this is a first book in a projected trilogy. After an apocalypse society is structured by the range of color individuals can see. There are a complex series of regulations, punishments and restrictions. Those that fall foul are given demerits. Our hero is sent out to an outlying community to work off a punishment with his father. All is not as it seems there are conspiracies within conspiracies and much double crossing. The world building is magnificent. Fforde has gone above and beyond as far as making these arbitrary regulations seem real. I was less impressed with some of the characterization. I'm getting tired of the quick to violence, sarcastic female lead that the male lead is terrified by but attracted to. Two female characters say nearly the same sarcastic comment. That struck me as being sloppy editing. I will be pre-ordering the sequel. A rare action for me.Highly recommended!
Note:This book was provided through Librarything's early reviewer Program.
doing some short reading for Christmas. A computer expert is sent in to organize Mcdonald Hall the students rebel in typical fashion. Pretty dated with the technology used so I'm not sure how well this would read to a younger reader today but I enjoyed it.
time for some more nostalgia. This is part of the young adult humor series Bruno and Boots. The boys want to fund a pool which leads to crazier and more bizarre schemes. Amusing I'll have to remember this for my nephew.
is a novel that covers a pilot's first week in a RAF squadron during the battle of Britain. Characters are drawn with a broad brush and are pretty stock. This was enjoyable all the same even though its publication in the late 1960s meant that it's perhaps a little less than honest where it comes to foul language and adult situations. A quick bit of fluff for the holidays.
the rear jacket copy makes it sound like this book includes an investigation of the primary sources contained on the plotters who attempted to blow up parliament. Unfortunately documents are mentioned but are only sparingly quoted from. What we get instead is a rather disjointed discussion of the investigation of the plot. This is only for the expert there are more assumptions here then fax.
this is the second book chronologically in the series. As the title suggests are hero finds himself in the military. They invade a planet that is completely peaceful. He tries to defeat them while taking revenge on their commander. Like the first book the humor is mostly a farce. I enjoyed it and it's a nice distraction but certainly no deep thoughts here.
this is one of those attempts to determine the transition point between two eras of history as a title suggests the ancient and medieval. This is done through looking at three different phenomena that took place roughly at the same time during emperor Justinian's reign. These were new techniques in architecture, bubonic plague pandemic and Byzantine campaigns to reconquer Italy. Unfortunately the book gets bogged down in some strange digressions. Rosen talks about arguments for evolution and creationism which really seemed out of place. This could have been made a lot tighter with some judicious editing.
is an Osprey campaign title on this failed attempt of Poland's resistance to seize control of Warsaw. Forczyk's spends much of his time discussing the run up to the launch as well as the political background in London and Moscow. Both the British and Russians are criticized but he also acknowledges some baffling strategic decisions on the part of the resistance. They don't seem to have done any sort of basic strategic planning. Like for instance attempting to seize the telephone exchange. The book is rounded out with the usual information on uniforms and weapons.
seemed to be a logical book to read considering the recent United States debate over escalation in Afghanistan. Berman using unclassified material as well as correspondence with the players describes the thought process that went into the decision to increase troops in Vietnam. He argues convincingly that Johnson instead of the best way to win Vietnam instead chose the alternative that meant that they would lose slower. The domestic concerns were also more telling than any military or strategic decisions.
contains several short stories, an introduction and a historical note on the world of Earthsea. Perhaps most amusing is Le Guin's attempts to separate herself from those horrible hack fantasy writers who just turn out stuff for the money. As opposed to the stories contained in this volume which are supposedly organically sprung from the whole. Okay whatever. Much like the last volume the overarching theme is women good, men lazy, sexist and incompetent. I finished this thing three days ago and I'm having problems remembering what happened. There isn't really much memorable here. I will probably complete the series with book 6 but I don't think it'll happen any time soon.
This describes the loss of 14 East India company ships to storms or French as well as the British campaign to seize Mauritius. If you've read the naval fiction of Patrick O'brien you already know something about the individuals involved. The book is careful to point out where history and fiction diverge. I was occasionally frustrated because Taylor often has several narrative threads going at the same time and has to backfill to explain things. That being said a fun book for a winters evening.
covers in vignettes the authors work on the official biography of Churchill that ran to an astonishing 8 volumes. Gilbert writes engagingly if occasionally he seems to be a little too impressed with his abilities and contacts. I found the most interesting section to be on Churchill's secretaries the often anonymous women who took transcription. I've read a lot on Churchill so it's hard for me to say whether if someone new to him would get much out of this. But if you do have an interest in him don't pass this up.
biography of the Brazilian F1 world champion. This was published in 1973 so his exploits in North America are not covered. The text is frustrating at times Hayward a South African journalist includes explanatory information randomly throughout the first person narrative of Fittipaldi's descriptions. There's quite a bit on Lotus and the technical challenges of the cars and circuits. If you can look past the disjointed narrative this is an excellent book for the auto racing fan of the 1970s.
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