One of the greatest things about my Kindle is the ability to wirelessly browse Amazon's store, decide I want to read a book, purchase and download it, and begin reading immediately. This was the case with Poison Study, by Maria V. Snyder.
Ms. Synder, a former meteorologist, became a career author in 1995 when this, her first book, was published. She's a self-described "Pantser," or someone who writes from the seat of her pants. Her novels are written from start to finish with her plot twists and surprises developing for her as well as her readers on-the-fly. It's a technique that some authors can follow to excellent results, while others flail about and fall on their face. Luckily for Ms. Snyder, she is in the former category.
The main character of the story, Yelena, begins the book locked in a dungeon awaiting her execution for the murder of her former lord when she is offered a choice, become the new food-taster for the Commander or face the noose. Yelena makes the obvious choice and all manner of subterfuge, assassination attempts, magic, swordplay, and betrayals commence. The book picks up your attention quickly--a rarity these days in the fantasy world--and doesn't let go until the final page. Ms. Snyder's ability to weave complex character motivations and give a sense of a living, breathing person are her greatest attributes. Her plots, while simple, are carried on by the vibrance of the characters and the ever-developing world around them.
After laying down this first book in her "Study" series, I can say with some confidence that I'll be reading the sequel very soon. For those of you looking for a quick fantasy book filled with adventure, danger, magic, and of course poisons, this book will fit the bill nicely. I recommend reading it with a cup of hot tea you made yourself, just to be safe.
At the turn of the 20th century, Henry Cowling published this fine little book (about 70 pages) as an autobiography of his life as a young sailor boy in the Royal Navy and the journeys that led him towards the Baptist ministry. Mr. Cowling, while not an author by trade, still manages to conjure up a vivid picture of his life in those sea-faring times.
The short volume covers Mr. Cowling's life from a young child dreaming of a life at sea to the moment, years later, when his family petitioned to buy him out of his remaining service so he could enter seminary. His life, while not remarkable in any particular way, had many moments the reader could admire and enjoy in the light of sympathy and empathy. In one particularly insightful passage, the author describes how his life's ambition of joining the Royal Navy went from a barely containable excitement to an overwhelming, fearful dread in the matter of a few steps along the gang-plank. It was passages like this one, where the true timbre of the author's character shown forth in an all-too-real and all-too-familiar way that made the old book accessible.
Though there were enjoyable parts, and altogether the story was illuminating, I found myself rather thankful of the books brevity. The stories of life at sea for a young man who had not yet achieved the rank of Ordinary Seaman were interesting indeed, but there is only so much that can be said of these few years of non-ficticious journeys.
For those of you who might be interested in a realistic image of what life was like at sea at the turn of the century on boats powered by steam and sail, this quick, little book might be just what the doctor ordered. Read it with a nice cup of tea.
I'd like to start off by saying I'm a sucker for a good fantasy book. You can call it a weakness, or a predilection, or preference, and I won't argue with you. Since my dad brought home my first Piers Anthony book when I was a child, reading about sword and sorcery has always made me smile.
Of course my love of the genre does not necessarily translate to my love of a particular book. I've read enough epic fantasy stories to find many cliché, obtuse, obvious, or the dreaded fan-boy driveling of an author who is obsessed with their old Dungeons and Dragons characters.
When I picked up A Game of Thrones, I knew straight away it wasn't going to be one of those amateur pieces. At the same time, though, I recognized right away that George R.R. Martin was in no hurry to rush into the action.
In much the same way as The Wheel of Time, the book began laboriously slow. I admit it took me more than a few tries to finally push through to the end. In fact, with many of these epic stories that are planned to be a series from the start, much of the first book is just set-up, character development, setting and mechanics development, or training to get you in the habit of reading lots of silly names. For A Game of Thrones, there was plenty of that last part.
By the time I had reached the halfway point of the book, I was ready to call it quits on the series. Nothing much had happened and I wasn't very attached to any of the characters. One of my biggest complaints was that the author seemed to give each of his chapters only a single scene that when concluded would inevitably end with a cliffhanger and a switch to a new point of view. The result was that as each chapter ended I found myself just settling in to that character, only to be jolted over to a new one.
The quick character swaps eventually lost their sting as I took them in the stride of the greater story. Once the hand-full of cast members were established, Martin's chapter technique seemed fitting. When a chapter ended and a new one began with the new character's name printed in bolded letters as a title, I would smile and look forward to picking up where we had left off a few chapters earlier.
As my progress reached about 70%, I hit the 'hook' as I like to call it. That is the moment when the story has you so fully invested, finishing is no longer in question. 70% might be a new record for leisure in the fantasy setting, one that I'm not sure Martin should be proud of. It seems a bit excessive for anyone but the most invested reader.
Aside from the lengthy introductions, this book did have its charms. It is rare to find an author so comfortable with killing off his characters. The result is a very gritty world where showing any mercy leads to tragic death. Perhaps it isn't the most upbeat message, but as one character explains, "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die."
Martin's characters are colorful, dynamic, capable of learning and growing yet still subject to their core qualities and weaknesses. Concepts like honor and duty are double-edged swords, as likely to lead to impossible and dire situations as they are to glory. It is not a book of fairytales where the valiant always win, but somehow it does leave you with a sense of hope. Perhaps it's just hope that all of the books in the series won't be so dark.
All in all, my biggest complaint was also my biggest distraction from the characters and plot. The sexuality in certain scenes burst forth in an often awkward or haphazard way, both graphic and violent. While some might try to argue that it supported and expanded on the bitter settings and grizzly characters, I believe these parts of the book were little more than the author's frustrations passing onto the page. After the hundredth rape, I felt less convinced that the men of this world had different values than me than I felt sure that the author had a bad date-night.
After several reading attempts, a long period of development, surprising deaths, beautiful battles, raunchy sex, despicable characters and epic cliffhangers, A Game of Thrones left me with a positive feeling for the rest of the series. While I wont be running out to pick up the sequel today, it will be on my short list for the future. With any luck the author found a nice stable relationship before he penned book 2.
Lee Strobel's book shows a heavy influence from his time as a journalist, an influence he makes no attempt to deny or deminish. This book, like his others in his "The Case for..." series, relies heavily upon the reasoning and logical deduction he learned as a reporter with the Chicago Tribune. So it came as no surprise when he logically ordered the interviews and chapters around eight organizing questions, or "The Big 8" as he calls them. These questions represent to Mr. Strobel the most convincing arguments against faith in Christianity.
- If there's a loving God, why does this pain-wracked world groan under so much suffering and evil?
- If the miracles of God contradict science, then how can any rational person believe that they're true?
- If God is morally pure, how can he sanction the slaughter of innocent children as the Old Testament says he did?
- If God cares about the people he created, how could he consign so many of them to an eternity of torture in hell just because they didn't believe the right things about him?
- If Jesus is the only way to heaven, then what about the millions of people who have never heard of him?
- If God really created the universe, why does the evidence of science compel so many to conclude that the unguided process of evolution accounts for life?
- If God is the ultimate overseer of the church, why has it been rife with hypocrisy and brutality throughout the ages?
- If I'm still plagued by doubts, then is it still possible to be a Christian?
As a journalist as his core, Mr. Strobel doesn't seek to answer these questions on his own, or even summarize other answers from journals, periodicals, and books. He interviews experts in the christian community who have particular familiarity with each question. The author then becomes a voice of the questioner, the doubter, and at times the athiest, who argues against christianity with the sense of truth that comes from a person who was indeed once an athiest himself.
The authors anticdotes about his own path to faith and the parallels he shared with the book he is authoring is a helpful guide and a binding force to what might have otherwise been disjointed apologetic interviews with top christian leaders. As the organizing questions keep the book on target, Lee's own sub-plot of searching for answers keeps the book together as a unit.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for help in their own faith journey. It is not, however, a book of solid apologetics to be brandished at the nearest athiest in hopes of conversion. There are plenty of mixed messages inside, including a strong position that those who don't want to believe will not believe. Overall, the author makes excellent points that "the Big 8" lose their venom when tackled one by one, and when taken as a whole, the evidence for faith is overwhelming.