Stout Fellow by O.E. McBride: a short review
A basic guide to the Wolfe stories and characters, with some useful reference material. Adequate, but unexciting.
Archive for January, 2010
Filed under Bookworm Alley Posted on January 30th 2010
Other Dimensions by Robert Silverberg: a review
Some authors write long sequences of related novels; even Silverberg began doing that with Lord Valentine’s Castle. But when he was young he took pride in variety–no two stories in the same voice, none with similar plots, each with its own style. That he chose to do this was ambitious. That he succeeded so well was genius.
Filed under Bookworm Alley Posted on January 26th 2010
Tenacious by Julian Stockwin: a short review
At heart, this is a novel about the events around the Battle of the Nile, which occurs around mid-book. Kydd meets Nelson a couple times, Renzi finally has the inevitable run-in with his father, and in the last pages Sidney Smith holds off Napoleon at Acre. But mostly Nelson chases the French fleet around the Mediterranean. Oh, yeah: Kydd’s sister, Cecelia, makes a brief appearance, mostly to fill us in on the impact the Battle of the Nile had in London.
Filed under Bookworm Alley Posted on January 22nd 2010
Man of Constant Sorrow by Ralph Stanley: a review
The omissions are interesting. There’s practically no mention about his first marriage, and only cursory mentions of his children (even of Ralph II, who was part of his touring band for a long time). After Carter’s death, there’s really little about the mechanics and logistics of running a band; would be interesting to hear Ralph discuss that, since he’s done that longer than almost anyone. That he didn’t include such a discussion is this book’s greatest disappointment.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
Musicks
Posted on
January 16th 2010
Windows Home Server Users Guide by Andrew Edney: a review
Written well enough, and fairly well organized; perhaps useful to a total novice. I really didn’t find anything useful in here. Not worth the money.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
Semi-Geekery
Posted on
January 16th 2010
Trouble in Triplicate by Rex Stout: a short review
Just a short comment: Before I Die is as fine a story as Stout ever wrote, and sufficient reason to seek out this book. Instead of Evidence is among the weakest Nero Wolfe stories. Help Wanted, Male is somewhere between, but on the weak side.
Filed under Bookworm Alley Posted on January 16th 2010
The Morgaine Saga by CJ Cherryh: a review
Morgaine’s mission is to close the Gates which permit folks to travel from world to world and time to time. She’s assisted by Vanye, her ilin (sort of vassal, often a body-guard, on what starts out as an accidental one-year contract). In the third book, the relationship changes; they’re still not equals, but Vanye’s more a partner than an underling. On most worlds, Morgaine’s treated as a mythical, dangerous figure. She’s done a lot of damage on many worlds over many centuries; most of that was unintended side effects of her main mission.
Filed under Bookworm Alley Posted on January 2nd 2010
