1177 B.C., Eric H. Cline

 

1177 B.C.:  The year civilization collapsed by Eric H. Cline Personally, I have thought that it is unlikely The Sea Peoples are the cause of so much trouble in the Mediterranean.  My thought has been that they are problem a symptom of another problem and served more as a domino than cause.  The descriptions I heard sounded like they were more refugees rather than marauders.

Started: June 7, 2025
Completed: June 11, 2025
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: I saw this on the bookshelves behind Marc Elias during a Democracy Docket Youtube

Review:

It is important that you be interested in what happened at the end of the Bronze Age.  This is not a narrative that is going to easily carry you, so if you don't have an interest, it is probably not for you.  The breadth of the research that Cline covers is pretty good, though the depth is not great for scholars.  There is enough narrative, however, to make it interesting.  Foreshadowing does not really exist (Cline just refers you to later chapters) so, again, this book does not carry you.  It is an interesting read and Cline draws from multiple disciplines in order to try to make sense of the end of the Bronze Age (1177 is not so terribly important, I think that the actual tipping date tends to move +/- 100 years--I seem to remember an interview with the author where he decided on the title, then had to change it, then it flipped back right before the book went to press).  That is both a cool and weird thing about archaeology, it is an on-going study and at any minute some artifact may come out and change everything.

Polostan, Neal Stephenson

 

Polostan by Neal Stephenson is the first book in the Bomb Light series

Started: June 3, 2025
Completed: June 7, 2025
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By:  Nobody, I just pretty much read what Stephenson writes.  It isn't all perfect, but it is always interesting

Review:

This feels like a Forest Gump sort of walk through the history of the atomic bomb.  The protagonist here is wicked smart and female.  I enjoyed the start, but find it hard to highly recommend this book as it feels so very incomplete.  I also did not like the torture scene.  Maybe there is a really good reason for that beyond the scope of this book, but if it is just the scope of this book, then I feel it was more than was needed to make the point.

All Fours, Miranda July

 

All Fours by Miranda July

Started: June 2, 2025
Completed: June 3, 2025
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By:  A friend on good reads

Review:

To some people, I'm sure, this book is a revelation and a triumph.  To me, it is mostly raunchy.  Far too much of this book is spent masturbating for me.  I just did not enjoy it.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson

 

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Started: May 27, 2025
Completed: June 2, 2025
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: I cannot remember how I came across this book

Review:

What is the right thing to think?  I am horrified by the main character.  The main plot line is horribly confused.  There is a second book (maybe a third).  So, I don't want to give anything away because this book is best read without any idea of what is coming next.  It isn't that there is a particular thrill to be had around every corner but that things are very fluid.  I'm just not sure what to think.  The characters are broadly hideously complex.  The level of calculation in every move is astounding.  I cannot say that I walked away from this book happy, but there is a low level yearning to find out what happens next or, perhaps more importantly, to better understand what already did happen.

Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky

 

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Started: February 7, 2024

Completed: May 27, 2025

Recommendation: Highly recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Tchaikovsky has developed a whole other way for intelligent life to form.  Saying anything so easily gives things away.  The stressed characters have to deal with extreme circumstances and that stress changes how they interact with each other and how they view themselves.  There are some big changes.  Meanwhile, the world building is awesome and the ideas put forward are truly mind bending.

I truly enjoyed the interview at the end of the audio book.

Hey, Zoey, Sarah Crossan

 

Hey, Zoey by Sarah Crossan is a book I stumbled upon when looking up information about Irish authors.  I think that there was just the blurb from the back of the book and the premise felt like it could be fun.

Started: May 26, 2025
Completed: May 27, 2025
Recommendation: Mild recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

So, not fun.  This was weird.  So, it is odd that some dude wants to have sex with a doll.  It is also weird that a woman becomes obsessed with the doll in the role of a companion.  This book is weird.  It isn't bad, but it is weird.

Blood Over Bright Haven, M. L. Wang

 

Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang  I cannot remember how I came across this book.  The author is more of a YA author and generally self published, so I'm not really clear in my own head how I came across it.

Started: May 22, 2025
Completed: May 25, 2025
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

What a wonderful book!  The creation of the world is detailed.  The characters are rich.  The plot and sub-plots are complicated, consistent, and believable (within context).  It is very important that this book is not a feel good book.  It is much more a realistic book.  It is not a story of a super hero coming of age.  In a way it is a book about holding true to your principals.  It also feels like this book is an exploration of philosophy and, perhaps, ethics.  I just cannot recommend it highly enough.