The list is in chronological order this month.
Books Finished
Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the
Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
Veiled (Alex Versus
Book 6) by Benedict Jacka
This is another fantasy novel set in the modern world. Alex Versus is a magician who has the power
to see into the future, but in a limited way.
He can scout out futures based upon his actions, but they soon become
too complicated to follow. He knows what
will happen if he opens a door, but he does not wake up knowing what he will
have for dinner. The primary use of his
skill is to look at the outcomes from each of his possible actions and pick the
best one—but sometimes there are no good options. Obviously, I enjoy this series of books or I
would have stopped before finishing book 2.
This series contains a bit more magical combat that most which I could
sometimes do without. On the other hand,
it doesn’t feel that the author is pulling new magical powers out of his hat to
solve (or create) new problems. That
doesn’t mean that he isn’t, but he does a good job of covering it. If you want to try this series you should
start with the first book, Fated. That being said, I would recommend Butcher’s
Harry Dresden series (mentioned last month) over this one.
Relics of War: A Legend of Ethshar by Lawrence
Watt-Evans
This fantasy novel is not set in the modern world. It is one of the many books in Watt-Evans’
Ethshar series. Generally, his books have a light and playful tone--even when
dealing with more difficult subjects including war and death. I enjoyed it, but
it is not the book I would point to if I were trying to recruit a new
Watt-Evans reader.
The Ethshar series takes place in a world with lots of
different types of magic. A war which
has lasted generations ends with the gods destroying one side. In the aftermath, new societies and kingdoms
form and things become complicated. I
have read and enjoyed all of the books in the series and most of his other
books as well. If you want to give his
Ethshar series a try I would start with A
Misenchanted Sword, With a Single
Spell, or The Blood of a Dragon. If you want to try his other stories you
could start with his Hugo Award winning story “Why I Left Harry’s All-Night
Hamburgers.” He also writes science
fiction, sometimes under the name, Nathan Archer.
Tales of Ethshar
by Lawrence Watt-Evans
A collection of Ethshar short stories.
Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
Proxima by
Stephen Baxter
Small Wars: A Jack
Reacher Story by Lee Child
This is not really a book, just a short story, but I bought
it as a separate item on my Kindle account so that is enough for me to list it
here. It is one more episode in Lee
Child’s long running Jack Reacher series.
It is nothing special compared to the rest of series but Reacher fans
will enjoy it. No one else is likely to
read it. If you want to start reading
the series you should start with Killing
Floor, the first published novel in the series.
Small Wars takes
place in the 1980s when Reacher was still an MP in the Army. He is required to investigate the murder of
the richest female soldier in the US Army who was on the fast track to
general. The solution to the crime was
both unexpected and predictable.
By the way, Jack Reacher in the books is significantly
different from the character as played by Tom Cruise in the movie, but in many
ways very much the same. Both are
retired military police who go around fixing things their own way, but the
Reacher from the books is a big muscular guy—not at all like Cruise. The movie does an excellent job of making the
difference not matter, but it is something every Reacher fan noticed.
Harry Potter and the
Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
Good and Valuable
Consideration: Jack Reacher vs. Nick
Heller by Lee Child and Joseph Finder
Another Jack Reacher short story I had previously overlooked. This one is a stunt story first published in an
Anthology, Faceoff, where two
authors collaborate on a story involving a continuing character from each
author. I had not heard of Nick Heller
or Joseph Finder before, but this story was enough to make me decided to try
out the first Hunter book, Vanished. On the other hand, the concept was not enough
to make me buy the anthology itself.
The Red: First Light
(Red Trilogy 1) by Linda Nagata
The Trials (Red
Trilogy 2) by Linda Nagata
This science fiction trilogy is set in a near future Earth
where defense contractors control things.
They make sure there is always a war or two going to ensure a constant
demand for their products. A cynical
person might think that this world is not much different from our current world
which is, I assume, the point.
The soldiers use very advanced technology making this yet
another novel descended spiritually from Starship
Troopers by Robert Heinlein, although he would likely not approve of its
politics. I reread the first book so as
to better follow The Trials which
just came out. Obviously, I cannot speak
reliably as to the quality of the trilogy as a whole, but the first two books
were very good. I do wish I had just
waited for the whole trilogy to come out so I could read it all at once, but I
often lack patience.
Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
As it turns out, I did reread the entire series again, in
relatively short order. I do not have
anything new to say about these books. I
enjoyed them when I first read then and I have enjoyed them each time I reread
them. I cannot remember how many times I
have read the books but it is somewhere between 10 and 15 for the first and
fourth volumes. I have reread the others
less often. Unlike the Masters of Rome series, discussed
below, I am confident I will reread these books again. I will probably watch the movies again as
well.
If it is not clear, I highly recommend these books to
everyone. I also recommend Rowling’s
Cormoran Strike books which are completely different. If you buy any of these books, be sure to let
Rowling know it was at my suggestion.
Vanished (Nick Heller
Book 1) by Joseph Finder
As I mentioned, I bought this book because I found the Nick
Heller character interesting in Good and
Valuable Consideration where he was paired with Jack Reacher. I enjoyed this book and will probably read at
least one more book in the series, but it didn’t grab me as strongly as did the
Jack Reacher series to which it bears some similarities. Heller is more connected to the modern world
than is Reacher and he has friends and family.
He even has a regular job, albeit one in business security, but like
Reacher he is an intelligent, dogged investigator who can take care of himself
in a fight. They are both unrealistically
self-confident. I can’t really put my
finger on why I like Heller less, but because I do I cannot recommend this book
to anyone who has not read all the Jack Reacher books. (If you did not like the Jack Reacher books,
you are unlikely to like this book either.)
Books Started
Football Manager
Stole My Life by Iain MacIntosh, Kenny Millar, and Neil White
Harry Potter and the
Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
Dire
Predictions: Understanding Climate
Change by Michael E. Mann and Lee R. Kump
This book is an interesting, but depressing, analysis and
explanation of the current science of climate change. I will be reading it in fits and starts over
the next few months.
Veiled (Alex Versus
Book 6) by Benedict Jacka
Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
Relics of War: A Legend of Ethshar by Lawrence
Watt-Evans
Tales of Ethshar
by Lawrence Watt-Evans
Harry Potter and the
Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
Ultima (Proxima 2)
by Stephen Baxter
I started this book immediately upon finishing Proxima, but I have not read it in
weeks. I think I was put off by the
unexpected appearance of space faring ancient Romans. (I like my ancient Romans ancient—see below.) I am sure that Baxter will make it all make
sense but my delaying in continuing to read the book is not a good sign.
First Man in Rome
(Masters of Rome 1) by Colleen McCullough
When this book was first published in 1990 I immediately
bought and read it. Ever since I read I, CIaudius and saw the TV series, I
have been a fan of Roman historical fiction.
So I read each book in this series as they came out in 1991, 1993, 1996,
and 1997. There was then a long break to
2002 before she publish, The October
Horse, which was announced as the last one in the series. Much to my surprise a final book was
published in 2007, Antony and Cleopatra.
I read about a third of it and stopped.
Not because I didn’t like it, but because I was sure that there weren’t
going to be any more books in the series and I didn’t want it to end.
When McCullough died this past January, I decided I would
reread the entire series from it start and this time I would finish it. Since the books are long and I have plenty of
other things to read, this project will undoubtedly take several months. It is also an unusual situation for me. I have never before started rereading one of
my favorite books knowing that this will be the last time I read it, but, in
this case, the series is so long that I doubt I will find the time to read it
again. There are too many new books to
read and too many other favorites to reread. Also, I expect to die eventually.
Obviously, I enjoyed these books very much and, if you are
going to read them, this is where to start.
If you liked I, Claudius, you
can think of this entire series as a prequel to I, Claudius.
Small Wars: A Jack
Reacher Story by Lee Child
The Red: First Light
(Red Trilogy 1) by Linda Nagata
Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by
Bryan Stevenson
This is a depressing, but interesting, book about the
currents state of death penalty “justice” in the United States with a focus its
core of racial violence. There was a
time when I considered working on death penalty appeals, but I decided not to
because I would only have been facilitating the executions of my clients.
California does not have enough attorneys doing death penalty appeals to handle
the case load. Since unrepresented
clients cannot have their death penalties affirmed, there is a case to be made
for leaving them unrepresented. Also,
the California Supreme Court seemed devoted to underpaying death penalty
attorneys. All in all, I am happy with
my decision.
Good and Valuable
Consideration: Jack Reacher vs. Nick
Hunter by Lee Child and Joseph Finder
The Trials (Red
Trilogy 2) by Linda Nagata
Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Vanished (Nick Heller
Book 1) by Joseph Finder
Penric’s Dragon
by Lois McMaster Bujold
Starshine: Aurora
Rising Book One by G. S. Jennsen
The Dragons of
Dorcastle (The Pillars of Reality Book 1) by Jack Campbell
I have read and enjoyed many of Campbell’s military science
fiction novels. I decided to give his
fantasy series a try now that it is up to three books—although I will probably
finish the second book before the third one comes out in November.
This book is set in a world where there are two powerful
guilds, the mages who believe that reality is just an illusion to which they
can make small changes and the mechanics who make technological devices. Both guilds teach their members that the
other guild relies on tricks and cannot be trusted. Not surprisingly, this book throws together a
young mage and a young mechanic who must work together to survive. So far, I am enjoying the book and expect it
to be the first book I finish in September.
The Girl in the
Spider’s Web: A Lisbeth Salander Novel by David Lagercrantz
I have read and reread the original three books in this series. I am nervous about the new book. The original author, Stieg Larsson, died at
age 50 before his books became international best sellers. His longtime companion, Eva Gabrielsson, who
worked with him on the original novels, has condemned this book. She has no financial interest in any of the
books under Swedish Law because they did not marry and he did not write a will
leaving anything to her. Wikipedia has
more interesting details on this subject here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stieg_Larsson
On the other hand, I am curious as to where the story will go so I could not
resist giving it a try.
In a strange turn, this series of books recently came up in
one of my cases. A client of mine in a
state mental hospital told one of the employees that she reminded him of
Lisbeth Salander. Since, apparently no one
at the hospital can read books with any significant degree of understanding,
they interpreted that as a rape threat.
Idiocy.
