Books read, travelling edition

[hawkwing_lb]

We're not going to count the Pentateuch. That was work, and while it could have been less pleasant, you can't really say much about origin myths, ancient law codes, and how these things go together. Not unless you're writing a thesis, and that I will not do here.

Books 2008: 127-133

127. Patrick O'Brian, Desolation Island.

Probably the best O'Brian I've read to date. A nice balance of Aubrey and Maturin, and some excellent writing. Sea battles, storms, natural philosophy.

128-129. Patrick O'Brian, The Fortune of War and The Surgeon's Mate.

I guess O'Brian books need to be read in small doses. I wasn't particularly impressed with either of these, although The Fortune of War is perhaps the better: too much takes place on land.

130. Jack McDevitt, Ancient Shores.

A good book, although not one that really exercised me one way or the other: I still think Polaris and Engines of God are the best of his that I've read, with the other Alex Benedict books close after, and a rather sharp drop-off from there.

Discovery of inexplicable buried ship made from advanced materials leads to the discovery of strange ancient installation buried under Sioux land. Complications both archaeological and political ensue. Interesting concept, but indifferent, in my opinion, execution.

131. Violette Malan, The Sleeping God.

I picked this up at WFC, and stayed up perhaps later than I should have reading it Thursday night. It's not anything incredibly new, but I found the characters to my taste, and the plot rocketed along with pretty good pace, twists, and tension. I'll have to look into the sequel.

132. Mike Carey, Dead Men's Boots.

I'm glad I left this one as long as I did. It turned what could have been a miserable long plane flight (7.5 hours, overnight) into something a lot more bearable. A dead (but not entirely) American serial killer, complications with the death-and-burial of an acquaintance - another exorcist - and a legal battle for the disposition of his possessed friend Rafi - Felix Castor has interesting problems. And, including the gay succubus, the paranoid zombie, and the children's librarian, interesting friends.

A good book, with Carey's deft touch for a dark tone, dark atmosphere, and dark humour.

non-fiction:

133. C (or P) Cornelius Tacitus, The Histories, Penguin edition, translated by Keith Wellesley.

Technically, I haven't finished this. But I'm six pages from the end, and I suspect I have a decent handle on Tacitus as a source.

The Histories recount the events of the civil war of 68/69 from shortly after Galba's decision to become emperor to Vespasian's victory, and Titus's prosecution of the siege of Jerusalem. Along the way some time is taken to deal with the Batavian revolt in Gaul and the Germanies.

Tacitus is very readable, although the civil war gets... wearing. As does Tacitus's disapproval of damn near everyone's actions and motivations. A useful source, and an insight into a number of ways in which the Romans thought and acted very differently to us.

---

I came back from WFC with books. (You should have seen airport security look at me, when I carried them through. The Are you insane? look non-bibliophiles give a person who is carrying twenty books.) Bought, and free. The free include some that look very interesting, including an ARC of R. Scott Bakker's The Judging Eye. I hated The Darkness That Comes Before, but other people raved about that trilogy, so I guess I'll give this one a shot.

Comments

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

The Are you insane? look non-bibliophiles give a person who is carrying twenty books.

I've learned to be very overt about what I am doing when I do carry that many books, because that's enough mass to show up as an odd shadow on an airport x-ray machine which it seems very much for the best people not think is something weird.

I like the on-land part of the Aubrey-Maturin series at least as much as the at-sea bits, once past the first couple where O'Brian did not really seem to have that clear of a handle on what he was doing (Jack disguised as a bear, forsooth !). I am very slowly making my way through a second reading of the series, though this time I intend to read the six volumes or so of the voyage set in 1812a in one go.

Glad you enjoyed Dead Men's Boots, I continue impressed with the way Carey is expanding the scope of the novels and developing the overall plot, and am most peeved Thicker than Water will not be out until April. (Though #5, The Naming of the Beasts, still appears to be sheduled for next October, so we can hope.) I think I would have preferred the original title of Burnt Offerings for #3, as the current title teeters on a spoiler, but that title having been used by Laurell Hamilton seems a legitiamte reason for changing it.

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

I had them in an an open-topped bag. Yes. (I know people who work in airport security, and while I've never met one who wanted to cause anyone grief, anything that makes their job easier makes my trip airside faster.)

Oh, the on-land bits were very good. I just think I probably read too much at once. I'm starting to think that for me, O'Brian is very much an author to be read in small doses, and on top of that, a good bit of The Surgeon's Mate just didn't work for me.

I'd be looking forward to the next Castor book with more energy if it hadn't taken me months to get around to this one. (And, gods, I was just starting to make a dent - a small dent - in the tbr shelves. Now with this stuff from Calgary, I have more than ever.)

(Can't complain about that, though. :P )

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

a good bit of The Surgeon's Mate just didn't work for me.

Fair enough. Incidentally, I love that as a title; it's one of those things people miss because of being too big rather than too small. (Who does it refer to ?)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

I suspect, after finishing, Diana Villiers.