The Last Believer, Jerome Komisar

The Last Believer by Jerome Komisar is a book written by a friend's father.

Started: 1/17/2012

Completed: 4/1/2012

Recommendation: Mild recommendation

Recommended By:  Author's daughter.

Review:

This is not my genre, so it hard for me to tell how this book stacks up.  I thought that the character of Illya (The Last Believer) was reasonably well developed by the time the story was over.  I found the plot rather straight-forward and found the sex uncomfortable (maybe because it is written by a friend's father).  Most of the characters were shallow who did not develop over the course of the novel which takes place over a fairly short period.  I was a little uncomfortable with the frequency with which I was told how to react to something that a character said or did as opposed to letting the actions stand for themselves.  The middle section felt abrupt, like it was a much longer novel that was cut short.

The Druids, Peter Berresford Ellis

The Druids by Peter Berresford Ellis is a non-fiction account of the historical Druids.  I bought this from a yard sale some years ago as a follow up to Freeman's book.

Started:  12/31/2012

Completed: 4/3/2013

Recommendation: Good beginning, but I gave up before the end

Recommended by:  Nobody

Words I looked up:

autochthonous -- indigenous or native
primogeniture -- The right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings.

Review:

Really good, clean set of arguments debunking some of the positions commonly held about the Druids. The author then goes one step further and starts generating his own unsubstantiated views in much the same manner as the views he debunked.  I really thought the first half was good, but got frustrated with he long steps in the second half.

The Broken Kingdoms, N. K. Jemison

The Broken Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin is the second book in the inheritance trilogy.

Started: 2/5/2013

Completed: 2/13/2013

Recommendation:  Not as good as the first, but a book that stands on its own outside of the trilogy.

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

Not quite as interesting as the first as the interplay with the Gods is less in an odd sort of way.  This book takes place 10 years after the previous book and looks at a largely new cast of characters.  The writing is still solid, but a lot of the novelty is lost.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin is a book I stumbled across in the audio section of the library while looking for something to occupy me during a long drive.

Started:  1/15/2013

Completed: 2/2/2013

Recommendation: Fun Read, worth the time

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

The female protagonist was nice and, frankly, the female characters seemed to dominate both the book and the story lines.  Most of the fantasy I read is swashbuckling male stuff, but it was nice to see a new angle.  Don't get me wrong, plenty of sword and sorcery remain for those who live on that, but there wasn't any "save the princess."  In some ways this story reminded me of the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant in that the protagonist was weak.  In this story, however, the protagonist is compelling and her story doesn't leave you hating her (like Covenant).

A lot of the story focuses on mortals interacting with gods and the interactions are largely reduced to mortal comprehension.  The author gives a nod to this in the last chapters and offers a reasonable explanation although it was uncomfortable until the explanation was given.  I understand why the author waited, it was pretty necessary for the story, but it stretched my ability to suspend disbelief.

The prose was not compelling, but the audio version brought life to some dreary interactions and while it created some confusion when the protagonist was talking with herself (or sort of interacting with someone else in the future while treating the story as a retrospective) it could be confusing, I'm not at all clear how that could be clarified.

The Philosopher and the Druids, Philip Freeman

The Philosopher and the Druids:  A Journey Among the Ancient Celts by Philip Freeman.  This is a non-fiction account of a Greek Philosopher travelling among the Celtic tribes of his time.  I picked this up off a discount book rack.

Started:  11/18/2012

Completed: 12/30/2012

Recommendation: Mild recommendation

Recommended By: Nobody

Words I looked up:

quern -- A simple hand mill for grinding grain, typically consisting of two circular stones, the upper of which is rotated or rubbed to and fro on the lower one

Review:

The author does a lot with a little.  The actual philosopher who did the travelling wrote a book about it, but the book has since been lost.  The author of this book uses references to the Greek Philosopher's book from other ancient texts to try to reconstruct what can be reconstructed.  Those references amount to about a page of text, and the author of this books builds that into almost 200 pages.  Of course, lots of other material is included, but generally from other ancient texts.  In short, there is not a lot here that I haven't already seen with the exception of the druids being distinct from the bards and the vates.  Freeman does a good job of presenting the material and integrating with other semi-original sources.  I recommend this book mildly because much of it is spent dispelling the notion that human sacrifice was a major part of Celtic life.  It seems that such an assertion can be made rather quickly in a couple of pages and then let go.  Well, because, there should be much more to discuss.  Sadly, there isn't much more because the source material is so thin.

The Education of Robert Nifkin, Daniel Pinkwater

The Education of Robert Nifkin by Daniel Pinkwater is a high school coming of age book.  It is a comedic Novel aimed at teenagers.  I know Pinkwater from the Tooth-Gnasher Superflash which I read with relish to my youngest son for many a hilarious evening.  My wife saw this book as Vertigo book store was closing and pointing to the author suggested I pick it up.  So I did.

Started:  11/18/2012

Completed: 11/21/2012

Recommendation: Funny, short, good bathroom read

Recommended By: My wife

Review:
The book is conceived as an essay for college admission.  The story is a coming of age event for a fat immigrant new kid going to highschool in the 50s.  It is funny enough to make you laugh out loud.  It is a pretty straightforward book that seems hell bent on making fun of everything it touches (including itself).  It is a good read and I enjoyed it.

Once a Hero, Michael Stackpole

Once a Hero by Michael A. Stackpole is a book that has been on my read pile for so long that I don't remember the circumstances under which I came to it.  It was published in 1994 and was an early book by the author who has since risen to fame largely on the back of Star Wars books (which don't interest me in the least).  The front cover is far from mesmerizing, the author must have been unknown to me (he didn't ring any bells when I picked this book up off the stack), and the summation on the back is ho-hum.  I do not know Jennifer Roberson (who has a blurb on the top of the front cover) and, had I known who she was (I researched her) I doubt seriously that her comment would have been enticing in any way.  My guess is that I was waiting for someone else and picked up the book and started thumbing through it largely because it was nearby.  I must have read something gripping, because this book (when judged by its cover) doesn't seem like the kind of thing I would ever read.  In fact, when I've been choosing books to read, I've skipped this book many times although I try to choose from the 8-10 oldest in the pile and work to keep the pile in some kind of chronological order from acquisition (with sequels and "must reads" screaming to the top).

Started: 10/31/2012

Completed: 11/18/2012

Recommendation: Good read, a little long

Recommended By: Nobody

Words I looked up:

devoir -- an act of civility or respect
mangonel -- a military device for throwing stones and other missles (e.g. catapult)
nimiety -- excess or overabundance
pennoncel -- a small pennant borne on a lance
peregrination -- travel from one place to another, especially on foot
revetment -- a barricade of earth or sandbags set up to provide protection from blast
sanguineous -- of, pertaining to, or containing blood
sartorial -- of or relating to tailoring, clothes, or style of dress

Review:
Yes, I enjoyed it.  The sappy love story of true love denied, the hero who wasn't quite all he was cracked up to be, but was the hero nonetheless, the genocide...woah, genocide?  Yeah, pretty heavy topic for a casual book, but this one takes on genocide while also addressing issues like slavery, racial discrimination, and even takes a swing at how societal decline happens.  Pretty impressive little romp.  There is plenty of action, made up creatures, familiar made up creatures (elves, dwarves, etc), golems, sorcery, and travel.  Yeah, travel is pretty cool.  They don't teleport around but the means of travel is pretty inventive and it ties in well with the overall theme.  I was a little unhappy with the cop-out, "magic you do, magic I am" that seems to show up way too often for my liking, but given that is the only really outstanding fault, I think this book is pretty well put together.  Oh, and the main characters are set 500 years apart in time.  That kind of sucks and you know something has to happen (heck, they talk about reincarnation on the back cover), but the journey is worth the read.  The author does a good job of weaving the story lines together and I especially enjoyed the way the point-of-view flipped around in chapter increments.