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RATING SYSTEM:
BUYING A BOOK If you would like to buy any of the books reviewed below, simply click on one of the links below the book cover or at the end of the review, which will take you to the book at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk, whichever you decide. There you will be able to purchase the book and I will get a certain amount back from it. Every book you buy will help me greatly. Thank you. |
SERENITY: THOSE LEFT BEHIND BY JOSS WHEDON: With the incredible DVDs sales and cult success of Firefly, as well as the popular movie Serenity, fans are always looking for something more, which is why they should pick up the beautiful new hardcover edition of Serenity: Those Left Behind. Originally released as a three-issue comic series to link up the end of the Firefly series with the Serenity movie, Those Left Behind features amazing artwork that makes it feel like you’re watching the show again.
This edition begins with a great introduction by Nathon Fillion (who played Captain Malcolm Reynolds) as he relives his childhood of reading comic books, how important they were to him, and what it was like to want to be a superhero; and how on the day that Joss Whedon cast him as Mal, he knew his dream had been achieved. Each of the covers from the original comics are shown at the beginning of each issue, making up the entire crew, as it is explained how Inara and Shepherd eventually chose to leave the ship, as well as another grand adventure involving the whole crew.
In this edition also is a true gem: a pre-production memo that Whedon wrote for the making of Serenity titled “A History of the Universe, Circa 2516 A.D.” Here we see Whedon’s ideas for where the characters came from, their histories, and what led up to them all being on the same ship. The history of the universe is also explained, with the creation of the Alliance and the rebels who fought for freedom. Also included is some original concept artwork for the movie.
Serenity: Those Left Behind is a wonderful graphic novel that goes much further than the story told in the original three-issue comic series, with incredible artwork, and gives fans and readers a sliver of hope that maybe, one day, there may be more to be told about Serenity and her special crew.
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STAR WARS: A POP-UP GUIDE TO THE GALAXY BY MATTHEW REINHART: In celebration of the 30th anniversary since the release of Star Wars, along with The Star Wars Vault, there is this true gem for all fans alike: Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy. You may be turned away by the term “pop-up,” thinking it something that applies only to children’s books and to be ignored, and I would tend to agree with you, except in this case! The Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy is the only pop-up book you will need to and ever want to own.
The thick but light book is divided into six double-spread pages. It does not tell the chronological story of Star Wars from episodes I-VI, but is instead more like a report from someone who traveled to this galaxy, far, far away, and came back to tell of what he or she saw and learned there. The copy on each page is detailed and complex. This is not for anyone (if there is anyone) who has yet to see Star Wars, for prior understanding is required, since on each page facts, stats, and details are thrown at you along with incredible colorful pictures that pop-out before your very eyes and almost become real.
To say there is just something for everyone would be like saying the Millennium Falcon could “probably” make the Kessel Run in maybe 12 parsecs. The most impressive tableau is the pop-up of a large Mos Eisley spaceport where our heroes Luke and Obi-Wan first met Han and Chewie. Organized in wonderfully complex 3D fashion, we see the familiar scene with different groups of people and lots of familiar faces, who are all explained. But whether you’re hoping some of the lesser known bounty hunters, like IG-88 and Bossk get mentioned; or whether Jabba the Hutt’s Desert Skiff can hover up to 50 meters and travel up to 250 kilometers per hour; or whether they remembered to mention the formidable but often forgotten Wedge Antilles; rest assured they are all recorded here.
And if that isn’t enough for you, why then you can turn to the last page where you will be greeted by Lord Darth Vader coming out at you with the scarred old man’s face beneath. After recovering from that, you turn to the fold-out panels either side of the black helmet which discuss Anakin Skywalker who became Darth Vader on the left and Luke Skywalker on the right. The key here is to open both at the same time, as each character pops out in miniature, each holding their familiar lightsabers which actually light up red and green.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com. Click HERE for Amazon.co.uk.
SWORD SONG: THE BATTLE FOR LONDON BY BERNARD CORNWELL: We last left Uhtred, in Lords of the North, apparently an ally with King Alfred, while the Vikings were making a very successful takeover of England, making it seem like there was little hope left for Alfred and his Saxon people. But Alfred has God on his side, and feels he will be ultimately victorious; Uhtred on the other hand, a pagan, cares little for this Christian religion, but is still a little unsure of where his allegiances lie.
While the first three of the Saxon Chronicles gave little hope and direction for Uhtred, in Sword Song, he has more to fight for with a wife and child, and another baby on the way. The old Roman town of London, an important one with its link to the Thames, has been taken over by the Vikings. If Alfred gives them London, Wessex is next and soon there will be little left to defend and England will be a Viking nation. So Alfred charges Uhtred with this great task to use the Saxon army, as well as his own loyal men, and take back London.
At this point Uhtred is an warrior and a great leader in a shield wall. But with the siege of London, he must mount an attack from the Thames, using ships and men. It will involve all his previous experience of battle, as well as appeasing both the Saxon army, and his own Northmen. His plan is to appear as an ally to the Vikings upon reaching London which, with his history, is a possibility, but then to spring the trap and take back the pivotal town. The question is whether Uhtred will live up to his side of the bargain, with his loyalty being challenged. Coupled with this is Aethelflæd, Alfred’s daughter, who has been recently kidnapped and is being held somewhere in London by a Viking lord; her life must be protected at all costs.
Sword Song jumps the bestselling series one big step forward, with this pivotal battle in the creation of the nation of England and its people. Ending on a cliffhanger, Cornwell skillfully leaves fans having to wait another whole year until they can get the next important chapter in the story of Alfred the Great.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com.Click HERE for Amazon.co.uk. 
THE BALL IS ROUND: A GLOBAL HISTORY OF SOCCER BY DAVID GOLDBLATT: The Ball is Round is possibly the most comprehensive and thorough book on the sport of football or soccer – depending on where you’re reading this from – ever compiled and written; weighing in at a smidge under a thousand pages, after reading it cover to cover you will be able to hold an argument with any well versed football hooligan on the planet, or have a discussion with any professional sportscaster. While David Goldblatt hasn’t much to his name, other than the Dorling Kindersley World Football Yearbook, The Ball is Round is an ideal book whether you consider yourself a soccer aficionado who knows everything there is to know, or whether your new to the sport and wish to satisfy a curiosity.
Goldblatt begins at the beginning with a somewhat brief but complete history of soccer, due to the lack of evidence on the subject. While he doesn’t necessarily say one specific country was the sole creator of the international sport, he does indicate that England was the first to play the closest relation to the modern day version. Nevertheless, it is an interesting look back at the different cultures that used a type of ball for sport, such as in China, where it would be bounced off the trunks of trees, or a simplified version that was played in the Americas involving not just feet, but hands and all parts of the body.
It is during the nineteenth century that football or soccer as we know came to be played and here Goldblatt outdoes him with the details of people, places and times, going up through the years and decades. Once passed the First World War, Goldblatt breaks it down even further, dividing the time periods by location, from Europe to Latin America to Africa. But the author doesn’t simply tell the complete history of soccer, but also relates to the importance of culture, economics, sociology, and anthropology. For a sport that has become so ingrained in so many societies for some time – such as countries like Spain and Italy and South America where it is the lifeblood – Goldblatt goes beyond just the sport, but extending it as a metaphor for the world, the ultimate uniter.
Twenty years in the making, Goldblatt traveled to many different places around the world for both research and inspiration. There is even a preface for the paperback edition where he discusses why soccer has not become as popular and prevalent a sport in the United States as it has in the rest of the world, explaining its completely different pacing, layout, and scoring system as opposed to the major American sports like baseball, football, and basketball. The Ball is Round literally has something for everyone, and with a thorough list of contents and index, along with some interesting photos, it’s also the ideal reference manual.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com. Click HERE for Amazon.co.uk.
THE COMPLETE CLIVE BARKER’S GREAT AND SECRET SHOW BY CHRIS RYALL AND GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ: After an incredible undertaking, with much conferring with the original creator Clive Barker, writer Chris Ryall and artist Gabriel Rodriguez have finally finished the complete story of the epic Great and Secret Show, now released in paperback in its complete form. With a brief but proud introduction from Barker, who has nothing but good and great to say about Ryall’s and Rodriguez’s work, and the hopes that they will do the same to the sequel, Everville; The Complete Clive Barker’s Great and Secret Show is a great tale the likes of which you will not read anywhere else, brought to life in beautiful graphic fashion.
Randolphe Jaffe is a loser who’s going nowhere fast, that is until he gets a job for the post office working in the dead letter room in Omaha, Nebraska – the nexus of the country where all lost and undeliverable mail ends up. Going through thousands of pieces of undelivered mail per day – money and everything of value is surrendered to his boss – he begins to find clues of an undiscovered power in existence beneath the realm of society. It takes time, but he puts the pieces together until he has a good idea of this power known as the Art, where he then receives a medallion, the very symbol of the Art. While it means little to him at first, he knows it is an important piece of the puzzle. Naturally, his boss wants the item and it is then that Jaffe takes the first step down his new path and kills the man in cold blood.
Collecting the important evidence together, with the medallion, he travels across America, living on the whim of the Art, letting it guide him where it will. Innocent bystanders are used by him, sensing the power of the Art and agreeing to whatever Jaffe tells them. It is in an alcohol- and drug-infused stupor that Jaffe conducts his pilgrimage into the desert and finds the Loop: a place out of time, and meets Kissoon, the last member of the Shoal. The Shoal was the group appointed to protect the Art. For the world is part of the Cosm, and beyond this is the Metacosm where the sea of Quiddity lies – a place visited by all when they are born, the night with their first love, and when they die – and within Quiddity lies the islands of Ephemeris, the dreamlands. More importantly at the far edge of the Metacosm lie the Iad Uroborus, a great evil that is always looking to consume the Cosm. The Art is a way of getting to Quiddity. Kissoon tells Jaffe that he must occupy his body so he can leave the Loop and defend the Cosm. Jaffe suspects otherwise and flees, embarking on his own mission of discovery with Richard Wesley Fletcher as they research the Art in its entirety. Fletcher soon discovers a liquid form of the Art known as nuncio, testing it first on a chimpanzee who becomes a human with the ability of speech and thought, known as Raul. The nuncio will force the being to the next evolutionary step, but Richard also knows if Jaffe were to use it, it would focus on his urges of murder and revenge, making him a monster. But it is too late, for Jaffe discovers the existence of the nuncio and in a fight both are infected by it and become higher beings – The Jaff and Fletcher.
And then a great war is fought in the skies of America between these two gods of power until they are spent and plunge into a lake in Palomo Grove, California. There they both rest until four unsuspecting girls go swimming and are inseminated by The Jaff and Fletcher to create offspring to continue their war while they regain their power. And so the town is irrevocably changed for ever as the four girls in becoming pregnant, give birth to the offspring of these deities. Only three survive: a son of Fletcher and twins of The Jaff, and it is when, years later, that Fletcher’s son and The Jaff’s daughter meet and fall in love at first sight that the gods are awakened and the town takes a turn for the worst. Using the life-force of a recent victim, The Jaff is able to regain his power and begin collecting minions that he calls terrata from the people of Palomo Grove, sucking out their souls and using their rage, evil and anger to fuel his creatures. Fletcher is left with the dregs and is barely able to leave the crevasse where the lake used to be and reveal what has happened to his son, then in a heroic effort, he gives up his life, spreading his power through the minds of the people of the town, who then have their dreams of meeting celebrities come true. These are the allies who must battle against the terrata in the mansion on the hill.
With help from a pulp reporter, Grillo, and his friend, Tesla, Fletcher’s son Howard with The Jaff’s daughter – who despises her creator – confront The Jaff and his son in the big showdown. Only the evil god takes it to a whole new level when he rips a hole in the fabric of reality with the power of the Art, opening a widening doorway to Quiddity. Soon everything in the room is being sucked into this other realm, with only The Jaff, Grillo and Tesla making it out of the room alive. As the rest of the world comes to comprehend the catastrophic events taking place in Palomo Grove and take notice, a decision must now be made with how to solve this whole horrible mess, as the Iad Uroborus are on their way at high speed to pass through this rip and take over the world. All creation and its people stand on a brink, and it is a question as to what can be done and whether the key players will be able to do it.
With this incredible story to tell, Ryall and Rodriguez have outdone themselves, bringing the people and places, the creatures and creations to life in a visual medium. As Barker says in his introduction: “This is no longer my Great and Secret Show . . . They’ve given life to my words.” For Barker fans, this is a wonderful adaptation to discover and enjoy; for non-Barker fans who enjoy the medium of the graphic novel, this is a perfect introduction to Barker’s incredible imagination, brought to life under the pen of Ryall and the brush of Rodriguez. The Complete Clive Barker’s Great and Secret Show is an incredible and fantastic journey that once discovered and begun, readers will be unable to stop until they reach the last glossy page.
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THE LANDMARK HERODOTUS EDITED BY ROBERT B. STRASSLER, TRANSLATED BY ANDREA L. PURVIS: Readers are living in a great age. Classical history through primary sources has never been so accessible, with the success of Robert Fagles’ translations of The Odyssey, The Iliad, and The Aeneid; Robert B. Strassler, editor of The Landmark Thucydides, now brings us The Landmark Herodotus. Translated by Andrea L. Purvis, with a introduction by Rosalind Thomas, The Landmark Herodotus is a hefty tome that will delight any historian or fan of Herodotus and the classical Greek period.
Called “the father of history” by Cicero, Herodotus was an Ionian Greek historian who lived in the fifth century BCE. In his Histories, he recounts the rise of the Persian Empire and its tumultuous war with the Greek city-states. Filled with insights into the unique geography and anthropology of the time, Herodotus also delves into the human psyche, exploring the importance of religion, the costs of war, the sacrifice of life, and what it meant to be a free and independent state.
What makes The Landmark Herodotus unique over any other translation of The Histories, is its encyclopedia of knowledge. The book begins with a comprehensive introduction of Herodotus and the period, leading to the editor’s preface, and seven pages listing the dates outlined in the text, where they take place, and a brief sentence on what is happening. Then The Histories begins in an almost conversational meter, making it very inviting and compelling to any reader whose background may be well versed in the period, or not at all. Split into “books,” each page is filled with footnotes and constant side notes that serve as reference points, as well as numerous maps detailing the events taking place, and where possible, photos showing the modern day reality of these renowned historical locations. As one completes The Histories, the book is not finished, as the appendices begin, twenty-one of them written by renowned scholars, informing the reader on topics such as Egypt, Persian Arms and Tactics, Scythia, the Spartan State, and Trireme Warfare, to name a few. Then there is a comprehensive glossary to help the reader with any terminology. Finally there is a hundred-page index that will bring any specific term, person, place or event immediately to their fingertips.
The Landmark Herodotus is not just a book, it’s a journey, a voyage into the history of ancient Greece and its war with the Persian Empire, as told by someone who, while not there at the time, lived in a period much closer to it than you or I. Questions will be answered, thoughts made, and wonders discovered. Upon completing the book, the reader will feel compelled to travel to Greece to see these ancient sites with their own eyes, and in their hands will be The Landmark Herodotus, as the invaluable reference that it is.
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BOEING VERSUS AIRBUS: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE GREATEST INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION IN BUSINESS BY JOHN NEWHOUSE: John Newhouse, who covered foreign policy for The New Yorker from the 1980s through the early 1990s, and is the author of eight other books including Imperial America and Europe Adrift, brings a seminal work of business history in Boeing Versus Airbus. This is the short but complete story of the two airplane-developing giants, their history, their rises and falls, and where they stand in the twenty-first century.
Boeing is the more recognized name, based in Seattle, Washington, an example of what it takes to be a big and successful company in the United States. With the development of commercial aircraft, Boeing was early on the scene, and with some brilliant business strategies and a constantly developing technology, was able to seize the market and become the mainstay for aircraft development, leaving the leftovers for Airbus, the European aircraft development company, and the other US company, McDonnell-Douglas. With its constant development of bigger and better planes, culminating with the 747 – the most successful plane ever – the company remained on top for some time through the seventies and eighties; it seemed there was nothing they could do wrong, and Boeing felt entitled to this.
Airbus began small, a conglomerate of European countries including France, Germany, Britain, and Spain, and lacking in a business drive they were soon passed by Boeing in the entrepreneurial world of aircraft development and sales. Nevertheless, they kept going, continuing to develop new planes and trying to keep up with Boeing, trying to make that one plane that would be better, more efficient than what Boeing had on the market, and finally turn the tables. In the late eighties, going into the nineties, this is essentially what happened with the development of the ever popular A340. Coupled with this development of a successful aircraft that airlines wanted to use, was the aforementioned arrogance of Boeing in assuming they were always going to be on top, and when the company changed CEOs and business models, things started to go south for Boeing, and for the first time Airbus was a name to be reckoned with.
In the mid to late nineties, the future seemed hopeful for Airbus. Boeing had countered with some restrategizing and the development of the more spacious and organized 777. And then Airbus unveiled its secret weapon: the A380, known as a Superjumbo, the first double-decker commercial airplane. It was going to change the world, travel further than before, and with more people; orders were pouring in. And then the delays began, first technological ones, as development wasn’t moving fast enough, then some bad business decisions were made and the A380 still has yet to make it first commercial flight for an airline. Airbus hopes for this to change come late summer 2008. Meanwhile Boeing has its own secret weapon, the 787, which has been referred to and now be branded as the “787 Dreamliner,” and is scheduled to begin service in May, 2008. While the future for Airbus is not so good, and Boeing has regained its hold in the airline industry; the future still has a lot to offer this business giants.
While Newhouse’s writing style seemed like it needed some editing, with a repetition of facts already revealed throughout the book, the forced use of occasional quotes, and the somewhat lacking of direction in chapters, Boeing Versus Airbus is nevertheless a fascinating read written in a simple style that anyone can understand and appreciate.
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BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: LONG WAY HOME BY JOSS WHEDON, ET. AL.: For Buffy fans who felt that when the show ended there was still more to be said about the Buffyverse, writer and creator Joss Whedon thankfully has turned to something else he does just as well as TV: comic books. With the first trade of what is officially being called “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight” now out, it is clear that there is still much to be told by Whedon about Buffy and her friends.
Little time has past since the town of Sunnydale was turned into a giant crater. While there was originally one Chosen One, there is now a veritable army of “slayerettes” in training to be as good as the real thing. There are also two doppelgangers of Buffy, one in Rome and one literally underground in a different world, each intended to distract any enemies from the real Buffy. But at the same time there’s a secret government group – not the Initiative – which feels that the world isn’t safe when there’s such a powerful slayer on the loose, and with some help from some of Buffy’s old enemies, they intend to put an end to her once and for all. There’s also a strange symbol that keeps showing up, indicating something much larger and more sinister going on.
Long Way Home features some beautiful artwork, giving life to characters that many fans thought were done with; the trade also has full pages of the alternate covers from the first five issues. It’s the introduction to what looks to be a long series in the continuing story of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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DREAMSONGS VOLUME II BY GEORGE R. R. MARTN: In this second and final volume of George R. R. Martin’s short works, readers are treated to his writings of the 1980’s leading up to the 90s when his career took off with the eventual success of his Song of Ice and Fire series. It in this collection that we learn more of Martin’s dabbling into television and screenwriting, as well his exploits into the world of Dungeons & Dragons.
Divided into four parts, the first covers two stories involving Martin’s eccentric character Haviland Tuf, an animal seller, who is the last surviving member of the ancient and defunct Ecological Group. Tuf with his menagerie travel the universe in The Ark, a ship that is many miles in length. All stories involving Tuf were eventually collected and published in a book, Tuf Voyaging, which Martin recommends fans seek out to read more about the redoubtable Tuf, but they must seek the used and out-of-print stores to find a copy.
The second part covers Martin’s trip into screenwriting, specifically for TV shows. Two shows that Martin worked on were the 1980s incarnation of The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast. Scripts for two episodes of The Twilight Zone: “The Road Less Traveled,” and “Doorways” are included here. While this was essentially the end for Martin’s involvement in TV, he is quick to point out that he learned greatly from it. It was just one of the stepping stones that led to the creation of his epic fantasy series, still some years away.
In the third section, Martin discusses the surprising success of the Wild Cards series, which began with role-playing games amongst a group of writers – including Martin – when he moved to Santa Fe. The worlds, ideas and set-ups created for the different games were the impetus for the Wild Cards series which is still doing very well and now has its own website at http://www.wildcardsbooks.com/.
In the fourth and final part, Martin leads up to the start of his epic series with some popular stories along the way, as well as including the novella The Hedge Knight set ten years before the start of the series. And for those hardcore fans, at the end there is an exhaustive and comprehensive listing of all George R. R. Martin’s works, should one feel the compunction to read absolutely everything the man has ever written.
While the completion and release date for the fifth Song of Ice and Fire book, A Dance With Dragons, is still a distant and unknown destination, the Dreamsongs series can lead one on tangents into Martin’s other writings, eventually bringing them full circle when A Dance With Dragons is finally released.
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DUMA KEY BY STEPHEN KING: Most Stephen King fans will admit that the last couple of novels by the international bestselling author, while selling well, have been somewhat lacking coming from the renowned horror writer; one might even go so far as to use the term “mediocre,” and don’t get me started on Cell. Thankfully, with the arrival of Duma Key, the slate has been wiped clean and the master of horror is back! King’s first novel set in his alternate home of Florida weighs in at over six hundred pages, and while it reveals a more laid-back and matured author, with the terrifying days of The Tommyknockers and It perhaps over; Duma Key is nevertheless an incredibly well written novel with some wonderfully deep and complex characters, and a world that is just as complicated but in many more ways real.
Enter Edgar Freemantle. An entrepreneur who started a construction company and developed it into a multi-million dollar business; loving husband of two adult daughters; until he is involved in a freak on-site accident that should’ve killed him, but leaves him missing his right arm, a couple of slowly healing broken ribs, and a damaged mind that results in outbursts of anger and violence. The strain becomes too great and Freemantle’s marriage falls apart, leaving him an angry, empty shell. Seeking escape, he leases a beautiful house on the island of Duma Key. While watching the breathtaking sunsets, Freemantle decides to try his hand at some artwork, having sketched a little throughout his life. He discovers the more he works, the better he gets, soon switching to paints and canvasses; he also discovers that painting satisfies the seemingly insatiable itch in his missing right arm. Freemantle’s work is of the sunsets and the beautiful coastline, along with the occasional abstract object added in to offset it; he is eventually tagged as an American Primitive, but as more and more people discover his work, they are amazed by it and at his first gallery showing all works listed for sale are sold.
But beneath the art, there is a sinister plot at work, because this is after all a Stephen King novel. Freemantle discovers a psychic ability in his work, painting items he should know nothing about, as well as the eventual power to paint events that come to fruition: whether it be the restoring of blindness, or the forced suicide of a serial killer. And then there’s something wrong with the sold paintings: death follows them. The plot thickens, deepens, and becomes darker as the enigmatic history of Duma Key is discovered. It seems Freemantle isn’t the only person in its history to come to the island with a fragile mind and a special ability expressed through art. Then there’s the south side of the island which has become an overgrown and seemingly impenetrable jungle. The last time Freemantle and his daughter, Ilse, took a trip headed in that direction, Ilse immediately felt nauseous and horrible sick, while Freemantle felt the insatiable familiar itch that grew to an unstoppable buzzing; upon driving back north, they mysteriously found their ailments disappearing. Clearly something evil and powerful doesn’t want them getting to the south of the island.
Duma Key is not just a novel for the fans, but a cathartic response from King over his near-death accident in 1999; no doubt he relived his agonizing recovery while writing about Freemantle, and yet it is because of this firsthand experience, that Duma Key feels much more personal and empathetic. Also being King’s first foray into his new sometime Florida home, one might think his fellow Floridians a little unhappy on this introduction, or being Stephen King, they may feel the opposite and expect this. Regardless, Duma Key is a welcome return of the great horror writer, with an extra development of character and setting that King seems to have discovered in his later years, making this book one of his best, and one of my personal favorites.
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GOD’S CRUCIBLE BY DAVID LEVERING LEWIS: In a time when our involvement in the Middle East seems almost certain to last for the rest of our lives, it is now more important than ever to understand why. The Middle East is still a very misunderstood place, with a deep and complex history that many haven’t an inkling about; a history without which the knowledge and existence of many modern day marvels like medicine, mathematics, astronomy, classical literature would be severely retarded. God’s Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215 by David Levering Lewis, a professor at New York University, is a book that takes you back to the very beginning of Islam, and the specific instances that led to its creation.
Lewis begins with the fall and breaking apart of the Roman Empire, and how the western known world went from a seemingly unstoppable empire to crumbling and dividing countries. Lewis sets the stage with the western chunk of the Roman Empire being overrun by invading barbarian hordes, and the more successful eastern part consisting of Byzantium and nearby Persia. Coupled with the growth and growing interest in the Christian and Jewish religions, along with the less popular Zoroastrian beliefs, as well as other smaller cults, the Middle East seems set for a new prophet. Much like Jesus, or any prophet in the religions of the world, from the beginning they are rarely seen as the great, world-altering people that they are, and Lewis is clear to point out such is the case with Muhammad. It is a fascinating look into a religion and culture that has captivated and converted the hearts and minds of a considerable number of the world population.
With Muhammad, along with the Qu’uran, firmly on the path of the growing faith of Islam, Lewis goes into detail with the genesis of the Muslim Empire, as it sweeps across the western world country by country, converting and conquering, ruthless in its unstoppable pace. All the important battles and places show themselves in God’s Crucible, and Lewis does a good job of providing a quick history lesson with each “people” that the Muslim army faces in its conquering, but fails somewhat in going into depth about the complex culture of Islam and the Muslim Empire as it grew and developed over the centuries, focusing more on the important battles, and its winners and losers. Nevertheless, God’s Crucible is a very important book in our current world, which at the very least will give one some answers to the status quo.
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MARCO POLO: FROM VENICE TO XANADU BY LAURENCE BERGREEN: Laurence Bergreen, whose last book, Over the Edge of the World, charted Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world, returns with a fresh and thorough biography on the remarkable and renowned thirteenth century traveler, Marco Polo. Marco Polo begins in a style that is becoming modern with biographies such as Caroline Alexander’s Bounty, near the end of Marco Polo’s life when he is a renowned traveler of noble stature and wealth; this makes the return to Polo’s younger life as an inexperienced person all the more poignant.
Marco Polo was not the first to feel the urge and thrill to travel the world; it was an experience and almost expectation instilled within his family for some time. At the age of seventeen, barely a man, Marco Polo began his first journey with his father Niccolo and uncle Maffeo bound for the court of Kublai Khan in 1271. While the focus of the book is on Polo’s time spent with the Great Khan, Bergreen spends time details sights and experiences on the Polos’ travels across the known world to China where Marco became a personal advisor to Kublai Khan in 1275. Marco then spent almost twenty years in service to the Khan, traveling the many surrounding countries and gathering intelligence and acting as a tax collector for the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty. It is here that we see through Marco’s eyes and how he views this world that is greatly different to the one he was used to in Venice: from Asbestos manufacture, to crocodile hunting, to the sexual habits of the different peoples; the practice of offering up one’s wife to passing travelers was one that greatly perplexed and put Marco ill at ease.
While the book does cover Marco Polo’s life, Bergreen seems almost hesitant to offer commentary of opinion on the Polo’s habits, ideas, and reactions. Nevertheless, Marco Polo is a fascinating read into the life of the often misunderstood Venetian.
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WIZARD’S FIRST RULE, SWORD OF TRUTH BOOK 1BY TERRY GOODKIND: While Goodkind’s first book in his now complete 11-book Sword of Truth series begins with an eerie thorn bush that sends its thorns burrowing beneath your skin as if they were alive which immediately grabs the reader’s attention and interest, Wizard’s First Rule is a classic first epic fantasy novel that sets the stage for a great series.
Richard Cypher is your classic, innocent, ordinary guy who has grown up in a simple family with a relatively simple life. His mother died when he was younger, but his father has supported him and his brother since then. Early on, the reader learns that his father has died mysteriously, to the point where he may have been murdered. Then he meets a woman, Kahlan, fleeing for her life from four men who he helps her to kill. The woman is very beautiful and Richard is immediately smitten with her. When Kahlan meets Richard’s good old friend, Zedd, there is a strange connection between them, as if they know who and what each of them are.
It is then that the story begins to unfold. Zedd is a powerful wizard who has been in hiding for some time. Kahlan is what is known as a Confessor, a woman with the ability to “touch” someone and make them become obsessed with the Confessor and will do whatever they are told. And then the decision is made by Zedd that Richard Cypher is to be the Seeker and bearer of the mighty Sword of Truth. There is an evil man in the far east, Darken Rahl who is taking over, killing many, and looking to control all the known world. It is up to Richard, with the help of Kahlan and Zedd, too stop him.
From this description, Wizard’s First Rule seems like any ordinary fantasy series, where Richard is a Frodo-type or a Rand-type from Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. And yet there is a startling harshness to this series, it is a gruesome world, there is sex and lust, unlike that of Jordan’s or Tolkien’s worlds. It shocks the reader, but keeps them reading, wanting to know what will happen next.
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THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2007 EDITED BY STEPHEN KING: International bestselling author Stephen King takes the stage with a different kind of performance: instead of being the creator and writer, he is the director, selected as the editor for the 2007 edition of the ever popular Best American Short Stories series. But don’t pick this book up expecting to find blood and gore, or a sense of horror and a feeling of terror that you are more used to when reading the editor’s own work; in this collection, King has select works he finds most fascinating, the stories that “make his blood curdle” but in an emotional and moving way, as opposed to a terrified one. Nevertheless, this collection has something to offer everyone, with twenty unique stories that were selected and deemed the best during the year 2006 by Stephen King and Best American Series ongoing editor, Heidi Pitlor.
King kicks off the collection with his own entertaining introduction, as he sets the scene for his discovering these special stories: bending down, ass in the air, going through the dusty and ignored journals shelf of a big-chain bookstore in Florida, and then making his way to the surprised cashier with this mighty pile of rarely bought materials. While it is humorous, King is making the clear point here that short stories are in some ways a dying art, for they are not being read by many, and in most cases, simply by other writers. And yet it is a crucial stepping stone for many aspiring writers. King sets out to show to the reader that while there were a lot of mediocre and not so good stories published in 2006, there were also some great ones, appearing in this collection, showing that the art of writing short stories is still alive and well.
The 2007 collection features stories by well known authors like John Barth, T. C. Boyle, Alice Munro and Richard Russo, to name a few. Here there are stories about everything, satisfying every reader’s taste in some way, whether it be “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” which is exactly what it sounds like; to an enchanting and memorable Lolitaesque story about an Olympic swimmer and a young girl with Polio who have a love a fair set with the backdrop of the 1918 flu epidemic in Lauren Groff’s “L DeBard and Aliette: A Love Story”; to “My Brother Eli” by Joseph Epstein featuring a famous writer who can never accept that he has done what he set out to achieve; to the wonderfully haunting “Sans Farine” by Jim Shepard, where the history and invention of the guillotine is revealed in gruesome detail while the French Revolution spirals out of control.
The beauty of a short story collection such as this is that with so much good material, if one is not immediately satisfied, one can just skip to the next story; and by the same token one can also slowly read and savor each story. Stephen King has certainly shown that he has some interesting and appreciative reading habits, proving his job as a good editor for today’s short stories. The Best American Short Stories 2007 is an ideal gift for anyone who has read all of Stephen King and wants something different, or simply loves to read books for what they are: an escape from reality into a world of the fantastic.
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DREAMSONGS VOLUME I BY GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: The two great mysteries of this world are when scientists will come up with a unification theory for quantum mechanics and relativity, and when George R. R. Martin will release the very long-awaited fifth book in his “Song of Ice and Fire” series, A Dance With Dragons. With a hopeful but doubtful release some time next year, for the time being there is thankfully Dreamsongs, a two-volume collection featuring George R. R. Martin’s short stories and novellas spanning his career.
This first volume is split into five parts, separating periods of Martin’s life from the sixties and on through the seventies. At the beginning of each part, Martin gives an introduction, telling his life story at this particular moment, and what were the circumstances that led up to each particularly story and how they were published. He begins from the beginning, writing and publishing at a young age, when one would expect the work to be simple and undeveloped, and yet it is clear that George R. R. Martin was a talented writer from the start. In each story are unique and memorable characters that stick with the reader long after the story is over. In “The Exit to San Breta,” the main character is driving his classic, ancient Jaguar along the old and disused freeways of North America. It is on a particular road in Arizona that he runs into an even more ancient Edsel in incredible condition riding a perfectly flat and unblemished road. Soon he becomes part of a horrific haunting accident set to continuously play itself out for all eternity.
In Martin’s science fiction, he establishes himself in a unique way, using the same world each time, but different planets, an distinct plot, and unforgettable characters that just add much more meaning to the story. In the last two parts, Martin reveals his love for first fantasy and his development as a fantasy writer, and finally as a horror writer. His most well-known story that won him the most prestigious science fiction awards involves a combination of these genres, in “Sandkings.” Kress is a collector of the unusual, whatever the cost, until the day he buys a terrarium of sandkings: small insect-like creatures that form alliances and coalitions, fight wars over land and food, live in peace when able; even worshiping their owner, if he feeds them and takes good care of them. Kress seeks to control and make them his playthings, until they become too intelligent and powerful, breaking free of the terrarium, increasing in size, until Kress has no form of escape.
In this first collection, one sees where the writer George R. R. Martin came from, and what events and stories led him to becoming an important writer in the growing science fiction genre, the barely-begun fantasy genre, and the growing popularity of the horror genre. It is in these stories that one sees the beginning characters and story complexities that would later lead to the epic “Song of Ice and Fire” series. In Dreamsongs Volume I, Martin confesses that he would never be able to write as well as one of his childhood idols, J. R. R. Tolkien, and yet has now been labeled as the “American Tolkien” of our time. Clearly, Martin is destined to become one of the most important fantasy (as well as science fiction and horror) writers of our time.
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GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD: A TALE OF ADVENTURE BY MICHAEL CHABON, ILLUSTRATED BY GARY GIANNI: Michael Chabon fans are in for a treat this year with a second novel from the bestselling author of The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and now The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. Originally serialized in The New York Times over 2006 and 2007, each issue is now collected in a small and wonderfully designed edition, with illustrations by Gary Gianni, artist of the syndicated newspaper strip Prince Valiant.
This is the unlikely tale of Zelikman, a Jewish, tall, thin physician from the distant Frankish lands, most noticeable for his long blond hair; and Amram, a giant of a man from the distant land of Abyssinia who incites fear in all who gaze upon him, and yet possesses a calculating mind. The time is circa A.D. 950. This entertaining duo are out to make a quick amount of gold through almost any means necessary. They go where the pathways of the world take them, for they are gentlemen of the road.
After befriending a mysterious person known as Filaq, who turns out to be the unlikable heir of the recently deposed war king of the Khazars, they found themselves caught in larger invents involving war and the overthrowing of monarchies and the taking of nations. Balanced with some jocular humor and written in the author’s unique style: “A plume of dust half a mile tall moved against the southern sky, slow and menacing, a quill scribing oaths of rebellion along the shores of the Khazar Sea”; and Chabon originally wanting to name the book “Jews With Swords,” Gentlemen the Men is a quick but thoughtful read that recalls the days of high adventure.
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MISTER B. GONE BY CLIVER BARKER: The moment you pick up this book, you know you’re in for a treat. It’s small and compact, inviting, around 200 pages long. On the front black cover is the title in Gothic type: Mister B. Gone, with Clive Barker carved in rough letters beneath. Between the two lines is a strange pictograph making one curious and interested. On the back is the same symbol and not another word. Turn the cover and there is a strange marble page design, which kind of looks like a webbing of veins and arteries, followed by two title pages, then the book begins with these words: “BURN THIS BOOK.”
Bestselling author Clive Barker hasn’t released a book in some time, and is currently in the middle of his four-book Abarat series, as well as the third book in the Art trilogy due sometime this decade. And yet the concept for Mister B. Gone suddenly occurred to Barker one day and he was supposedly unable to do anything else until he got this book out of his head.
The is a book about a demon. In fact, it’s a book written by a demon; it’s his story, because he’s trapped in the book. He has but one request for the reader: to burn the book and free the demon by killing it, presumably sending it back to the ninth level of hell. His name is Jakabok Botch, and as he continuously tries to convince the reader to burn the book, he reveals more of his life story.
It is the sixteenth century, and when the demon is trapped and scooped from the ninth level of hell to the surface by a group of people looking to make a profit from selling demon skins, Jakabok’s adventure begins. He soon befriends another demon, Quitoon, of a much greater size and power than him, and their friendship lasts over a hundred years, as they spend their time terrorizing and demonizing the world. The story builds and builds to a crescendo involving Joahnnes Gutenberg and the invention of his revolutionizing printing press which will irrevocably change the world.
While Mister B. Gone lacks the depth, development and sheer incredulity that one is used to with Barker’s work, it is nevertheless a great little horror story. And each time Jakabok threatens on the page that he is coming up behind you with a knife, the reader can’t help but reflexively stop and look behind them.
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20TH CENTURY GHOSTS BY JOE HILL: The first time you pick up the hardcover copy of 20th Century Ghosts, you know you’re in for a treat. The book is cloth-bound in darkest black, sans dust jacket, with a sticker on the front listing the title and author, along with a haunting black and white photograph. As one opens the cover, one is greeted by a dried blood-red inlay, followed by the white pages of writing. It is almost as if one is opening a black and bloody wound to read what Joe Hill has to offer.
20th Century Ghosts is a short story collection of modern horror, revealing what else has been going on in the mind of the author who brought us the bestselling Heart-Shaped Box. Originally released in hardcover two years ago in England, Joe Hill fans will be happy to have this beautiful hardcover edition available at the more affordable price than the out-of-print edition only available on the likes of eBay.
With a quick introduction from Christopher Golden, author of The Myth Hunters and Strangewood, the collection kicks of with a chilling story titled “Best New Horror.” It is about an editor of the annual Best New Horror collection who is sent a fresh and disturbing story for the next edition, featuring a level of the macabre and disgust that he hasn’t seen in a long time. The editor seeks out the author and finds himself in his very own horrific story on a level with that of the one that so entranced him. The title story, “20th Century Ghost,” is a classic modern-day ghost story about an old movie theater that is being haunted by a young girl who loved to watch movies until she died suddenly one day at the theater. Now she returns every once in a while to engage a movie viewer in chilling conversation.
From there Hill takes the reader on a journey into different kinds of horror. A man in a Kafkaesque world awakes as a giant cockroach. A young boy is kidnapped by a terrifying hulk of a man who admits he won’t hurt him, but simply wants to watch him. A short and enchanting tale about the ghosts of trees. The fascinating story about a boy who can fly whenever he wears his childhood cape. Not all stories are of the horror variety, but more the mundane and yet still able to move the reader. “Pop Art” is the incredible and yet strangely enchanting story about a world where some people are “inflatable,” composed of little more tan plastic and air and must be careful not to get caught on anything sharp, or they will deflate and die. It is a moving story about a boy and his relationship with one of these inflatable people. A considerable number of the stories in 20th Century Ghosts involve children, specifically young boys. Perhaps Hill is turning to his own childhood imagination, or maybe he feels that childhood is a time when the imagination is most creative and easily convinced, even if the demons and monsters that are imagined are actually real.
While Heart-Shaped Box was not as great a book as I’d hoped, 20th Century Ghosts has convinced me that Joe Hill is an entertaining and talented new horror writer, who is still working somewhat in the style of his father’s, Stephen King, but as time passes and more stories and books are written and published, he will no doubt become one of the most popular and most interesting of today’s horror writers. I look forward to reading his next work.
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FROM THE DUST RETURNED BY RAY BRADBURY: Ray Bradbury’s “other” Halloween book, From the Dust Returned, is over some fifty years in the making, beginning as a spark from a single story in his early twenties that he would continue to add on throughout his career. This spark of a first story, “Homecoming,” was originally published in Mademoiselle magazine and featured unique artwork (which is here reproduced on the cover of the book) by a then relatively unknown artist by the name of Charles Addams.
In the style of his Martian Chronicles, this book feels very much like a collection of stories that are linked together through the characters, as well as specific chapters that provide the cement, binding them all together. From the Dust Returned consists of a most unique haunted house where the dead that unite and meet there are of all the same family, with exotic and incredible names like Cecy, Uncle Einar, and A Thousand Times Great Grandmére. Cecy is a unique corpse of a woman who spends her times in the dust dunes in the attic, sending her soul and spirit out into the world to occupy and experience anything and everything, whether it be a drop of rainwater on a rock, a young lover’s heart, or a giant eagle flying across the sky. Uncle Einar is a special uncle with thin veiny wings that allow him to take flight like a giant bird and travel wherever he pleases. And A Thousand Times Great Grandmére, who has existed in her decrepit state for many thousands of years has stories and experiences to tell that make everything else seem short lived and mundane. And then there are many more brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces from all over the world who come to visit.
The main character, a young boy called Timothy, is also unique compared to the family for he is an ordinary human boy who is left as a babe in a basket on the doorstep of this doomed mansion, and is raised in this very strange family. But with his humanity, he has a different viewpoint, and his job is to record the stories and experiences of these most strange and unusual family members.
While From the Dust Returned seems to unravel a little sometimes, with some stories going on tangents that never quite return to the coherent plot, there are gems in this book that are unlike any other I have read. Along with The Halloween Tree, it is a perfect book to be read, and to read aloud, around and during Halloween.
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THE HALLOWEEN TREE BY RAY BRADBURY: I read this book every October because it’s the perfect Halloween book. It’s taken me a couple of readings, but I now finally realize that The Halloween Tree is the equivalent for Halloween what A Christmas Carol is for Christmas: an enchanting journey into the history of Halloween where one leans much and is changed by it.
A group of eight boys are on their way out to trick or treat on Halloween, all in different costumes – skeleton, mummy, gargoyle, etc. – and head over to the final friend’s house, Pipkin. Pipkin is sick, doesn’t look well at all, but is essentially the leader of the group and has never missed a Halloween, so he tells them to go on ahead to a specific house and he will catch up with them.
The house turns out to be the quintessential Halloween mansion, with many rooms and black windows. Beside the mansion they find a great and ancient oak with many branches and hanging from those branches are many carved pumpkins, swinging in the breeze. This is the Halloween tree, and as the boys watch, each of the pumpkins light up. At the door they ask for trick or treat, and the man on the other side tells them not treat, but trick. Terrifyingly, he appears from a pile of leaves. He is tall. He is skeletal. He is Mr. Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud.
After the boys get over the initial terror, they are invited on a journey by Mr. Moundshroud. They see Pipkin being taken into the past, weakened by his sickness, and it is up to Moundshroud and the boys to rescue Pipkin from time. And so the boys begin their journey, forming the tail of a giant kite controlled by Moundshroud and they pass back through time and visit the Halloweens of history: Ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece, medieval Britain, Notre Dame, and El Dia de Los Muertos.
It is an incredible story where one learns the history of Halloween seen through the eyes of many different cultures, told in the unique style of Ray Bradbury. Afterwards you will feel as if you’ve actually experienced many different Halloweens and be all the more ready to experience your own on October 31st.
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SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT: A NEW VERSE TRANSLATION TRANSLATED BY SIMON ARMITAGE: In February of 2000, renowned poet Seamus Heaney published a new verse translation of the classic anonymous epic poem “Beowulf.” While not a complete literal translation, Heaney’s version set out to emulate the poetic style and meter of the original writers of the poem. “Beowulf” was first committed to parchment around the year 1000, up to then it had only existed as a oral poem recited to friends, families and subjects over fires, in mead halls, and by bards to many people. Heaney’s translation seeks to be this version, to be read aloud to people and appreciated in its original form. Heaney’s Beowulf, in a bilingual edition with the original Old English verse on the left page and his translation on the right, has gone on to become the most popular translation; selected as the version for the Norton English Literature anthology; and has been made more accessible to ordinary readers who don’t have a background in medieval literature.
“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is a poem much like “Beowulf.” While not as epic in scale, it was likely first written down in the year 1400 and up to that point had been recited orally. It has survived in only one form, in the original early Middle English, and now resides at the British Library. Simon Armitage, like Heaney, has employed the use of the bilingual edition, with the original Middle English on the left page and his translation on the right, allowing the reader’s eyes to wander from left to right and right to left, examining the translation and enjoying the story. If anything, the translation is more visible with this version, as Middle English is just a few steps away from our modern language and many words can be easily recognized, even if the spelling is barely decipherable. Armitage admits not going for a completely literal translation, but seeking to preserve the alliterative form of the original poem, even if it means using modern words and phrasing. The result is nevertheless a magnificent story which one reads, imagining what it was like being read or reading this poem aloud over six hundred years ago.
The story begins with King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, as they enjoy a marvelous feast in each other’s company. Then the party is suddenly disturbed by the entrance of a giant man dressed in a full suit of green armor; by his side he carries a gigantic axe. He then challenges King Arthur with the offer for anyone to chop off his own head with the giant axe. If he survives, then the person will return to the Green Knight’s abode to suffer the same fate in one year’s time. Gawain being the just, proud and humble knight that he is offers to do this job for his king. Taking the axe he makes a mighty swing and easily separates the Green Knight’s head from his shoulders. The Green Knight then picks up his head and makes the deal with Gawain to do the same to him on New Year’s Day one year from now.
This essentially ends the first part of the poem, with the second part focusing on Gawain’s journey across the lands to find the Green Knight’s home. On the way he finds a great castle where a gracious king looks after him during the terrible weather. Yet, like the Green Knight, the king challenges him, offering to go hunting each morning, while his wife offers herself to Gawain, tempting him. The deal is that whatever Gawain does, shall be dealt to the king upon his return from the hunt. They do this for three days, but Gawain is pious and just, and does not give in to the king’s wife, giving the king just kisses upon his cheek. The challenge certainly opens up an opportunity for some interesting interactions between Gawain and the king should Gawain have not been so just, but such was not the case. The last part of the story is of Gawain leaving the castle, finding the Green Knight and accepting the challenge visited on him a year ago.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, again much like Beowulf, has now been translated in this clear and alliterative version, making it accessible to any reader. Apart from being an entertaining tale, it asks many questions about what it is to be just and true to your king, how easy it is to be tempted. With a solid introduction from Armitage on the history of the poem, the book sets the scene well, letting the reader imagine what life was like in the fifteenth century, and more importantly, what the people were like back then.
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NOW AND FOREVER: SOMEWHERE A BAND IS PLAYING & LEVIATHAN ’99 BY RAY BRADBURY: Now and Forever, the latest book from one of the best writers of our time, Ray Bradbury brings together two novellas that have never been published in book form before. While the two have little in common, they show two sides to Bradbury’s incredible imagination, giving you a taste of his greatness as a writer and story teller.
The first novella, Somewhere a Band is Playing, opens with the main character, James Cardiff, getting off a train that barely stops at a tiny station in the middle of nowhere. But there is something special about Summerton, Arizona that makes Cardiff immediately fall in love with it. As he enters the town and meets the first person, in the background is the quiet sound of a band playing. In Summerton Cardiff discovers a quiet peaceful place where one could settle down and feel very much at ease. But the longer he spends there, the more mysterious it becomes. He soon discovers that there are no children here, no one under twenty for that matter, that everyone is an adult, many of them old. Cardiff then notices that there are no schools; that it seems like there have never been any children here. Also that there are no hospitals or apparently any doctors, that people simply don’t get sick here. He finally finds the cemetery but discovers that it is little more than a prop, serving no purpose except to reassure visitors that it exists. Cardiff finally forces a confession out of the beautiful woman he has befriended who tells him what is going on and what is the true meaning behind Summerton, Arizona. It is a story that defies belief, and yet makes so much sense.
While the first novella is a masterpiece in its own way, the second, Leviathan ’99, is one also, but in a totally different manner. It is the year 2099 and the story is Moby-Dick, except characters names are different – of course, not Ishmael – and the ship does not travel across the ocean in search of a white whale, but across the darkness of space in search of the white meteor that has been plowing through galaxies. The characters of Captain Ahab and Queequeg exist here with different names and are also alien beings. Bradbury outdoes himself here by not only distilling the story of Moby-Dick into a hundred-page novella, but by perfectly imitating the pacing, language and feel of Moby-Dick in his story with the characters’ thoughts and actions.
Now and Forever is a collection of two incredible stories that serve as a perfect introduction to the greatness of Ray Bradbury, not just one of the greatest science fiction writers of our time, but one of the greatest story tellers.
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WEAVEWORLD BY CLIVE BARKER: A relatively early book in Clive Barker’s career when he was still living in England, it is set within his hometown of Liverpool. Starting out seemingly normal with normal people, it immediately jumps to the mundane and insane. Weaveworld is a book that will delight, appall, horrify, and leave you thinking about the meaning of place and belonging somewhere.
The main character, Cal Mooney, is a person going nowhere fast in a dead-end job, until he comes into contact with this large rolled up carpet that is being moved from a house. Gazing into its intricate patterns, he sees more at work here, and discovers paradise for the first time. As the book develops and more characters are added, he discovers that the magically collected designs within the carpet is what is known as The Fugue: an ancient civilization and people who have lived since the beginning of existence but over time, after cohabiting with humanity, have lost numbers and suffered destruction. Over a hundred years ago The Fugue, using magic, picked the best pieces of their world and their people and wrapped themselves into the design of the carpet, safe and protected, until they will have a safer place to live in the future. Guardians were appointed over time to protect The Fugue, but now they are all gone. The Fugue’s greatest enemy, The Scourge, was a menace while they were living in the world, but now lies dormant while they are in the carpet. That is until they are freed and begin to change the world around them; old enemies come out of the woodwork, and Mooney, along with the daughter of one of the guardians, Suzanna Parish, must work to protect and save The Fugue before it is too late. While not every question is fully answered, or every problem resolved, the book is still an incredible journey.
If you haven’t read Clive Barker before, Weaveworld is the perfect introductory novel to his language, his incredible imagination, and horrors you never thought possible.
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THE DARK RIVER BY JOHN TWELVE HAWKS: John Twelve Hawks returns with The Dark River, the second of the trilogy, after The Traveler, in the Fourth Realm series. We last left off with Gabriel on the run from the Tabula with his Harlequin, Maya, having just sabotaged the Tabula’s quantum computer system which was part of the Virtual Panopticon: the Tabula’s effort to create a worldwide system to watch and know what everyone is doing all the time. The Dark River continues the story of this dystopia in our near future as the Traveler fights for survival while the Tabula fights for domination.
The Traveler is a person who can travel to another realm, learning from these others worlds, he or she returns with a heightened knowledge that they can pass onto others. They have existed for millennia; many famous people in history are believed to have been Travelers, including Jesus Christ. Then there is the Brethren, or the Tabula as they are known to Travelers, who are out to kill all the Travelers and have done so since the beginning. Except in the modern age the true power of the Traveler has been realized by the Tabula and they wish to capture Travelers and use them for their own gain. Finally there are the Harlequins, a secret group who have existed just as long, whose sworn duty is to protect the Travelers.
Gabriel and his brother Michael are Travelers. In the first book of the series, Michael was captured by the Tabula and has now become one of them, an enemy to Gabriel. So as the Tabula are both working on the Virtual Panopticon and looking for the Traveler, Gabriel discovers that his father – a renowned Traveler – is alive and goes to England to search for him. He finds his father’s body on an island near Ireland, barely alive, while his father’s consciousness is in another world, another realm. It is now up to Gabriel to travel to this other realm, the First Realm – better known as Hell – to find his father and bring him back. At the same time they most not forget about the Tabula who are desperately looking for them, using every means necessary.
The Dark River furthers the plot along, but falls short of offering up any shocking realizations or reveals, feeling more like a chapter in the great saga of the Fourth Realm series. It ends on a cliffhanger leaving the reader wondering how the enigmatic John Twelve Hawks (which is obviously a pseudonym) will complete the epic and growing series with just one more book to go.
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GOD IS DEAD BY RON CURRIE JR.: Ron Currie Jr. is a new author to the world of publishing, having had stories published in Glimmer Train, The Sun, Other Voices, and Night Train; God is Dead is his first novel. It is a slim book, only 180 pages long, with an unusual layout: the pages are taller than a regular hardcover, but narrower. With a haunting image on the front of a dog looking in a cage where there is another dog lying on its side, apparently dead; the package of God is Dead immediately catches one’s eye.
The title offers an obvious hint of what is to come in the novel. The book is split up into nine chapters that in some ways stand on their own as short stories. In the first God has taken the form of a young Dinka woman in the Sudan in the region of Darfur where she is injured and then killed. God is now dead and word begins to spread, soon enveloping the entire world
