narrative threads here - first one is Fawcetts life and his exploration leading to his final expedition and the second one is Grann's pursuit of this story.
Besides the main narrative threads there are plenty of little stories, anecdotes and titbits that keep thing interesting and the book moving along at a nice pace.
I liked the writing style and pacing of the book, which combined with the shortish chapters and change in topics made this book a real page turner.
Rating: 5 / 5; Highly recommended.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Book review: Dinosaur planet by Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Science fiction.
Uninteresting characters, no real plot line whatsoever is how I would characterise this book. This book feels like it is a preview for the next book. There is very little story progression here and a bunch of mysteries are set up and none are resolved.
I never grew to like the characters mainly because everyone felt one dimensional. The characters motivation for doing good or bad are not explored. Anne McCaffrey's writing style itself is pretty good but that is the only redeeming point about this book.
Rating: 2/5, Below average, only reason to get this one is if you are a huge Anne McCaffrey fan.
The Amazon link is to this book and the sequel for this book. I have not read the sequel.
Uninteresting characters, no real plot line whatsoever is how I would characterise this book. This book feels like it is a preview for the next book. There is very little story progression here and a bunch of mysteries are set up and none are resolved.
I never grew to like the characters mainly because everyone felt one dimensional. The characters motivation for doing good or bad are not explored. Anne McCaffrey's writing style itself is pretty good but that is the only redeeming point about this book.
Rating: 2/5, Below average, only reason to get this one is if you are a huge Anne McCaffrey fan.
The Amazon link is to this book and the sequel for this book. I have not read the sequel.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Book review: The shadow at evening by Chris Walley
Genre: Christian science fiction.
The pacing of this starts slow as it gradually fills in the details of the world. The writing is decent, the plot is interesting. The issue for me here is this is a Christian book with no warning anywhere on the book that it is.
Initially I thought the author was setting the stage for a complex story where various viewpoints are explored with people who thought the world was black and white begin to see the shades of Gray.
However it seems the author believes things are black and white. So following rules without thinking about them is a good thing. Any genetic modification of humans is a bad thing. Technology needs to be controlled and so on and so forth.
All in all I won't bother with the sequel and regret the time I spent reading this.
Rating: Don't bother ... well unless you like Christian literature then this one is pretty good.
The pacing of this starts slow as it gradually fills in the details of the world. The writing is decent, the plot is interesting. The issue for me here is this is a Christian book with no warning anywhere on the book that it is.
Initially I thought the author was setting the stage for a complex story where various viewpoints are explored with people who thought the world was black and white begin to see the shades of Gray.
However it seems the author believes things are black and white. So following rules without thinking about them is a good thing. Any genetic modification of humans is a bad thing. Technology needs to be controlled and so on and so forth.
All in all I won't bother with the sequel and regret the time I spent reading this.
Rating: Don't bother ... well unless you like Christian literature then this one is pretty good.
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