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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. |
THE BETRAYAL: THE LOST LIFE OF JESUS BY KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR AND W. MICHAEL GEAR: Renowned husband and wife authors W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, of the First North Americans and Anasazi Mysteries series, return with their most controversial book to date. Also archaeologists, the Gears apply over thirty years of research with their backgrounds in biblical archaeology, religious studies, Greek, Latin, to reveal a new and relatively unknown and historically unsupported biography of Jesus Christ, or Yeshua.
The Betrayal is told from two viewpoints; the first is that of Yeshua, as he travels in his time, changing the world in his way, and while one would consider this to be the important character of the book, this plotline serves more as an additional realization to the main viewpoint and character of the book, Brother Barnabas. The monk Barnabas, living in the year 325 after Yeshua, is a student and copier of the ancient holy texts, the texts that tell the true story of Yeshua, some in his very own words. These books portray a Jesus different from the commonly known one: heretical and radical, contrary to the contemporary Church’s teachings. The Ecumenical Council of Bishops has now decided that these holy texts are nothing more than “a hotbed of manifold perversity,” contrary to the Christian faith, and are therefore not to be read or copied by anyone. Emperor Constantine decrees that all copies of the sacred texts are to be destroyed and anyone found with them will be executed as a heretic. But Brother Barnabas knows that the texts tell the true story of Jesus, and he makes it his mission, as ordained by God, to save them for the world and the future, at no matter what cost.
While The Betrayal seems well researched and given the Gears’ background, they clearly know what they are talking about, the reader is left wondering how much of this is really true, and could this really be a giant conspiracy hidden by the Church after all this time. The book is classed as fiction and shelved in that section in bookstores, as well as featuring a favorable quote from Lewis Purdue, author of Da Vinci Legacy. In fact, The Betrayal does bear some resemblances to the likes of Da Vinci Code, Rule of Four, and other books published in the last decade which question the religious dogma, much to the outrage of the Church. It begs the question as to whether the Gears are looking more for the true story of Jesus, or perhaps a bestselling novel in this popular genre, or perhaps both? The reader will have to decide for him- or herself.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.co.uk.
BRYSON'S DICTIONARY FOR WRITERS AND EDITORS BY BILL BRYSON: Bestselling author Bill Bryson has already amassed quite a career for himself with successful travel writing books like A Walk in the Woods and In a Sunburned Country, as well as books on literature and language like The Mother Tongue and Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, and even attempting to present a concise history of science with A Short History of Nearly Everything; Bryson now returns with Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors.
He admits in his preface that it is a personal collection, "built over thirty years as a writer and editor in two countries," and that some of the obscure references and definitions may not be useful to many, like the name of the Sydney district Woolloomooloo, or that the residence of the Danish Royal Family in Copenhagen is the Amalienborg Palace. Nevertheless, Bryson addresses many of the common issues that make a writer hesitate – amoral or immoral? Effect or affect?. He dispenses with the dictionary’s phonetic alphabet, instead providing pronunciation help where necessary; as well as cross indexing so that in the example mentioned above, the entry can be found filed under both amoral and immoral for the writer's and editor's ease.
Bryson's Dictionary is filled with innumerable references and spellings for authors, book titles, series, philosophers, scientists . . . you name it, making them even easier to find than looking up on the Internet. Bryson also includes appendices of punctuation and its definitions, words ending in –able and –ible, a list of the world's airports and their codes, the different currencies of the world, conversion tables, and an extensive glossary on grammar.
Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors is the ideal book for most people who do any sort of reading and writing, whether it is the freshman heading off for college for the first time, the freelance writer looking to get published, or the retired crossword addict looking for exact spelling at their fingertips.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com.
PANIC IN LEVEL 4: CANNIBALS, KILLER VIRUSES, AND OTHER JOURNEYS TO THE EDGE OF SCIENCE BY RICAHRD PRESTON: Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and The Wild Trees returns with Panic in Level 4 featuring six of his articles which have appeared over the recent years, in some form, in the New Yorker. While the title refers to the highest level, Bio Safety Level 4 (BL-4), of biosecurity in the laboratory, the articles run the gamut of subjects from the number Π, to the search for the origin of Ebola, to a unique type of cannibal.
In Preston’s introduction, “Adventures in Nonfiction Writing,” he tells a story of the time when he was finally granted access to Level 4, offering description step by step as he is taken to the room where the suits are, each baring the name of its owner, and is handed a suit with no name; Preston takes this as a bad sign. Inside Level 4, Preston observes these daredevil scientists who face the risk of infection and death as their day job, watching them investigate blood samples of a possible Ebola victim. As Preston bends down to look into a microscope, the front part of his suit bursts open and Preston is rushed from the lab and checked for Ebola infection. Since Panic in Level 4 has been written and published, Preston obviously survived his brush with one of the most lethal viruses ever discovered.
In “The Mountains of Pi,” we meet two brothers who live in a small apartment in New York and spend their time building supercomputers and furthering their research into Π and its possible pattern. In “The Search for Ebola,” Preston travels to different countries in Africa, tracing the history of Ebola outbreaks to their original sources in an attempt to find the genesis of the deadly virus. In other articles, Preston discovers a treasure-trove of wondrous trees in the most unlikeliest of places; as well as the finding of an ancient tapestry at the Metropolitan Museum that when turned over for repair, reveals a back side that has rarely seen the light, still in its original breathtaking detail. In the final article, “The Self-Cannibals,” Preston educates the reader about the rare disease Lesch-Nyahn syndrome, where a single altered letter in one’s DNA makeup creates the occasional mental state that your limbs are out to attack you and must be stopped through self-cannibalism and self destruction. Preston meets and becomes friends with sufferers of the syndrome, revealing a human side to this devastating disease, making the reader realize that even those these people are threatened by their very own body, they are still people just like you or I.
Preston seems justifiably proud about the fact that he seeks out the humanity in the difficult subjects he writes about, and in this way it is accessible and understandable to anyone, no matter your background. Panic in Level 4 aims to not just educate the reader in some of the mysteries of this world, but also to reveal the complexity and incredible brilliance of the human species.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com.
STANDING UP TO THE MADNESS BY AMY GOODMAN AND DAVID GOODMAN: The award-winning and bestselling brother and sister team Amy Goodman (popular and successful host of the TV and radio show Democracy Now!) and David Goodman (an investigative journalist), authors of Static and Exception to the Rulers return with Standing Up to the Madness. The Goodmans strike out on a new path in, aiming to not retread on the familiar ground of endlessly criticizing the Bush administration and its endeavors, but to report and record grassroots stories of people from across the country who have suffered under the current regime, and how they have fought back and gained some ground.
The stories in the book are grouped into subjects on how science is being threatened, schools and education being threatened, the war in Iraq, and simply “Standing up to the Madness.” There is the story Malik Rahim, a native of New Orleans who was there when Hurricane Katrina struck, and is still there now trying to rebuild the ravaged country and its torn and exiled people. Rahim tells of the little help he has seen from the government, and what there remains now. He also provides startling insights into the horrific acts of racism that are now commonplace in the ruins of the city. But Rahim has started a charity group from scratch, Common Ground, that is now strong and increasing in size and popularity, providing aid and shelter to the many citizens of New Orleans that still have no where to call home.
Raed Jarrar, a US citizen originally from Iraq, tells the story of his being prevented from flying on JetBlue because he was wearing a T-shirt that read “We Will Not Be Silent” in both English and Arabic. Clearly it was because of the color of his skin, and with help from the original manufacturers of the T-shirt, he was able to make a stand for freedom of speech. Librarians across the country tell their story of standing against the Patriot Act and its supposed allowance of turning over library members reading histories. Psychologists speak out against the use of their members being used as litmus tests and decision makers when witnessing torture at Guantanamo Bay. American soldiers back from Iraq tell the true story of what was really taking place in the Middle East, and why every day is another step in the wrong direction.
It is easy to criticize the Bush administration, but the authors of Standing Up to the Madness challenge the reader to do something other than criticize. Through the voices and lives revealed in this book, one can see that change and justice is possible, and with an epilogue of advice and suggestions, it gives one fuel to begin the change that is necessary to make American the land of the free once again.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com.
SWORD AT SUNSET BY ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF: The late Rosemary Sutcliff was a prolific writer from the 1950s through the 1970s, publishing a number of children's books, including the Eagle of the Ninth series and a series of Arthurian novels, as well as over twenty other children's books on historical subjects. She also penned nonfiction works and adult fiction, including Sword at Sunset, originally published in 1963 and re-released on May 1st of this year.
Sword at Sunset features an introduction by Canadian author Jack Whyte, writer of the successful Camulod Chronicles, a nine-book series beginning several generations before Arthur was born. Whyte freely admits that when he first discovered Sword at Sunset it changed his life, which becomes all too clear when one has read both authors. The characterization, the tone, and the painstaking attention to historical detail and accuracy are prevalent in both works, to the point where one might think Whyte owes Sutcliff more than an introduction and homage.
In Sword at Sunset, Sutcliff creates a world where the Roman legions have left Britain, yet the sense of Romanitas remains strong, especially in the noble characters of Ambrosius and Artos the Bear. They retain not just the armor, style of combat, and the Roman military organization, but a superior, almost arrogant sense of belonging to something that was once great and could be again. Sutcliff's early medieval world is not as “dark age” as normally depicted in fiction, but thriving with trade and societal infrastructure across Europe still seemingly intact. Artos the Bear spends the beginning of the book traveling to southern France where he looks to purchase strong breeds of horses to bring back to Britain to create a strong cavalry force to fight against the invading Anglo Saxons and maintain the British control and rule.
While it is not completely clear how Artos the Bear has risen to such great prominence, he nevertheless has the backing of the people, which spurs him on to defeat the Saxons in many battles. Sutcliff introduces many familiar characters from the Arthurian world, though there is no Merlin or Lancelot (the latter originally an addition made by Chrétien de Troyes in the twelfth century), but an important appearance is made by Arthur's incestuous sister Medraut (or Morgan). Sword at Sunset reads like a historical military text with its calculated and descriptive battle scenes that make the world come alive, to the point where the reader may indeed believe such events transpired in the fifth century, leaving the common storylines of romance and chivalry out of the story completely, much as they were in the original time of Arthur.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com.
THE DANGEROUS ALPHABET BY NEIL GAIMAN AND GRIS GRIMLY: A is for the author and artist of this book, Neil Gaiman and Gris Grimly. B is for the beautiful artwork on the pages that make you smile. C is for the creative design of The Dangerous Alphabet, which is impressive and astonishing. D is for the descriptive writing of Neil Gaiman, which keeps you turning every page. E is for the exiting story about the two children and their gazelle. F is for the funny things that happen in this book that make you laugh. G is for Gris Grimly who has done artwork for thirteen books, including this one. H is for the happy ending that almost wasn’t. I is for the impressive ways the children keep getting away. J is for the jumping cute gazelle who also gets away. K is for the kiss that’s in the middle of this book. L is for the big letters on each page that Gaiman uses to tell the story. M is for the monsters, the scary monsters that are everywhere in The Dangerous Alphabet. N is for the narrow escapes, as the children slip through the monsters’ fingers. O is for ordinary, which this story is not by any means. P is for the pretty gazelle again, because she’s so cute. Q is for the quandary that the children find themselves in in this story. R is for racing, as the children race across the pages, from beginning to end. S is for the silly but fun way this story and review are told. T is for the terrible things that the monsters do and almost do. U is for the unbelievable way the children must go to make it to the end. V is for the vim of the characters in this book; they are defiant and unstoppable. W is for wary, which you must be when reading The Dangerous Alphabet. X marks the spot near the end. Y is for your yell of joy when the children and the gazelle get away. Z is for the ZZZs everyone needs after this great adventure is finally over.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com.
THE POST-AMERICAN WORLD BY FAREED ZAKARIA: Fareed Zakaria, author of The Future of Freedom, and editor for Newsweek International, offers up a sobering yet fascinating look at the possible future of the United States and its stake as the global superpower in the first half of the twenty-first century. The Post-American World is part business, part political, part historical, and part sociological; as Zakaria analyses how the United States has arrived at the state it is in internationally, and what the future holds for the two global giants of India and China on the horizon.
Zakaria begins by discussing how the United States – as well as its citizens – has continued to perceive itself, from the end of the Cold War to the present, as the sole global superpower and utopian democratic and capitalist nation by which the rest of the world should admire it and follow suit. This is all too clear with the globalization of numerous American companies such as the McDonalds and Starbucks franchises, which can now be found almost anywhere in the world, on every continent except Antarctica. But in that time, the United States has lost uncountable jobs, manufacturing industries, and development institutions to other countries, which is now causing serious problems with unemployment and the cost of goods and services to the nation and its citizens. Zakaria points out:
“Generations from now, when historians write about these times, they might note that, in the early decades of the twenty-first century, the United States succeeded in its great and historic mission – it globalized the world. But along the way, they might write, it forgot to globalize itself.”
Coupled with this is the continued downfall and disinterest the rest of the world now has in the United States with the choices and decisions it has made. “The world is moving from anger to indifference, from anti-Americanism to post-Americanism,” Zakaria says. And it is not until the United States fully comprehends this, that things will begin turning around and improving.
With the United States left in the wake of globalization, Zakaria turns the reader to the next two giants that will become the next so-called superpowers due to the variety and number of industries already situated within their borders, as well as the exploding workforce that is available at a much cheaper rate than the Western World. Zakaria spends most of the book, with specific chapters each on India and China, giving their history and development over the centuries and how it is that they now stand at this brink to become the next superpowers. He also offers sobering statistics in a world that is becoming more environmentally inclined: “Between 2006 and 2012, China and India will build eight hundred new coal-fired power plants – with combined [carbon dioxide] emissions five times the total savings of the Kyoto accords.” And yet the growth in these countries is unstoppable and how is America to critique this when it is one of the largest contributors of carbon dioxide in the world?
In the last chapter, Zakaria addresses what the United States needs to do to become the once great shining nation it was. “It needs to stop cowering in fear. It is fear that has created a climate of paranoia and panic in the United States and fear that has enabled our strategic missteps.” While at this moment in time, this seems more of a lesson for its government than its people, it is the last paragraph in The Post-American World that makes the most sense to the reader:
“For America to thrive in this new and challenging era, for it to succeed amid the rise of the rest, it need fulfill only one test. It should be a place that is as inviting and exciting to the young student who enters the country today as it was for this awkward eighteen-year-old a generation ago.”
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com.
WHY WE LEFT ISLAM COMPILED AND EDITED BY SUSAN CRIMP AND JOEL RICHARDSON: In this original collection Susan Crimp and Joel Richardson take a big but important risk in the publishing of Why We Left Islam: Former Muslims Speak Out. With currents events and the success of books like Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall and Escape by Carolyn Jessop, the controversial book Why We Left Islam doesn’t hold back in voicing the vehement opinions of those who have fled the religion and life of Islam.
Twenty-three different people speak about the situations they found themselves in under the controlling regime of Islam, what sacrifices they made, most importantly in the lacking of rights that many American citizens take for granted every day. While real names are rare in Why We Left Islam, the authors knowing the possible consequences, they do not hold back in ranting and excoriating the system of government and faith they found themselves oppressed under. These real life stories are moving and filled with emotion, as the reader learns of the many people who have died, been sacrificed for Islam under a rule that gives next to no respect or recognition for women, while threatening and coming after any who oppose their system of government and religion.
The book somewhat fails in showing the other side and what is good about Islam, but then it is called Why We Left Islam, and the real stories within show nothing but pain and suffering and now relief at being free. The book, albeit one sided, is a sobering look at some of the possible worlds that people have had to live through while under the rule of Islam.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com.
YOUR INNER FISH BY NEIL SHUBIN: Neil Shubin is a professor and associate dean at the University of Chicago. Also a paleontologist, Shubin made headlines around the world in April 2006 when he discovered the “missing link” in the world of fish with Tiktaalik, a fish with many features like that of tetrapods or four-legged animals. When asked to teach a human anatomy course, Shubin discovered that a lot of the structures and evolutionary processes of the human body could be better explained through the evolution of fish anatomy. Thus was born Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5 Billion-Year History of the Human Body.
Shubin breaks everything down into its fundamental parts, with specific chapters on genes, teeth, scents, ears, and sight. He traces the evolutionary history of the important organs of the body, tracing their development over the millions of years through fish and other animals. It is a fascinating study into how the evolutionary marvel of the incredibly complex human body came to be; how organs, tissues, and vessels changed and improved through a process of natural selection to become the most beneficial. The result is a never-stopping fast-running factory house with over a million continuous processes that is taken for granted by most of the world’s population.
Shubin writes in a simple and easy style that makes it accessible to any reader, no matter their scientific knowledge or background. Filled with pictures and tables and graphs illustrating the facts, Your Inner Fish is an interesting read into our evolutionary history as seen through the developing bodies of the animal kingdom.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com.
HYPERION BY DAN SIMMONS: Hyperion is the first book in Dan Simmons’ epic Hyperion Cantos tetralogy. In this opening tale, seven unique travelers are brought together on a journey, a pilgrimage to the distant and mysterious planet of Hyperion, where they will face the Time Tombs and perhaps the dreaded Shrike. The galaxy is on the brink of Armageddon, and the pilgrims hope to somehow save it, and ultimately find their destines on Hyperion.
Employing the structure of the Canterbury Tales, Simmons brings seven very different characters together. It is some centuries in the future, Planet Earth is no more, having been destroyed in a science experiment now known as the “Great Mistake.” But humanity has conquered the stars and traveled far throughout the galaxy. It is a great age, when one can skip across thousands of light years in the blink of an eye with the use of a Farcaster: a teleportation door that takes you where you want to go, created and developed by the AI TechnoCore.
But the Ousters are coming. A distant alien civilization about which little is known, except that they are hostile and a grave threat. It could all end now. The important vantage point is the distant planet of Hyperion, not even a member of the Hegemony of Man, where there are the Time Tombs. These ancient tombs are shrouded in mystery and suspicion; all that remains of an ancient race known as the Shrike, but they may be the salvation that humanity has been waiting for. And now these seven travelers hope to somehow activate these Time Tombs and save civilization.
Simmons begins the story in medias res, introducing the reader to these seven strangers in a world about which nothing is known, but he skillfully reveals everything through the minds, imaginations, and stories of these seven characters. There is Het Masteen, a member of the Templars, a tall and proud but quiet race who created and control the powerful Treeships that possess the Hawking Drive which is able to send ships across the stars at astonishing speeds; Masteen is the captain of the Yggdrasill, the ship that will take the pilgrims to Hyperion; he is also one of the pilgrims with his own unique story to tell. There is Father Lenar Hoyt, whose story is The Priest’s Tale, about the Catholic world and existence of the parasite known as the cruciform which can reincarnate life. Colonel Fedmahn Kassad, a member of the FORCE military who is searching for a supernatural figure that has come to him many times in his dreams in The Soldier’s Tale. Martin Silenus, in The Poet’s Tale, tells of his life as a failed poet who nearly loses his life and then begins his opus that will make him remembered throughout the centuries.
The Scholar’s Tale from Sol Weintraub is the most moving story from the pilgrims as he recounts how his daughter, Rachel, was an archaeologist studying the Time Tombs and after a strange accident begins to grow younger each day. She returns to her family to live with them as she decreases in age, needing to have her story recounted to her each day as she no longer remembers. Eventually a short and easy version is made to be told by Sol each morning to her. Sol and his wife, Sarai, relive the raising of their daughter backwards through time. And now it is up to Sol to return to the Time Tombs with baby Rachel who is now just weeks old and will soon simply disappear.
The Detective’s Tale from Brawne Lamia is a noir tale of her job as a private eye with a client who is a cybrid: a cloned human with electronic implants controlled by the TechnoCore. Someone is trying to kill him and destroy his memory, and it’s up to Lamia to figure out who is behind it all. In the final story, The Consul’s Tale, as the Consul talks of his grandparents on the planet of Maui-Covenant which was once a paradise but when the first Farcaster was opened, became a tourist destination and its beauty was destroyed forever. The Consul also talks about his work as a secret agent for the Hegemony in infiltrating the Ousters.
The book ends with the pilgrims finally reaching the Time Tombs. While the sequel, Fall of Hyperion, is the book which explains a lot more of the world and everything that eventually happens, there is a specialty about Hyperion, a uniqueness with it’s original characters and their incredible stories. Simmons epic universe employs multiple forms of the science fiction genre, making it a complex and fascinating world in which most people would like to live in. In a way, Simmons has essentially rewritten the Canterbury Tales of the far future, with some incredible stories that stand out as moving novellas on their own, and a cast of characters readers won’t soon forget.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com
After Dark by Haruki Murakami: In Haruki Murakami's latest novel, After Dark, he tells a unique and compelling story of what goes on after midnight on the streets of Tokyo. It is a very different world from that of the daytime, with very different people. Murakami makes this clear by revealing that the rules of physics and reality don't necessarily apply.
The story begins with a young girl, Mari Asai, reading a book at Denny's after midnight, but it immediately jumps to the unusual, as Mari is greeted by a boy she hasn't seen in a while who sits opposite her and begins conversing. She admits she plans on spending the night out, doing anything other than sleeping. The boy, Tetsuya Takahashi, tells her about his late night band practices - he is a trombonist. After he leaves for his practice, a short while passes before a strange, rough looking woman comes into Denny's and walks straight up to Mari, telling her she is the manager of a love hotel and has found a beaten girl who only speaks Chinese in one of her rooms; Takahashi told her Mari speaks Chinese. So begins an adventurous - and at times dark and morbid - night.
After Dark tells of various characters who all go about their lives during the early morning hours in Tokyo, but who are intrinsically linked and will cross paths one or more times during the night. At the heart of the story is Mari and her love for her beautiful sister, to whom she is no longer close. Eri Asai was a girl born with a special beauty, but recently gave up on life and now spends her days and nights in a deep, almost catatonic sleep. But she is just one cast member whose life is affected on this particular night.
Murakami uses a floating camera narrator to take the reader everywhere and anywhere, where there are no bounds, where things are dark and scary. After Dark is a short, but haunting tale with some special characters who will stay with you long after you have closed the book and put it aside.
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com
The Boys Are Back in Town by Christopher Golden: Christopher Golden has established himself as a talented writer within the horror genre. In The Boys Are Back in Town, he tells an incredible story, one that reminds readers there are still great books being written that will suck you in from the first page, and make you want to shut off from your life and commitments until you get to that last page.
Will James is in his late twenties and while he hasn't necessarily managed to follow his dreams, he is a journalist working for a newspaper and is happy with the life he has. He suffers suspicion from others due to his pursuit of the supernatural and any story involving magic. However, he considers it his job to debunk these people and reveal them as the frauds they are. The high point for his weekend is his ten-year high school reunion, which begins Friday night with a meeting with Stacy, a former friend who has become an interesting and beautiful woman. But when Will asks where his best high school friend Mike is, he is greeted with anger and furious stares, and a short while later memories surface of Mike dying in a horrific hit-and-run accident during their senior year. Will is confused, for he has vaguer memories - shadows in his mind - of knowing Mike through college and receiving an e-mail from him just the week before about coming to the reunion.
The next day at the Homecoming game, Will makes a comment to another close friend, Ashleigh, about the Homecoming Queen during their senior year, but then is corrected by her. She says that it was a different person because the girl was raped the night before. Before his eyes, Will watches Ashleigh visibly change, as she recounts how she was also raped, which is why she can't have children. Will feels his mind splitting, since he recalls visiting Ashleigh and her husband last Christmas, and seeing their beautiful twins. He knows there is something very wrong going on here, not just someone playing a prank on him; someone is messing with his timeline, his reality, changing events. He has some ideas about who is involved, but he's going to have to go back to the life of magic that he had deliberately forgotten; it will require using a spell that will take him back to his high school years. He's going to have to stop whoever is doing this, whoever is rewriting history, and changing his life before his very eyes.
The Boys Are Back in Town will horrify and astound, as well as bring back memories of your high school era. Golden writes with a skill and emotion that brings these years to life on the page, while adding a deadly element - for memories are meant to stay the same, and are not supposed to change on the fly.
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Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach:
We are now eight years into the twenty-first century and the world has made many great strides in areas like medicine, anthropology, sociology, politics, and increasing our knowledge and respect for our planet and the many different peoples who live on it. And yet the United States is still a country that views sex as an act to be hidden behind closed doors, performed infrequently (preferably for the purpose of reproduction), and as quick and easily dispensed with.
In the May issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, 'a survey of sex therapists concluded the optimal amount of time for sexual intercourse was 3 to 13 minutes'. Now Mary Roach, author of the bestselling Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, has turned her scientific mind to an act that can only be performed in specific ways according to laws in certain U.S. states.
The empirical study of sexual intercourse has certainly come a long way since humanity began having problems with performing the act, and Roach does a fantastic job of showing just how much work and research has been performed in the name of science on the subject of sex. While the author does go back to the days of ancient Greece, Bonk is not arranged chronologically, but rather by subjects ranging from human sexual response; to how the shape, size and placement of the sexual organs can vary from person to person and how this affects people having sex; to sex toys and devices; to what exactly is going on biologically during an orgasm.
Roach continues as she did with Stiff to turn off readers as she goes into detail on what takes place during penis surgery, having seen it performed before her very eyes; as well as revealing the scientific fact that because an orgasm is essentially a reflexive response to specific stimuli over time, a dead body would be able to have one. Roach makes a giant leap for humankind into the world of sexual study in volunteering herself and her husband to be studied scientifically while performing intercourse.
Just as in the author's other books, Bonk is an eye-opener for readers, no matter their background; after absorbing it cover to cover one feels educated enough to make diagnoses for those experiencing sexual dysfunction. But then this may be one of the reasons Roach wrote this book: for those too ashamed to seek clinical help. She makes her point clear: that sex isn't something to be hidden especially when problems affect people's everyday lives. There's a group to help everyone - even a special one for the disabled who are unable to have sex in ordinary ways - and offer advice and help in maintaining a healthy sexual relationship.
After finishing Bonk, one can see how this subject has been taboo for so long, and this continues to be the case with the current U.S. administration being a major advocate of abstinence over contraceptives. But at the same time it is clear that many people over the years have devoted their lives to the scientific study of sex, and here we see a different world of those who want to help and educate others. Ultimately, whatever goes on between consenting human beings behind closed doors is their business, but is there any reason why it shouldn't be enjoyable?
Want to get yourself a copy? Click HERE for Amazon.com
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri:
Jhumpa Lahiri, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Interpreter of Maladies, and author of The Namesake, returns after five years with Unaccustomed Earth, a collection of eight stories that are longer than short stories but not quite novella length. It's split into two parts. The first consists of five individual stories, while the second part consists of the last three tales, each involving the same two characters, Hema and Kaushik.
The first story, "Unaccustomed Earth," involves a family who recently moved to Seattle. After the death of Ruma's mother, she is left feeling guilty over the decision of whether or not to invite her aging Baba (father), to live with them. Not sure how to handle this, she invites him to stay with her for a week. Over the course of their time together, father and daughter rekindle their relationship, while secrets are revealed about their separate lives. Baba also meets and falls in love with Ruma's son Akash, looking after him, teaching him some Bengali, and treating him like a grandfather should - giving him more respect and attention than he has ever given Ruma. At the end of the week, Baba goes back home to his secret girlfriend and life of travel, leaving Ruma unsure, and the reader wanting more. "Unaccustomed Earth" sets the tone for the book, which offers stories of lives with problems and decisions and changes that affect all the characters. But it is those of Indian descent who have to deal with how much of their original culture they hold on to in their American lives.
"A Choice of Accommodations" is an interesting story about an interracial couple who are having problems with their marriage. During a weekend attending a friend's wedding, they rediscover their love and respect for each other. The most compelling story of the collection is "Nobody's Business," involving a young Indian girl, Sangeeta, who is involved with an Egyptian man, but continuously has suitors calling her with the hope of a meeting and eventual marriage. What makes the story interesting is that it is told from the perspective of the roommate, Paul, who has a crush on Sang, and finds himself unavoidably involved in her romantic and personal life while trying to complete his doctorate. While at first the story seems to go in an obvious direction, it eventually moves off on a new tangent as things change in Sang's relationship and she ends up moving back to England, with Paul having to deal with the leftover pieces.
Lahiri continues to do what she does best, creating strong, unique characters who stay with readers after the story is over. Sadly, Lahiri fails to take risks with her writing, always portraying Indian characters who – like herself – come from an affluent, upper class upbringing, in most cases in New York or New England. Perhaps in her next work, Lahiri will branch out from her write what you know world and venture into new territory. Nevertheless, Unaccustomed Earth is a fascinating collection of stories involving Indian characters struggling with issues involved in being American, but at the same time keeping their original heritage and culture alive.
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The Island by Armin Greder: Originally published in 2002 in German, and winner of multiple German and French book awards, Armin Greder's The Island is now available in English. While this picture book might be disturbing for the very young, it is an allegory that can be appreciated by all ages (the publisher indicates 8-18). It only takes a few minutes to read, but leaves you contemplating its implications and greater meanings.
This is the story of an island where some big, angry, racist people live simple, everyday lives, loving the routine and normalcy of it. When a strange looking man arrives in a shoddy raft, the natives see that he is different from them and immediately despise him, trapping him in a goat pen, hiding him away and ignoring him, going back to their lives. Then one day he comes to them, asking for food, and they are shocked and horrified. They think about who should take care of him, but no one wants him, thinking that he will destroy whatever he touches. Eventually he is put back on his shoddy raft and sent out to sea. They build a giant wall around the island, protecting them from the outside world and people who aren't the same, as well as killing any birds that come to the island, so that it will never be discovered by anyone else.
On the surface it is an unusual short story, but it would be little more to an alien who knows nothing of the history of humanity. For all of us who were born on this planet, this story of hate for anyone different is an all too familiar one that has had many horrific chapters in our history. It is also sadly a reality that continues in today's world. With hard, charcoal-colored, sharp-edged images that evoke Edvard Munch's The Scream as well as the music video to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall," The Island is a story that will be read and reread, as a commentary on humanity's failings.
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The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Sixteen Works by Speculative Fiction's Finest Voices edited by Ellen Datlow: One of the most important and prolific editors of science fiction and fantasy anthologies today returns with The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Sixteen Works by Speculative Fiction's Finest Voices. The key term here is speculative, for while most of these shorts lack the science fiction and fantasy elements that have come to define such stories for genre readers, they are all set in seemingly ordinary worlds with outlandish and incredible plots that defy the imagination.
After an inspiring introduction from Datlow on the importance of short stories in the genre of fantastical fiction, the collection begins with The Elephant Ironclads, set in an alternate 20th century world, where a Navajo nation aims to become a recognized world power, but at the same time wants to maintain its unique culture. Pat Cadigan's Jimmy is a supernatural story set just a short time after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Elizabeth Bear's Sonny Liston Takes the Fall takes readers on an emotional and moving journey about the famous heavyweight fighter's life and death. The high point of the collection is Margo Lanagan's The Goosle, a dark and twisted Hansel and Gretel retelling, involving mass murder, the bubonic plague, and sexual slavery.
The perfect choice for science fiction and fantasy fans looking for new authors and truly original ideas, The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy offers up sixteen special stories from today's freshest voices.
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The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes by McSweeney's: When Mountain Man Dance Moves: The McSweeney's Book of Lists hit book shelves with the cover of a triumphant, ethereal, blue, rearing unicorn, readers curiously started reading and then found themselves bursting with laughter, buying the book, and entertaining friends with it. The editors of McSweeney's return with The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes; and if the title doesn't capture your interest, maybe the cover of a plucked headless chicken - with a smoking cigarette in one flabby wing, while smoke effuses from its cylindrical hole of a neck - will.
With an introduction from John Hodgman about the cash cow industry of satire, McSweeney's aims its new book at the intellectual crowd as jokes and humor are procured at the expense of classic works and authors revered in collegiate halls. The first piece, The Recruitment of Harry Potter, is from the viewpoint of a quidditch coach looking to recruit Harry Potter to the team. It warns to stay away from talk about He Who Must Not Be Named and anything involving family. From this we go to George Samsa, currently dealing with his life as a cockroach, having his disability claim denied by Social Security for very specific reasons.
McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes runs the gamut of literature, leaving no book unopened or unmocked. There are short pieces, such as Possible Titles For Future Sue Grafton Novels After She Runs Out of Letters, including: "/" Is for Slash and "Ctrl+X" Is for Cut; and there are longer pieces like Submission Guidelines For Our Refrigerator Door. Then there are plain weird and unusual pieces like Thirteen Writing Prompts, including 'Write a story that ends with the following sentence: Debra brushed the sand from her blouse, took a last, wistful look at the now putrefying horse, and stepped into the hot-air balloon,' and 'Your main character finds a box of scorched human hair. Whose is it? How did it get there?'
Whether it's Jane Eyre Runs for President or Jean-Paul Sartre, 911 Operator, or Klingon Fairy Tales, readers will be laughing out loud and rolling on the floor - or if you prefer LOLing and ROFLing - for hours. And for all those people forced to read long and boring classics, or listen to their teachers verbally worshiping dead writers, McSweeney's Joke of Book Jokes is a restorative tonic, the book you've been waiting for that will make those hours and hours of late night reading of lengthy, overwritten prose worth it, because you'll get all the jokes!
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Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman: It's been some time since Philip Pullman has published anything set in the world of His Dark Materials; the last offering was a very short story called Lyra's Oxford. In Once Upon a Time in the North, Pullman returns with an original tale about Lee Scoresby the aeronaut, weighing in at just under a hundred pages - and while fans would wish for three times as much, it's certainly much better than nothing.
In a poker game in his native Texas, twenty-four year old Lee Scoresby has just won his very own hot air balloon and half an instruction manual. His first voyage takes him across the world to the Arctic waters where he lands at Novy Odense. Looking for a place to stay and a way to make some money, Scoresby is immediately embroiled in the complex politics of the town. Mayoral candidate Ivan Poliakov hopes to take care of the bear problem, supported by the shady Larsen Manganese group. Taking no one's side, but not wanting the town to be exploited, Lee soon befriends a polar bear by the name of Iorek Byrnison - whom he mistakenly calls York - and finds himself in a fierce gun battle involving a hired killer with a familiar face on the other side.
Once Upon a Time in the North is a great adventure tale with - at first glance - an entertaining and straightforward story. But in Pullman's usual style, there is a deeper and more complex subplot that is not fully explained or resolved here. So fans can hope that there is more to tell in the world of His Dark Materials. And if that were not enough, Pullman also created a special board game for the book, which is included as an insert to the inside back cover.
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MYSTERIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES: AND THE BEGINNING OF THE MODERN WORLD BY THOMAS CAHILL: In the fifth book in his Hinges of History series, Thomas Cahill takes on the period of the middle ages, going into depth on the important people of the era and what effect they had on the history. Regardless of the actual content of the book, Mysteries of the Middles Ages deserves an award for excellence in design and layout. It is one of the most ornate and beautifully designed books I’ve ever read. As soon as one opens the cover, one is greeted by color and lavish design, colorful photographs and paintings, as well as eye-catching and picaresque fonts.
Cahill begins with a somewhat lengthy introduction spending a little too much time on the content of his past books and leading through the centuries up to the fall of Rome and the beginning of the Middle Ages. He then skips past the “Dark Ages” and jumps to the twelfth century with Hildegard of Bingen. There is very little mention, and certainly no chapters on the likes of Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, or William the Conqueror, who were all incredibly important people in first setting in motion specific events, ideas, and practices that gave rise the High Middle Ages and the great strides made therein, as well as creating precedents and standards that are used in today’s modern age. Subtitling this as “And the Beginning of the Modern World,” is somewhat insulting when only in a small aside does Cahill discuss Muhammad and the birth of Islam in the late sixth century, after spending a quarter of the book on Jesus.
Nevertheless, for what Cahill does spend his time talking about, he does well and thoroughly. Using a conversational and at times jocular tone, making this a book for the layman, he begins with Hildegard of Bingen and then goes on to Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most important women in the history of the western world. It is here that Cahill digs into the deep and complex history of the High Middle Ages with the rise of the universities and the growth of science and math and art and the crucial stirrings of what would come to be known as the Renaissance, beginning in Paris, then Oxford, and finally to Italy with Padua, Florence, and Ravenna, concluding with Dante.
While Mysteries of the Middle Ages should not be considered a complete telling of the important people and “hinges” of the Middle Ages, it nevertheless is an excellent book on the High Middle Ages, and some of the important people who made great strides and leaps – sometimes at the cost of their own lives – to help create the civilized and advanced world we live in today.
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PORTABLE ATHEIST: ESSENTIAL READINGS FOR THE NONBELIEVER EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Christopher Hitchens has made quite a name for himself with his National Book Award nominated book God is Not Great, and before the paperback edition is even out, Hitchens returns with an edited collection of “essential readings for the nonbeliever.” The Portable Atheist may not necessarily be that “portable,” as it is a thick and oversized paperback; but is nevertheless a unique collection of atheist writings taken from the history of the written word.
The collection begins with a lengthy introduction from Hitchens as he waxes rhapsodic about the growth of atheism as a belief, the futility of religion, and how it has caused more harm than good. The first piece comes from Titus Lucretius Carus in his De Rerum Naturum (On the Nature of Things), a Roman philosopher who lived in the first century BCE. Lucretius discusses the theory of atoms and how everything is composed of these minute building blocks; an everyday fact of life now, but something that was laughed at and mocked for much of history. In the brief passage, Lucretius speaks of devastating storms and catastrophic events not attributable to the gods, but of something quite natural and ordinary; he even hints that there is no afterlife. Mark Twain, a staunch evolutionist and ever a satirist of religious faith has this to say: “Unless evolution, which has been a truth ever since the globes, suns, and planets of the solar system were but wandering films of meteor dust, shall reach a limit and become a lie, there is but one fate in store for him.”
Emma Goldman, a Russian-born anarchist who became a champion of civil liberties and labor rights in the United States, who was deported to Bolshevik Russia in 1919, was a strong voice in the early atheist movement: “Atheism in its negation of gods is at the same time the strongest affirmation of man, and through man, the eternal yea to life, purpose, and beauty.” H. L. Mencken who worked against religious fundamentalists trying to ban alcohol and the teaching of evolution, and was made famous for his accounts of the Scopes “monkey trial” in Tennessee in 1925, in this amusing piece asks: “Where is the graveyard of dead gods?” For the numberless amount of gods throughout the history of humanity haven’t survived – some completely forgotten, others barely recollected – and his final almost solemn comment is: “All are dead.” Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller fame offers an insightful piece about being certain in his atheist beliefs and how it is important to use the time we have now and not to waste time on thinking about the afterlife: “Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O, and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.”
The renowned atheist proponents are featured in The Portable Atheist: Bertrand Russell, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel C. Dennett; as are authors like H. P. Lovecraft, George Orwell, George Eliot, Ian McEwan, and John Updike; so are poets such as Percy Blysshe Shelley and Philip Larkin; as well as scientists like Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin and Carl Sagan. It is a fascinating and captivating collection of atheist writings that one can simply pick up at any point, wherever one may be, and pick a reading of their choosing – whatever length or format they wish.
The final piece is from bestselling author of Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who “escaped” Islam and its oppressive faith; she offers up this sobering outlook: “The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism. It is not a creed. Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more.”
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THE WORLD FROM BEGINNINGS TO 4000BCE BY IAN TATTERSALL: The World From Beginnings to 4000 BCE marks the first in a brilliant new series from Oxford University Press, bringing a short but thorough history of the world known as The New Oxford World History. The series will be split into three sections: Chronological Volumes, Thematic and Topical Volumes, and Geographical Volumes, each at the affordable paperback price of $19.95, with The World From Beginnings to 4000BCE starting off the Chronological Volumes.
Ian Tattersall, a curator in the Division of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History, begins the book with an introduction and explanation of evolutionary processes, what exactly Charles Darwin was talking about, and a clear and precise definition of natural selection. This serves as a foundation to the subsequent chapters which cover fossils and paleontology, when humanity began walking on two feet, as well as the history (as we know it, according to evidence) of the Homo genus. It is at this point that our ancestors are clearly defined as being separate, different, more intelligent than any other life on the planet, and why that was and what it meant to us as a species.
In the final chapter, leading up to the prehistoric-approaching-historic date of 4000BCE, Tattersall discusses the beginning of settlement and the inception of towns and eventual cities in Mesopotamia, in what is today Iraq. Tattersall doesn’t let his writing just speak for itself, using pictures, graphs, and charts to explain the facts and the evidence. The World From Beginnings to 4000BCE is an ideal reference book, or laymen’s history book for those interested in this crucial defining period in our ancestry.
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THE WORLD THAT MADE NEW ORLEANS: FROM SPANISH SILVER TO CONGO SQUARE BY NED SUBLETTE: Ned Sublette, author of Cuba and Its Music, embarks on a daring undertaking in a detailed and complete history of the Big Easy. Sublette spent the 2004-2005 year in New Orleans, leaving just three months before Hurricane Katrina hit and the levees broke, changing the city forever; making this book all the more meaningful and emotional.
With extensive research, Sublette starts at the very beginning, explaining the topography and geology of the Mississippi River and the substantial yet flooded Mississippi Delta, and how there was simply nothing that could really be built there before the advent of water pumps and the possible draining of the area. In a time when the land that would one day be Louisiana, was being fought over and used by the Spanish, French, and British, while every piece of natural resource in this part of the world was being used for the benefit of the Western World, coupled with the unceasing influx of slaves; a group of settlers began a town that would one day become the great city of New Orleans. The town was somewhat doomed from the beginning, with a influx of forced citizens from France consisting of prostitutes and convicts.
From its genesis, New Orleans was composed of an entire world of nationalities, cultures, faiths, and languages. Like the spine of the book, Sublette uses music as the backbone of The World That Made New Orleans, discussing the influences and developments of these different people, many of them slaves. It is a city that, after the catastrophic events of Hurricane Katrina, is a city that will never be the same – like New York missing the World Trade Center skyline. Thankfully, Sublette does an incredible job of revealing the many chapters in the history of New Orleans.
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NEAR DEATH ON THE HIGH SEAS EDITED BY CECIL KUHNE: The sense of adventure is a facet of humanity, and while some choose to ignore it, others indulge in it: dabbling with the dangerous, playing with the portentous, and facing one’s fears. Near Death on the High Seas is a collection of real life stories about people who strive for thrill and adventure, through the medium they love: a boat and the open sea.
Beginning with an inspiring foreword from the late William F. Buckley Jr., the first story begins simply about a man and his boat; having traveled the seas many times over, he is a skilled seamen but on this particular day there’s a storm that will give him a run for his money and leave his beloved boat in pieces, while he barely escapes with his life. Provocative, descriptive, and well-written, the important thing to remember is that each of these stories actually happened, and while at times they seem to copy each other, these are real lives being brought close to the edge here, and in some cases where not all the characters survive, real people have sadly died in these catastrophic events. Near Death on the High Seas also includes memorable and renowned high seas stories from Thor Heyerdahl on his Kon-Tiki traveling to Eastern Island, as well as Sir Francis Chichester on his Gipsy Moth traveling around the world.
Near Death on the High Seas is a book that will take you across the icy cold seas of the world, through torrential storms and typhoons, as well as the horrors of the deeps; all from the comfort of the comfortable seat you choose to be sitting in at that moment. The key is to remember that while these are incredibly written stories of daring and destruction, they are stories about real people who faced these real dangers for the thrill to be on the water in a boat.
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INFECTED BY SCOTT SIGLER: Scott Sigler is a special, new kind of writer to join the publishing world; one might even call him an author of the twenty-first century. He wanted to bring his work to the people of the world, for free. He began on March, 2005 by podcasting his book Earthcore a bit at a time, with continuous updates. Earthcore was branded as “the world’s first podcast-only novel,” and Sigler started off with three listeners; at the end he had over ten thousand subscribers. He followed this with Ancestor, Infection, and The Rookie, and currently has over thirty thousands subscribers. And now, with a big name publisher, Sigler brings Infected to the people of the world in book form (a free version is also available on podcast).
In Infected, something is seriously wrong with the world. Something is making people crazy, crazy to the point where they are driven to kill others, their family, and then to horribly mutilate themselves, finally taking their own lives. The government is trying its best to keep this whole thing a secret, and at the same time trying to find out what’s making people do this and find a solution as fast as possible. CDC is working non-stop, the big problem is once they get to one of the bodies of these “special” people, the rate of decomposition is so rapid that they don’t have enough time to perform autopsies and fully exam the bodies before they are left with nothing more than a black murky puddle.
Sigler has done his research, giving the novel a classic Michael Crichton feel, going into the science and the biology as members of the CDC try to find out what sort of “infection” this is making people kill others, and more importantly how contagious it is. While there is a lot of “head jumping” from various characters that can leave the reader a little disoriented, and the writing at times seems to need some editing, with the flow being disjointed; Sigler clearly has a unique voice in Infected that will only get better with successive books.
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WORLD WITHOUT END BY KEN FOLLETT: There are books that you read, with vaguely interesting stories, that sometimes within less than a month have been forgotten, ignored, barely recollected except for title, author and a minor recall of plot. Then there are books that change your mind on life, that give you a thrill as you read them and think about how much you’re loving to read this particular book, and how it’s making such an impression on you, and how you’re going to remember it for a long part of your life. I don’t need to tell you which kind of book World Without End is. I’m also not going to give you a formal, regurgitated plot summary that you can find in just about any review of this book. I am however going to try to convince you why you should read this book with the intention that it will have the same pivotal impression on you as it did on me.
While I have never been a fan or proponent of the seemingly omnipotent Oprah and her book club, she nevertheless has the power to make a considerable number of Americans do, and more importantly, read whatever she tells them. In January of this year, Oprah nominated Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth for her book club and overnight people of all different kinds, and of unexpected types, picked up this lofty paperback tome set in the Middle Ages and documenting the fascinating building of a giant cathedral with immense architectural detail. It’s one of my favorite books, and to see so many people buying it and reading it made me happy. Naturally, once these people got to the last page of Pillars of the Earth, and assuming they enjoyed it as much as Oprah said they would, they would then turn to World Without End. Follett’s new book has been labeled as the sequel of Pillars of the Earth, which is not exactly correct, for none of the original characters are in the new book, and it is set in a later period, however it involves descendants of the main family in Pillars of the Earth, and there is the memory and impression left by characters both in historical record and physical form, such as the cathedral. But World Without End takes many giants leaps further forward as a deeper and more complex book than Pillars of the Earth ever did, equivalent to an ant making its way along a path, while a person looks down upon the ant as they walk by. Perspective is the key here, and if one has some knowledge of the fourteenth century, one will enjoy the book all the more.
Don’t look for the good guys to always win out, and the bad guys to fail in World Without End because, like real life, this world does not reward those who do good and punish those who do bad; it’s a harsh world that gives more opportunity to the survivors of the fittest. You must also remember that this is the fourteenth century, the time of the peasant and noble, a time where class distinction was at the most severe and was a defining character of every person. Though while there is all this suffering, one cannot help but think at some point it must get better for the characters you like, and worse for the characters you hate, and this is after all a novel, but don’t expect Follett to do anything you might predict.
The fourteenth century had a lot going on throughout Europe, and what makes World Without End an incredible novel, is that Follett uses the monumental and catastrophic events in microcosm focused on couple of small towns in England. There was a cooling of temperatures, which led to crop failure and starvation for many peasants, known as the Great Famine; coupled with this was the uprising of peasants against their noble overlords, who had subjugated and oppressed them for so long, known as the Peasant’s Revolt. There was the growing guild system, where anyone wanting to become skilled in a trade would have to be invited to become a member of a guild. Then there was horrific plague that was estimated to wipe out half the population of Europe, known as the Black Death. There was also the moving of the papacy from Rome to Avignon, France, which created a fission in the Christian faith and led to questioning and critique of the absolute religion. Finally there was the seemingly never ending Hundred Years War.
Follett skillfully uses these events in World Without End, weighing in at 1024 pages, but never overtly calls out any of them for what they are, partly because a lot of the terms and names for the events were not yet in existence, and because he seeks to be less overt and obvious, but to have these events occur in most cases beyond the scope of these small towns, to be events occurring far away that have little importance and effect on the citizens of the town – much like the Iraq War is for the American people today. At least this seems the ca
