Book Review - Four Queens by Nancy Goldstone

I'm a huge history fan, as you know. The only thing better than a good SF book in my hand is a really fascinating history book or historical biography.

Nancy Goldstone is an interesting author because she covers some aspects of history that many people don't really think about much, at least not in the general public. I'm sure there have been scholarly articles about them, but I haven't seen any major publications about them.

Four Queens is a great example of that.

Yes, books have been written about the French and English kings in the 13th century, both Louis IX and his disastrous crusade from France as well as the cowardly Henry III. But we haven't seen anything about their wives, and the family that married its daughters very well. The kings of England and France, Sicily and Germany, all had wives from this family that ruled Provence, a family that was vassal to the Holy Roman Empire.

Goldstone writes a very readable history, a narrative form of history that does not use footnotes (though she does provide an extensive bibliography at the end). Thus, some historians may dismiss the book. I don't know for a fact, but I get the feeling that there is probably some tension between those who approve of narrative histories and those who want something heavily documented. I like them both, though it would depend what I'm using it for on whether I found the book useful or not. As a general primer to learn something? I think narrative history is fine for that. I would not use it if I were writing my own history book, though.

Anyway, that's beside the point of this post, which is that Four Queens is a great book.

A full review of the book can be found on Curled Up With a Good Book.

From the review:

"Goldstone does a great job laying out the book, with chapters alternating between the four sisters as circumstances warrant. We travel from England to France, down through Italy and into the Holy Land, where King Louis IX is determined to lead a Crusade against the Moslems and almost meets his death. We see the details of all the royal courts, such as the relationship between Marguerite and her mother-in-law, who had ruled France well while Louis was coming of age and who was reluctant to give up her son once he got married. Goldstone brings these historical characters to life through primary source writings of bards and other historians of the day, as well as letters exchanged between the sisters, many of which still exist. Goldstone’s writing style brings you into the book and will make you want to read more when you really should be putting it down."

And how can you go wrong with a book like that?

Book Reviews - CSI novels

I do really like the original CSI TV show, but I haven't had the chance to watch them in quite a while. So long, in fact, that I still had episodes with Laurence Fishburn on them from 2011 on my DVR.

What's a guy to do when he's stuck at home with his tooth killing him and an excessively swollen cheek? How about catch up on some CSI episodes!

So I've watched the show for years (*ahem*) but hadn't really read any of the tie-in novels until a few years ago. So, in honour of my enforced layabout last week, how about making this week's book reviews about those novels? There are some good ones in there.

Overall, I've read four of the novels over the years, and they've ranged from decent to outstanding. None of them will be considered great literature, of course. But they are fun books, interesting reads with a good take on the television characters.

One problem with TV tie-in novels is that the TV show holds all the character cards. If they want to introduce some previously unmentioned sister or love child of one of the major characters, they can. The books can't do that. I've seen one Star Trek author talk about how the writers get to play with somebody else's toys, but they have to make sure they're all back in the toybox afterward, unharmed.

Thus, you're not going to get a deep character study of Gil Grissom or Catherine Willows in a CSI novel.

That being said, good tie-in writers can skirt the edges and do interesting things with them despite not being able to make fundamental changes to the character.

Following are mini-reviews of the four novels I've read, with links to Curled Up With a Good Book reviews.

Book Review - How Rome Fell by Adrian Goldsworthy

Over the last few years, I've really developed a healthy interest in the history of the western Roman Empire and that era. I loved the "History of Rome" podcast (and am currently enjoying the "History of Byzantium" podcast that was started when the original ended). There's just something about that era that is inherently interesting.

Yet I had never really read a completely comprehensive history of the empire.

That is, until 2009 when I picked up How Rome Fell by Adrian Goldsworthy. It's not a definitive history of the empire, but it is quite the extensive history from around the time of Marcus Aurelius died in 180 AD until it finally fell in 476 AD (though the date of the ending is still debated, and depends on what you consider the Roman Empire to begin with, I think).

The book is a very detailed history of all the ups and downs in the empire, the sixty years in the 3rd century where 65 men were claimed as emperor, the rise of the military as a king-maker (or emperor-maker, I guess) and all of that.

If you like your Roman history, or just ancient history in general, you can't go wrong with this thick tome. It's extensively researched and it's also very readable. It's not super-dry like some history books out there.

I still find myself picking this book up and thumbing through it when I'm trying to figure out something. For example, I saw this really odd movie, The Last Legion that supposedly begins with the last Roman emperor being spirited away from Rome from exile, taken to England and eventually (MAJOR SPOILER becoming King Arthur MAJOR SPOILER DONE).

While I knew it was a fantasy, the beginning of the movie did seem based in fact. The name of the emperor was correct, for example. So I picked up Goldsworthy's book and re-read the last part to see what actually happened. Needless to say, liberties had been taken, though it was closer than some movies are.

Goldsworthy has a wonderful writing style that I really enjoyed.

The review's on Curled Up With a Good Book.

Here's a snippet for you:

"Goldsworthy begins with the most important question: just how did Rome fall? Was it barbarian invasions? Societal decay and corruption? Opinions are divided on this issue, but Goldsworthy seems to see it as a combination of these things. Ostensibly, the Empire fell in 476 A.D., when the last Roman emperor who ruled from Italy was deposed by a Germanic invader. However, some see the Empire as having already fallen even before this date, with pretenders to the throne ruling before this. The Roman emperors since Marcus Aurelius died in 180 were much weaker for the most part than those who had preceded him. Throughout a period of 60 years or so in the third century, there were 65 claimants to the Roman throne, some lasting only days. Some say this internal strife is essentially what eventually killed the Empire, with the barbarians just being the executioners, and Goldsworthy seems to agree with that viewpoint."

I encourage you to check it out. It really is a great book!

Goldsworthy is also author of the excellent Antony & Cleopatra history.

Book Review - The Mirror Effect by Dr. Drew Pinsky & S. Mark Young

We are living in an increasingly narcissistic society as teenagers and young adults are increasingly asking people to "look at me," be it on Facebook or other kinds of social media.

I reviewed Dr. Pinsky's book, The Mirror Effect, back in 2009, but I think it's even more relevant today as we slide into the oblivion of self-centered narcissism where people commit self-destructive acts because they want to be noticed or they want to be like their favourite stars. Why shouldn't they? It's not like Lindsay Lohan has lost much of her career despite the public train wreck that is (or maybe was, if current reports are true) her personal life.

In the book, Pinsky examines the almost poisonous effect that celebrity culture is having on the youth today. He has counseled many celebrities in his day, and he talks in the book about both how the culture is affecting today's youth as well as the celebrities themselves.

Book Reviews - Detective Inspector Chen series by Liz Williams

A couple of weeks ago, in my review of Tad Williams' The Dirty Streets of Heaven, I mentioned Liz Williams (no relation) and her Detective Inspector Chen series of books. Like Williams' novel, these books are unique takes on the whole Heaven/Hell concept.

I've only read two of the five novels in the series so far, but I will be rectifying that in the near future.

The first book in the series, Snake Agent, introduces us to Inspector Chen and lays out the entire concept that the series is based on.

Since I summed it up in my review of the book, I'll just quote from Curled Up With a Good Book:

"Chen lives in Singapore Three sometime in the relatively near future (it’s never said, but I’m thinking the late 2000s). The barriers between Heaven, Hell, and the “real” world are thin, and they all have to deal with each other. Chen is one of the only cops in Singapore Three who deals regularly with the celestial beings, and his colleagues tend to avoid him because he’s had to deal with Hell too often. This time, the ghost of a murdered girl doesn’t arrive in Heaven as it’s supposed to, and the grieving mother comes to Chen to investigate why. Seneschal Zhu Irzh is a demon on Hell’s Vice Squad, and he’s tasked with tracking down an escaped dead prostitute from one of Hell’s brothels. With both of them pulling at the same dead soul, conflict is inevitable, but they might end up working together to stop an even bigger conspiracy from one of Hell’s highest, and most sinister, ministries - one that will combine demonic power and modern technology to wipe out millions."

It's this intriguing aspect of "Heaven & Hell as bureaucracy" that I have always found interesting. Anybody who's dealt with a bureaucracy knows that it is particularly hellish.

Williams' brilliant imagination comes up with things like the Night Harbor, a place where souls go when the people die, a processing area where it's determined where they go. There are no advocates like in Tad Williams' series, but instead it's, yes, more bureaucracy.

In fact, Williams' imaginative descriptions is one thing that makes the series stand out. You really feel like you're in the heat of Singapore (whether it's due to the proximity to Hell, global warming, or just its regular climate, I don't know). You feel the oppressive atmosphere even as you're enjoying the wonderful characterization she provides.

Chen and Zhu Irzh have a great relationship that begins in Snake Agent and continues to develop in the second novel, The Demon and the City. Zhu Irzh is not your typical demon, though he can at times be very typical. He has the usual lusts and other demonic aspects, but he does have a few "morals" that move beyond the typical Hellish character traits. He's frustrated by Hell's bureaucracy, and (at least in the first novel) he keeps getting his extremely stylish coat all messed up. And he hates that. The combination of drama and humour in the novels is very well-done.

The humour can sometimes bleed over into the narrative too. Passages can make you literally stop and laugh for a moment, and they aren't even moments of character by-play.

In The Demon in the City, for example, there's this gem, where a minor character's mother's spirit has joined him. She's a woman who could almost literally talk your ear off when she was alive, and things haven't really changed.

"Paravang thought that it was a good thing that his mother was already dead, because otherwise he would surely have slain her. She had now been a resident at his little apartment for a day and the fact that she no longer needed to draw breath was severely evident."

Yes, both books had the occasional slow spots that brought them down from full 5-star reviews, but both books were tremendously enjoyable. I have really fallen behind by not reading more of the series to see how they develop.

The basic plot for Snake Agent is above, but here's my summary of The Demon and the City from Curled Up With a Good Book:

"The demon Zhu Irzh, recently re-assigned from Hell to be Chen’s partner on the Singapore Three police force, is having a difficult time of it. He’s bored, he’s lonely, and Chen has gone off to Hawaii with his demon wife for a much-needed vacation. Thus, he’s has to deal with the police bureaucracy and anti-demon prejudice without Chen’s interference. When a murdered renegade heiress turns up, he’s chomping at the bit to begin the investigation that leads to the beautiful head of an extremely powerful drug manufacturing company, Jhai Teserai, a woman who holds many secrets of her own. Intrigued, Zhu Irzh finds her irresistible despite the fact that she might be implicated in the whole thing. Is this part of some sinister plan from Hell to further influence the “real” world, or is something more Heavenly involved? What will Teserai’s questionable experiments unleash - and will Chen return in time to save Zhu Irzh from himself?"

I think it's this mixture of science fiction and fantasy that makes the whole series attractive.

Have you read any of these? Let me know in the comments! And check out the two reviews as well.

Also, it appears that now's your chance to pick them up. According to Amazon, both books are being republished in September!

Catching Up on a Book Series

Thanks to Aiden Moher, and check out his great book site!

Those of you who follow me on Goodreads know that I've recently started reading a book called Requiem, by Ken Scholes. It's the fourth book in the "Psalms of Isaak" series, a fantasy series that has wowed me since the beginning, though the third book didn't quite so much.

Most book series have editions that come out once a year at most, and sometimes longer (or much, much longer, I'm looking at you, George R.R. Martin). It's been two or three years since book 3, and I found myself having trouble remembering exactly what was going on in the previous books. In fact, for a while there, I felt totally lost.

This is unusual for me, because I don't usually have this kind of problem. Most series that I read, I've picked up and remembered the main narrative after the first 50 or so pages. Who the good guys are. Who the bad guys are. What the bad guy's trying to do. What the good guy's trying to stop. I usually master it quite quickly and thus can get into the groove of reading the current book.

Book Review - Cold City by F. Paul Wilson

I came to the Repairman Jack books, brilliantly written by F. Paul Wilson, late in the series. My wife was a big fan and had read all of his books, but I just never had taken the time to do so. However, a later book in the series showed up on the list of books available to review for Curled Up With a Good Book. Since I wanted to get a copy of it for her to read, I requested it. Of course, if you request it, you have to review it, so I read it first.

I found myself blown away, and while the details of the mythos were all new to me, it was written well enough for a beginner that I had no problem figuring out what was going on.

This was By the Sword, and I was hooked.

Jack's story ended last year, but Wilson is now writing three prequel books that tell us how Jack became who he is. He's a man who's lived his life off the grid, untraceable because he refuses to do things like use credit cards or things like that. He pays cash, he works for cash, and when he needs weapons, he has friends who will sell them to him.

Cold City is the first book in this prequel series, and it is a very good book, though I think it may be better ready if you're at least somewhat familiar with the Adversary Cycle of books. It is understandable if this is your first one, and it's still an excellent story, but you'll get a lot more out of it if you have read some of the other books first.

My review of it is up on Curled Up With a Good Book.

From the review:

"It's 1990, and a man named Jack (we never will find out his last name, I don't believe) has dropped out of college and headed to New York to make his way. Strange things have been happening to him, dark urges that he must fight before they overwhelm him. He's gone off the grid, living on cash and the odd jobs that will pay him that, which almost necessitates some jobs that are a bit on the shady side. After he suffers one dark attack and almost kills a co-worker who has been bullying him, he's not sure what to do. Getting hired as a driver to smuggle cigarettes is quite lucrative and will definitely keep him able to live well—and buy the weaponry he might need for the days ahead. Especially when he encounters a preteen smuggling ring, some jihadists, and the mob trying to deal with his good friend, the bartender Julio. With all of that, he may be wishing for a monster from the dawn of time to deal with."

Wilson's writing is great, drawing you into the story and not letting you go. I highly recommend this novel, no matter whether you're familiar with the series or not.

Read the review and let me know what you think!

Book Review - The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams

I love me a good fantasy that takes the whole religion thing and kind of turns things on their heads. An imaginative view of just how heaven and hell works can really be fun to read if done well. Sometimes they're satirical (like Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's wonderful Good Omens), and sometimes it makes a good setting for a more serious (but not *too* serious) story (like Liz Williams' "Inspector Chen" series of fantasy novels, which I may have to include on a future entry, as they're really good).

Tad Williams' latest novel, The Dirty Streets of Heaven is another take on the whole idea, and it's wonderfully written. The sequel comes out in September, and I'm really looking forward to it. The novel's protagonist, Bobby Dollar, is a really fun narrator, even more so because he just seems like a regular guy (other than this being dead thing, of course). There's lots of action, but some good humour too, and the setting is quite interesting.

In Williams' world, when a person dies, there is immediately an accounting. A heavenly advocate shows up (like Bobby) to extol that person's virtue and a demon advocate shows up to talk about the bad things the person did in life. A "judge" also shows up to make the final decision.

One of the problems Bobby is having, as seen in the description below, is that some things aren't going through the right process.

My review is up on Curled Up With a Good Book.

From the review:

"Bobby Dollar's afterlife is turning out to be much more hectic than he ever would have believed. Bobby and his friends are advocates for souls when individuals die, but that's not the main source of all his problems right now. He's dealing with his own sins, including anger and lust, as well as souls disappearing before they can go through the testing process. A couple of demons are after him, he can't necessarily trust his heavenly superiors, and he's not sure about his friends, either. Add to this a new kid that he's supposed to train in the advocacy field, a kid fresh out of the Records department in Heaven, and it's understandable that he's a little on edge. Just what is happening with these souls, and is somebody from Heaven in on it? Is it enough to get Bobby killed (again)?"

It's a wonderful book, with a few slow spots.

It's well worth checking out. So why don't you?

Let me know what you think of the review as well.

Book Review - Last Man Standing by Dick Camp

Many are the horrors that soldiers went through during World War II. Most of the time, this can be mitigated by the fact that they were fighting the evil forces of Nazism or Totalitarianism.

But what if lives were wasted on a meaningless battle that really didn't have any effect on the outcome of the war?

One such instance would be the US invasion of Peleliu island in the Pacific Ocean. This battle was a meat-grinder for all involved, but especially for the 1st Marine Regiment which suffered catastrophic losses. Ultimately, while the battle would be won, the tactics involved have long been questioned. The necessity for the invasion has been as well.

Dick Camp (author of the wonderful book about the Najaf battle in 2004 in Iraq called City of the Dead) has written the story of the 1st Regiment's demise in Last Man Standing, a riveting account of the battle from these soldiers' perspectives. It's not a history of the battle itself, as Camp ends the book once the regiment has been withdrawn. But it is a testament to the courage of these Marines in a hopeless situation.

The book is extremely well-written, but be warned. Some of the pictures are a little graphic. Not bloody-graphic, but there are pictures of burned-out bodies of Japanese soldiers or dead Marines who had not been collected yet.

The rest of my review of the book is on Curled Up With a Good Book, and I encourage you to check it out for more information.

And if you like reading history books on World War II as much as I do, it's a must-read as well.

Book Review - All Spell Breaks Loose by Lisa Shearin

I like it when authors have a set story in mind, but they know it's going to take a number of books to finish the series. Sure, episodic novel series (like Sue Grafton or Janet Evanovich) can be good too. But a lot of times those series start to become stale.

Lisa Shearin is the author of a fantasy series of books about Raine Benares, an Elven Seeker who just happens to have the essence of an incredibly powerful (and not to mention truly evil) ancient stone inhabiting her body. She fights constantly against the evil intelligence to keep it from making her do things to release itself or to feed on the energies of other living beings. Of course, there are forces in the world who want to release that energy or take it over themselves. The only way to do that is to get rid of the current host, unfortunately.

This series is six books long, and I recently finished the last one, All Spell Breaks Loose. I've loved the series even though I missed reading the first and third books in it. It's very well-written with a lot of great dialogue between the various characters, both magical and "mundane" (yes, I've been briefly inhabited by Harry Potter).

What I find best about the series, and this book specifically too, is how Raine is not a perfect character. She will do something and then belatedly realize that maybe that just wasn't the right thing to do. In fact, maybe it was a horribly wrong thing to do, and then she has to deal with the consequences.

So how does this book end the series? Is it on a good note?

I can safely say that yes, it is.

From the review:

"Goblin dark mages have stolen the Saghred. With the power of the stone, the dark mage will be able to take over the world and destroy the Elven race. One thing stands in his way: while Raine is alive, he can't access the stone's power. Solution? Make sure she's not alive. Raine and her friends may be making it easier for him as they undertake a covert mission to the Goblin homeland to destroy the Saghred once and for all. Or die trying."

This is a great series, an excellent final book, and I can't wait to see where Shearin goes next.

While future stories could be told about Raine and the other characters in this series, I hope she expands and comes up with some new ones. I know I will follow and see how she does.

The entire review can be found here on Curled Up With a Good Book. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Book Review - Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey

Jacqueline Carey is an interesting writer. She's best known for the Kushiel series of books, a series noted for their sado-masochistic tone as well as their excellent world-building (I say "known" since I haven't actually read them yet, though I do have them). They are thick books and evidently fairly dark. I look forward to actually reading them one day and seeing if they match my taste.

However, with the thriving urban fantasy market out there, it's not a surprise that she might want to dip her hand into it. Dark Currents is her latest novel, and is apparently the first in a series of books about Daisy Johannson, a half-breed (her father is a demon) agent of Hel (a Norse goddess). Typical urban fantasy has a heroic (and sexy) female protagonist who's dealing with something supernatural, be it vampires, werewolves, demons, magic, or what have you. Dark Currents is no different. I'm not a big fan of the genre, though a number of authors have attracted my attention and made me get past my animosity towards it (Devon Monk, to name one example).

Carey is now another author who has done so. Despite Carey's dark reputation (or, better put, reputation for dark books), Dark Currents is actually quite funny. The tone of the book almost causes whiplash (and may literally cause it if you've just read a Kushiel book before reading this one, though I'm not a doctor so can't say that for sure). The subject matter is still dark, but Carey tells it with a light tone characteristic of the genre. She matches it perfectly.

My review is up on Curled Up With a Good Book.

From the review:

"The Michigan resort town of Pemkowet is a strange place, full of eldritch beings that live side-by-side with normal ("mundane") people: ghouls, werewolves, fairies, nymphs, even vampires. It's also the hometown to an agent of the Norse goddess Hel, Daisy Johanssen. Daisy's father is a demon, so she's already a half-breed. She even has a tail. Working for the local police force as a clerk, she also takes on tasks for Hel that have to do with the supernatural community. When a young college student drowns in the river, signs point to more than just a drowning, and the local police chief asks Daisy to help with the investigation. What was the boy doing on that fateful night? Will Daisy and friends be able to solve the crime before the resort town is shut down by normal humans who are getting tired of co-existing with the supernatural?"

The story does delve down into some rather peculiar sexual practices (which will mean Carey fans can breath a sigh of relief), but it doesn't show them "on-screen" and Daisy is a very breezy narrator. She's able to lighten the tone of the book quite a bit, even as she's horrified by the implications of what really happened.

Even if you're not a fan of the genre, Dark Currents is excellent. More detail on why can be found in the review.

Book Review - Armored - Edited by John Joseph Adams

John Joseph Adams has quickly become one of my favourite anthology editors. He's also editor-in-chief of Lightspeed Magazine, with each issue full of great science fiction and fantasy short stories. I have many of this recent anthologies just waiting for me to pick them up when I have a spare moment.

The latest anthology I've read, Armored, has a rather obvious theme: powered armor in all its forms. Mostly it's the armor such as you see in movies like Starship Troopers, but not always. Two of the stories in the anthology actually take place in the past, not the future. Some take place on a future Earth. Most, however, take place out in the depths of space or on some alien planet where the armor is the only way that you're going to be able to survive.

With such a seemingly narrow theme, you would think an anthology with twenty-three stories in it would suffer from too much of the same thing. That's not true of this anthology, though. The stories are quite varied, ranging from a cat rescue at an abandoned space station to steam-powered armor in the late 1880s to help a criminal fend off the law. The authors do an amazing amount of work bringing these characters to life, and even the worst stories in the book are still a treat to read. They may not all have worked for me as a story, but I didn't want to put the book down in boredom when reading any of them.

My review is now up on Curled Up With a Good Book.

From the review:

"The stories don't all take place in the future. "The Last Days of the Kelly Gang" actually takes place in 1880s Australia and involves the notorious Australian criminal Ned Kelly and an old man named Ike who is forced to create a suit of steam-powered armor so that Kelly can fight off the law closing its noose around him. A brilliant inventor, Ike self-exiled after the mishap of one of his greatest inventions. It's a nice character piece about the man and his regrets, as well as his relationship with the gang as he races against time to build the armor, hoping that Ned won't kill him in the process."

If you don't have an inherent bias against short stories, and you like to add a little powered milk to your story-reading coffee, you can't really go wrong with Armored

Note: The Kage Baker retrospective I promised last week will be posted in two weeks.

Why I Like Short Stories

I love short stories. I know some people don't like them because there isn't enough character development, or subplots, or there's not enough time to get involved in the story, or whatever. I think a well-written short story can be brilliant and very entertaining. I also like to occasionally be able to consume a story in a short chunk of time rather than starting three different novels or something like that.

I've never really understood the inherent hostility toward the short form writing. Sure, they're not to everybody's taste, but the amount of venom in this Wet Asphalt post just boggles my mind. Some of my favourite authors have both novels and short stories to their credit, and some of them (Robert Reed, for example) clearly love the craft of writing a good, focused short story. I don't buy the attitude that those who write short stories are slumming or marketing whores keeping their names out in the public, or anything like that.

Those are extreme examples of criticism, though. What about those who just don't like reading them?

Short stories can make you think as a reader. Some people don't like that, of course. They want everything handed to them on a platter with no real nuance. This attempt to engage readers' minds can result in some great stories that end rather ambiguously, forcing the reader to make up his/her own mind about what the story might have meant.

You can't do that in a novel. If a 550-page novel ends on an ambiguous note, I would probably feel cheated unless it was extraordinarily well-done. A short story, though? One that may take 20-30 minutes to read? I'm a bit more forgiving. I may not like how the story ended, but I don't feel robbed of my time once I have finished.

The short story allows for far more experimentation in tone and style as well. Sure, there are varying degrees of success or failure in these experiments. Again, if it fails, you haven't invested huge amounts of time and energy in the story. This can allow writers to do all sorts of things with (and to) their characters, knowing that the character may never come back.

One of my favourite short stories is "Story Kit" by Kij Johnson (published in Eclipse Four, edited by Jonathan Strahan), and I really didn't like it when I started reading it. It starts talking about six different story types (as stated by author Damon Knight) and explores a female writer trying to craft a story about Dido (from the Aeneid). Interspersed with this is the writer's attempts to deal with the failure of her marriage. One becomes a metaphor for the other, and by the end of the story you're really engaged with the writer's dilemma and heartache. It's a fascinating story, and I don't think the style would fit anything other than a short story.

What about the often-given reason for not liking short stories? The "just when I'm getting involved in the story, it ends" reasoning? I think that's looking at things the wrong way. No short story should leave the reader hanging so that they're "just getting involved" in it as the story draws to a conclusion. The narrative arc of the story should take the reader on the journey so that he/she doesn't even notice the length until it comes to its natural endpoint. If you're left "wanting more" because you feel the story is incomplete, then that's a failure on the writer's part. (As opposed to the reader wanting more of that author's work, which is actually a good thing)

How about the "I like to get involved in a story and the characters and a short story doesn't allow me to do that"? The craft of a short story is much different than a novel, and a good writer will pack enough characterization (even if it is done in shorthand) that you feel that you know the characters well enough for this not to be an issue. Yes, you won't get as much detail of the character's background if it's not important to the story, but I would argue that it's the same thing in a novel. Even with greater length, if it's not necessary for me to know that the main character likes tuna fish sandwiches, then I would hope the author wouldn't feel the need to tell me this.

Short stories don't allow quite the number of twists and turns that a novel can give, but they can still turn on a dime and surprise the reader. Many short stories do have a twist at the end, or at least a change in direction that comes at a shock to the reader. There are no subplots in a short story either, but that's beside the point of what a short story is.

One of the principle reasons I've always loved short stories, though, is the time element. I can read a story and then set the book down again if I want. I won't be stuck in the middle of a narrative. They make great reading for bus trips or something like that where your time is limited. I love novels too, but short stories make a perfect snack in between lengthy tomes, something satisfying to cleanse the pallet.

And you just might find yourself thinking more than you had anticipated as well.

There are some great short stories available online if you want to sample. Lightspeed Magazine hosts many of their stories free for reading without a subscription if you want to dip your toe in. If you're not into SF, then maybe some of the more "literary" stories found at Fish Publishing might be more to your liking?

Whatever the case, give a few a try. Keep in mind that not every short story is good, so try not to read one and say "nope, not for me." Try a few before giving up on them.

You might find yourself with even more great stuff to read.

So what about you? Are you a short story fan or hater? Let me know in the comments.

Book Review - The Bird of the River by Kage Baker

Kage Baker was one of my favourite authors, and she will forever be missed by both science fiction and fantasy fans worldwide. Her death in 2010 was a blow to her fans. The reader in me is glad that she finished her "Company" series before she died, since I don't think anybody could bring justice to it like she could have. (Hey, maybe that's a good idea for next week's book post!)

Her last full novel before she died was The Bird of the River, and it's set in the fantasy world that she had created, along with The House of the Stag and The Anvil of the World. It's a beautiful novel, very low-key and yet so well-written that I could not put the book down. Her characterization abilities were fantastic, and even if the plot of one of her books was sub-par, you could glory in her rich characters.

This book had all of that.

My Curled Up With a Good Book review can be found here.

From the review:

"This is the story of a river boat named the Bird of the River and a young brother and sister who have to make their way on it after their drug-addicted mother dies in a horrible accident. They also have to figure out their place in the wider world, and thankfully their pseudo-family on the boat will help them with that. Young Eliss is the main character, a teenager who excels at being able to spot river snags that must be destroyed or maneuvered around. As the oldest, she has to take care of her half-brother, a boy with mixed heritage - he's half "Greenie," a race that is horribly looked down upon by the humans of this world. Add to the mix a new passenger who is travelling incognito to search for a lost member of his rich family and a ship's captain who gets wildly drunk every time they reach port, and the reader gets a sense that all is not right with Eliss's world."

Eliss is a beautiful character, a child who has had to grow up very quickly due to her mother's foibles and untimely death.

Reading one of Baker's books, you can lose yourself in the world she has created, only coming up for air after a couple of hours.

Baker went out on a high note with The Bird of the River, as it's up there among her best.

Check out next week's post for more Kage Baker goodness. There's a reason she's one of my top two favourite authors, and that I'm incredibly sad that I will never be able to read anything new by her again.

Book Review - Foundation by Peter Ackroyd

The subtitle for Peter Ackroyd's new book, Foundation, is "The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors." Sounds like quite the comprehensive book, doesn't it?

And it kind of is, in a kind of general way.

It's a fascinating book of British history, told in an alternating way. By this I meant that it's chronological, king by king (and leader by leader, if known, before kings came into effect), but the narrative alternates with chapters that are a bit more broad, detailing something about British society or norms, or maybe even culture. There's one chapter that's on British names before William the Conqueror and after him.

All in all, it's a great book with just a couple of minor issues.

These issues are detailed in my review, now up on Curled Up With a Good Book (you didn't think I was going to give you the whole review here, did you? You'd never click the link!)

From the review:

"What makes this book really interesting are the little asides on things like where certain words come from, or how something (a building, for example, or even a code of law) still exists today. I had no idea that "peeping Tom" came from the Lady Godiva legend: one man named Tom disobeyed the royal edict of not looking at Godiva as she rode through the town naked. These are sprinkled throughout the chapters and add a bit of meat to what otherwise would be a rather bare history."

It's actually a very good book, despite being a bit superficial at times. Most importantly for me is that I learned some things that I didn't know, and I'm fairly well-versed in British history.

I'm not an expert by any means, but if I'm reading a general history, it's very possible that I'll already know a lot of what's in it. Instead, I may be reading for the author's interpretation, as historians are constantly re-examining things.

Ackroyd has written a really interesting book, and I hope there will be a second one.

I also hope that he doesn't drag it out into three books. That would just be overkill.

Take a look at the review and let me know what you think.

Book Review - The Brenner Assignment by Patrick K. O'Donnell

As stated in last week's book review post of O'Donnell's Dog Company, small war-time stories can be quite riveting, as we see what a few people are going through in their individual missions, the camaraderie that they have with their fellow soldiers (or whoever they're working with) and the potentially harsh circumstances that they're going through. Since many of these stories are done through interviews with the living, we get to see what those who didn't make it through the events of the book were like through the eyes of friends and colleagues.

It can be quite powerful.

Back in 2009, I read O'Donnell's The Brenner Assignment and was captivated. It's a true spy story that can have more impact than any fictionalized one. The Brenner Pass is a mountain pass through the Alps connecting Austria and Italy that the Germans were using to bring troops and supplies to their northern Italy war effort. The Allies wanted it closed to prevent this. This book is the story of the two missions that attempted to do this.

It has all the makings of a spy novel, but it has the benefit of actually having happened.

My review of the book is on Curled Up With a Good Book.

Book Review - Dog Company by Patrick K. O'Donnell

Being a military history guy, I love books that give the history of World War II (or any other war, really) in broad strokes, giving the whys and the hows, what the strategies were, that sort of thing.

But I also love looking at smaller parts of the war. What were individual soldiers thinking? What was happening in that one small village that the squad was supposed to patrol?

Patrick K. O'Donnell seems to specialize in the small, with books that talk about individual units and that come out of conversations and interviews with those who were involved. I had previously read and reviewed The Brenner Assignment (one that didn't make it on this site, so I will rectify that next week), so it was a natural that I would snap up O'Donnell's latest, Dog Company.

This is the story of the Army Rangers who stormed the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc during the Normandy landings. That's right.: they scaled sheer cliffs under withering fire to knock out a set of guns that were overlooking the beaches that could rain shells down on those heading for the beaches.

It's not just a story of Normandy, though. It's the story of courage, heroism, even desperation as they are later tasked with taking and defending a lonely hill in a German forest, one of the most needless (and thus even more costly, as the lives were given away for nothing) battles of World War II.

My review of it has gone live on Curled Up With a Good Book.

Book Review - Lightspeed: Year One edited by John Joseph Adams

As stated in yesterday's post about Lightspeed magazine, the e-magazine full of great science fiction and fantasy stories, there was an anthology put out of every story published in the first year of the magazine. Lightspeed: Year One was a huge trade paperback (at least when I read it, though I see the Kindle version is almost half the price of the paperback right now) that was full of great stuff.

Not sure why there isn't a Lightspeed: Year Two out, which I just realized should have come out in November if they were going to do an annual thing. Maybe it didn't sell? I hope that's not the case.

Anyway, the first anthology has some wonderful stuff in it from a wide range of authors, even including an older story from Stephen King. Some well-known names in the genre are reprinted here, such as Bruce Sterling and Robert Silverberg.

The reprints are worth it in themselves, but then you have all of the great new stuff! Stories like the exquisite "Eliot Wrote" by Nancy Kress, wondering whether our memories help make us who we are, and what happens if some of those memories are taken away?

Book Review - The Battle of Britain by James Holland

Many thought Great Britain would fall to the Nazi onslaught during that fateful Summer of 1940. The country stood alone against the German juggernaut. France had just fallen; the Soviet Union was still ostensibly allied with Hitler's regime; the United States was still "neutral," though they did help the British out in a few capacities.

Adolf Hitler wanted to get Britain to sue for peace so he could concentrate on the Soviets. If that took an invasion, so be it. If Germany could pound Britain into submission via bombing, that would work too. Either way, the British Air Force must be destroyed.

I've read a few books on the months-long air battle known as "The Battle of Britain," but nothing as comprehensive as James Holland's book, also called The Battle of Britain: Five Months that Changed History. For one thing, it does what most other books on the battle don't do: it goes in-depth into the battle for France, and shows us just what that invasion did to both the British and Germans in preparation for the coming battle.

Book Review - Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy by David Stevenson

I've always been a military history guy, even dating back to third grade (that's the last memory I have of it, anyway). I used to read and collect these World War II cards (about 3 inches square, so not something like a trading card) that explained many aspects of World War II. I had read every World War II book at the Wilson Elementary School library by the time I finished 6th grade.

That has never changed. So when I had the chance to pick up Cataclysm, David Stevenson, I jumped at the chance (one of the great perks of reviewing for Curled Up With a Good Book). I had read a few things about World War I, but not anything comprehensive. This book looked seriously intriguing when I picked it off the "books to review" list back in 2005.

I wasn't disappointed. This book is very dense, which makes it extremely comprehensive for a 500-page book with a ton of end notes. If you have any interest in World War I, or just military history in general, this is the book for you.

From my review on Curled Up With a Good Book:

"It has been a while since I've really gushed about a book, but I won't be able to help myself with this one. Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy by David Stevenson has to be one of the best books I have ever read on World War I, and one of the most compact yet comprehensive history books I've seen. It is less than 500 pages, but it covers every aspect of the war, from the strategy involved to the politics of starting, running, and, most importantly, ending the war. It goes beyond even that, though, by discussing the impact the war had on the post-war years, analyzing the years between the two world wars and even how memories of the war affected how the second one was fought. As a final thought, the conclusion discusses how the war has been looked at over time, how perceptions have changed, not only of who started the war, but also how it was fought."

The only problem that I saw in the book was the really weird use (or lack thereof) of commas. It made it confusing at times, requiring me to reread a sentence or two to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding something.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you'd like to see why, go check out the review.