1144. The Here and Now

Reading another time travel story immediately after finishing one, could be construed as unnecessary punishment. Thankfully, even though, this is a Time Travel story, at heart it's a (YA) or Young Adult novel. First off, let me note that I have never read anything by Ms. Brasheres, of "The Sisterhood of The Travelling Pants". It's not that I do not like her. It was just that these novels where not intended for me as an audience. If they were anything like this novel, I have one overarching comment to make about her teen characterizations. I prefer them to most of what I've seen in recent YA Fiction. There is a lot "angst" in teen YA Fiction today, and in all honesty, I do not understand where it comes from. Yes, it could be said, it's an expression of identity, just as the 1960s and the counter-culture where an expression of identity for that generation, but sometimes I wonder about the depth of those feelings, and the generation that holds them. Did we raise a generation of narcissists?

Moving on....To the book itself. The Here And Now is not your typical time travel story. Yes, of course, there is always the question of the "Grandfather Paradox" in time-travel and what would happen if you were to interact with said Grandfather, or for that matter anyone in your past. As I said in the review of the previous book, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, one possibility is the multiverse theory of the Universe which holds that every time there is a significant change in events, History changes, it forks into a new direction, creating a new parallel universe. The old Universe where the Time Traveler originated from, still exists, BUT, after having initiated the change, there is now a new parallel universe where events unfolding will be different than originally experienced.

This is but one interpretation of Time Travel. There are other, logical interpretations of time travel that suggest that changes are incorporated into the Universe Prime (the one and only Universe), creating temporary branches that collapse, logically, as actions take place, cause preceding effect and so-on, but, as changes accumulate in the branch, the branch merges back into Prime in a logical manner. This has been demonstrated in a manner of novels.

I do not know which theory I support, and I do not want to influence you before reading this novel. But before reading it, you ought to know that it involves people from our almost near future (late 21st century), traveling back to our time and attempting to assimilate. The affect of their travel has an unwitting effect on our heroine, Prenna. First, because she is seen as she emerges from the wormhole bringing her here, and second because she does not accept her condition. Is she the only one in the group of travelers willing or wanting to change the future they came from? What effect will those changes bring forth? Will she succeed? She has a companion in her attempt to change the future... The person who saw her when she arrived. A 17 year old boy. Ethan.

Written in a very enjoyable style and told from the perspective of two teenagers on the run, this is a surprisingly enjoyable read. In a few words: "I could not put it down." And one other commendation for this book: "This is not your typical YA Fantasy". You might think what these characters go through is improbable, but not to me. Ethan is old enough to be capable of achieving everything he does in this book, and Prenna has an emotional reserve in her. You will understand where that comes from, once you read the book.

I recommend the book for anyone who likes a good time travel story, and especially those who like a well written YA story. Most YA stories don't inspire me, and I feel, create needy, narcissistic adolescents. Not this one. And that's a compliment of the highest order.

Three and a half stars.

1106. Gone Girl

Sometimes what we think of as a successful marriage is not, and sometimes when we think people are putting on appearances, they're doing just that. They are putting on a show to hide how they really feel inside. The voice inside might be crying, might be yelling obscenities or bloody murder towards a loved one or the whole world, but sometimes a calm person walks on by you, bathed in the thin veneer of nothingness. Is this person shallow? Or have we just crossed paths with a sociopath or worse, a psychopath? We have many examples in real life of seemingly normal people "snapping" and hurting those next to them, whether coworkers, fellow students or random people. But what makes people sociopaths? Art, and fiction in its many forms have tried over the years to explore this issue. Alfred Hitchcock was really successful in exploring it in some of his films, such as Psycho. Over the years, many writers have written some great and some not so great novels to investigate the issue, and explore it along with us. Into this space, comes Gillian Flynn, a former Entertainment Weekly reporter, writing her third published novel.

Considering that this is Gillian Flynn's third novel, and that both of her previous novels were successful commercially and with critics, there was little possibility this would be a flop, or a bad novel. The reality is that this novel has been on the best seller list for over 18 weeks, a remarkable achievement which suggests that people really like the book. But more importantly, it suggests that the book is successful in navigating the subjects it tries to explore.

The story begins simply enough when housewife Amy Dunne disappears in the middle of a warm summer morning (I believe it's the 4th of July weekend). It's also Nick and Amy Dunne's Anniversary. {ed: Why do so many people get married around the 4th of July?}  Nick returns home to find that Amy has disappeared and finds clues of a struggle. This is when he calls the police. Soon, two detectives arrive on the scene and the circus begins. Because you know or have seen or heard of cases like this on TV. After Amy's parents arrive, and the cops close in, secrets are revealed, and the tension builds as we, along with Nick, and everyone else, are marched forward to a dramatic precipice. The 24/7 climate of today's news and Internet culture takes cases like this and spins it out of control. There are TV pundits out there who would advocate for the missing wife, missing girl or boy, missing teenager, and have their picture on TV all the time, every night with guests who completely agree with her, prosecuting a case before an arrest is even made. This is an important factor in real life and Gillian Flynn incorporates it deftly into her book. Personally, I found it a bit distracting, but it does add to the characters' tension a bit, and in a way it provides a conduit of expression. Both Nick and Amy express themselves through how others perceive, so this is an important aspect of their personality.

I cannot give up any more of the plot and its twists and turns. It is very tense, and engaging. Is this a literary novel? Of course it's not. If you wanted a literary novel, you'd be reading "Crime and Punishment". I also would not recommend this book for anyone under age 21. Although it not a grisly novel, with blood and guts, and only mostly has a lot of language, it is very psychologically intense with a very mature subject. A well explored subject, but one that if someone who has not experienced certain aspects of life or is not familiar with them, would not be able to grasp what the book is saying. You can't ask a 16 year old girl to understand the give and take of marriage. Maybe she knows what goes on in a relationship at her age, but what makes a real, live, marriage work? The good and the bad? No. I am not saying a non-married person, a single person would not get this novel... Of course they would. But it gets some seasoning in life to really get it. A teenager would be completely lost in this book in my opinion.

And what about the sociopath, the psychopath? Who is the greatest among us? Is it the one who chooses to stay in an Epic Failure of a Marriage, an Epic Disaster of a Life, or the one that endures it all? Is this person a Hero instead? Does the book answer that question to your satisfaction? To me, it gives a voice to few things and makes me ponder some others in my own life. In other words, what else do you want from a great piece of fiction?

And easy 4.5 out 5 stars.

1101. A Gentleman's Game: A Queen and Country Novel

I have never previously read any books by Greg Rucka, a rather prolific writer who is well known for his Comics/Graphic Novel writing. He also has a recent novel out that has received some pretty good reviews, and on that alone, I put it on my "Want to Read" List, but have not purchased it. The characters in this novel are based on some Comics he wrote for Oni Press back a few years ago. Once again, I have to say that I have no knowledge of these Comic Books (more appropriately "Illustrated Books", because "comic" is such a childish term, but that's a discussion for another time....)

The book is the story of an espionage agent of the British Secret Intelligent Services (SIS) by the name of Tara Chase. She holds the position of Minder One, sort of a 001 (yes, even better than 007). She's not only a spy, she's also an infiltrator, an assassin, a lover when she needs to be and more. Tara does not play by any rules, but her own -- yes, I know, that's from the cover blurb, but it is apropos. In this book, we're living in a post-9/11 world, and the London subway is attacked... I wonder when Greg Rucka wrote the book and published it in October of 2004, if the London authorities were paying attention to the vulnerabilities of their subway system. Within 10 months, the system was actually hit for real.

At any rate, the SIS is called upon by the HMG (Her Majesty's Government) to respond to the attacks by the radical Islamist faction that is responsible for carrying them out. That's when the real high stakes game begins. There is a lot of political back and forth, because of the players involved, but some back-stabbing takes place as well. Will the British Government do what's necessary in the end? How about the Americans? Where do they stand in this? In an interesting twist, the terrorists are not painted in simple tones and wide brushstrokes, but are actually fleshed-out a bit. There are even a couple of Israeli Operatives with roles to play.

Yes, there are things not to like about this book, but overall, this is a pretty good adventure/thriller/spy novel. Tara Chase is a convincing character, and you believe in her capabilities. In the end, this was a highly enjoyable read and I recommend it without hesitation. 4 stars out of 5.

1024. Joker One

Joker One was a book I received through the LibraryThing Early Review program. They send me this book in December of 2008 (or maybe January 2009) and I dutifully finished before it's publication date of March 2009. Like everything else, life caught up with me and this review got held-up in the big ether, so, very belatedly, I am getting it out.

Donovan Campbell was a United States Marine platoon commander and is the author of Joker One. The book is a memoir of his time as the leader of this platoon, prior to deployment, and during their time in Iraq, in Ramadi in 2004, during the height of what is now called the insurgency.

Over the years, I have read a few war related books, whether memoirs, historical perspectives or other such, recounting of things past, novel set in war (realistic or not), and simple description of key events that made history. It was always very hard to gleam, from all such recounting, whether the truth one read was an honest appraisal of the war described. In most cases, this was because the war I was reading about was so much older, whether it was Vietnam, Korea or World War II. Certainly, there have been some seminal books in the genre, but it is not my intention to remember them here.

What struck me from the beginning of this book, is the narrator's perspective on events. Like anything, when we read a book, we bring our own prejudices into the reading of the book. I personally try very hard to avoid this pitfall, but at the same time, I would be lying if I said that I was one of the war's biggest supporters. Nor did I go out and vocally oppose it, but that's another story, for another time. In hindsight, I have noticed, that many reviewers have taken the approach of bringing their personal biases in reviewing this book (pro or against the war and its effects). I would argue that this book is so great, that such an approach is completely unwarranted.

Here are the themes that struck me upon reading this book:

1. It is made very clear that the author is a Princeton and Harvard Business School graduate. Yet, it is not that education which plays the biggest role during his deployment.
2. The military are given certain parameters to operate within (one could say, their hands are tied, before the deployment even begins), however, the reality on the ground is different than the orders.
3. The History of the Marines as an institution comes through those pages very strongly. Yet, for all that, Marines are soldiers, and soldiers are human beings, with human feelings, and human concerns and human problems and human failings.

The strongest truth in this book was its honesty. From the very first page it grabbed my attention and never let me go. That is why I mentioned it was important to forget your prejudices. You can not go into reading this story by hating the Marines for what they are doing. Open your eyes and read Donovan's story and hear it with your heart. Then you will understand what it really takes to serve in the modern military. If you might get to a point where you question how the military functions, or how it handles decisions handed down from the political leadership that could be an outcome of your existing preconceived notions, but in the meantime, you would have missed the human part of the equation; you would have missed the drama of men fighting along each other for a cause they were told was just and right.

There is another truth hidden in the exceptional story telling skills of Donovan Campbell. He cares. He cares for his Marines. He cares for his squad leaders, his NCOs, his sergeants, etc. He tries to always do right by them. This does not mean he is a "soft" leader, but every trial faced by one in the platoon, is faced by all. Ramadi in 2004 is not a welcoming place. There are many dangers, and many of the dangers come from within mosques and other off-limits type places. I do not know if the loses that this Platoon suffers can be regarded heavy in comparison to other Platoons, yet, you feel each one of them as if they were someone you knew. That is the greatness of the story that Mr. Campbell is conveying here.

Finally, one more compliment. At the end of the book, you get the feeling that something was accomplished and yet, a lot remained to be accomplished. Regrets were finally expressed, but they were not so overwhelming as to consume the tone of the book. This then is the highest compliment I can pay to this war memoir: if you had not made-up your mind about this war and you read this book, this would not help you decide, BUT it would give you a very clear and distinct perspective on what the American fighting men and women have to endure in persecuting this war. And isn't that what we all need? Better understanding? For others, this will be just a great war yarn.

On my personal scale, I have to give this book, four stars out of five.

1010. Truth and Consequences

I read this book a few months after it was published. It contains 25 of Keith Olbermann's "Special Comments" which he delivers on his program "Countdown" on MSNBC.

For those who don't know, Keith's "Special Comments" are direct, second person, short, editorial, delivered in front of the camera on specific topics in the news. Most of the topics are BIG, and affect the world around us, the every day news that occurs as well as the politics and economics. Just like a newspaper has an "Opinion" section, Keith Olbermann's "Special Comments" in his "Countdown" show editorialize events. However, it has been my experience that Keith speaks the truth, the literal truth, that is why part of the title is "Truth..."

Of course, there will be people that disagree, who will say that listening and agreeing with Keith's point of view is a matter of opinion. But to me, it's not as simple as that. Truth, does not chose sides. Truth comes from only one angle... Truth, can only come from truth.

Finally, truth, has consequences - like when you lead a country into war using false premises (one of the topics that Keith has a "Special Comment" about).

In the end, all that these "Special Comments" are is mostly words on a page in the form of an essay - they are more powerful when spoken aloud, just like when Keith Olbermann delivers them. Whether they have an impact on you, it would depend on how open your mind is to the truth.

As the book, this is a 4 stars out of 5, simply because these "Special Comments" are so much more powerful when presented, yet, this book is still a worthwhile companion to own.

1005. Apocalypse 2012

If you believe in the end of the world, and if you believe that the end is near, then, Apocalypse 2012 is a book you must read. ABC-TV had done something similar a few years back, showing all the things that can kill human kind. The show, which was very bleak, was called 'Last Days on Earth' and it focused on the Singularity and events such as asteroid impacts, galactic storms, super volcanoes and super storms.

Author Lawrence E. Joseph explores all these themes and more in this excellent book, subtitled: An Investigation Into Civilization's End. Good apocalyptic books are hard to come by these days. Trust me. I read the genre voraciously. Most of those who write in it are quacks and have no idea what they are talking about. Lawrence E. Joseph starts from a simple premise: What if there is something to this Maya calendar, where things tick from one epoch to another on 12/21/12 (December 21, 2012). According to the Mayan expressing of things, this date is referred to as "13.0.0.0.0". The following day will be "0.0.0.0.1". Is this just another new day, a beginning of a new era, a new epoch? Or the end of the world? And the world made new from the ashes?

We all are familiar of course with many of the prophecies of the Western World, both those that come from the religious realm and those attributed to Nostradamus and others. Personally, I have never subscribed to anything put forward by Nostradamus. Similarly, it seems difficult to accept some of the prophecies in religious text when they seem to have been geared as teaching tools towards the people of their era.

The author of this book does not get embroiled in analyzing Nostradamus or any other quack, or accepting or debunking any religious text. He does wonder though, with the Mayan astronomical calendar as a starting point, and their observations as a guidepost, if they had left us, a clue. Their calendar is an excellent example of the different ages the Earth has been through. The Maya were able to comprehend the Earth's place in the cosmic whole, and Lawrence E. Joseph takes this truth and runs with it, discovering along the way many of the things that could indeed bring the catastrophe that the cosmic clock seems to be ticking towards. If the Maya clock bookends events on a cosmic scale, events that by their size could spell the destruction of the whole planet, then it is possible the clicking down of this latest age of the Mayan clock could signify the approach of such events.

Lawrence E. Joseph explores some of these in detail in this book (from the Introduction on pages 16 and 17):

1. Since the 1940s, and particularly since 2003, the Sun has behaved more tumultuously than any time since the rapid global warming that accompanied the melting of the last Ice Age 11,000 years ago. Solar physicists concur that solar activity will next peak, at record setting levels, in 2012.
2. Storms on the Sun are related to storms on the Earth. The great wave of hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma coincided with one of the stormiest weeks in the recorded history of the sun.
3. The Earth's magnetic field, our primary defense against harmful solar radiation, has begun to dwindle, with California-sized cracks opening-up randomly. A pole shift, in which such protection falls nearly to zero as the North and South magnetic poles reverse positions, may well be under way.
4. Russian geophysicists believe that the Solar System has entered an interstellar energy cloud. This cloud is energizing and destabilizing the Sun and all the planets' atmospheres. Their predictions for catastrophe resulting from the Earth's encounter with this energy cloud range from 2010 to 2020.
5. Physicists at UC Berkeley, who discovered that the dinosaurs and 70 percent of all other species on Earth were extinguished by the impact of a comet or asteroid 65 million years ago, maintain with 99 percent certainty, that we are now overdue for another such megacatastrophe.
6. The Yellowstone supervolcano, which erupts catastrophically every 600,000 to 700,000 years, is preparing to blow. The most recent eruption of comparable magnitude, at Lake Toba, Indonesia, 74,000 years ago. led to the death of more than 90 percent of the world's population at the time.
7. Eastern philosophies, such as the I Ching, The Chinese Book of Changes, and Hindu theology, have been plausibly interpreted as supporting the 2012 end date, as have a range of indigenous belief systems.
8. At least one scholarly interpretation of the Bible predicts that the Earth will be annihilated in 2012. The burgeoning Armageddonist movement of Muslims, Christians, and Jews actively seeks to precipitate the final end-times battle.

After reading this, you're probably saying to yourself: "Now what the f--- do I do? I am hosed." Well, forgive me for the colorful language, but don't be afraid. In many ways, this book has been written with the layman -- namely YOU in mind. Although it has a lot of scientific information in it, it doesn't "drown" or "wallow" in that information. It allows the reader to gently proceed from subject to subject and to learn what the effects of the subject-matter would mean, how it affects us today, and what we may be able to do to protect ourselves in the future.

The method author Lawrence E. Joseph chooses to do this is by writing this book like a travel log, discovering these dark, scientific secrets as he proceeds down the list. It is his incredulity at some of these notions we first see. He is after all an Engineer, a scientist's scientist himself, reluctant to believe, yet eager to learn, and able to understand. I honestly, like this type of writing approach. It makes for a very good reading experience. And it's one of the main reasons I recommend this book.

Oh, it's a short book, it's not going to consume your life to read it. And it's not fatalistic. Yes, it presents some scenarios that align with what many cultures and religious beliefs have predicted about the future of mankind. Does that mean we're doomed? The author, and I believe, the reader, in then end, will come to the same conclusion: "It's not so cut and dried". Yes, a lot of this is true, and yes the prophecies can not be so fantastic (unbelievable) if they align so accurately with the science, but mankind has a window of opportunity, albeit a small one, a window in which to act, to preserve itself, to fight for its future. That's the positive message I'd like to leave with after finishing this book.

Mankind has a hopeful future if we try...

I give this book fours stars, easily:



PS. If you are on BookMooch and you really want to read this book, and YOU really want to get a hold of my copy and not buy your own, drop me an e-mail (I am "Hercules40") and we'll arrange something!!!