Plague Year

By Jeff Carlson

Last book for 2009! I remember reading Micheal Criton's Prey when it came out.
As I recall it went into detail about nanotechnology and showed what might happen if the technology got out of hand. I really don't recall much about the story.

Well Plague Year took this idea and expanded on the death by nanobot bit. The book doesn't go into the science behind nanotechnology nor does it really explain it. In fact the book starts off with most of the world destroyed by nanobots run amok. Only altitude (above 10,000') can keep people safe.

In essence this is a survival story. The two threads of the story follow one group of survivors eking out a living at the top of a mountain near a ski resort. The other follows a group of scientists who are trying to defeat the nanobots.

Eventually the two groups come together. At the end there is hope for recovery.

Overall the book was engaging. But the lack of explaining what was going on, or explaining the technology often left me wondering what was happening. The confusion was appropriate for the chaos that was going on in the book. Death of the world by technology. A classic PA scenario.

On The Beach

Ok, so I read two more books in the last weeks of 2009 but didn't get a chance to talk about them. This actually works out well as training at work is going to hamper me from reading in my free time this month.



By Nevil Shute

This is considered one of the best Post-Apocalyptic books out there. Published in 1957 it deals with, what else? Nuclear destruction. Not a cheery story.

What On the Beach is, is a PA story unlike any that I've read so far. It really focused on the thoughts of the characters. It follows the last few months of life of the citizens in south eastern Australia as they watch the radiation that has been spreading around the world from a nuclear war for the past two years.

Not much time is given to the war. Nor is there really much discussion about the parts of the world that have already ended. There is an American submarine commander who takes his ship to the west coast to investigate radio signals from around Seattle. We are given their observations of the areas along the cost but it really is just a description of empty houses and streets.

The plot really focuses on how the different characters in the town cope with the end of their life. Knowing that is is getting closer every day. I found the thoughts of the characters most intriguing. They all deny that their families/lives are over at one time or another. They spend time doing what they love in the present and even planning for the future.

The book really made me think about what would I do if I only had a few months left to live. Would you go to work? Try to do the things you always wanted to do but never made time for? Spend time doing the things you already know you enjoy doing? Also why wait until the end is near. Maybe I should be doing these things now? Who knew I'd get all this from a PA book 53 years old?

Reading the Patrick O'Brian books helped to prepare me for the editing of this book. There are often scene and characters jumps between paragraphs. This can be a bit disorienting until you get used to it. There also was a bit of Australian slang/terminology that I had to look up to understand. Chook farmer anyone?

Overall it was a very touching story.

Treason's Harbour/The Far Side of the World

by Patrick O'Brian

Well chalk up another 752 pages right before the end of the year. These were two pretty great stories.

Treason's Harbour is one of the best in the series so far. It features a lot of the Stephen Maturin counter-intelligence dealings that I so enjoy. What is maddening for us the reader is that we know who the mole in the British ranks is, yet Stephen has not figured it out. As such we are included in meetings where the French and British Judas (as they like to say in the series) are discussing how best to rid themselves of Admiral Harte, Jack, Stephen, and Mrs. Fielding (who is being used to try to spy on Stephen. Yet she and Stephen have come to an agreement where he will help her feed false information while they make it convincing by pretending to be lovers.) Jack and ship are sent on two missions, both are rigged to end his life. Both fail. It's interesting to see how the different officials in the book explain the failures in intelligence.

The Far Side of the World picks up almost right after the previous book. From Gibraltar Jack travels across the Atlantic and into the Pacific in search of an American ship that is harassing British Whalers. They take a few prizes but there is no action to speak of. Stephen falls off the ship at one point in the story, Jack dives in to rescue him and this being nighttime they are not noticed and float for a day before being picked up by natives. Near the end of the book they catch up with their prey though not all is as it seems.

One of the more humorous exchanges in the book occurs when Jack is talking to a fellow captain, Dundas about how Captain Baker of the Iris (which means rainbow in Greek) is assembling a crew with colored last names and then dresses them in the like color. He was trying to poach a forcastleman called Blew to join Green, Brown, Black, White, Gray and Scarlet!

I vaguely remember seeing the movie of the same name, though I do remember the impression of not liking it. In fact I remember having the impression that it had no beginning and no real end. Why would they make a movie out of the 10th book in a series of 20!

Both books end with what seems to be a new turn to O'Brian's writing style. They end rather abruptly. Some kind of game changing event happens in the last few pages or last page in the case of The Far Side of the World and then you are left wondering, what just happened. It's good to set the stage for the next book but maddeningly frustrating. Well I for one will be racing out to start the next book in the series.

The Ionian Mission

by Patrick O'Brian

Another 368 pages down. I am talking about this book separately as I don't know if I'll finish another before the year is out.

The Ionian Mission was pretty lackluster. It starts out interestingly enough. Stephen is married to Diana. They live in separate houses, well Diana in a house, Stephen in an inn. One would assume that they share a bed from time to time but who knows.

Jack has gotten into more legal trouble, although it is never really explained. Yet. That said, not much happens. There are battles that almost happen. Much of the book is spent on blockade in the Mediterranean(?) which is quite dull for the sailors and not very gripping for the reader. I mean I enjoy reading about the day to day life on the ship but after a hundred pages or so I'm ready to move on. Then Jack is thrown into a hurried mission, the Ionian Mission, to interview three Turks. He chooses wrongly, I guess; it seems to me that none of the three really had the same goal as the British, outing the French, but were intent on outing the other Turkish leaders.

At the end there is finally a battle and quickly after it ends, say 1/2 page after the colors are struck, the book ends. I glanced at the beginning of the next book in the series and it didn't look like it picked up right after this one. One interesting thing to note is that on the Turkish ship they have brass cannons (that may have melted during the constant firing during the battle) and they have two cannons that shoot marble balls. Is this for real?

Year of Wonders

By Geraldine Brooks

As you've probably figured out by now I'm a fan of historical fiction. With the middle ages holding quite a bit of interest for me.

Year of Wonders is based of a real town, Eyam, Derbyshire that went into self isolation for a year to try and stop the spread of the plague from their town to adjacent towns. Some of the characters in the book are real people though their actions and the story is a work of fiction. At the end of the book there is an author's note that explains which parts of the story were real and why the plot was structured the way it was.

I really enjoyed this book. Nay, I say it was fantastic. The writing really drew me into the world of the 1600's. The pain that the villagers experience is made real. The characters and their stories were well developed. I have read many reviews where people liked the book up to the last 40 or so pages. I will say that the book ended a bit quickly compared to the steady pace of the rest of the book, but that didn't take away from the story.

I read other complaints about how Anna has the views of a 21st century woman and this makes the story so horrible that they can't bear reading it. You know the dialogue is also modernized but that doesn't seem to draw any complaints. Maybe because it would be extremely difficult to understand? Also why is it that women in the 1600's are not allowed to care about their family? Why is it unrealistic that she should want to learn new skills, have ambition? With at least half of the town dead by the end of the year I'm sure many people were doing things much differently than when the year started.

My only complaint is that with such attention to detail about the characters and their lives, near the end of the book the one landed family returns to the town with the mother pregnant by a man other than her husband. Then things start to happen quickly and with no explanation to why these things have happened. Is it because they have happened outside of the town and Anna, our narrator, did not have access to this knowledge so we the reader are left to wonder also?

Oh well. I enjoyed the story and even being left with scratch your head questions at the end would say that if you are looking for a book about the Black Plague to give you a sense of what life was like during that time then pick up Year of Wonders.

Desolation Island/The Fortune of War/The Surgeon's Mate

By Patrick O'Brian

1035 pages. That's why it's been a while since I've posted a review. These three books make up a 3 book mini-story arc within the 20 volume series. I was going to give a quick synopsis of the books but then I though, why? If you've read this far into the series you'll want to find out the twists and turns for yourself. Except for the one review I've read on Amazon where the guy was randomly picking out the books in the series to read (a poor choice if I may say) these books build on the previous book. Unfortunately the stories are pretty unmemorable. That is not to say they are not entertaining nor is there not suspense and action to keep one turning the pages. I mean to try to tell you that I can give you an overall sense of the story so far but to pick one book at a time to talk about, I'd have to constantly look to notes I've made about each one to keep them straight.

So far these three have been my favorite books in the series. The characters have really been developing. Jack who has been shown to have heroic attributes on sea is extremely fallible on land. I cringed as Jack got himself out of one predicament only to get right into another. He is swindled at cards. When he calls out the swindler (cheater) he is doing himself a disservice as them man has great pull in the government. Why this should show poorly on Jack and not the cheater you must chalk up to the social status of the times. He gets involved in a money sucking lead/sliver mine project on his land. Then after years(?) of sailing he is only a few short weeks from England when he has an affair in Halifax, Canada. The woman, by letter, indicates he has impregnated her, she then asks him for more and more money. We later learn she has married another sailor so she was most likely lying, just trying to get Jack to marry her/keep sending her funds? Except for leading military actions on land or escaping from captivity, Jack is pretty inept. On sea he commands respect from his fellow sailors not just because he is the Captain but because of the quality of his decisions. I find it to be an interesting contrast as well as understandable.

I mean, at sea Jack knows the job that he has to do. He is bound by the Naval rules and regulations. Every seaman (for the most part) knows his jobs and tries to do it. On land you could say he is rudderless. There is no guide for life and I think that is why he has such difficulties. If only life was planned out for us. But then when you see someone who has their life planned out (and usually not by them) they have often rejected their given role in life and strike out how they see fit.

Stephen also is given a leading role in many of the plots in these books. From subterfuge against the French and Bonaparte, he is able to disrupt many an intelligence network. All the while remaining oblivious to the naval way of life. He to kills in the name of war, continues his study of natural philosophy, and finally marries Dianna!

I really enjoyed the story that is told in these three books. It's just that individually no one book really stands out. This is not helped by the fact that so far all 7 books read as one continuous tale. But such is life.

I have a feeling, and I don't mean this in disrespect, that the Aubrey/Maturin series is both wonderful and mediocre at the same time.

The Lost Symbol

By Dan Brown

I've enjoyed Dan Brown's previous books. When I saw The Lost Symbol at the supermarket the other day, it was on sale and I splurged. Hey 12 bucks for a hardback isn't to shabby. Cheaper than Amazon.

If you've read one Dan Brown book then you'll be familiar with the style. Short chapters that often jump between characters, end with cliffhangers, and twists that make it hard to guess what's going to happen next.

Another thing I enjoy are the factoids (about Washington D.C. in this case) deftly woven into the story. Sometimes it's hard to see where liberties have been taken and when the truth is being told.

The Lost Symbol takes place in under a 24 hour period. Our hero Robert Langdon has been summoned to Washington D.C. to.... Again, does it really matter. He looks into the mysteries of the Mason's, explorers the Capitol with a twist on perception much like those in the previous Robert Langdon books.

This was an entertaining, quick read. Just the book for your next airplane ride.

The Stand

By Stephen King

I've been taking a bit of a break for the Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin series to read some of the other books that I've had stacking up. The Stand is the most anticipated of these books. It's also that last of the PA (post-apocalyptic) stories that I currently have, though I have my eye on more. I learned also that this one was made into a 6 hour TV miniseries that has gotten quite mixed reviews. I'll have to see about watching is sometime in the future.

I really enjoy Stephen King books. He does a phenomenal job of setting the world the characters are in, the back stories, jumping between multiple story threads, and tying all the loose ends together at the end. But I warn you, you better make time to read The Stand. Once I started I didn't want to put the book down. At nearly 1200 pages it took quite a while to read.

The Stand is a germ based PA story. It pretty much starts off with the dying from page one. The world quickly ends and the meat of the book is spent telling how the survivors are coping in a land suddenly void of people. One of my favorite aspects of the story was the transportation. The survivors were able to walk and ride bicycles/motorcycles (all the horses died.) With 99%+ of the population gone why don't they drive? Because when everyone got sick and started dying, they died while driving or while stuck in giant traffic jams caused by roadblocks. The roads are littered with derelict vehicles. Quite realistic if you ask me.

Another thing in the story that struck me as very plausible was that with so few people left there is little fighting between survivors. Now this is not always the case throughout the book but think about it. There is so much of everything sitting around that no one, at least in the first year or two, will really be hurting for anything, except companionship.

Like most Stephen King novels there is an odd twist. The survivors all start to have similar dreams about the same two people. The Dark Man (the devil) and Mother Abigail (the good side.) This leads the survivors to congregate in either Boulder or Las Vegas depending on their inclination to do good or evil. The end is wrapped up nicely, sort of. I was dreading a large scale war, which doesn't happen, but I also didn't think the destruction of Las Vegas was realistic. Oh well.

To borrow from a review of MMOG's I recently heard, the endgame isn't really the goal. It's the adventures you have along the way. That's why I loved The Stand. The rich side stories, the detail, the interactions between the characters, all made for a great read. I doubt the TV miniseries could live up.

Thinking back to the last germ based PA book I read, The Third Pandemic, I think the only thing that could have made The Stand better was if it had included the science aspects The Third Pandemic. But that would have really changed the dynamic of the book. The Stand was more about how the people coped with the deaths and the aftermath, where as The Third Pandemic was all about the creation of the killer germ.

In N Out Burger

By Stacy Perman

Quite a subtitle on this one: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules.

Even though I grew up in Southern California I didn't start going to In-N-Out until high school. Up until then my burger of choice was the Carl's Jr. Western Bacon Cheeseburger. And you know, when I have a burger with bacon, or BBQ sauce, or onion rings, I am always comparing it to Carl's Jr's Western Bacon Cheeseburger. A really good burger. That said In-N-Out has the best burgers of any restaurant.

The book is more a biography about the Snyder family (Harry was the founder on the store) rather than an in depth look into the business practices of the chain. This is probably due to the fact that the company is family owned, including all of the stores, and is very private when it comes to the media.

If you are a fan of the food then you might find the book interesting. I did. The wording in the book gave the impression of someone talking breathlessly. Maybe because they are just so excited to tell me about In-N-Out. I found this a tad distracting. I read some other reviews that complained how the book talked about some of the other fast food chains. How they started, made changes to their menus, etc. Periodically the author would point out that in such and such year McDonald's had XXXX's of stores while In-N-Out was just breaking double digits. I found these insights to be enlightening and help to place the story in the context of the rest of the world.

Just like the book says I can remember the first time I had an In-N-Out burger. It was at the Carson Street store, just off the 110 freeway. It was after a baseball game and we were all in the back of the coach's suburban. I was in the very back and it was dark enough that I really couldn't see what I was eating. I was handed a double double and proceeded to go into hamburger bliss. I only realized that I was done when I bit into the outer wrapper (that is wax lined?) I had eaten the burger and part of the inner paper wrapper that had soaked up the sauce and drippings from the burger. Also like the book mentions when I fly into CA the first thing I do after leaving the airport is stop at an In-N-Out Burger.

If you haven't been to In-N-Out, eat there first. The book can wait.

Touching the Void

By Joe Simpson

I really enjoy non-fiction adventure stories. Tales of daring and courage. I love reading about Polar expeditions and mountain climbing is a close second. A few years ago I read Into Thin Air, about another mountaineering disaster. And who could forget Alive? Recently retold in Miracle in the Andes.

Also a few years ago when the movie Into the Void came out I remember being interested in it but alas I never saw the movie or read the book. Fast forward to present day and I borrowed this book from a friend (at the same time as Z for Zachariah.) I shouldn't have.

While the content was gripping the telling of the story wasn't. The writing didn't really hold my interest. The main part of the book gave a highly detailed retelling of the journey up and down the mountain. Covering the placing of each crampon, ice screw, etc. It was a bit too much and fairly dry reading. The story was told by Joe Simpson, the guy who this happened to, but it might have been better had we gotten more of the perspective of the other climber or a bit more about the aftermath. I persisted reading and was rewarded by the last 30 or so pages of Joe's one legged trek down the mountain after he was left for dead.

If you've exhausted all other options pick up this book. Even having not seen it, you're probably better off watching the movie.

Z for Zachariah

By Robert C. O'Brien

I was at a friends house when I saw this slim book in their bookcase. From my PA book searches I was familiar with the title but I didn't know much about the story. On a side note one of my favorite things to do when I go to someones house is look through their books.

This is a young adult nuclear PA story. Having read and enjoyed quite a few young adult books in the past that didn't dissuade me at all. The story? Eh.

The scenario: A 16 year old girl Ann, is the only one left alive in her secluded valley. Everyone in the outside world is gone. Her parents and neighbors left to go to the next town over and never returned. She doesn't know if anyone is left after the bombs have gone off and with the world around her poisoned by radiation she hasn't tried to leave her valley.

Now a year later a man in a radiation suit walks into the valley. Mr. Loomis gets radiation sickness and Ann takes care of him until he recovers. He tells how he has crossed much of the United States and hasn't seen anything living until he reached Ann's valley. Their relationship (if you can call it that) quickly becomes strained. Mr. Loomis, not grateful at all to Ann, tries to rape her shortly after recovering (young Ann, who isn't the most rationally thinking person has dreamed about marrying him.) She hides elsewhere in the valley and Mr. Loomis tries to shoot her. I won't give away the ending but I will say they reconcile in a way, and there is hope that others may be alive.

I somewhat enjoyed the story. It went into detail how Ann continued to run her family farm and grow crops. Why her valley wasn't affected by the radiation. How she struggled with heavy objects but figured out how to move them by herself. I didn't buy that there were only two families in the valley and one of them ran the convenience story. What, they only had one customer?! Also Mr. Loomis was unnaturally cruel to Ann; after walking across 3/4 of the US he finally finds life and his reaction is to try to rape her, then shoot her when she rejects him? He makes demands of what she should do and how she should run the farm without even discussing his ideas or getting her input.

I guess I don't really find the actions of the characters very realistic. From other reviews I read I gathered that some schools have made this book required reading. 8th grade? Interesting. I think that the big hindrance Ann and Mr. Loomis have is that they don't communicate very well to each other. Granted he gets sick when he first comes into the valley, but Mr. Loomis never tries to get to know Ann or tell her very much about himself after he recovers. Likewise she doesn't really do the same to him. Well, the book is a quick read and kept me interested throughout.

***
In other media news I recently watched Threads. A 1984 BBC TV movie done in a documentary style. I mention this as it is a nuclear based PA story. The plot follows Jimmy and Ruth, a young couple who just before the bombs start dropping find out they are pregnant. Ruth survives and we see the chaos that the UK descends into after 3000 megatons of nuclear bombs are dropped. The documentary portion of the show follows the happenings of the local government in Sheffield and reports of the rest of the world. The outlook it depicts is pretty grim.

By the later half of the movie I was loosing interest. The story jumps ahead 10 years where we see that nothing has really recovered, Ruth dies, her daughter gets pregnant, delivers the baby and... Well you'll just have to watch it to see what happens. I don't quite agree with some of the descriptions of the ending that I've read. The show really leaves it up to your imagination.

Overall Threads was an interesting movie. I can't see how there would be no recovery after 10 years. It also didn't make sense that there were still soldiers/police? hanging and shooting looters this long after the bombs dropped. If you're feeling a little bit too happy one day, watch Threads, it'll bring you done for sure.

HMS Surprise, The Mauritius Command

By Patrick O'Brian

Two more books down, 727 pages. Wow I'm really enjoying these books. Both books were enjoyably and completely different!

H.M.S. Surprise starts off with Jack Aubrey suffering at the hands of the Admiralty. They determined that the 5 million pieces of eight that were caught at the end of the last book belong to the crown and not as a prize to the sailors. This book was pretty slow. It was almost 1/2 way through by the time they made their way to India on their way to deliver Mr. Stanhope to the Sultan (in eastern Asia?) The highlight of this book for me (the ship battles weren't that engrossing) was the duel between Stephen Maturin and Mr. Canning over the slap Canning gave to Dr. Maturin for hugging Diana Villers! How dare he! Stephen kills Canning but suffers from a shot to the chest where the ball lodges into his pericardium. He operates himself! and then takes most of the rest of the book to recover. Diana runs off to America with an American. Jack gets a freight prize which covers the last of his expenses and then some, so he is able to get married.

The Mauritius Command was quite an exciting story. It starts out with Jack married, with twin daughters, living in a cottage with his Mother-in-Law, and going crazy being on dry land. He is rescued by an assignment to South Africa to take the British Governor to Mauritius and battle the French to allow said Governor to be able to rule. There is a lot of action and the tides of battle go both ways for the English. Jack is made temporary Commodore and spends most of the book setting everything up for a successful outcome. Right before the final battle the Admiral and Army Generals show up to take credit for the success. Is Jack upset? No, for he learns he has a son at home. Stephen gets slighted in recognition by the Admiral for his espionage work. The Governor gets mad at this and Stephen uses this event (implied) to get Jack the plum assignment of sailing back to the UK to give the news of the success which should ensure his promotion and all sorts of goodies. We'll have to wait and see in the next book.

While I don't' think these books would be nearly as rewarding if you read them alone, they continue to add to the great overall story that is the Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin series.

The Third Pandemic

By Pierre Ouellette

I picked this book based on fact that it is my favorite post-apocalyptic sub-genre. Humans wiped out by disease. A novel where 60+% of the human race dies off? What could be more exciting to read about? I would call this more an apocalyptic novel than a post-apocalyptic novel though.

I really enjoyed this book. You could say that the first 2/3's are flashbacks as the story starts with a look into the future, after many people have already died. Then we go back to the beginning to see how it all started. An effective way to start a book if you ask me.

I enjoyed the science in the book. The author sets up a story where through random chance various drug resistant bacteria inhabit the same person (via international air travel) to create a super bug that is quickly spread through the air around the globe. While unlikely, I found it to be believable.

As I mentioned 60% of the population dies. There lies the problem. The build up in the book is wonderful but it wasn't until the last 50 or so pages that they dying started. Nothing gruesome and there was little description on how people were living in the aftermath. The part I was looking forward to. There were many threads of the story that all came together near the end. Most were tied up but one in particular was left up to your imagination.

I thought that this was a well done story. My only complaints was the lack of focus on the time after the disease hits and the story thread about the serial killer who spreads the bacteria in Seattle. It just seemed out of place.

The Road

By Cormac McCarthy

I've long been a fan of the Post-Apocalyptic genre. Though I've mostly stuck to television shows, I've decided to branch out and start reading PA books. I listen to The Signal (a Firefly podcast) and they had a promo for a post-apocalyptic podcast called Through The Aftermath. They talk about all different media in the PA genre.

They had an episode about the book The Road. I had heard a little bit about the story (mostly negative) as it got a lot of press for being an Oprah book. The big complaint that I heard? The punctuation was missing and the dialogue isn't labeled making it hard to follow along. I decided to give it a shot.

I really enjoyed this book. The premise; the world ended by nuclear destruction an undetermined number of years ago. There are few survivors. The story follows a father and his son. The son was born after the bombs went off. He's maybe 8? 10? It never says. There is little left in the United States, fires burn continuously, everyone left survives by scavenging. We follow the pair as they travel the road (highways) southbound. Watching as the two interact with each other and share in their highs and lows depending on what they encounter along the road.

If you are looking for a happy story this is not the story for you. In fact I'm guessing that there are few if any PA books that you can really call upbeat and happy. Being only the 2nd PA book I've really read I don't know this for sure.

I liked how the book went into detail about how the father and son scavenged for food, repaired what little they had, and worried about the end. As for the complaint's that I read. The only punctuation that I noticed missing were the apostrophes in contractions. As for the dialogue? I was able to follow along with who was speaking no problem. This was a gripping story that will be released as a movie near the end of 2009.

Master and Commander/Post-Captain

By Patrick O'Brian

So I've gone nautical. I got a good deal on a set of Patrick O'brian books on ebay. As a bonus a few other of his books were included. Along with a biography and a book called A Sea of Words, kind of a Patrick O'Brian specific dictionary of the terms used in the books or as the subtitle says, A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O'Brian

Why do I mention all this? The Jack Aubry/Stephen Mautrin story is 20 volumes, something like 7000+ pages! I've heard that it reads like one continuous story. Also, that you don't need to know anything about sailing or Brittan in the 19th Century before reading the books in order to understand what is going on. You just need to be able to appreciate a well told story (as well as have time and dedication.)

When looking into reviews of the books on Amazon, I've gathered that in some books there is a lot of action and in others the story moves along at a snail's pace. After reading the Author's note at the beginning of the 1st book, I was excited to learn that the battles are all taken from real accounts, with the names, times, locations changed to fit the story.

On last observation that I'll mention before I start is that the books are edited kind of differently. Conversations between different people are in the same paragraph. As opposed to a new line for each person. Also I have trouble following along with the story sometimes when the scene shifts between different characters points of view (esp. location wise) as there is no break between paragraphs, it just all runs together. I've gotten used to the style but it still takes me by surprise most of the time.

So what about the story? Well after reading the first two books, or some 900 pages, I can start by saying "Wow!" I'm looking forward to this series. It will probably take me about a year to finish. The story begins (and I gather will follow the career of) with Jack Aubry getting command of the first ship. Whilst celebrating he meets and befriends Stephen Mautrin (a physician) who Jack gets to join him on his ship. What follows is the story of Jack and the crew of the Sophie. They are patrolling the Mediterranean, fighting for the King's navy. The book isn't really a complete story but I'd say it's a complete book, if that makes any sense.

Post-Captain picks up right where Master and Commander ends. Jack and the crew are stuck on land due to losing their ship and the war ending. With Jack not made Post yet it's quite upsetting. To top it off a few of Jack's prizes are disallowed, after he has taken and spent money advanced to him by his prize agent, who runs off with the money from quite a few sailors. Jack ends up 11,000 pounds in debt and is forced for the rest of the book to avoid being nipped and taken to debtor's prison.

There is a lot of humor in this story. Both intended and as a result of the changes in knowledge from the books time to our own. What do I mean? Jack and Stephen go to France to escape Jack's debts only to be caught in France when war is again declared. Not only are they subject to arrest by the French but Jack can't get assigned to a ship being in France. So Stephen dresses Jack in a bear skin and he poses as a bear as they walk to Spain.

In another part of the book Stephen, the medical man mind you, finds fault with Jack always cleaning everything and keeping everything tidy. He tells him it's not natural.

The closest Jack comes to being caught on land for his debts is at a party. But his crew helps protect him from the men who come after him and a few of the men are "pressed" into service aboard the ship when they are knocked out by the crew members!

Quite a bit plot wise happens in this second book. I won't go into detail except to say that this was quite an engrossing story. I'm left with one nagging question. Just who is Stephen Mautrin? Besides being a doctor, is he also a spy and for whom? He has the pull to get Jack help (unbeknownst to Jack) from the upper levels of the Admiralty and has an unsettled duel with Jack. I look forward to the rest of the books.

Niagara Fall: A novel of Crime and Comedy

By Stephen Wilcox

This book reminded me of the Dave Barry movie Big Trouble. The small time criminal in the book was pretty hapless, as in the movie. This was an OK crime novel. Not really a mystery as you, the reader, follow both the good guys and the criminals.

The big bonus of this book is the descriptions of Niagara Falls, New York/Ontario. The area and streets are well described. Having traveled to the Buffalo/Niagara area quite a few times over the years it was neat to recognize some of the streets and names mentioned. On a side note, I noticed 2 typos in the book.

Overall this was not a bad story. It follows a few characters but one, Decker, is a guy who survived going over the falls as a kid and lived. He dates an undercover customs agent who is investigating customs agents on the take from the mob. The criminal activities in the book involve following the small time crook who is trying to break into doing work for the mob. Yeah does it really matter what the plot is. This is a quick reading crime novel. The story was interesting but I found the facts about the Falls the most interesting parts.

It turns out Decker is based on a real incident (at least the part about a boy going over the falls and living.) In 1960 a 7 year old boy was the first to go over the falls sans protection and live. Read about it. His name was Rodger Woodward.

Better Days

By Joss Whedon

The second set of Firefly graphic novels. The Amazon link I put is to the Trade Paper Back (TPB) but I read the 3 issue comics. Same thing just less ads, in the TPB that is.

This story reads like a Firefly TV episode. Well a lite one. The basic story is an Alliance solider is hunting down a Dust Devil from the war and blah blah blah. Does it really matter. If you're reading this it's because you're a fan of Firefly/Serenity and you can't get enough. Well unfortunately this story didn't fill my need for Firefly content.

The covers depict our BDH's very well. The inside artwork not so much. The background graphics seemed kinda vague to me, though they helped to tell the story so I guess they did their job. Comic books move at a different speed than books or TV shows and this one moves pretty quickly. So quickly in fact that it seemed to me that a lot of what was happening was left unsaid and I felt kinda lost at times. I found myself flipping back a few pages every now and then to take another look at the story and try and figure out what just happened.

The most interesting part of the story was when each character has a dream sequence showing how they would use the millions in credits that they acquired. I'll leave it up to you to see who dreams up what. Except for Book, and Jayne, I probably could have guessed what each character's dream would be. I thought that the ending was satisfying. So if you're a Firefly fan, what are you waiting for. There is not very much cannon so hurry out and learn more of our crew's story.

I'm looking forward to the next set of comics that are going to come out, maybe 2009 0r 2010 (if they haven't been canceled) all about Book.

For more Firefly related items I've read here's a list.
Articles about the Firefly universe:
Finding Serenity
Serenity Found

Fanfic:
My Own Kind Of Freedom (could have been cannon)
Severance (audio)

Know of any more? Let me know.

Find more about all things Joss here.

The Last Lecture

By Randy Pausch, Jeffery Zaslow

First a word of warning. Don't read this book in public. There's a good chance you'll end up tearing up so be forewarned. That said The Last Lecture goes hand in hand with the actual Last Lecture given by Randy Pausch which you can watch here. In The Lecture book and live, Randy gives an uplifting talk about what it takes to achieve your dreams. His philosophy on life and a healthy does of stories about his life and his family. It really was very touching. Made more so because Randy had terminal caner and at the time of the lecture had only a few more months to live.

The advice in the book is really not meant for you or I. It is for his children who will only really know him through the videos and letters than he has left for them. It really is good advice on how to live your life. I gathered that Randy was a pretty direct guy, who didn't really mess around with the trivialities in life. He tried to concentrate on what's important. Now I realize that what one person thinks is important may be different than another, but I found myself agreeing with a lot of what he said.

The book is pretty short and you can read it through in a couple of hours. So give it a go. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

How the States got their shapes

By Mark Stein

Do you live in The United States? Then at least one chapter on this book will interest you. I found them all engrossing. How the States got their shapes tells just that. It gives a quick history about how each state got it's North/South/East/West border.

The book is filled with interesting facts, maps, and humor. It's hard to say much about this book as everyone will probably be most interested in the stare they grew up in or live in. But in general I can say that the planners really thought out their reasons to why each group of states is the way it is. I say group because most states were Territories first and size wise these territories made up more than one finished state.

The government tried to make the states equal in size (relative), or resources. Some interesting things I found out. States willingly gave up land to get rid of gold bearing areas just as readily as others wanted that land. Bureaucracy, influence, bad surveyors, and whim all helped to decide the borders of the states. The original 13 states were not made equal in any way as they were made by royal charter.

I mentioned humor. Well yes this book has it. Stein tells us that the American West contains states whose borders were never tainted by colonial rule. President Polk secured his place as one of America's least remembered President by avoiding war and agreeing to a border with Britain (Canada) at 49 degrees after campaigning 54 40 or fight. Rhode Island is the only state in the union founded expressly for religious freedom. The fact that Rhode Island is also the smallest state gives one pause.

Oh and when was the last border settled? (Though there could conceivably be changes in the future.) In 1998 Ellis Island was split between NY and NJ due to NY using reclaimed land from the Hudson.

This is a well written, informative book that will give you insight and make you take a second look at the borders on a map.

The Book of Fate

By Brad Meltzer

Let me start off a bit off topic. I don't like cooking breakfast. Oh, I eat breakfast; cereal or oatmeal, fruit. But to cook eggs, bacon, pancakes etc. No. It's not that I don't like them it's just that for the amount of time it takes to cook breakfast compared to how long it takes to eat it, it just doesn't seem worth it. If I'm going to cook "breakfast" I'll make it for dinner. It seems ok to spend more time cooking dinner than it takes to eat it.

Why do I mention this? Well I wonder if Brad Meltzer feels this way. The Book of Fate is 613 pages. I would imagine that just the writing took many months. Meltzer mentions that some of the research took 3 years. I read this book in 4 days. Is that a let down to the author? To me the reader this was no let down. In fact, Book of Fate was such a gripping story that I couldn't stop reading. All my free time was spent reading, following Wes as he tries to piece together what happened 8 years ago on the day there was an assassination attempt on the President of the United States and he took a bullet to the face.

Much like the last Brad Meltzer book I read, The Zero Game, Book of Fate has character twists that leave you wondering who's on which side. The back of the book mentions that Wes' search will take him back to the secrets of the Freemasons. I anticipated a National Treasure
type story. I feel that the back cover was a bit misleading. The Freemason's are vaguely referenced in a way that really has nothing to do with the plot. There is a code used by the President that he lifted from the Freemason's.

So what about the plot. Well the President and his entourage are attacked by a lone gunman as they exit their limo at a NASCAR event. One of the President's advisers dies. Another is injured (our main character, Wes.) Fast forward 8 years and Wes sees the dead man alive. What follows in his quest to unravel the mystery. He is being followed by FBI, CIA, and Secret Service Agents. Are they there to help or hinder? Just how far up the chain of command does the mystery go?

As long as you don't expect the story to steer into the realm of secret societies I think that you will enjoy this suspenseful tale.