Books read in 2018: No. 64 -- The Cloud of Unknowing

by anonymous

edited by Evelyn Underhill

Started: Dec. 28
Finished: Dec. 31

Notes: This is a 1922 edition of a 14th Century Christian work that focuses upon contemplation through prayer as the only real way to know God. I've been meaning to read this one for some time, especially as its writings have been compared to Buddhism, a rarity from Christianity.

Mini review: Okay, I admit, this was not an easy one to read, mainly because the writing is still in the style of 14th Century English. That being said, as I wrote above, this book is about the contemplation of God through prayer, and to be honest, the ideas presented aren't all that ancient but fit fairly well into the modern world. This contemplation is something akin to meditation, but there are subtle differences, no doubt because this is Christianity we're talking about. From a writer's perspective, the language here was most interesting, somewhat archaic, and some might find use of this style for fantasy fiction (not exactly, of course, for it would be a most difficult read for modern readers).

Books read in 2018: No. 63 -- E-Book Formatting for Novelists

by K.C. May

Started: Dec. 28
Finished: Dec. 28

Notes: From time to time I like to check what other independent authors have suggested for formatting of e-books, just to see if I can learn something new. This particular e-book is more than a few years old, so it might be out of date, but perhaps there's still something to glean here. Besides, this one if from fellow fantasy author K.C. May, and I've been meaning to read something of hers for years (if you're reading this, K.C., I promise I've got some of your novels waiting for me on my Kindle -- there's just too many things to read! -- but I'll get to them, promise).

Mini review: Now that I've read it, I wouldn't say this one is outdated, but I never understand why nearly all authors focus upon coding with HTML and such for their novels when their are much simpler ways of formatting for e-books. Or, at least those simpler ways have worked for me and I've never had a single complaint from readers. But to each their own. That being said, K.C. does bring up some elements here which hadn't occurred to me of late, mostly related to design quality, and I'm thankful for that as it's given me something to think about.

Books read in 2018: No. 62 -- Crazy Town

edited by Jason M. Waltz

Started: Dec. 25
Finished: Dec. 27

Notes: I've had a few stories published by this editor over the years through his publishing house Rogue Blades Entertainment, so when I found out he had a new collection available, I had to give it a go, especially since it's supposed to be dark noir with a supernatural bent. Unfortunately I don't have a story in this one because I've been focusing on writing novels of late, but maybe I'll turn onto shorts again in the coming year once I've finished with the latest trilogy.

Mini review: Some might argue noir fiction and speculative fiction are an antithesis to one another, that it's practically impossible to combine the cynicism of noir with the attitudes of the speculative, but I must say this collection proves such notions wrong. Here you will find a solid mix of nearly all types of speculative fiction, from fantasy to dark fantasy to science fiction, a super hero tale, and perhaps a touch of horror here and there. All of that with noir sensibilities, and it works. As is usually the case with most anthologies, some stories are better than others, but I didn't find any out-and-out stinkers here, and a few stood out. My personal favorites were "Out of the Light" by Douglas Smith, "Fortune Teller" by David M. Donachie, and "The Lake" by Joel Thomas Blackstock Jr., with "All Monsters: A Gold Coast City Brief" by Matt Abraham coming in darn close as a favorite, though it's still an excellent tale. This collection was a bit of a stretch compared to Rogue Blades Entertainment's earlier publications, but I believe it not only works in and of itself, but it also shows a publishing house willing to grow and to try new things.

Books read in 2018: No. 61 -- Sandman Slim

by Richard Kadrey

Started: Dec. 20
Finished: Dec. 24

Notes: A killer dies, goes to hell to become a hitman down there, then finds his way back to Earth for ... for what? I don't know, but this sounds like one hell of a story. I've been meaning to get to this one for some while now, so glad I'm finally getting started since I've heard good things about this first novel in a series.

Mini review: Now THAT was a damn ride and a half! Seriously, if you like balls-to-the-wall action with demons and angels and Lucifer riding in the back seat, this is for you. Normally this isn't really my thing, but here it worked, with maybe a minor quibble or two. The writing is strong, the characters are interesting and often amazing, and the actions keeps jumping off the page right for your eyeballs. It's good. Very good. Best thing I've ever read? No, not even close, but it's by far the most entertaining read I've had in a while. Enlightening? No, you're not going to find a lot of deep thought here, but you will find guns and explosions and revenge and crazy, crazy, crazy. I recommend this one. I'm not telling more of what this one is about because you don't need it. The story will leap off the page at you from page one, so go find out all the hoopla for yourself.

Books read in 2018: No. 60 -- Cut Me In

by Ed McBain

Started: Dec. 18
Finished: Dec. 20

Notes: I turn from a historical mystery novel to a more modern such work. I've been a big fan of Ed McBain for some while now, though I'm mostly experienced with his 87th Precinct novels. Here I hope to expand my McBain reading some. This particular novel is a republishing of one of McBain's works from the early 1950s, one of my favorite periods for McBain, and it comes from Hard Case Crime, a publishing house which has impressed me in my limited experience to it.

Mini review: Young McBain might have been when he wrote this novel, but it is now one of my favorites. A literary agent's partner is murdered while the contract for a major movie deal goes missing, then somebody else gets murdered, and somebody else. Was all this killing due to the movie deal, or is something else going on? I think I can honestly say, at least at this point in my life, Ed McBain is my favorite author. Too bad he's not around anymore to pen more of these awesome tales. And as an added bonus to this novel, there's a long-lost novelette added at the end, and it also was a very nice tale, featuring a character from on of McBain's other early novels. If you enjoy noir literature, do yourself a favor and hunt down this book.

Books read in 2018: No. 59 -- The Pilgrim of Hate

by Ellis Peters

Started: Dec. 14
Finished: Dec. 18

Notes: I've been reading a fair amount of historical fiction of late, and I just read one of these Brother Cadfael mystery novels, so I thought I'd give another a go. This one happens to be from the British publisher of these books, so it'll be interesting to note if there are any differences from the U.S. versions I've read from this series.

Mini review: This one had some political intrigue in it, my first such experience in the Brother Cadfael novels, though that in no way diminished the writing here. However, I did felt the story dragged early on, though it did heat up a little before halfway through. Pilgrims arrive at Cadfael's abbey to commemorate the anniversary of a saint's relics coming there, and those within the pilgrims are not all innocents, some being outright scoundrels and other having pasts tied to big events happening elsewhere in England at the time. It all comes together in the end, as can be expected, and a pleasing and somewhat surprising end it was.

Books read in 2018: No. 58 -- A Morbid Taste for Bones

by Ellis Peters

Started: Dec. 11
Finished: Dec. 14

Notes: Keeping with my recent habit of reading historical fiction, I turn to this Medieval novel in which Benedictine monk Brother Cadfael solves mysteries. This isn't the first Cadfael novel I've read, but it's the first in a while, and I do seem to remember enjoying these. As an added bonus, this was the very first novel featuring Brother Cadfael, so at least I get to see how the series got started.

Mini review: A group of monks are tasked with bringing the relics (ie. bones) of a saint from a village to their monastery, but unfortunately the villagers are none too happy about this. Things go from bad to worse when one of village leaders is murdered. But fret not! Brother Cadfael, former soldier now a monk who specializes in herbology, is on the job. I must say, this one started slower than I liked, but by the mid-point things began to speed up a little. And I have to add the ending wasn't a simplistic, cookie-cutter one, but had several twists and turns which were not easy to foresee. All in all, not a bad book. Fans of mysteries should enjoy this one. Also, history fans should like this one because much of what happens here was true (not the murder and not Brother Cadfael, but all the general events and many of the personages involved). By the way, I absolutely love the title for this novel.

Books read in 2018: No. 57 -- The Vikings! #2: The Dark Return

by Neil Langholm

Started: Dec. 7
Finished: Dec. 10

Notes: Back in the 1970s, the publisher Pinnacle Books was the king of men's action and adventure, being known for a lot of big names in that area back then and a lot of different titles. The Vikings! was one of many series the publisher tried out, but in this case it didn't work for them as I believe there were only four novels in the series. Also, the author here was actually a house name under which several writers worked. I read a lot of Pinnacle's short action novels back in the 1980s, but this series evaded me, so now I'm trying it out.

Mini review: Not bad. If you're looking for action and adventure involving swords, you could do a lot worse. The writing here is fair at best, sometimes confusing, but it delivers where it counts. The plot? A group of Vikings who have landed in America must find their way back home, and once they do they discover things are not as they would have hoped. Vengeance ensues, and the ending is as unexpected as it is shocking, leaving room for the next novel in this series.

Books read in 2018: No. 56 -- Eaters of the Dead

by Michael Crichton

Started: Dec. 6
Finished: Dec. 7

Notes: I rarely read a book more than once, but I'm making an exception here because I enjoyed this book the first time around, this is an illustrated edition, and I'm a fan of the movie version, The Thirteenth Warrior. Plus I've been reading historical fiction of late. This is a retelling of the Beowulf legend.

Mini review: This was an awesome read. A 10th Century Arab travels into the far north and falls into an adventure with what today we might call vikings. I realize that description makes this tale sound somewhat pulpish, but it's really not. There is good writing here and a solid story. Any reader of fiction should enjoy this tale, but I believe those with a love for Sword & Sorcery will especially love this one. This is one of those rare instances where literary fiction, historical fiction, and action and adventure meld together to form a perfect tale. Truly, if you've not read this, you need to. And if you can find the illustrated edition with artwork by Ian Miller, then you've found a true treasure.

Books read in 2018: No. 55 -- Creation

by Gore Vidal

Started: Nov. 8
Finished: Dec. 5

Notes: I've been reading a fair amount of historical literature of late, and I've been meaning to read a book by this author other than the handful of articles of his I read during his lifetime, so it was rather fortuitous when I discovered he had written a novel based in the ancient world, roughly 5th Century B.C. So, win-win.

Mini review: Though there are some major differences, this novel reminded me quite a bit of the book I read right before it, Baudolino by Umberto Eco, though this is a more serious work, not that Baudolino isn't a serious work, but it does have its elements of humor and myth which are almost completely present here. So what's the story for this novel? It's basically the life story of a half-Greek, half-Persian ambassador who goes on journeys to India and later to China. Here and there he rubs shoulders with some important people, and being the grandson of a famous religious figure and something of a philosopher himself, he has various talks with more famous religious figures, the discussions concerning the different belief systems with the occasional focus upon the creation of the world and of mankind (thus, the title). There's not a lot of action here as this is not that type of story, but those with interest in ancient history and religions and philosophies should find much here for them.

Books read in 2018: No. 54 -- Baudolino

by Umberto Eco

Started: Oct. 12
Finished: Nov. 7

Notes: Though I don't approve of all of his ideas, I have always found Eco to be a genius of a writer, so it is with some relish I turn to this novel of his based during the Middle Ages.

Mini review: Here Umberto Eco has created something of a Forrest Gump character in the 12th Century, though the Baudolino character is no simpleton, having decent intelligence and a little rogue within him. In fact, Baudolino is an admitted liar, so much so almost everything he says is a lie, but it always come with success for him, sometimes comically but often simply because those he has been surrounded by find his lies useful politically. Coming from a quaint background, Baudolino early on stumbles from one historic even to another while meeting important people, here being the shades of Forrest Gump, but unlike Gump, Baudolino eventually finds himself taken in by perhaps the most important political figure of the day, at least within Europe. The first three-fifths of this novel are basically historical, but then it veers over into myth for a long while, and here I lost much interest, mainly because it did not fit with the rest of the book and seemed more than a little unbelievable. Most of this novel is Baudolino telling his life's story to another, and since he is an admitted liar, it's difficult to swallow the mythological portion of this book because it seems it simply can't be true, though Baudolino himself does act as if the events were true and even seems to believe it. Towards the end, the book gets back on a historical footing, and even has something of a melancholy finish. Like many of Eco's work, here one will find plenty of myth and occult references, especially pertaining to the Medieval period. Think the Holy Grail, Prester John, ikons, relics and the like, and you'll have an idea of what I'm talking about. These elements do play various roles within the story, sometimes important and sometimes not, but they are related to a central mystery in this novel, a mystery that is of course unveiled at the end, though to me it felt rather anti-climatic mostly because the mystery itself had been brushed aside for long periods of this book. A good book, and fans of Eco will enjoy it, as should those with interests in Medieval history and myth.

Books read in 2018: No. 53 -- Cup of Gold

by John Steinbeck

Started: Oct. 7
Finished: Oct. 12

Notes: It's time to turn back to some fiction, though I'm still in a mood for some history, thus I pick up this Steinbeck novel of adventure along the Spanish Main. Will it be more historical than fictional? Will it be any good? I don't know, which is why I'm reading it, plus the fact I've enjoyed Steinbeck's writing in the past though it's been decades since I've picked up anything by him.

Mini review: One would think a historical novel of the life of Henry Morgan would be loaded with swashbuckling action and adventure, but that's not the case here. Which isn't completely a bad thing, believe it or not. Ultimately, though it takes a long while to get to the point, this novel is about the inner workings of the man Henry Morgan, at least as Steinbeck portrays him. Though blandished with outward struggles, its ultimately the inner one that this book focuses upon, Morgan's successes and his failures. Published in 1929, this was Steinbeck's first book, and it's not his best, but it does show his promise.

Books read in 2018: No. 52 -- The Reformation 500 Years Later

by Benjamin Wiker

Started: Sept. 29
Finished: Oct. 6

Notes: Having just finished one book on the Reformation, and seeing this unread book on my shelves, I thought it appropriate I finally read it. This one is by a Catholic ethicist and purports to connect the world of the Reformation with the modern age, so it might be interesting.

Mini review: There was some good and some bad to this book. The good: There was a fair amount of not-so-common information about The Reformation here that went beyond the basics. However, I didn't exactly trust it all because of ... The bad: The author's political bent shines through, so much so he's obviously done so, probably in part because he's writing to a certain audience and probably because he thinks his particular opinions need to be heard, as if they haven't already a million times over. We get it, the Western Christian world today is facing lots of threats, yaddy, yaddy. We've heard it, we know it and either agree or don't, so how about something unique instead of rehashing the same old, same old? Regardless, this was a pretty good book, and though it doesn't come up often, I did think the author did a good job of drawing comparisons between the 15th through 17th Centuries (roughly) and the modern world.

Books read in 2018: No. 51 -- Great Ages of Man: The Reformation

from Time/Life Books

Started: Sept. 24

Finished: Sept. 29

Notes: I picked up a couple of these older Time/Life Books in a used book store a while back and thought I'd get back into them some as it has been a long while.

Mini review: As is usual with such books, this one is not overly indepth but it's also not overly basic, providing enough information for the serious student of history though maybe boring to the average reader. I generally enjoyed this book but was not blown away by it. However, I did find a lot of it quite related to the modern world, perhaps more than I felt comfortable admitting. For a basic, quick but fairly solid look at the historic break in Christianity, there are worse books.

Books read in 2018: No. 50 -- Great Ages of Man: Renaissance

from Time/Life Books

Started: Sept. 20
Finished: Sept. 24

Notes: When I was a teen I read a ton of Time/Life Books about history, the supernatural, whatever. However, I've not read any in a long while and I've not read this particular book. I always enjoyed these books even though they might be dated because plenty of research has been done since they were originally published (1965 in this case). I liked them because they weren't completely basic, but also didn't bog down the reader with lots of extraneous information.

Mini review: A bit basic but covers those basics well, name dropping quite a bit. The focus here is almost entirely upon Italy, but there is some information about the spread of the Renaissance to other parts of Europe. Anyone wanting to brush up on this period, or to be introduced to it, could do a lot worse than reading this book.

Books read in 2018: No. 49 -- The Gideons International Guide Book: 2017-2018

from The Gideons International

Started: Sept. 13
Finished: Sept. 20

Notes: Perhaps you've heard of The Gideons International, the organization known for placing Bibles in hotels and motels and other locations. Yes, I happen to be a member. The organization does much more than put Bibles in hotels, however, including jail ministries, missionary work, etc. Though I've been a member for a while now, and though I've thumbed through this book somewhat, I've not yet set down and read the book from beginning to end, and I thought it high time I did.

Mini review: Mostly operating procedures here which likely wouldn't be of interest to the average reader, but it definitely helped me to understanding the workings of this organization of which I'm a member. Glad to have read it.

Books read in 2018: No. 48 -- The King in Yellow

by Robert W. Chambers

Started: Sept. 6
Finished: Sept. 13

Notes: This 1895 collection of weird short stories apparently had a huge influence upon Lovecraft and others who penned such tales in the early 20th Century. I've been meaning to read it for years but never could find an actual copy in any book stores. Then a few months back I stumbled across this free e-book version for the Kindle and snagged it up.

Mini review: This was an odd little book. The first half of it is of tales most definitely of the weird, though slightly so, almost hinting at madness instead of some true supernatural terror. However, the second half of this book is of tales of Americans and the French in Paris either during war time or during more peaceful times, focusing mainly upon young artists and their love interests, somewhat like what would appear decades later in the works of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. For its time this is a decently written book, and I found the tales of madness and the macabre more interesting, but I'm not sure I could recommend this one for any but those who truly want to delve into the earliest tales of the weird and possibly Cthulu fans.

Books read in 2018: No. 47 -- The Reavers of Skaith: Volume 3 of The Book of Skaith

by Leigh Brackett

Started: August 28
Finished: Sept. 6

Notes: Having just finished the first two books in the series, loving the first but not so much the second, I thought I'd finish this trilogy. Hopefully the last book will more mirror the first than the second book.

Mini review: I liked the first book in this series, a little less the second book, then this third book did something on the very first page that almost made me throw it across the room. Can you guess what it is? Beware, here's your SPOILER warning before I tell what it is. Okay? Ready? On the very first page, this book totally went back and made all of the events from the first two books completely pointless. I hate when authors do that crap! Otherwise, the writing is fair here and the characters interesting, but I was glad when it was over. Still, there was enough here so I wouldn't turn up my nose at reading more Brackett in the future.

Books read in 2018: No. 46 -- The Hounds of Skaith: Volume 2 of The Book of Skaith

by Leigh Brackett

Started: August 20
Finished: August 28

Notes: I've just finished the first book in this trilogy and enjoyed it, so I'm moving on to the second book.

Mini review: I can't say I enjoyed this one as much as I did the first book of the trilogy, mainly because the story here seemed so disjointed. After Stark's triumph from the first book, here he continues on his war against the Wandsmen of the planet Skaith and their mercenaries and their army of Farers. The writings itself here is pretty solid, but the plot didn't work so well for me and I felt many of the important characters from the first book were brushed aside here with little to do.

Books read in 2018: No. 45 -- The Ginger Star: Volume 1 of The Book of Skaith

by Leigh Brackett

Started: August 16
Finished: August 20

Notes: All my Robert E. Howard-related reading of late has got me in the mood for more action-driven fantasy, so I thought I'd give Leigh Brackett another try. I've not read a lot of Brackett, so I'm hoping for a nice surprise. As luck would have it, I found all three of the books in this trilogy together at a used book store some while back, so maybe the gods were telling me I need to read this series.

Mini review: This was a pleasurable read with a surprise ending that made sense while leaving the door open for the next book in the series without resorting to a cliffhanger. Technically science fantasy, all the story here takes place in something of a post-apocalyptic fantasy world of low tech and some relatively minor magic. But the stars and the spaceships beyond them are beginning to intrude upon this world, and the powers-that-be are not liking it. An emissary of sorts from a galactic federation has been sent to this world, but he has gone missing, and that is where the story begins, with Brackett's Eric John Stark character sent to find this emissary or to discover what has happened to him. Despite the otherworldly backdrop to the story, it really does keep its focus on a barbaric fantasy world that is falling apart. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.