Collected Miscellany

The third book in the Emperor Series by Conn Iggulden, The Field of Swords, continues the excellence of the first two books (The Gates of Rome and The Death of Kings). The books are based on the life and times of Julius Caesar. Iggulden’s style is strong and engaging.

Here is a brief summary of the book from Publisher’s Weekly:

…After four prosperous years with the Tenth Legion in Spain, Julius has discovered gold and decides to return to Rome with his loyal general, Brutus. There, rich with Spanish loot, Julius enters into an alliance with Pompey, a popular and autocratic military leader, and his older, wealthy co-consul, Crassus. Sponsored by this pair of influential and unscrupulous politicians, Julius is elected consul and assumes charge of an expedition to Gaul with full powers to take spoils and rule his conquests in the name of Rome. His eventual victory over Vercingetorix is only postponed by a daring side campaign in Britain. The novel ends as Julius receives word that Pompey plans to have him slain, and Julius, Brutus and Mark Antony prepare to march on Rome, leaving avid readers athirst to read the final volume. …

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Marines in the Garden of Eden by Richard S. Lowry is a detailed description of Task Force Tarawa’s assault on An Nasiriyah during the initial days of the Iraq War. Lowry provides an excellent look at the men who assaulted and took the first major city to fall to the Americans in the war.

The book generally follows the movements of Task Force Tarawa (primarily made up of 3 infantry battalions and an artillery battalion) and the 507th Maintenance Company (of Jessica Lynch fame). Lowry recounts how the battle began with the 507th convoy and the initial assault by the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment. He then highlights the next seven days that the Task Force took to secure the city, including an account of how Private Lynch was rescued.

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As you might imagine, the whole change jobs, sell my house, pack up, and move across the country thing has me a little stressed out. As a result, I am not always interested in reading serious non-fiction or even fiction. As a way to take a break and relax I have been reading young adult fiction. I find it interesting to compare and contract how various author’s approach the genre and what styles and stories work. Recently, I have discussed the Sister’s Grimm and Landon Snow series.

The last time I was at Half Price books I stumbled upon another intriguing new YA series: The Pagan Chronicles by Catherine Jinks from Candlewick Press.

The first book in the series, Pagan’s Crusade, introduces the character of Pagan Kirdouk, a Arab-Christian sixteen year old living in Jerusalem. Pagan is trying to put his dicey past behind him and so joins the Knights Templar. As the book’s dust jacket explains, however, things don’t quite go as planned:

He’s expecting only some protection from the seedier aspects of life on the street and a few square meals. Instead, Pagan finds himself hard at work for Lord Roland de Bram – an exciting life of polishing Lord Roland’s armor, laundering his garments, and even training to fight by his side.

But as the Infidel Saladin leads his army to Jerusalem, it becomes more and more difficult for Pagan and Lord Roland to discern what action to take or whom to trust. Neither Saladin’s army nor the Christian Crusaders offer easy answers. Is a bloody battle for control of the Holy City inevitable?

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One of the challenges I face in reviewing books is how to handle a series of books or books with reoccurring characters. When I was young, and had lots of free time, I would always read a series in chronological order (publishing order, not internal to the books). I want to read and discover how the author developed the characters and plot as the series progressed. I wanted to be in on the inside jokes and references.

In my current circumstances that really isn’t possible. There simply isn’t enough time for me to go back and read a series before I take on the latest release. I have too many other books I want to read. There are always books I want to read but can’t because tough choices have to be made. This is often one of those choices.

The reason I bring this up, is that this choice in itself presents a challenge. For example, I recently finished The Watchman by Robert Crais. The lead character in the novel is Joe Pike. Pike is secondary character in Crais’ previous series which featured L.A. PI Elvis Cole; who is in turn a secondary character in this new series. Before The Watchman I had never read anything by Crais. So I have no background on either character nor on Crais style.

This puts me at a disadvantage in many ways compared to other reviewers. I can’t comment on how this book compares to others in the Cole Series nor can I comment on how Pike is developed and presented in comparison to past stories. All I can do is judge the book as a stand alone work. Nothing terribly wrong with that, it just feels a little incomplete.

With that caveat out of the way, please see the review below.

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What is more important: doing what you love or being financially stable? What kind of risk would you take to achieve both? How corrupting is money? These are the questions that hover in the background in Keith Dixon’s recently released novel The Art of Losing .

In a recent Q&A, Dixon described the book as “literary noir” and that seems an apt term. It has the grit and darkness of noir with the style and depth associated with literary fiction. (BTW, it is a hybrid genre (not that the one precludes the other anymore) that I am rather found of these days. I think fellow Nomads Olen Steinhauer and Kevin Wignall could both be grouped in this category.)

The Art of Losing centers on the life of Mike Jacobs, a documentary filmmaker, after he has landed in New York City by way of LA. While his films have been well accepted critically they have been financial disasters. Jacobs throws his life into each only to have it flop at the box office. In rather desperate financial straits, he decides to take a risk in order to achieve some independence.

This risk involves fixing a horse race with his producer friend Selby. This plot soon involves Jacobs making contact with various bookies (Selby’s bad reputation on the gambling circuit prevents him from doing it), losing large sums of money to prove they aren’t con men, and bringing in a couple of jockeys to help throw the race. The plan is to win big by controling not who wins but who loses. As is the way with such plots, however, the supposedly fool proof plan doesn’t quite come together. This puts Jacobs face to face with some rather nasty folks. Suddenly, Jacobs is thinking about how he is going to survive as it seems his entire world is coming down around him.

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What is more important: doing what you love or being financially stable? What kind of risk would you take to achieve both? How corrupting is money? These are the questions that hover in the background in Keith Dixon’s recently released novel The Art of Losing .

In a recent Q&A, Dixon described the book as “literary noir” and that seems an apt term. It has the grit and darkness of noir with the style and depth associated with literary fiction. (BTW, it is a hybrid genre (not that the one precludes the other anymore) that I am rather found of these days. I think fellow Nomads Olen Steinhauer and Kevin Wignall could both be grouped in this category.)

The Art of Losing centers on the life of Mike Jacobs, a documentary filmmaker, after he has landed in New York City by way of LA. While his films have been well accepted critically they have been financial disasters. Jacobs throws his life into each only to have it flop at the box office. In rather desperate financial straits, he decides to take a risk in order to achieve some independence.

This risk involves fixing a horse race with his producer friend Selby. This plot soon involves Jacobs making contact with various bookies (Selby’s bad reputation on the gambling circuit prevents him from doing it), losing large sums of money to prove they aren’t con men, and bringing in a couple of jockeys to help throw the race. The plan is to win big by controling not who wins but who loses. As is the way with such plots, however, the supposedly fool proof plan doesn’t quite come together. This puts Jacobs face to face with some rather nasty folks. Suddenly, Jacobs is thinking about how he is going to survive as it seems his entire world is coming down around him.

Continue reading →