this is a delightful novel from the Canadian actor and dramatist. Absolute a British soldier gets himself entangled in the American Revolution. Spies, conspiracies and love quickly developed. Historical accuracy is decent but I actually didn't mind when inaccuracies popped up. The main character is so over-the-top and fun. Think Flashman only without the cowardice. I broke my cardinal rule with a series I went out and purchased the other two books right away.
this is the 1st novel in the Gammalaw military science fiction series. It was published after the author's death although according to his web site he did have much to do with it. Unfortunately the book is just terrible. Characters speak in info dumps. Descriptions are spotty with concentration on clothing. Dialogue is artificial going for cute one liners over substance. The plot such as I was able to make out is a group of soldiers lose a war as part of their surrender their shipped off to fight somewhere else. Way too many subplots here. According to reviews the second book is much better but I don't think I'll be trying it any time soon.
an afterward describes the short stories in this collection as being "loosely connected". They are in fact so loosely connected I didn't figure this out for myself until I had read 3/4 of the book. I was starting to get annoyed it seemed like the book kept repeating the same plot devices. Now, knowing that's part of the idea I feel a little more charitable towards it. Characters are occasionally weird for weirdness sake. Descriptions are memorable. Some of the events are a little too close to horror for my taste.
this is made up of a collection of essays. As the title suggests, it discusses the archaeological evidence for the "mother Goddess". This was the idea that various societies at one time worshiped a goddess to the exclusion of male deities. Supposedly the societies was peaceloving and ruled by women. The essays showed no culture actually had this in practice. The essays discuss areas including the Fertile Crescent, Egypt and Western Europe. Each of the authors is a self proclaimed feminist. Which nicely takes away an argument against the book. Sections concludes with a further reading list. Lots of illustrations of the different artifacts.
this is a history of one Newfoundland's family's experiences during and after WWI. Three of the brothers had been killed in the fighting. The book has a lot of literary flourishes. I'm usually not impressed with this sort of thing in a nominally historical work. Just what's been embellished? I'm going to let it slide in this case maybe because it's done so well. It's actually more of a character study of the three brothers as well as the author then of the conflict itself.
describes the history of the use of guns by police throughout American history. This is published by Osprey. Before this my experience with them was solely based on the various short heavily illustrated titles on different military topics. This is 300 pages with only 2 photo inserts and not a 3D computer generated map in sight. McNab argues convincingly that throughout time there's been increasing professionalism and militarization of police use of force. The development of swat teams in the 1960s and 1970s specifically. He sometimes gets bogged down in describing events. In the introduction he claims that he's just going to give the facts without moral judgments. Unfortunately he repeatedly does exactly that. Defending police use of force by pointing out that they were scared. Strangely he doesn't consider that this also extends to the other individual involved. This is certainly not the last word on the topic but it is an interesting place to start.
this is a rather strange book. It's an introductory history of the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic wars. No knowledge is assumed at all. Terms like "striking the colors" are defined in the text. On the other hand it's an amazing 560 pages long which would be rather daunting for the newcomer. The authors are looking for colorful scenes as opposed to scholarly analysis. It's a decent narrative history although some of the snap judgments can be annoying. There's a brief further reading section. Contains notes and a bibliography.
this is the third book in the Dresden Files series of fantasy mysteries. This one involves vampires, an angry fairy godmother and enemies from Dresden's past. His repeated escapes by using legalistic loopholes as opposed to skill is a little frustrating. The conclusion changes things between Dresden and his love interest. Which will be interesting going forward. I'll pick up the fourth book.
a few new insights backed up with the latest in scholarship makes this an excellent history of Napoleon's final defeat. Nice coverage of the Prussians movements during the day including the skirmishes that slowed them down. The introduction and conclusion seem a little rushed. If you're not an expert on the time you may be a bit confused. The different phases of the battle are described in a clear way. It helped me get a few things straight that I hadn't considered before.
this is the second in the Dresden Files fantasy mystery series. Like the first book this is fluff. Werewolves are terrorizing Chicago. There are various permutations and conflicts making for a fast pace plot with lots of twists and turns. With an extensive series like this the main thing is whether not to continue. I've already purchased the third book so this held my interest enough to make the next sale.
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