It hasn't been a great month in many ways, but I managed to archive and cross-link the previous five book reviews on the main site.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Last of the Giants (Jeff Campbell)
Last of the Giants: The Rise and Fall of Earth's Most Dominant Species
Jeff Campbell
Zest Books
Nonfiction, YA? Animals
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: When people think of megafauna, they usually think of such lost behemoths as woolly mammoths - creatures long gone before the rise of recorded history, save a few enigmatic images left by our earliest ancestors on cave walls. Surely, driving animals to oblivion was something only our short-sighted cave-dwelling ancestors would do. But some have vanished in more recent centuries; the baiji, a river dolphin in China, was just declared extinct in 2011. As we stand on the brink of the "Sixth Extinction", even more species are poised on the edge. The author describes thirteen species - most lost to us, a few barely clinging to survival - and what humans have done to both destroy and save them.
REVIEW: By its very nature, this is a depressing book on many levels. For all the compassion we preach (if so rarely practice) in our religions and philosophies, for all the reverence we bestow upon animals, even for all the scientific progress we've made, we just can't seem to grasp how to live without destroying most every species and ecosystem we encounter - or how such destruction ultimately lessens our own chances of long-term survival. Campbell covers a wide range of animals, from the giant moa of New Zealand to the Steller's sea cow of the Arctic, the aurochs of primeval Europe to the passenger pigeon of the Americas. (Why include a relatively small bird? They existed in such massive numbers - over a million to a flock - and had such a large impact on the environment that Campbell fully justifies their inclusion with other earth-shaping megafauna like rhinos and giant tortoises.) This book is geared for the casual reader, suitable for older school-age children, so the articles aren't necessarily deep, but they are reasonably thorough, and an extensive bibliography offers further reading for those interested. For all the doom and gloom, some glimmers of potential hope remain; not all species in this book are gone, and one can only hope that humanity eventually matures enough, morally and scientifically, to take better care of our world and ourselves.
While the book itself was reasonably interesting, what cost it a solid star in the ratings was the terrible formatting of the eBook copy. In order to preserve the printed book's appearance, with several insets and asides, the text was rendered so small I could barely read it on my Kindle eReader; normally, enlarging the font size helps, but here I had to manually scroll around the page in order to read, which was highly inconvenient. Trying it on the Kindle app of my Nook (with its larger screen) was only marginally better; the book's font was eye-straining to read and couldn't be changed. The insets often broke between pages, and I couldn't just glance ahead to finish like in a printed book. An eBook just plain isn't going to look the same as the print version, and this forced attempt to make them identical hurt my reading experience. Otherwise, this is a good introduction to and exploration of (relatively) recent extinctions and the concept of the Anthropocene age. Just do yourself a favor and get the paperback.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Ghosts of Evolution (Connie Barlow) - My Review
Never Cry Wolf (Farley Mowat) - My Review
Let Them Eat Shrimp (Kennedy Warne) - My Review
Jeff Campbell
Zest Books
Nonfiction, YA? Animals
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: When people think of megafauna, they usually think of such lost behemoths as woolly mammoths - creatures long gone before the rise of recorded history, save a few enigmatic images left by our earliest ancestors on cave walls. Surely, driving animals to oblivion was something only our short-sighted cave-dwelling ancestors would do. But some have vanished in more recent centuries; the baiji, a river dolphin in China, was just declared extinct in 2011. As we stand on the brink of the "Sixth Extinction", even more species are poised on the edge. The author describes thirteen species - most lost to us, a few barely clinging to survival - and what humans have done to both destroy and save them.
REVIEW: By its very nature, this is a depressing book on many levels. For all the compassion we preach (if so rarely practice) in our religions and philosophies, for all the reverence we bestow upon animals, even for all the scientific progress we've made, we just can't seem to grasp how to live without destroying most every species and ecosystem we encounter - or how such destruction ultimately lessens our own chances of long-term survival. Campbell covers a wide range of animals, from the giant moa of New Zealand to the Steller's sea cow of the Arctic, the aurochs of primeval Europe to the passenger pigeon of the Americas. (Why include a relatively small bird? They existed in such massive numbers - over a million to a flock - and had such a large impact on the environment that Campbell fully justifies their inclusion with other earth-shaping megafauna like rhinos and giant tortoises.) This book is geared for the casual reader, suitable for older school-age children, so the articles aren't necessarily deep, but they are reasonably thorough, and an extensive bibliography offers further reading for those interested. For all the doom and gloom, some glimmers of potential hope remain; not all species in this book are gone, and one can only hope that humanity eventually matures enough, morally and scientifically, to take better care of our world and ourselves.
While the book itself was reasonably interesting, what cost it a solid star in the ratings was the terrible formatting of the eBook copy. In order to preserve the printed book's appearance, with several insets and asides, the text was rendered so small I could barely read it on my Kindle eReader; normally, enlarging the font size helps, but here I had to manually scroll around the page in order to read, which was highly inconvenient. Trying it on the Kindle app of my Nook (with its larger screen) was only marginally better; the book's font was eye-straining to read and couldn't be changed. The insets often broke between pages, and I couldn't just glance ahead to finish like in a printed book. An eBook just plain isn't going to look the same as the print version, and this forced attempt to make them identical hurt my reading experience. Otherwise, this is a good introduction to and exploration of (relatively) recent extinctions and the concept of the Anthropocene age. Just do yourself a favor and get the paperback.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Ghosts of Evolution (Connie Barlow) - My Review
Never Cry Wolf (Farley Mowat) - My Review
Let Them Eat Shrimp (Kennedy Warne) - My Review
Monday, November 14, 2016
The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes (Wade Albert White)
The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes
(The Adventurer's Guide series, Book 1)
Wade Albert White
Little, Brown Books
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: After a life spent toiling in Saint Lupin's Institute for Perpetually Wicked and Hideously Unattractive Children, orphan Anne is finally on the brink of freedom. Like all orphans who turn thirteen, she's to be sent off on the supply ship after its annual visit, and even though her unknown parentage has kept her out of any of the academies or quests the other kids can look forward to, she'll at least be away from the horrible Matron and the coal mines - plus, she'll have her exuberant best friend Penelope with her. But a series of uncontrollable events lead to her getting a quest gauntlet stuck to her arm... a gauntlet that activates itself with a rare and powerful quest medallion. This has to violate any number of rules with the Wizards Council, but quests have their own rules, and Anne and her friends (plus a magical book of marginal usefulness) are stuck right in the thick of one. On the plus side, maybe she'll finally figure out where she came from before she was dumped at Saint Lupin's. On the minus side, there's a very high chance that she and the rest of the world will be utterly obliterated.
REVIEW: I needed a fun pick-me-up, and this fast-reading middle grade fantasy adventure fit the bill. Anne's world - composed of floating tiers of land around a gravitational nexus of raw magic - is a fantasy homage/send-up along the lines of Diana Wynne Jones's Dark Lord of Derkholm and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, or the more recent Bad Unicorn by Platte F. Clarke, but with some technological twists along the way, not to mention hilarious asides from various in-world writings on everything from questing to dragons. Anne's a good-hearted heroine who works through problems with some help from Penelope (who becomes the Fighter of her Rightful Heir quest) and Hiro (the designated Wizard, whose spells have catastrophic side-effects), plus a few other allies she encounters along the way. It's also worth noting that Anne is black, which shouldn't be surprising in this day and age but which is still something of a rarity in fantasy. The story moves at a good clip, though now and again it felt rushed and jumbled even for a middle grade title, and several threads are left unresolved at the end as White teases future installments in this series of undetermined length. That was just enough irritation to knock off a half-star this book almost earned with some laugh-out-loud moments that approached Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett in their hilarity. I had fun reading this one, and expect I'll explore future books if and when they appear.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Bad Unicorn (Platte F. Clarke) - My Review
Dark Lord of Derkholm (Diana Wynne Jones) - My Review
Princeless: Save Yourself (Jeremy Whitley) - My Review
(The Adventurer's Guide series, Book 1)
Wade Albert White
Little, Brown Books
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: After a life spent toiling in Saint Lupin's Institute for Perpetually Wicked and Hideously Unattractive Children, orphan Anne is finally on the brink of freedom. Like all orphans who turn thirteen, she's to be sent off on the supply ship after its annual visit, and even though her unknown parentage has kept her out of any of the academies or quests the other kids can look forward to, she'll at least be away from the horrible Matron and the coal mines - plus, she'll have her exuberant best friend Penelope with her. But a series of uncontrollable events lead to her getting a quest gauntlet stuck to her arm... a gauntlet that activates itself with a rare and powerful quest medallion. This has to violate any number of rules with the Wizards Council, but quests have their own rules, and Anne and her friends (plus a magical book of marginal usefulness) are stuck right in the thick of one. On the plus side, maybe she'll finally figure out where she came from before she was dumped at Saint Lupin's. On the minus side, there's a very high chance that she and the rest of the world will be utterly obliterated.
REVIEW: I needed a fun pick-me-up, and this fast-reading middle grade fantasy adventure fit the bill. Anne's world - composed of floating tiers of land around a gravitational nexus of raw magic - is a fantasy homage/send-up along the lines of Diana Wynne Jones's Dark Lord of Derkholm and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, or the more recent Bad Unicorn by Platte F. Clarke, but with some technological twists along the way, not to mention hilarious asides from various in-world writings on everything from questing to dragons. Anne's a good-hearted heroine who works through problems with some help from Penelope (who becomes the Fighter of her Rightful Heir quest) and Hiro (the designated Wizard, whose spells have catastrophic side-effects), plus a few other allies she encounters along the way. It's also worth noting that Anne is black, which shouldn't be surprising in this day and age but which is still something of a rarity in fantasy. The story moves at a good clip, though now and again it felt rushed and jumbled even for a middle grade title, and several threads are left unresolved at the end as White teases future installments in this series of undetermined length. That was just enough irritation to knock off a half-star this book almost earned with some laugh-out-loud moments that approached Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett in their hilarity. I had fun reading this one, and expect I'll explore future books if and when they appear.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Bad Unicorn (Platte F. Clarke) - My Review
Dark Lord of Derkholm (Diana Wynne Jones) - My Review
Princeless: Save Yourself (Jeremy Whitley) - My Review
Seas of Ernathe (Jeffrey A. Carver)
Seas of Ernathe
(The Star Rigger series)
Jeffrey A. Carver
Laser Books
Fiction, Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Star pilot Seth Perland arrives at the colony world of Ernathe as part of a two-pronged mission. The native Nale'nids, or "sea people", used to leave the colonists and their plankton harvesting ships in peace, but lately they've been interfering in strange, potentially deadly ways - and nobody can figure out how to communicate with them. The disruption has far wider consequences; Ernathe's plankton may hold the key to rediscovering the trick of star-rigging, using a pilot's own mind to navigate the Flux of hyperspace for faster, more reliable interplanetary travel... and with interstellar war on the horizon, rigging could well mean the difference between survival and extermination for humanity. What Seth finds is not at all what he expects, but this is a mission he cannot afford to fail.
REVIEW: This was the first novel Carver wrote, though chronologically it occurs centuries after his other Star Rigger novels - he himself notes that this will wreak havoc with any attempts to organize and number the series in any meaningful manner. Being a first, and written so long ago (in 1976), it unfortunately shows its age. We have the stock characters of the star pilot outsider coming to a somewhat skeptical and insular colony, the "primitive" natives growing restless, a cast of characters that, despite lip service and occasional token nods being given to women having important jobs, is overwhelmingly male, and the beautiful Nale'nid who bonds with Seth and only just stops shy of the cliche line of "show me more of this strange Earth thing called kissing" during their inevitable affair. Having read other Star Rigger books, I guessed at some of the secrets behind the Nale'nids far before the characters clued in, which made for some frustration. Carver excels at creating detailed scenes and worlds, and his concept of star rigging and the Flux make for some nice twists. Unfortunately, his characterization suffers somewhat, as does the plot, which feels a little stretched. It's worth reading if you enjoy Carver's Star Rigger universe, though I'm not sure it holds up on its own otherwise in this day and age.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Star Rigger's Way (Jeffrey A. Carver) - My Review
Dune (Frank Herbert) - My Review
A Fire Upon the Deep (Vernor Vinge) - My Review
(The Star Rigger series)
Jeffrey A. Carver
Laser Books
Fiction, Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Star pilot Seth Perland arrives at the colony world of Ernathe as part of a two-pronged mission. The native Nale'nids, or "sea people", used to leave the colonists and their plankton harvesting ships in peace, but lately they've been interfering in strange, potentially deadly ways - and nobody can figure out how to communicate with them. The disruption has far wider consequences; Ernathe's plankton may hold the key to rediscovering the trick of star-rigging, using a pilot's own mind to navigate the Flux of hyperspace for faster, more reliable interplanetary travel... and with interstellar war on the horizon, rigging could well mean the difference between survival and extermination for humanity. What Seth finds is not at all what he expects, but this is a mission he cannot afford to fail.
REVIEW: This was the first novel Carver wrote, though chronologically it occurs centuries after his other Star Rigger novels - he himself notes that this will wreak havoc with any attempts to organize and number the series in any meaningful manner. Being a first, and written so long ago (in 1976), it unfortunately shows its age. We have the stock characters of the star pilot outsider coming to a somewhat skeptical and insular colony, the "primitive" natives growing restless, a cast of characters that, despite lip service and occasional token nods being given to women having important jobs, is overwhelmingly male, and the beautiful Nale'nid who bonds with Seth and only just stops shy of the cliche line of "show me more of this strange Earth thing called kissing" during their inevitable affair. Having read other Star Rigger books, I guessed at some of the secrets behind the Nale'nids far before the characters clued in, which made for some frustration. Carver excels at creating detailed scenes and worlds, and his concept of star rigging and the Flux make for some nice twists. Unfortunately, his characterization suffers somewhat, as does the plot, which feels a little stretched. It's worth reading if you enjoy Carver's Star Rigger universe, though I'm not sure it holds up on its own otherwise in this day and age.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Star Rigger's Way (Jeffrey A. Carver) - My Review
Dune (Frank Herbert) - My Review
A Fire Upon the Deep (Vernor Vinge) - My Review
Saturday, November 5, 2016
King: The Graphic Novel (Joshua Hale Fialkov, author; Bernard Chang and Marcelo Miaolo, illustrators)
King: The Graphic Novel
Joshua Hale Fialkov, author; illustrated by Bernard Chang and Marcelo Maiolo
Jet City Comics
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Generations after the apocalypse devastated the planet, birthed monsters, unleashed magical entities, and drove humanity to essential extinction... the Los Angeles commute still sucks. King, the last human male alive, fights his way through squid-possessed gods and hybrid beast biker gangs to his job at the local police precinct, or what passes for the police in this insane new world. His assignment: seek the Life Seed, the legendary force that will supposedly heal Earth. King doesn't even know if such a thing exists - this isn't the first reported "life seed" he's been sent to fetch - but a job's a job, and beer doesn't buy itself even in the post-apocalyptic future. This time, he may have found the real deal... though whether he or the Life Seed will survive a deadly gauntlet of fanatical robots, elder-god-possessed coworkers, sapient plants, and King's own sister remains to be seen. This is going to be the worst Monday of his life.
REVIEW: Another impulse read from Amazon's Prime Reading, King is a quirky, sometimes surreal graphic novel, full of action, explosions, and twisted humor. King's a jaded protagonist just trying to get by in a world that's constantly trying to kill him; even his own sister has become an enemy, despite them being the last two pure humans on the planet. His Monday turns out to be even worse than usual, with everyone even more determined to do him in. The tale moves quickly, and the art was mostly easy to follow, with a colorful cast and several moments that nearly had me laughing out loud, even with the dark streak and frequent violence. It made a nice change of pace. I'd likely read more adventures in this world if they appear, though so far it's not a series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams) - My Review
Time Travel Dinosaur (Matt Youngmark) - My Review
Joshua Hale Fialkov, author; illustrated by Bernard Chang and Marcelo Maiolo
Jet City Comics
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Generations after the apocalypse devastated the planet, birthed monsters, unleashed magical entities, and drove humanity to essential extinction... the Los Angeles commute still sucks. King, the last human male alive, fights his way through squid-possessed gods and hybrid beast biker gangs to his job at the local police precinct, or what passes for the police in this insane new world. His assignment: seek the Life Seed, the legendary force that will supposedly heal Earth. King doesn't even know if such a thing exists - this isn't the first reported "life seed" he's been sent to fetch - but a job's a job, and beer doesn't buy itself even in the post-apocalyptic future. This time, he may have found the real deal... though whether he or the Life Seed will survive a deadly gauntlet of fanatical robots, elder-god-possessed coworkers, sapient plants, and King's own sister remains to be seen. This is going to be the worst Monday of his life.
REVIEW: Another impulse read from Amazon's Prime Reading, King is a quirky, sometimes surreal graphic novel, full of action, explosions, and twisted humor. King's a jaded protagonist just trying to get by in a world that's constantly trying to kill him; even his own sister has become an enemy, despite them being the last two pure humans on the planet. His Monday turns out to be even worse than usual, with everyone even more determined to do him in. The tale moves quickly, and the art was mostly easy to follow, with a colorful cast and several moments that nearly had me laughing out loud, even with the dark streak and frequent violence. It made a nice change of pace. I'd likely read more adventures in this world if they appear, though so far it's not a series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams) - My Review
Time Travel Dinosaur (Matt Youngmark) - My Review
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)