Apr 26 2007
Cetaganda – Lois McMaster Bujold
The invasion force I mentioned in the last review come from the Cetagandan Empire, a society with extreme division between the different classes. Even though it was not that long since Miles was defending his life against these people, he finds himself struggling to help their people.
Never sure who is truly a comrade, and who has daggers for his back, he muddles through and eventually receives a surprising reward.
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Apr 25 2007
The Vor Game – Lois McMaster Bujold
In this book, Miles eventually joins forces (literally) with his Dad, to repel an invasion of the Hub. Before that however, he finds himself on a cold outpost, having graduated from the military Academy.
His commanding officer is a nasty piece of work, and Miles doesn’t find much camaraderie with his fellow troopers. Imperial Security (ImpSec), more specifically Illyan (another character in it for the long run) start to see the possible benefits of such an un-orthodox agent as Miles.
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Apr 25 2007
Barrayar – Lois McMaster Bujold
The two characters I mentioned in the last book review (Shards of Honor) are still happily together in this novel. Miles, the future star and main character of this series, is in Cordelia’s womb still.
Meanwhile, the emperor dies, and after a little soul searching, Mile’s dad becomes Regent, until Gregor is old enough to take power himself. Unfortunately, not all the political movers and shakers are happy with the situation, and try to kill Aral. As his wife is hurt in the attack, Miles life is put in danger…
Want to know more? Leave me a comment, or read the book ;>
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Apr 23 2007
Jeremy Clarkson – Clarkson On Cars
Although this book isn’t original material, nor particularly recent, I still enjoyed reading through it. The book basically collects the best of all of his newspaper & magazine articles from the 80s until the mid 90s.
If you’ve not come across Jeremy before, he is Top Gear‘s main presenter.
Although obviously a petrol head, he does tend to write about motoring from the perspective of a man in the street, rather than a cars salesman or Formula F1 driver.
If you have a son/daughter/husband/wife who is into cars more than you, I’d recommend buying the book for them. Then read it yourself, and be pleasantly surprised at the quality of his writing, and the way he can relate seemingly complex motor issues to your average reader.
Oh and by the way, in case anyone is reading these reviews and wondering if I’m ever negative about a book, yes certainly, its just the ones I’ve reviewed so far I actually enjoyed…
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Apr 22 2007
Is It Just Me or Is Everything $hit? – Alan McArthur and Steve Lowe
Obviously the original title uses the correct S, rather than a dollar sign, but I don’t want this blog to suddenly start flagging up any profanity filters for people reading this at their workplace.
However, the book itself doesn’t shy away from colourful words, so I wouldn’t really recommend it as a bed time story book :>
Again, this is another book that pretty much does what it says on the tin. However, unlike some books which take a similar approach, this one has a political theme to it, and covers topics a little more engaging that the normal ‘Caravans are crap’ you’ll sometimes find.
Che Guevara merchandise gets a mention (one of my own pet peeves) as does Tony Blair’s transformation from Labour pin up boy/saviour from all things Tory into a facsimile of the very ‘leaders’ that were rejected back in ’97.
If you manage to find this book in a bargain bin somewhere, I’d certainly recommend it straight away, however, at full price, you may find yourself a little disappointed, as the book does sometimes feel as though the authors struggled to write enough without stretching for some of their moans.
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Apr 22 2007
A Short History Of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson
This is a book which is EXACTLY as the title suggests.
You may have come across Bill Bryson via his other books, which are greatly acclaimed for their descriptions of American, British & other nations, from the point of view of a traveller/’alien’.
This book is quite different, in that it focuses on everything the in the world, from the year dot, to the present day. This may sound like a huge undertaking, more befit of a volume of books, however the author manages to dip into all the most pertinent areas, without skimping on details.
I realise that a lot of people will probably have already been put off by that description, HOWEVER this book is not some dreary, droning piece of work for academics alone. Bill manages to not only capture your interest with each subject, but actually raise a smile quite often.
Whether you consider yourself knowledgeable about such matters, or simply in need of a refresher course, I highly recommend this book…
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Apr 18 2007
Shards Of Honor – Lois McMaster Bujold
This is one of the Miles Vorkosigan series, though it is set about a year before his birth.
There are two main characters in this novel, who start off with completing opposing idealogies, or at least it would seem.
The female character is Capt. Naismith, who is on a planet for a survey for her homeworld – The Beta Colony. She meets the other main character Capt Vorkosigan, who has already (mostly unfairly) earned the nickname the Butcher of Komarr. They come from different planets, and find themselves on this planet for very different reasons.
The story follows the two characters fight for survival on this planet, and without wanting to give the game away too much, the future Miles Vorkosigan must have a mother!
I liked this book enough to read all the others in the series.
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Apr 18 2007
Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) by Richard P Feynman
I actually read this book after having completed all of the Lois McMaster Bujold (I can see that author’s name being abbreviated in posts soon ;> ) books I have, but wanted to give you all a chance to read some other reviews before ploughing into a one genre cascade of reviews.
This book is about a scientist (if you haven’t heard of him previously, I’d recommend reading the Wiki article on him first, else he’ll seem to be prone to boasting) who had an incredibly interesting and diverse life. The book is basically an autobiography, which lists his experiments and achievements. I can tell I’m already losing a great deal of potential book-readers here, but trust me on this, it is worth reading. I hadn’t heard of Freeman Dyson’s (revised) quote regarding Mr Feynman until I read the wiki article, but I think it portrays him very well – all-genius, all-buffoon.
The book itself describe how Richard got interested in science, and about his experiments in a garden shed as a boy. It later describes his efforts to assist the allies during WWII, and just how human nature will normally prevail over stifling bureaucracy.
If you do enjoy the book, and are at all interested in science, you may be interested in his other works, please do feel free to leave a comment if you enjoyed them. (I’ve not grabbed a copy yet of his other works – is it worth searching them out?)
Apr 17 2007
Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold
You will be seeing a LOT more of her books reviewed by me in the coming weeks, but I’ve decided this is the first one I’ll mention.
This book isn’t part of the series I’ll be talking about later, so I should probably start by mentioning the sort of book this is. If you think of a story about corporate ethics, set in space, in the not too distant future, and then add a dash of cross-planetary romance, you’re heading in the right direction. Oh and a genetically altered race of people, with 4 arms and no legs. (You don’t need legs when there is no gravity, no fixed ‘up’ or ‘down’.
Compared to the other books I’ve read from the author, this one is definitely more heavy on the SciFi side of things that the character-led series of Miles Vorkosigan. You will find many other reviewers have decided they couldn’t recommend this book, but if you get the opportunity to read it, I would.
