motherload by Lostnbronx

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, I was pretty blown away by this book. The twists and turns surprised me and the pacing was fantastic. The author had sent me a copy before release to check the formatting on the Kindle (he did an impeccable job). I look forward to more in the Stardrifter series!

The Dame Minne is adrift in space, her engines failing with a crew of four trying desperately to return to port. Each member is dual specialized and two begin to make attempts at repairing the engine. The endeavor is made all the more difficult by the appearance of a mysterious ship. Could they be a godsend or more pirates to deal with? To further complicate matters a merchant ship is en route to the jump location and interception seem inevitable. How can the crew repair the Dame Minne, repel the pirates and protect the merchant ship? Well you will have to read to find out and I do believe you will be quite entertained.

If you are at all familiar with Lostnbronx’s audio productions, most notably the Eddie K series, you might recall the ribald humor present in that work. Well Motherload is squeaky clean compared to that audio book but yet retains a healthy level a maturity. That makes this book an all ages read, yet will probably on be appreciated by adolescents and older.

I look forward to the audio adaption of this novella.



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Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, this book was amazing. I was not prepared to learn what I never knew. The premise is that History as taught in schools today, and the text books, are woefully inadequate. The first 13 or so chapters take key points and characters in American history and present a side that is neglected in most curriculum and textbooks. It really opened my eyes to what I did not know and cast many characters in a different, more complete light.

Starting with Christopher Columbus one gets a better understanding of how the actions of the explorers of that time have helped shape the world we know today. Other chapters include Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller (I was not aware of how racist the former was and how much of a die hard socialist the latter), Pilgrims, Civil War and the nadir, Vietname, Civil Rights Movement and Martin Lurther King, Cuba, and many more topics.

If you have suffered under the delusion that History, as presented in grade school growing up, was rather bland you must read this book. It will open your eyes and your mind to learn that what we are experiencing today is a direct result of the actions of the past and how we can begin to start seeing patterns that will lead us in directions we probably do not want to go.

I credit this book, Dan Carlin and Deep Geek’s Talk Geek To Me podcast to generating a hunger for history.



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Aesop’s Fables by Aesop

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There is a lot of good advice locked up in these short fables and a bit of dated material too. Many morals to chew on but I have to say it got a little long and repetitive at some points. Still Avery and I did enjoy the read. Furthermore, it was neat to get a bit closer to the origin of the fables behind many moral sayings we take for granted today.

The version I read was pulled down from Feed Books I believe and the translation did not have many summary points. What I mean by this is a good handful of the fables had the moral listed after them but most did not. Sometimes it was a bit difficult to figure out just what the point was.

Quote Avery: “Jupiter is a real jerk.”

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Grimms’ Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grim

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a delightful collection of fairy tales. To read the originals with Avery after having seen many of the Disney and other popular culture adaptions was a treat. The originals, while a bit darker, are the crux of entertainment and moral story telling. If you have not procured a copy of this collection yet Project Gutenberg, Feedbooks, and Amazon have free electronic copies (which is where I procured mine). Take them for a spin, I doubt you will be disappointed. Even more, you get to learn some good old lore from the old country.



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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It was a shock to my wife when I told her I had never read this book. The impulse to do so was initiated by it being on the Summer reading list for my daughter Paige. So I managed to grab a copy and was absorbed for three days. What a perfect Summer read! The deep South, focus on Summer vacations, childhood all amid the events of a trial in the 1930′s steeped in the flavors of discrimination and racism of the period.

Lee’s character development is beautiful and her use of events pushed the story along so well that the twists at the end served to hammer home one of the main tenants of the book: The world from the point of another. The last few pages where Scout stood on the porch and saw the world from a different perspective still brings a tear to my eye and forces my heart into my throat.

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Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, Daemon and Freedom were awesome, this book continues Suarez’s streak. Not only timely and through provoking, but utterly terrifying! Autonomous drones and shadowy manipulators pepper this novel amid the fantastic character development. The pace is spot on and not once did I feel the story was grinding through potentially dry topics to give the necessary background for the reader to understand the heady concepts at play.

I eagerly look forward to Suarez’s next novel! If you have not read this book yet what are you waiting for?

I read the kindle edition and had absolutely no issues with the layout of the book.



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The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall by Edgar Allan Poe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a mouthful of a story, very wordy, yet at the same time hysterical. The science involved in this while ludicrous is utterly imaginative on Poe’s part. I could only imagine people reading this during his time period and being duped into believing this adventure to be true. Avery enjoyed it and so did I!



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The Forest Monster of Oz by Robert Evans

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am torn about this book. It is an Oz book, but it is not written by Baum, and that is plainly evident. It is not badly written, just differently. The story takes place soon after the second book of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, and starts to fill in some of the story on how Ozma settled into her tenure as Queen. There are a handful of new characters and peoples that are met along the way, who are at the outset very typical of Oz denizens and very fascinating. But still, you can readily tell it is not Baum.

First, the book tends to be very morals based, almost to the point of preaching. At times, the ethics posited can be very heavy handed and almost feel like a wrap on the knuckles warning or a lecture.

The period is off compared to the other books having been written at some time around the end of the 20th century, or could be early 21st; I cannot seem to find an accurate date. But this surprises me anyway as it seems to have been written around the 1950′s or 60′s. Regardless, there are references to technologies and even some political events, that are a far cry away from Baum’s period.

Towards the latter third of the book is a long story about baseball. While an interesting segue I do not see how it fit into the rest of the story and the character is merely a vehicle for this story, leaving upon the continuation of the quest when they arrive at their destination.

There was a point in the story where it felt like a chapter had mystically disappeared. One minute the party (Ozma and the animals) is fighting the land sharks and the next minute a major arc of the quest is resolved. Somehow their long journey took them in a complete circle both story wise and geographically. Avery and myself were a bit perplexed.

While a fun read, it was definitely not a Baum book. If you have read all the Oz books by Baum and want to continue the journey, The Forest Monster Of Oz is a decent jaunt.



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Free Will by Sam Harris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a very thought provoking book. Free Will has had me thinking very hard the past few days. Sam Harris provides a short, concise essay on the the fallacy of Free Will. His words are compelling and challenge many of the established concepts we as a society take for granted each and every day. While this book is not thorough review of the current research, it’s a fantastic starting point with many references for further inquiry.

I was rather surprised about how short this book is. Harris does a great job of presenting his argument in so few pages. A good third of it is notes so there is plenty to move on to for the interested reader.



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A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It had been relayed to me by a close friend that John Carter is to be considered one of the first “super heroes” and to this I agree. Having been written over a century ago I can see how his amazing feats set the stage for the many heroic figures rising out the of mid 20th century to grace the pages of comic books and both the silver and television screens.

I admit I had determined to read this book solidly after seeing the movie, John Carter, and wanting to get a feel for how true to the story Disney made the movie. Now I enjoyed the movie, I did, and the first fifth of the book was matched pretty well, but the similarities stopped there. What was so sorely missed was the rich history presented of the Martian races and the further development of their barbaric and sensitive customs.

John Carter himself remained a compelling character. While dashing is his own day I am sure, he is now more and archetype we are all too familiar with. But this does not diminish the enjoyment of the story.

For the time, I find the ideas and technology presented very compelling and futuristic. One could almost lend credence to the possibility of life on Mars at some point even with the results of our current exploration.

Regarding the story, though, the pace was perfect and the characters well written. I am surly compelled to continue reading the rest of the series and to check out more of Burroughs’ work.



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