chrishubbs.com …somewhere in Paraguay, quelling revolution with a fork.

BookJournal: Fortunes of War

Fortunes of War is a recent title from Stephen Coonts. It is in many respects a standard military adventure novel, but it is based on an interesting premise. What if a newly militarized Japan tried to seize Siberia from a weakened Russia? How would the world respond? What might happen?

From there the action is good enough to make it a decent read. The story focuses on two fighter pilots, one American, one Japanese, who are friends but end up fighting on opposite sides. The story almost wraps up a little too quickly and neatly; I was left wishing for something a little less formulaic.

Now, maybe I'm a hard audience to please; Red Storm Rising has always been my benchmark of a good war novel. Sure, it's long, and has a gazillion plot threads, and is (like all of Tom Clancy's stuff) overly technical, but that's the way I like 'em. As much as I wish Clancy and/or Bond's writing schedule would accellerate a bit, I'll take their epics over the consistent (but formulaic) offerings from Coonts any day.

BookJournal: Stranger in a Strange Land

I was on the prowl for some sci-fi to read last time I was at the library. They are courteous enough to have the sci-fi genre split out into its own section, so browsing the shelves is a fairly straightforward means of finding some new sci-fi to read. (I will confess to scratching my head at the inclusion of the whole Left Behind series in the sci-fi section, but that's neither here nor there.) My browsing led me to Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, with cover boasting that it was "original and un-cut for the first time". I skimmed the flyleaf and it seemed like I might possibly be interested in the story, so I borrowed the book and brought it home.

Stranger in a Strange Land seemed to me to be two different stories, only tangentially related. The first story, nearly the first half of the book, concerns Michael, the Man from Mars; he is the child of two human Martian explorers. They died when he was a small child and then he was raised by Martians. As the story begins Michael has just returned to earth and must deal with an unfamiliar world filled with people looking to take advantage of him. It's a fairly imaginative fish-out-of-water story.

The second half of the book departs from this exploration into a treatise on the 1960's hippie ideals of uninhibited carnality, free love and open marriage. Michael (who possesses amazing cosmic powers, thanks to his understanding of the Martian language and Martian mind techniques) founds a "church" which is a multi-level scheme; novitiates are presented with a study of Martian and the mind techniques; it's not until they reached the highest levels of the organization that they were brought into the sexual free-for-all. In the end, they are persecuted, they scatter to spread their "church" abroad, and Michael *poofs* himself back to Mars.

I was ready to put down the book about halfway through the second section; the story takes a turn for the worse at that point. It appears to me that Mr. Heinlein wanted to write his hippie treatise, and found that it was easiest to do in the guise of other-worldly values. Enter enlightened Martians telling us that the answer to all our troubles is a lot of free sex and some cool cosmic powers... ugh. Oh well, on to the next book.

BookJournal: No Uncertain Terms

Well I just about have this one finished up so I'll write about it now. William Safire, in addition to having been for many years the conservative political columnist for the New York Times, is also the author of the "On Language" column that ran in that paper on Sundays for many years. In "On Language", Mr. Safire explored the origin of words and phrases, discusses usage and spelling, and generally addressed any other language-related topic that piqued his interest.

No Uncertain Terms is a recent (perhaps the latest... I'm not quite certain) collection of those "On Language" columns, one of at least a dozen. I know I own at least one more of the set: In Love With Norma Loquendi. Being a lover of words and turns of phrase, Safire's columns fascinate me. ALmost better than the columns, though, are the responses he chooses to print. Many of his readers choose to write in, enough that he has given the various groups titles. There's the "Gotcha! Gang", which nails him on factual errors. (I was actually a member of this gang once several years ago.) Then there's the "Squad Squad", nailing redundancy at every turn. Safire often corresponds with professors of English, editors of dictionaries, and historians, which means that the level of learnedness is very high. Still, the writing is snappy, so the book stays fun, and rarely gets dull.

I doubt I'll find and add all of Safire's collections to my personal library, but I'll be on the lookout for another volume or two. They are fun reading, the topics won't get old, and they improve my grammar and usage.

BookJournal: PowerSat

Powersat is one of the latest titles by long-time sci-fi author Ben Bova. Bova is a prolific author. His numerous tomes are full of futuristic technology, but the technology never takes the forefront; rather, it just provides the setting for classic themes of exploration, ambition, love, and revenge. Powersat is no exception.

Powersat is set in the near future, and features an inventor who is trying to set up a geosynchronous satellite that will collect solar energy and transmit it to Earth via "widely dispersed" microwaves. The worldwide oil syndicates, worried that the demand for oil might be decreased, sabotage his efforts, and the conflict ensues. The hero, trying to identify the villians and stop them; the villians, trying to continue to stay under the radar while continuing their sabotage.

There aren't a lot of suprises in Powersat. The characters do about what you'd expect, and the hero is successful as you would expect. Mr. Bova is pushing his favorable views of space exploration and invention here, with a story that, if not superb, is certainly at least sufficient to carry the message. Still, it was a distracting, lightweight read, another enjoyable book from Ben Bova.

BookJournal: The Lincoln Lawyer

I just finished up my latest recreational read last night: Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer. I have been a fan of Mr. Connelly's Harry Bosch series for a while now, so I thought this was a safe bet.

The Lincoln Lawyer ended up being a little less complex and thrilling than I had thought it might be. Lawyer with personal problems (but not too many personal problems) defends client who ends up being a really, really bad person. It was a nice change from the norm to have a hero who actually has a decent relationship with his ex-wife (we're actually left with a chance of them getting back together), and that doesn't have to solve the whole thing on his own; the police seem to do a reasonable job, and actually are one step ahead of the hero at the end of the book.

Oh the whole: a reasonable read, but nothing earthshattering or new and novel here. Well, OK, it is novel... a novel, that is.

Book Journal: Extreme Denial, Assumed Identity

These two get grouped together since I read them both on the plane on my way to/from Wichita this week. Again, good entertainment. Extreme Denial and Assumed Identity are just two of the multitude of titles by author David Morrell. Probably best known for writing Rambo: First Blood, his later novels all centered around the idea of a secret agent-type (usually ex-Delta Force or ex-CIA) who effortlessly changes identities at will, and is either in the personal protection business or ends up operating that way.

I read one on the way down to Wichita, one on the way back. Good entertainment, fairly well written, but I couldn't read too many of them in a row... too similar, they'd start getting boring. So, I'll have to space them out over a while.

Book Journal: Consent to Kill

Consent to Kill is the latest book in the Mitch Rapp series by author Vince Flynn. It follows the pattern set up in the previous books in the series, heck isn't this the pattern with all the books of this genre? Hero is a secret agent of some sort. Hero is wronged, wants to kill the bad guys. Gutless political leaders try but fail to prevent him from exacting vengance. End of story.

Saying that it follows a pattern isn't to say that it's a bad book; I enjoyed reading it. It's just not very original. I guess it's hard to be original these days.

my book journal

I read voraciously. Sometimes really good books, sometimes just so-so books that I read for the escapism and entertainment. Talking with Richard the other day, I got the idea that I should keep a journal of all the books I read. The only rule is that I can't write about 'em until I finish them, which should maybe help motivate me to finish the few half-read books sitting next to my bed. At least that's the idea. I have a feeling I'll be troubled by how many so-so books I read, but, we'll see.