Imperial Cruise, James Bradley

The Imperial Cruise:  A Secret History of Empire and War by James Bradley was recommended to me by a relative of a friend who is of Phillipino descent.  It was made clear to me that this book would be troubling.

Started: 7/21/2013
Completed: 7/26/2013
Recommendation: Conservatively recommended
Recommended By: Relative of a friend

Review:

There is no doubt that James Bradley thinks little of Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft.  I was frankly stunned at the amount of evidence he put together to demonstrate why he holds this opinion.  The American policies toward the "Far East" starting in the late 1890s is simply repulsive to a modern reader.  I think that you have to be a skin head to find the policy anything less than reprehensible.  I have known that Teddy had some edges to him, but I had no idea how bad it was.  The horrible things we did in the Philippines and in the far east in general are simply unspeakable.  We visited the Aryan myth on the Far East before Hitler could do the same on Europe in general.  Bradley argues that  the actions of the United States led inevitably to the Japanese attack on us in WWII.  While his argument may be overly strong, it has legs.

Degrees of Freedom, Simon Morden

Degrees of Freedom by Simon Morden is the sequel to Theories of Flight which I have enjoyed as the on-going saga of Samuil Petrovitch

Started: 7/9/2013

Completed:  7/18/2013

Recommendation: Very good

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Sam is at it again, saving the world (or at least the Metrozone).  Now he faces the CIA and the entire United States while trying to free Michael.  There is also an evolution in Sam's character as he becomes introspective and some of his own motives for his behaviors start to become clear to the reader as he realizes them for himself.  Most of the main characters from the previous books become bit players in this book with the possible exception of Tabletop who seems to have her own epiphanies that just sort of appear in this first person perspective story.

His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik is a book I've had sitting on my kindle for years.  Not sure how or why I picked it up.  It might be because it was nominated for a Hugo Award.

Started:  7/2/2013

Completed: 7/12/2013

Recommendation: Really good, fun, read

Recommended By:  No idea

Review:

WHAT A GREAT STORY!  Dragons as ships of the air is a great concept.  The real problem, however, is how they can't be "disposable."  What if they bond with their Captain and only work well with the person to whom they are bonded?  What if they are rare?  Oh, man, now you have a story.  There is Napoleon, too.  1700s formality meets "Top Gun" aces/dragons.  The dragons can be wicked smart as well.  Fantastic concept, beautiful execution...oh, yeah, I'm gonna read the next one.

Theories of Flight, Simon Morden

Theories of Flight by Simon Morden is the sequel to Equations of Life which I really enjoyed.

Started: 7/3/2013

Completed: 7/8/2013

Recommendation:  Fun read.

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

Theories of Flight has Sam busy saving the world again.  You really, really will need to suspend your disbelief on how much damage the human body can sustain and continue to function.  In this book Sam continues to collect human detritus in the whirlwind of his activities as he furthers his studies on the Quantum Theory of Everything coupled with bringing along a new AI.  The action is quick (impossibly so) but the story is carefully thought out with seemingly meaningless encounters continuing to have a powerful influence on the actions and motivations of the main character.  The surrounding cast of characters start to become a fawning lot with only one or two characters who seem to be able to survive the maelstrom of events without becoming subsumed into Sam's super ego.  The net effect of this tightly knit story, however, is breathtaking and while one has to believe that there is only so much a swearing theoretical physicist can do, Sam continues to surprise with ingenuity and always being a step ahead.  If you are Russian, I'm fairly certain that the wild collection of swearing is likely to burn your ears, but for a non-Russian reader, well, you can assign meaning to the expletives as you see fit and meet your own level of internal comfort.

The Reformation of Hugberry Mullett, Marcus Holborn

The Reformation of Hugberry Mullett by Marcus Holborn got me at the title.  I like weird names and this one was immediately interesting to me.

Started: 6/13/2013
Completed: 6/28/2013
Recommendation: Don't waste your time
Recommended By:  Freebooksifter.com

Review:

This book is a one trick pony.  It steals story lines from popular stories and segues between them by using confusion.  The story lines just barely hang together and the equivalence of beauty with a "heavy chest"  reveals more about the author than Hugberry.  Opening the book with statutory rape almost had me setting it down and I really wish I had done so.  The character does not seem to reform and the work seems like a self-indulgent "fix the world" traipse through the author's still-born fantasies mixed with some riff on religions of all kinds.  The names, however, were pretty good.  He did that well.



Destiny of the Republic, Candice Millard

Destiny of the Republic:  A tale of madness, medicine, and the murder of a president by Candice Millard is a book that I decided to read after hearing Ms. Millard on NPR.


Started:  6/26/2013
Completed: 7/3/2013
Recommendation:  This book got the Best Book awards for a reason.  It is great.   Read it.
Recommended By:  NPR

Review:

When thinking of presidents, Garfield rarely jumps to mind.  Frankly, I only knew his name because he was assassinated.  Equally obscure to me was Chester Arthur (his VP who became president upon his death).  This book is not really a biography of Garfield although it covers the basics.  It is, however, a good character sketch and also gives a great look into the leading figures of the day.  I love the way that I got surprised at all the coincidences and the people tying into the president.  In some ways, I think that this story is the intersection of the American Ideal with Reality.  The boat crash which partly opens the story is a wonderful metaphor for what everyone thinks will be the good side of the American dream crashing into the reality of people with too much power.  This book is remarkably well written, carefully engaging, and myopically fascinating.