Settling Accounts: Return Engagement - Harry Turtledove

While doing my post-book diligence on this free-to-kindle novel, I discovered this is actually a gigantic (10 or more?) book series, which explains a lot. Why are fantasy series always so long? Perhaps because they don't have any merit as individual novels and so need to build a fanbase on character loyalty.

Synopsis: This is an alternate history, based on the premise that the Confederates won the Civil War and the downstream changes of this major history-changing notion. It's set in WWII, and does a decent job of highlighting the delicate balance that has lead to our current history and how even small decisions could dramatically affect the timeline. I though the alternate history presented was interesting (the lack of Russian revolution leads to acceptance of socialism in the US - certainly the 40s was a breeding ground for that kind of thought), although discussion of the underlying currents was lacking.

I guess my overall impression of this novel is that it took on too much - there were too many characters (hard to identify with them, even though the perspective gained was good) and too much war (the US-France/Confederate-Nazi parallels seemed sloppy). Plus, the language was simplistic and repetitive (everytime a character was re-introduced, we got the same background). Due to the number of characters, there wasn't a lot of character depth. Also, I think the confederate genocide was unbelievable. I'm not a scholar of genocide, but to compare this to Rwanda or Bosnia is beyond a stretch. Of course, it's a direct parallel for Nazi Germany, although I don't feel like Turtledove even came close to capturing the motivation behind such horrific acts.

This book probably provides an interesting perspective, and may make you think a bit, but to get the full effect you'd likely have to read the full series. Based on my reading of this one novel, it certainly doesn't seem worth it.

A History of God - The 4,000-Year Quest of Judiasm, Christianity, and Islam - Karen Armstrong

I began this book quite excited about its prospects. I'm a bit of a religion-freak - although more curious by it than involved in it myself. I've read everything including translations of original works by early Christian scholars/heretics, works on Satipatthna, the Bhagavad Gita, and even a Wiccan guide. "A History of God" promised an integration of the religions that have done such a bang-up job shaping the history of Western civilization. What it delivered, however, was a jumbled mess of separate histories, philosophies, and opinions, "integrated" by talking about each religion in isolation from the others in random order. While I definitely learned something (especially about the development of Islamic philosphy, where I'm notably weak) when Armstrong veered from loosely tied-together histories to her personal opinions on the state of God in society, I nearly lost my lunch. I have a overwhelming bias towards objectivity, which was overwhelmingly disappointed. Do I agree that people are rejecting God because they find problems with the specifics of their personal religion? Maybe some, although the claim just doesn't resonate with my experience or observations. I think that some people may be more secular because the need filled by God is filled by other things (both TV and the internet provide greater meaning now-a-days). And while I strongly agree that the recent trend towards religious fundamentalism is scary in any religion (especially where it manifests as required conversion or hatred of/violence towards others not like yourself), Armstrong's religious relativism (in the guise of objectivity) hit a bit too close to home for me to buy it.

Blood Engines - T.A.Pratt

Wow, this is embarrassing. My first review in like two months and it's on a piece of fantasy/fiction. I was beginning to be worried that in my new post-Spawn/Suburban Hell/HD Plasma TV life I wasn't interested in reading anymore. I've been working on A History of God since Christmas. I thought I was turning into a normal person.

Then came the Kindle, and with it some free fantasy books. 5 days later, here I am. I read in the car at stoplights, at work while waiting for downloads, at home instead of watching TV. I stopped sleeping. Hello, I'm a fiction addict. I've tried to give up fiction multiple times in the past, but it always ends up sucking me in, no matter how poorly written.

Well, enough editorializing, onto the review. I am generally not a fan of fantasy, despite having read a lot of it. I love the thought of fantasy/sci-fi, using fiction to step outside the world as we know it and examining things as possibilities, not practicalities. But fantasy novels generally suck, and this one was no exception. While some authors use fantasy as a platform to stimulate the imagination, move a story line, most (Pratt included) write to their audience - people interested in the show and not the substance. Blood Engines provided no insight into the human condition. There were no light bulb moments. There's basically a ruthless sorcerer with a problem who fights a bad sorcerer, pulling out all the stops, and has to compromise in the end. There was no beauty in either the language or the plot, although it was somewhat refreshing that the strong ruthless character was female. As is often the case with fantasy novels, this is one book in a series - drawing readers in to see if the character is better developed in the next novel. I hope I have the will-power to not read it.

Kindle!!!

I realize that this is a book review blog, but I just had to share my joy at receiving a Kindle for my birthday. Not only is it a totally cool technology, but the screen really is just like reading a book. It's easy to navigate, transport, and comfortable to hold. You can even upload your own files onto the kindle. I guess my only current digs (in the two days since I got it) it that it doesn't have a touchscreen (prob impossible with the cool screen), the five-way controller isn't the most convenient, and kindle book selection is limited. It would be great if you could get scientific journal subscriptions posted to your kindle - best scientific use ever - although I certainly don't want to pay for all of those subscriptions myself.