Review: Illuminated

Illuminated by Matt Bronleewe

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Illuminated is the tale of a archeobibliologist who must unravel clues found in multiple Gutenburg Bibles to discover some deep dark secret. This is your standard Dan Brown DaVinci Code or National Treasure formula book by first time author Matt Bronleewe.

The story is formulaic, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I found that I enjoyed parts of the book and came away feeling like it was okay. There were a few scenes that felt as if they were tacked on to pad out the word count and didn't relate to the story. Several of the aspects required a larger suspension of disbelief than I was willing to give, such as solving the whole mystery that had withstood the test of time for hundreds of years within the space of a 1 hour airplane flight. Worst of all to me was the ending went out on a real whimper, with the book just pretty much ending without much action, fanfare, or strong conclusion to the mystery.

What really drew me to this book was the cover. It's absolutely gorgeous and a brilliant design. You know how they say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover? Well, this is probably a decent reason why. The cover is amazing and beautiful, but the story inside is only okay.



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Review: The Eye of the World

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I'm currently rereading the Wheel of Time in anticipation of the final book coming out next year. I'm already a huge fan of the series and these early books have such an awesome sense of wonder and enjoyment that you'd have to be a heartless slob to not enjoy them.

The biggest difficulty in reviewing books in such a long and epic fantasy series like this is not giving away important spoilers, it's impossible, especially in reviewing later books. So I will limit my comments to just say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and everything about it. You'll be missing out on one of the great fantasy epics of all time if you pass on this book and series.



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Review: Crispin: The Cross of Lead

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Crispin: The Cross of Lead is the first in a series by Avi about a young peasant without a name, growing up in 14th century England. Known only as Asta's son, the young man and his mother are beyond poor and ostracized even by the other peasants of the small village they live in. When Asta dies, the steward of the town declares that Asta's son has stolen money and that he is to be considered a Wolf's Head, meaning anyone can freely kill them, as they are no longer human. On the run, the priest who helps him is murdered but not before revealing his name, Crispin. Crispin escapes being chased by guards, he eventually makes his way to a town, which has been completely wiped out by the plague. In the town he comes across a giant beast of a man, known as Bear, who forces him to swear allegiance to him. The two then start off on a much bigger journey, with far reaching implications.

This is the first book I've read by Avi, though I know he is quite well known. I found the book to be interesting, I think Avi did a very good job in communicating the religious feelings and life that people lived in that time period. Too often, books set in this time period will gloss over religion despite the fact that it played a major role in the lives of the people, especially the peasants.

The book is a young adult book, and probably even a middle-grade level book. It does what it does well, but advanced readers will have no problem knowing exactly what is going to happen at every step of the plot, and will probably find the whole thing pretty shallow. But this would probably be a good book for young readers to get started on. I will likely continue to read the other books in the series as well, but they will not be a priority for me.



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Review: Disclosure

Disclosure by Michael Crichton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Michael Crichton may be the best fictionist of the 90s. This is pretty high praise, but when you consider the breadth of topics that he wrote on, and not just wrote on, but wrote on with a level of understanding that is usually limited to those who have spent years in the field.

My most recent read was Disclosure, the story of Tom Sanders as he works in the high tech industry with CD Rom drives. When Tom doesn't get the promotion he expects, but is instead passed over for an old girlfriend, Meredith Palmer, from his past he doesn't want to rock the boat. But when Meredith invites him to a meeting and sexually harasses him and then throws him under the bus Tom gets mad and fights back filing a sexual harassment claim, the only problem is that Meredith has already charged Tom with sexually harassing her. Not only is it now a game of he said, she said, it's clear that there is more to this story than appears and with only days left to discover whats really going on and clear his name Tom needs to figure out whats really happening.

This book was written in the 1990s, so although Tom Sanders works for a high tech company on the cutting edge it's pretty outdated now, though as someone who was involved in high tech at the time I can tell you that the technology is accurate, and the speculation of what the future would be like was right on. Yes, people in the 90s thought CD-Roms were the promise of a better future, with their ability to store hundreds of megabytes it could bring encyclopedias to peoples homes. The idea was correct, in that people would devour the data if it were available, they were just wrong in the delivery method -- the internet became fast and ubiquitous enough to deliver the content that CD-Roms proved just too slow to do.

That being said, the thought of being charged, wrongly, of sexual harassment is almost as frightening today as it was then. It can be used as a devastating weapon as the book shows that a charge of sexual harassment results in an immediate assumption of guilt and one has to prove innocence. Crichton is a fantastic author, and his characters seemed all to real in this book. I found myself hooked and reading until late into the night. I could hardly put this book down.

Frightening, chilling, excellently orchestrated. A good read.



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Review: Hell's Corner

Hell's Corner by David Baldacci

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



David Baldacci returns to the Camel Club series with Hell's Corner. Oliver Stone, America's most deadly protester is brought back in to work for the government which he has been protesting against for the last 30 years. But when a bomb explodes right across the street from the White House it's clear that things aren't always as clear as they seem, especially when they aren't clear to begin with! Stone must weigh his concern for the other members of the Camel Club against getting the help he needs to solve the mystery and prevent more death and destruction, with shifting and uncertain loyalties that make up Washington DC politics it's uncertain who can be trusted.

I thought Baldacci really returned to a fine form here after the disappointing True Blue. The Camel Club is a fun little group of outcasts and misfits and they work pretty well together. The introduction of a well written MI6 operative helps liven things up as well. Some of the plot twists in this book were unexpected, others I saw right from the very beginning, but it was a thrill ride to get through the whole thing. It was just a fun and easy book to read.

This is the 5th of the Camel Club books. You could very easily read this book on its own, but there are some references to characters and story that happened in the previous books. But the real reason why you wouldn't want to start here, is because the first Camel Club book is so great! If you're looking for a fun and enjoyable series of books to read, read the Camel Club books.



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Review: SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper

SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper by Howard E. Wasdin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Seal Team Six is a look inside the super secret organization that is the very elite of the elite American special forces. The author, Howard Wasdin recounts his experiences as a Seal Team Six sniper. He gives us an insight into the history of the American Special Forces and how they evolved into the elite units they are now. In addition to providing that history, Wasdin also recounts the training and conditioning that he had to experience to make the cut, as well as operations that he was active in, including the events that make up the movie, Black Hawk Down.

Wasdin gives us his history, a troubled one where he faced near constant physical abuse at the hands of his father. Thankfully instead of permanently damaging him, it gave him the mental toughness and inner resolve to overcome all obstacles. Traits that he would need as he climbed the ranks of the special forces elite, eventually hitting the top run, Seal Team Six Sniper, and then his eventual fall from the military after devastating wounds received in Mogadishu.

I really liked this book, there were points when I simply could not put it down. Wasdin is a real person, a person who has lived through difficult things. He doesn't pull any punches. You could get the sense that his thoughts on issues were real, and are probably reflected by many of his team members, like their frustration at the lack of Presidential leadership by Bill Clinton, and the corruption of the United Nations, which lead directly to the deaths and critical wounding of so many American soldiers and Somali people. You may not agree with all of his feelings on the matter, but it's important to recognize those feelings. Sometimes Wasdin comes across as arrogant, some of his choices were poor. I appreciate the fact that Wasdin shares those moments with us in the book, it makes him a human being. By the end of the book, I don't believe anyone can doubt his humility and caring sides as well.

I highly recommend this book. Some who lean very far to the left will have difficulty with some of the thoughts and opinions that Wasdin expresses, but if nothing else, the history of Seal, and the insights into the men who make up the Special Forces is well worth the read.



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Review: The Return of Sherlock Holmes

The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Another great collection of Sherlock Holmes short mysteries. These shorts are where Sherlock really gets to shine because the story is neat and compact and because Sherlock is a master observer he is able to notice the details and put together what happened without the need of hiding what it is he's discovered from the reader for long.

This volume comes after Sherlock Holmes had died battling Moriarty in the last collection. Thankfully for us, the fans of the day were too attached to Holmes to let him go, and finally Doyle acquiesced and gave the people what they wanted, more Sherlock Holmes! What I've said about previous Holmes stories holds true here. We get fun and interesting mysteries, but more importantly to me you get to see and understand the people of turn of the century Britain in a way that no dusty history book would ever be able to provide. These books are a great cultural treasure.

I definitely recommend people read the Sherlock Holmes collections, preferably in order, though that isn't absolutely required. So far so good. Now on to the Hound of the Baskervilles!



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