15 May 2018

Review: The Terror

The Terror The Terror by Dan Simmons
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve had this book on my shelf for years and I hate to say that I only pushed it forward once I saw that there was an AMC series based around it. Still, this is considered a modern classic, and I can’t argue with that – it’s one of the best things I’ve read in recent memory.

At its core, this is a story steeped in the real-world expeditions of the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus. This fictionalized account adds a bit of supernatural and weird flair to the story, balancing out more than I ever thought I’d want to know about 1800s shipbuilding with a survival/mystery tale, and the result is extremely compelling, with enough twists and turns and despair to make the 900-odd pages fly by.

I have nothing negative to say about this at all. It was a book that scratched a few itches while also introducing me to some new ideas and, frankly, a genre I would not have otherwise pursued. Honestly, just give yourself some time to read it and immerse yourself in the whole thing. Just a wonderful experience.

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Review: The Queens of Innis Lear

The Queens of Innis Lear The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There has been no lack of books designed to be the next Game of Thrones, but Queens of Innis Lear is truly the first one in the post-Martin landscape that both achieves the breadth and scope.

The story follows three heirs to a throne, each with its own different claim. The king has his preference, but the world, with some subtle magic involved and with each queen having their own motivation, the result is the typical chaos that one might expect.

There are plenty of surprises here, and a lot I really enjoyed. Some characters end up more compelling than others, and I found it difficult not to root for one specific result in a way other like stories do not, but as a full and complete concept, this was a super compelling read.

I feel like we’re currently in an epic/traditional fantasy rut, and this balances out the overcomplicated efforts with the really compelling narratives. Bump this to the top of your list.

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Review: Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy

Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy by Jonah Goldberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don’t know what it will ultimately take for Jonah Goldberg to be taken seriously as a historian of political movements. Liberal Fascism remains an important and instrumental text, and Suicide of the West, with its equally-bombastic title and premise, provides a detailed and solid outlook into how our past is dictating our present and, more importantly, how we’re losing it.

The overall messaging may be the only stumble here, as Goldberg spends more time explaining this from his point of view rather than a sober analysis leading him there, but this is a tome with a lot to chew on. It’s difficult to read this and not feel a little bit like a lot of what is detailed here gets lost in modern times, especially in the Trump era, but it also has an inspiration and aspirational feel to it where the overall premise shows a way out in spite of how we got in.

Much like Liberal Fascism, this should be required political reading right now. Little of what I’ve read in the last few years really encapsulates the moment (or, unfortunately, how we got to this moment) the way this book does, and I would hope that it gets a wide play on a whole.

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Review: Do This For Me: A Novel

Do This For Me: A Novel Do This For Me: A Novel by Eliza Kennedy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I grabbed this one off Netgalley as a whim, and it was a bit of a roller coaster. A high-powered attorney learns that her husband is cheating on her, and the reaction is one equally of scorched earth and self-discovery. She has to balance her work and her kids and the expectations surrounding her life while also dealing with the obvious, and she effectively balances on a knife’s edge for much of the story.

I think this was a fun read on a whole, and when it was working well, it worked really well. It was both realistic and unrealistic, which was a bit of a problem for me as I really wanted the story to just lean in on one direction or the other, but it was an ultimately minor flaw. Making an unlikeable protagonist both sympathetic and someone you can’t believe is doing what they’re doing is a tough one to accomplish, but Eliza Kennedy pulls it off in the end.

This probably falls under the sort of women’s fiction/”chick lit” umbrella in a way, but it’s a little more substantive than the candy that the genre ultimately implies. It won’t be for everyone, but this absolutely worked for me on a whole.

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