Reading Freely

The Best of 2010: Annual Year in Review

Posted on January 4, 2011 by smellincoffee

Fifty-two ‘weeks at the library’ have come and gone once more, and like every year I’m taking some time to look back at the year’s reading and reflect, mentioning those books whose memory has not faded with time. My return to Trek literature and the discovery of some great authors like Bernard Cornwell, Christopher Moore, Alison Weir, and others marked this year, and with an interesting result: For the first time ever, I read more fiction than nonfiction: usually, my historical, scientific, and philosophical reading surpasses novels by a good 20%. This year it’s in fiction’s favor, though by a scant 3%. This concerns me a bit, but as I stand back and think, 2010 was just a really good year for fiction. Usually my fictional reads are isolated things, unless I’m reading a series — and I plowed through several series this year. I maintained a list of finished books, and with it made this chart, courtesy of ChartGo.com.

In general fiction, the following books in particular stand out:

Lamb, by Christopher Moore, a fictional biograpy of Jesus from the viewpoint of his pal Levi, also called Biff. While this is as laugh-out-loud funny as they come, it’s also notable for being the most realistic and sympathetic of Jesus I’ve seen in novels.
The Iron Heel by Jack London was one of the first dystopian novels, though now it reads like alternate history and social commentary. London uses his Earnest Everhard character to explain ‘the problems inherent in the system’ and advocate for change, addressing multiple audiences within the book. It would recommend to someone curious about Marxist social criticism.
I began reading more of Max Shulman and hold his Barefoot Boy with Cheek in high esteem: though I read four or so Shulman books this year, Barefoot was the closest to recapturing the Shulman magic which so delights me when reading The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.
Stephen King’s Christine marked the year’s creepiest hit. I read it around Halloween while dutifully listening to the 1950s music Christine enjoyed playing before she rode into the darkness to terrorize anyone who got on her bad side.
The Devil’s Punchbowl by Greg Iles continues Iles’ habit of emotionally turbulent southern-gothic thrillers.
I also enjoyed Isaac Asimov’s surreal Murder at the ABA.

Historical fiction made a strong showing this year thanks to the series I encountered, particularly the Horatio Hornblower Novels, Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories, and Alison Weir’s biographic novels. Most notable:

Captain Horatio Hornblower, C.S. Forester
Lord Hornblower, C.S. Forester
The Last Kingdom, Bernard Cornwell
Lords of the North, Bernard Cornwell
The Lady Elizabeth, Alison Weir

Earlier in the year I started pursuing my goal of getting back into Trek literature, something I’ve not followed since 2005. Though I began with the familar, as I continued in the various series I discovered some astounding new authors. Highlights:

David Mack, of the Destiny Trilogy. I’ve heard this series hyped for years and dreaded reading it, but it bowled me over. Incredible.
Christopher L. Bennett, for Greater than the Sum, chiefly. Orion’s Hounds and The Buried Age were also excellent.
Kirsten Beyer, who revived the Voyager series with the stunning Full Circle.
William Leisner, whose Losing the Peace followed well in Mack’s footsteps.

Even outside of Star Trek, this wasn’t a bad year for science fiction. I read some classics, creating a ‘vintage SF‘ tag for them. H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds and Michael Crichton’s more modern Jurassic Park were particularly enjoyable. Matthew Stover’s novelization of The Revenge of the Sith surprised me, doing a great service by the movie in strengthening its characters and making the drama more purpouseful.

History has always been a staple of my reading diet, and 2010 was no exception. I began reading the Story of Civilization series by Will Durant, but the most impressive books were by other authors.

1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus was far and away the most impressive book in this category, and I’d go so far as to call it the read of the year. It completly changed my perception of how native cultures used the land, transforming it.
Citizens by Simon Schama took a fresh look at the French revolution.
La Belle France by Alistair Horne remains one of the more entertaining light historical narratives I’ve ever read — I described it as a ‘romping ride through French history’.
Coal: A Human History ended the year on a high point.

Science reading tended toward the anemic this year, though at the outset I enjoyed David Attenborough’s The Life of series. African Exodus remains the most notable science read: its coverage of human evolution and expansion, particular the chapters on human-Neanderthal cohabitation, fascinated me. I also introduced myself to Oliver Sack’s interesting neurological work in The Mind’s Eye, and enjoyed a series of humor books grounded in science by Mary Roach.

In philosophy, two books have been on my mind all year: a collection of anarchist and political activist Emma Goldman’s writings in Red Emma Speaks, and A Guide to the Good Life: the Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William Irvine, which introduces contemporary minds to Stoicism and demonstrates its relevance to the modern world. The Emperor’s Handbook, a modern-English version of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, is also worth mentioning.

I read little social criticism this year, but even in a crowd, Weapons of Satire, a collection of Mark Twain’s writings against American imperialism in the Phillipines, would have stood out. James Howard Kunstler’s The Geography of Nowhere mourns the loss of communities and condemns suburban sprawl and proved provoking.

Blogwise, at some point in late January I made including book covers part of the standard comment-review format, and early in the autumn I began a Shelfari account for the blog.

Thoughts for next year:

Trek fiction jumped to the 11th most-used label in half a year, and I predict it will unseat Religion by the early spring and forever claim a place in the top ten. I don’t think it will dominate the way it has recently once I stop playing catch-up, though. I am particularly interested in finishing the Titan series and obtaining the Terok Nor trilogy. I understand it features Kira Nerys as a main character, so I cannot possibly resist.
My science reading flagged more this year than last year, so now I’m hunting for books I can buy via Amazon to maintain basic scientific literacy and continue exploring the natural world.
Bernard Cornwell’s medieval fiction thrills me to no end: I intend on exhausting my library’s supply of his books.
I also want to finish Asimov’s Empire series: I’ve only read Pebble in the Sky. It might also be a good time to read The Gods Themselves and The End of Eternity, though I’m cautious about reading those, least I run out of Asimov fiction.

Posted in General | Tagged Annual Wrapup, review | 6 Comments

Top Ten Books Books I Resolve to Read in 2011

Posted on January 4, 2011 by smellincoffee

This week the Broke and the Bookish expect us to commit to at least ten books, particularly those which have sat meekly in the ‘pile of books to read’ for a while.

1. Marcus Aurelius: A Life, Frank McLynn

I’ve had this book for nearly ear now. Probably should get around to reading it, right?

2. A People’s History of the World, Chris Harman

I bought this back in the spring intending to read it during the summer.

3. The Age of Absurdity, Michael Foley

Hey, it isn’t my fault I haven’t read this yet. I ordered it before Thanksgiving, but it vanished somewhere over the Atlantic: I bought it from a firm in England. Either the Royal Mail or the USPS lost it, so they (WorldBooksUSA) sent me another copy. It arrived just recently.

4. The Age of Faith, Will Durant

Reading about the decline and fall of the Roman empire followed by centuries of religious war sounds depressing, but I want to continue in this series.

5. The Confessions, Augustine of Hippo

I did begin reading this earnestly the first two weeks I had it, but then Vikings distracted me. I can’t blame Bernard Cornwell completely, though.

6. Paths of Disharmony, Dayton Ward.

Okay, I don’t need to make a Most Solemn Oath to read this book. I expect on getting it in some way for my birthday. I don’t think I’ve ever read Dayton Ward, and since this is a TNG book I’m looking forward to it.

7. The Essential Epicurus: Letters, Principal Doctrines, Vatican Sayings, and Fragments.

Same story as Aurelius and People’s history, really.

8. The Complete Stories (Volume 2), Isaac Asimov

I bought this in the fall of 2009 for $12 or $15. The remaining copies on Amazon sell anywhere from $60 to $140. I read the first volume in the set this year. The series isn’t actually complete— Asimov kept writing stories, which makes producing a complete collection difficult, and I like to think the publishers threw their hands up in frustration that Asimov had simply written too many stories for them to corner.

9. Over a Torrent Sea, Christopher L. Bennett

Though I’ve not read many Titan novels, Bennett’s Orion’s Hounds pleased me greatly. I’ve enjoyed every book I’ve read by the author, so this is something to look forward to when I finally buy it.

10. The Outline of History, H.G. Wells

Well, why not? I’ve walked past it and stared with interest enough times.

Posted in General | Tagged memes and surveys | 12 Comments

Teaser Tuesday (4 January)

Posted on January 4, 2011 by smellincoffee

Welcome to the first Teaser Tuesday of 2011, hosted by Should Be Reading.

“This is a country that loses a prime minister and that is so vast and so empty that a band of amateur enthusiasts could conceivably set off the world’s first non-governmental atomic bomb on its mainland and almost four years would pass before anyone noticed. Clearly, this is a place worth getting to know.”

—————————————

The taipan is the one to watch out for. It is the most poisonous snake on earth, with a lunge so swift and a venom so potent that your last mortal utterance is likely to be: ‘I say, is that a sn—.’

Both from In a Sunburned Country, Bill Bryson’s travelogue of Australia.

Posted in General | Tagged Teaser Tuesday | 15 Comments

Rough Beasts of Empire

Posted on January 3, 2011 by smellincoffee

Rough Beasts of Empire
© 2010 David R. George III
304 pages
On the cover: Leonard Nimoy as Spock; Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko

Ever since the mass assassination of the Romulan senate in Nemesis, the Romulan Empire has existed in a state of disunity. Praetor Tal’Aura seized control of the government shortly after the events of Nemesis, but the Romulan fleet regards her as suspect — and for good reason, for she carried out the assassination. In an apparent attempt to prevent the Empire from falling completely into the hands of a traitor, Commander Donatra of the Valdore established her own rival state to arrest Tal’Aura’s ambitions. Controlling most of the Empire’s agricultural worlds and allied to the Federation, Donatra needed only sit and wait for Tal’Aura’s power base to erode — but the woman who conspired with Shinzon to destroy her entire government in the pursuit of power is not one to wait for her own death. Instead, Tal’Aura partially arranged the Typhon Pact, a six-member alliance of nations composed of some of the Federation’s oldest enemies. In Rough Beasts of Empire, two Federation citizens — Ambassador Spock and Captain Bejanmin Sisko — attempt to work out their fates in this dangerous new political environment.

Previous novels in the Typhon Pact series have focused on one story, but David R. George follows the lives of two men. On Romulus, Spock continues to lead the Reunification movement despite a narrow escape from an assassin, preaching peace and working toward the day when Vulcans and Romulans can look on one another as kindred spirits. Though Spock is the viewpoint character here, he’s used by George to observe the power struggle between Donatra and Tal’Aura: his story is more one of Romulan politics than his own philosophical labors. Meanwhile, Captain Sisko — who rejoined Starfleet during the last great Borg War — commands the USS Robinson, a Galaxy-class starship patrolling the Romulan borders, tormented by what he had to leave behind on Bajor and haunted by memories of the Tzenkethi war. As difficult as it was for me to see Sisko put through an emotional meatgrinder here, it’s rather refreshing. In the early Relaunch books, Sisko was more a Legend than man: he vanished inside the Bajoran wormhole at the end of Deep Space Nine, though no one on the station in the months that followed could escape his memory. His reappearance at a pivotal moment only boosted the legendary aura, and shortly thereafter he read like a saint, above the cares of the world. George brings him back down to Earth again — where he’s back to being human, back to struggling with issues and making hard, wrenching decisions. Thus Rough Beasts offers heaps of political and character drama, though I think Sisko’s thread has the stronger ending.

Aside from this, Rough Beasts also reintroduces some characters who have not been seen recently — Kira Nerys, and the master villain of TNG’s ‘Unification’ episode. George also elaborates on the Tzenkethi, whose appearances was the source of great speculation when Pocket and CBS announced the Typhon Pact series. They’re interesting sorts, though I wouldn’t care to see them again. Like Tal’Aura, I wished them defeat and disappearance every time they showed up in the book.

I’ve read George before, in Provenance of Shadows, and this was even more a page-turner. I probably would have finished it in one sitting had I not resisted reading it. I try not to read more than one Trek book per reading week (starting on Wednesdays) , but as you can see I failed. It’s all George’s fault — the book was too interesting to stop reading for too long, and the pages flew by so quickly that I was done before I knew it. Of the three Typhon Pact books I read, I’ve enjoyed this the most — owing, in part, to my being a Sisko fan .

The next Typhon Pact read, Paths of Disharmony, is scheduled to be released anywhere from mid-January to early February. It is a TNG novel that is expected to focus on the Tholians (“The Tholian Web“, “In a Mirror Darkly“) and Andor.

Related:

Taking Wing, Martin and Mangels
A Singular Destiny, Keith R. A. DeCandido
Typhon Pact on TvTropes
David R. George III on Memory Alpha

Posted in Reviews | Tagged David R. George III, DS9 Relaunch, Star Trek, Typhon Pact | Leave a comment

The Burning Land

Posted on January 2, 2011 by smellincoffee

The Burning Land
© 2009 Bernard Cornwell
336 pages

“I see all history as being — and this is very simplistic — a contest between puritans and cavaliers, and I’m instinctively on the side of the cavaliers. As far as Uhtred is concerned, the Danes are a helluva lot more fun.” – Bernard Cornwell, interview.

Uhtred of Bebbanburg has just achieved his greatest triumph, the masterful routing of a vast Danish army intent on making Mercia and Wessex their own. He is King Alfred’s Lord of War: his greatest servant, albeit the least orthodox. Despite their mutual gains together, the peace in Uhtred’s life is soon shattered when his beloved wife dies in childbirth and a vicious bishop denounces her as a whore. This attracts Uhtred’s attention, the bishop loses the use of his neck in short order, and soon our hero is faced with a choice: humiliation or exile.

Turning his back on his oath to Alfred and leaving his children in the care of a friend, Uhtred sails from Wessex accompanied by his most loyal comrades-in-arms, intent on returning to his adopted Danish family where he will at last be free — free of Alfred’s ambitions, free of Alfred’s mewling priests, free of Alfred’s laws and constant disapproval. At Dunholm, with his Danish brothers at his side, Uhtred can finally plan his recapture of Bebbanburg, his family’s ancestral land. Fate, though, has other plans: the Danes have not lost their ambitions to destroy Wessex, and when Uhtred receives a desperate plea from a woman whom he’s loved and protected all her life, he’s forced to make another difficult decision. Either choice will brand him a traitor and send him headlong into destruction, but “fate is inexorable”.

The Burning Land is the fifth and latest book in Bernard Cornwell’s unflaggingly strong Saxon series. Most of the book is populated by familiar characters, the only notable introduction being that of Skade, the ethereally beautiful and cruel warrior-priestess who I wasn’t sure Uhtred would kill or marry. Emotional turmoil abounds, as does military action: momentous battles bookend The Burning Land, and they’re two of the more interesting (site-wise) I’ve yet read. Though the books in this series are increasingly introduced by an aged Uhtred looking back at the past (and scowling at how remiss the monks have been in recording his role in these battles), I’m never certain as to where Cornwell (or the fates) are going to send the outcast Lord of Bebbanburg next. As is usual, the book’s pace is furious: I deliberately had to stop reading last night to prevent my rapture from interfering in New Years’ Eve plans.

It is with sorrow that I note the lack of a sixth book at present: I will be looking forward to Uhtred’s continuing adventures. At least the recess is starting on a strong note — I’d say this is the third best in the series, behind The Lords of the North and The Last Kingdom. That’s no small prize, considering the stellar quality of this series as a whole.

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged Anglo-Saxons, Bernard Cornwell, Britain, historical fiction, Medieval, military, Saxon Chronicles | 6 Comments

Over the Hills

Posted on December 31, 2010 by smellincoffee

Over the Hills: A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle
© 1996 David Lamb
254 pages

Despite a life of front-line journalism in Vietnam and Rwanda, LA Times journalist David Lamb feels as though his lifestyle has become positively sedentary as he approaches middle age. In an attempt to prove to himself that he’s capable of great deeds, he decides to travel across the country — on a touring bike. After cursory preparation, Lamb hits the road with his saddlebags and makes his way across the hills and valleys of the Eastern coast, through the southwestern deserts, and over the Rockies straight to Santa Monica’s pier. Since pedestrians and cyclists are barred from the interstates, Lamb keeps to the backroads, including the venerable Route 66, stopping to chat up local townsfolk on deserted city streets and pedaling for his life to escape from packs of aggressive dogs in farm country.

The trip itself is absent of drama, aside from the dog chases: there are no accidents, no close calls, no miserable slogs through blinding storms. Lamb manages to avoid rain the entire time, the only inclement weather being the ‘headwinds’ of the plains which slow him down considerably. His travel log consists of descriptions of the passing landscape, particularly the small towns he beds in, his dealings with the people he meets, and ruminations about life on the road. He adds to this a history of the bicycle, and its role in shaping the United States’ social and transportation history.

I enjoy stories about people who hit the open road and go where it takes them, exploring and venturing into the unknown, and Over the Hills was no exception. While Lamb doesn’t use his isolation on the road to delve into philosophy and the meaning of life (as did Peter Jenkins in A Walk Across America), I enjoyed his encounters with small-town America all the same, though aside from the ‘ordinary kindnesses’ the strangers offered there was little good news to be had. Most towns, Lamb wrote, had picked up and moved to interstate exit ramps, leaving the old communities to rot in abandonment. More cheery than this was the fascinating history of the bicycle in American culture, which Lamb concludes by detailing how modern cities are attempting to encourage bicycle activity. Parts of the book are dated ($15-and $20 motel rooms?!), but it’s a fun ~~ride~~ read.

Related:

A Walk Across America, Peter Jenkins
A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryon

Posted in Reviews | Tagged America, bicycles, travelogue | Leave a comment

Seize the Fire

Posted on December 30, 2010 by smellincoffee

Star Trek Typhon Pact: Seize the Fire

499 pages

In the wake of the last great Borg War, most of Starfleet is tasked with helping to pick up the pieces. Only a few ships, the USS Titan among them, are allowed to continue Starfleet’s mandate of exploration. Despite being lucky in this regard, Captain William Riker doesn’t want to go on his merry way into the unexplored expanses of the galaxy and with no thought to his comrades back home — thus, he opts to investigate the possibility of a powerful terraforming technology not unlike that of the Genesis Device. When he confirms his suspicions, though, he finds the technology in the hands of the Gorn Hegemony. The Gorn have their own reasons for wanting the device, as one of their most precious breeding worlds has been ruined by excess solar activity. While their possessing this device — which, like Genesis, could be used to destroy civilizations “in favor of its new matrix” — is problematic enough, the leading Gorn general seems intent on using it on a planet already inhabited. Though the Prime Directive forbids Riker from interfering, he must find a way to do so and perhaps gain access to the “eco-sculptor” at the same time.

Star Trek’s reptilian species fascinate me: the Gorn were first mentioned in “Arena”, which contains one of the most outstandingly campy fights in televised history, and spotted once in Enterprise, but have since not garnered much attention. Michael A. Martin does for them what David Mack did for the Breen, turning standard villains into large, complex political entities. Just as Mack did, he tells part of the story from the viewpoint of Gorn characters, some of them sympathetic. This nation- and world-building was the strongest portion of the novel for me, though I also appreciated Martin’s use of Gnalish crewmembers board the Titan: Michael Jan Friedman introduced them in Reunion, and his Stargazer novel Progenitor spotlighted them. The plot’s possible resolutions seemed obvious from the start, though the road there took some unexpected twists and turns. I enjoyed the novel, and even read most of it in one sitting. Some characterization seemed strange, particularly in the case of Riker’s XO (Christine Vale), but I’ve not read enough Titan novels to say for sure. The novel’s greatest weakness was Martin/Riker’s interpretation of the Prime Directive. The directive forbids Starfleet personnel from interfering in the natural evolution of a pre-warp society: they can’t be so much as contacted without first displaying the ability to use warp drive. This “natural evolution” clause has been extended to prohibiting Starfleet personnel from stopping asteroid collisions with planets, and in Voyager Tom Paris was demoted and tossed into the brig for interfering in a similar case. As outrageous as that is, in Seize the Fire the planet in question is being targeted by an outside power, a warp power, and Riker’s belief that he can’t interfere makes him look like a legalistic chump.

I’d say Seize the Fire is fairly enjoyable: not outstanding, but not mediocre, either.

Related:

Michael A. Martin at Memory Alpha
Star Trek Titan at TvTropes
Typhon Pact at TvTropes
Seize the Fire at Memory Alpha

Posted in Reviews | Tagged Michael A. Martin, Star Trek, Star Trek Titan, Typhon Pact | Leave a comment

This Week at the Library (29 December)

Posted on December 29, 2010 by smellincoffee

Aside from the books I’ve already done full comments on, I also finished The Great American Wolf and The Golden Door. My observations about them were shortish, so I decided to include them here instead of making seperate, strangely short posts. The Great American Wolf by Bruce Hampton was placed in my library’s Science and Nature section, though it’s really more a history of human interaction with wolves in North America. I had no idea wolves were viewed in such a negative light: I’ve always been fond of them, seeing the grey wolf in particular as intelligent, sociable, and beautiful. Though native Americans regarded the wolf as a magnificent creatures, Europeans have apparantly shared a long hostility toward them and the colonists who settled in North American acted on it. They regarded the wolves as pests and purposely sought to drive them to extinction — though this changed in the 20th century, as conservationists and environmentalists pushed to save them.

I also read Isaac Asimov’s The Golden Door, a history of the United States from Reconstruction following the Civil War through to the conclusion of the Great War. This period of history happens to be one of my favorites, and Asimov titled his book by drawing from Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus”, engraved upon the Statue of Liberty in New York which welcomed so many immigrants.

“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

I rather like the poem. Asimov’s history is breezily readable, suitable for younger readers as well as older ones who want an introduction to the period, a refresher, or some mild entertainment: I picked up some trivia while reading it. Asimov’s istypically fair and more idealistic than cynical.

Next week’s potentials:

Seize the Fire, Michael A. Martin. I actually read this yesterday, but I meant for it to be “this” week’s Trek reading. Because my library visit and TWATL post have occcured on Wednesday for so long, I tend to think of it as starting a new ‘week’.
Over the Hills: A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle, David Lamb. This is the third or fourth book I’ve read this year in which someone decided to journey across the continent, but the idea of throwing oneself into nature, of seeing where the road goes and having an adventure along the way, appeals to me.
In a Sunburned Country, in which Bill Bryson explores Australia.
The Evolution of God, by Robert Wright — because God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World and Why Their Differences Matter was checked out.
The Burning Land, Bernard Cornwell. The most recent book in the Saxon Chronicles series, which means next week I’ll have no Uhtred to enjoy. Whatever will I do?
I also have a book on the weather, because on Christmas morning while watching the rain fall I realized that though I understand the water cycle, I have no idea what high- and low-pressure systems mean and why they bring the kind of weather they do.

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged America, Gilded Age, history, Isaac Asimov, Nature, week in review | Leave a comment

Teaser Tuesday (28 December)

Posted on December 28, 2010 by smellincoffee

Time for the Tuesday teasin’, and if I’m not too much mistaken this is the last TT of the year.

So love, I thought, had turned Erik against his brother. Love would make him slash a blade through every oath he had ever sworn. Love has power over power itself.

(Sword Song, Bernard Cornwell. P. 271.)

He’d been playing Barbarian George’s Big Crusade on the PlayStation at his friend Sam’s house, and they’d gotten into the infidel territory and killed thousands of the ‘Rackies, but the game just didn’t seem to have any way to exit. It wasn’t designed so you could ever get out of it, and before he knew it, it was dark outside, and he’d forgotten, and Christmas was just going to be ruined.

(The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Christopher Moore. P. 34.)