Getting a bit chilly....

I've recently been reading alot on several blogs about reading challenges. It seems like a good idea if you need some motivation to get through their massive piles of books. For me, I dont think that I could do it, simply because I have a great deal of trouble keeping track of my books. I have enough trouble updating this because I tend to blast through books so quickly at times that I move on to the next one and its only the really outstanding books that stick in my brain.

I have developed a very bad habit of clearing my memory warehouse of things that I dont think I need to remember anymore in order to fit more in. 

Well with the sudden shift to super cold weather it made me think of Ken Folletts new book Winter of the World that came out last week. A very good friend had lent me the first in the trilogy; Fall of Giants a week before. Its a book nearly a thousand pages long and the first chapter seems to be about mining in Wales. I'll be honest that I did not think that I would get through it.

I have never been happier to be wrong.

It was a great book and then I was in luck that only three days later Winter of the World was released and so I rushed out and purchased it.

 The book follows the children of the characters from Fall of Giants and the challenges that they face.

The book starts in 1933 and shows how fascism rooted itself in Germany through fear and intimidation. The book quickly jumps through the 30's and introduces the reader to the fight against fascism in Britain and the clash of communism and fascism in the Spanish Civil War, finally leading to WWII, from the Blitz, to Pearl Harbour, D-Day and the Pacific conflict and how all of these things affected the individuals in the books story.

This is not a book about war, it is a book about people. The brilliant thing about Winter of the World is that because the book takes place over so many years, the characters that you are introduced to at the beginning go through so many changes throughout. So people who you might take an instant dislike to, by the end have matured and become characters that you deeply care about. And of course, characters that you may have liked at first have been shaped by their situations into very dark people.

I read a review of this book that says that Winter of the World could be read on its own. I agree to that book to a point as you can read it on its own and it becomes more about the historical events and how they are viewed from the different individuals perspective. However, if you have read Fall of Giants then it becomes more about the people and how you will look at the children of the characters that you loved in the first tale and want their descendants to do well, or badly in some cases.

Sadly it will probably be two years until the last instalment and I am very interested to see at what point within the 20th century it will be set. This book is a brilliant read and whilst the historical events (particularly the spy ring in Spain) may not be perfect, it is a very good portrayal of events and you will get very emotionally invested in the lives of the people in the book, which is what a good book should do.

When we owe so much to so few, which few are they?

I was recently walking through Waterstones to see if there was anything that took my fancy as I wasn't sure what kind of mood I was in. I looked on a stand that was advertising their "book of the month" and it is a book called Double Cross by Ben Macintyre.

I looked at the book and the premise was that the book is about the secret agents that helped to fool the Axis forces in the second world war with a focus on their actions in the lead up to D-Day.

I'm sure that the book is good, but I couldn't help but feel a little shocked that it seems to be near identical to a book that I bought and read a couple of weeks before called Operation Fortitude by Joshua Levine, which is about the exact same topic and even the covers are similar.

Basically at the end of the day, it simply means that you are spoilt for choice when it comes to books concerning the Double Cross system in WWII.

Operation Fortitude by Joshua Levine is a really good read, and one of the best parts about it is that although it is a non fiction work, it reads like a story making it very easy to plough through it.

Winston Churchill suggested that the best truths must be protected by a bodyguard of lies. That is the best way to sum up the Double Cross system that was developed by a man named Dudley Clarke.

Dudley Clarke is the man that masterminded the system for creating double agents in the war. I wish that Ken Follett had read this book before writing his book Winter of the World, which whilst amazing, is so very wrong when it discusses spies during the Spanish Civil War.

Operation Fortitude is a fascinating read that shows you how it was that a few individuals took it on themselves to spin a web of lies that the Germans would believe. In many of these cases, these men were Germans who knew that whilst their actions were traitorous they knew that Germany had to be rid of the horrors that Hitler had brought. In reading this you get to find out how it was the Germans sent so few spies to Britain because the double agents that were working in the country had created so many fake agents that the Weirmacht believed that they did not need more agents in Britain.

There are brilliant little tales such as how one agent took his money from the Weirmacht, put it down at a card table just to scare his handler, a certain Lieutenant Flemming, which would become the inspiration for Casino Royale. Or how Sir David Sterling when creating his SAS force, asked Dudley Clarke what he should call his new special forces unit. Clarke replied that he should call it the SAS as he had created a fake SAS unit to confuse the Germans in Africa and that if there was a real unit fitting the description of his fictional one, it would back up all the fake reports he was feeding the Germans. Lastly how both the camp and the board of people that regulated its activities were called Camp Twenty, as twenty in Roman numerals is XX. Shocking that the Germans never worked that one out. And of course, the rest is history.

One chapter of this book that wound me up is the over whelming evidence that Britain warned the United States that Pearl Harbour would be attacked for months before the attack but due to bungling idiot J Edgar Hoover (head of the FBI, famous for hating homosexuals and Jewish people, although himself a cross dresser and its STRONGLY hinted that he and his male assistant were overly friendly) the attacks went ahead. How no one stepped us to shoot that idiot I do not understand.

It is sad that although the people of Britain owe so much to such a few men, they have never really gained any recognition for their heroic actions. Because many of these eccentric men had to live in worlds of their own creation, they did not transition well back into normal life after the war and they also feared revenge from Germany.

A great read, I would say that it is certainly a holiday book for many.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

As I was heading to the Olympics to watch some sport which is main main hobby besides reading, I needed something to read that I could easily pick up and wouldn't be too heavy such as Game of Thrones.

So I chose The Hunger Games, and all I can think is....

"May the odds be ever in your favour."

This book certainly deserves a 5/5.

I must admit that I read this on the devil box or Kindle for those of you who don't know my dislike of digital print and there was an interview at the end of the book with Suzanne Collins. I just want to note this point of annoyance on my part before I begin to talk about the actual story. Suzanne Collins in her interview is asked about what influences brought her to think of the Hunger Games and she mentioned seeing things on the news etc which is fair enough, but there is certainly one source of inspiration that is not mentioned and that is the film Battle Royale which is the first thing that came to my mind when I heard the concept of the story so I was rather shocked that this was not mentioned, but maybe she wanted to sound original.

Rant over. Feel free to ignore the previous paragraph.

The main character in the book is the young Katniss Everdeen, a girl who was born in District 12 of the state of Panem which has risen up out of the ruins of the contemporary United States which has been brought down by climate change and other nasty things like that. District 12, provides coal to the Capitol whilst other districts provide their own specific products.

Part of the reason this book appeals to me is that from the get go it is very obvious that there is a very Roman aspect to this tale in the way that the client kingdoms have to provide tribute to the capitol who controls everything.

Because of a previous rebellion by the districts each year the surviving districts must offer up one girl and one boy aged between 12 and 18 to take part in the Hunger Games. In the games the children will fight to the death (and of course be broadcast on national television) until there is only one survivor.

Through circumstances the two that head to the games for District 12 are one Katniss Everdeen and a young boy named Peeta Mellark.

The two characters are pretty brilliantly presented in my opinion. Katniss is a pure survivor who has shut out most emotions since a very early age to make sure that her family survives. Peeta however, whilst being from a very (and I cannot emphasize how very small) better family in terms of their circumstances, he wears his heart on his sleeve and is not afraid to show his emotions. For a man who has often been described as super stoic I wish I could be more like the character of Peeta Mellark.

I cannot really say more about the two of them without spoilling more of the story than I already feel I have. This is also the reason that whilst I have read the following two books within two days of The Hunger Games, I might wait to write them up.

When reading The Hunger Games, I couldn't help but feel that several of the characters represent very important aspects of a persons character. For instance, Primm, Katniss' younger sister represents pure innocence. Peeta I feel represents courage in a number of ways. Haymitch represents despair and having had an alcoholic close to me I can understand how he drinks to cover up the pain. Effie, who represents decadence and the arrogance that comes with it, and finally Cinna who represents kindness. I also have a feeling of what Katniss should represent but I want to keep that one to myself so I don't cloud your views.

The pace of the book is very good and at the end of every chapter I just wanted to read one more chapter and then next thing I knew the book was finished.

If you look at the surface of The Hunger Games you have a book about a girl who is thrown into a bad situation and kids are made to kill each other for mindless entertainment.
What I got was a book about sacrifice. Sacrifice for ideals that are bigger than the individual and that can give hope to not just the masses but those close around us. I must admit that to a lesser extent I really enjoyed the absolute devotion that Peeta shows Katniss throughout the story is very moving and was nice to think that occasionally people can meet "the one" even as hardship is thrust on them.

Battle Earth II, III and IV by Nick S Thomas

Well, its been a busy time of late. I have found myself reading series of books which is why I haven't been reviewing much. My last review was OK Battle Earth I by Nick S Thomas, which was a highly enjoyable read, and because I was reading it on the Kindle, it made it easy to just keep on reading without really noticing that I had started a new book.

Then of course came the games. For those of you that know me, I have a deep passion for sport that I do not express to anyone, except when there is a big tournament on that particular sport. Then came the Olympics, the time in which titans walk amongst us and the hopes of millions across the globe rest on the shoulders of very few. So what does one do when the sports that you love such as fencing, hockey, athletics, rowing and cycling come along what is a man to do....

Get your arse to London is what that man does.

My travel to the games meant that I needed something to read and so in the space of a week I got the chance to read through the Hunger Games books which I will review shortly.

But back to Battle Earth, which because I read them over the course of three days I will review as if they are one book.

Battle Earth II, III and IV by Nick S Thomas.

 Just as the first book I will give the three books a 4/5.

The three books are very similar to the first book, with the only variation really being book IV.
Things seem dire at the beginning of book II with the human forces holding their alien foes in the ruins of Paris but losing many for every enemy they take down.

They then get pushed back and France falls beneath the boots of a different type of oppressor and it falls to the united nations of earth to rally in Germany and continue the fight.

You get told that the alien forces are attacking other places on the earth, but refreshingly the action always remains fixed on the characters you know. Even to the point that you also get to follow a resistance movement on the moon.

As you could expect from humans, we quickly learn from our enemies and develop technology that levels the playing field and we are able to take the fight back to them.

The books continue with great pace and the characters never seem indestructible and do remain very human. You also begin to learn more about the aliens, without it becoming bogged down in anything too unbelievable. To be honest with reading this, I got the feeling that the TV series Falling Skies pinched the idea for the aliens from these books.

Books 1-3 are very similar as if they are one story, then book 4 comes along and it shifts a little. It is still a great read but its as if its a new chapter in the story and I would say that if there is not another book in the series then do not read four, but if there is another then wait so that you can go through them as it left me wanting more as its seems like there should be more on the way.

Battle Earth by Nick S Thomas

Well hello again universe. I know that in my last past, sadly well over a year ago, I still havent blogged much. As most of you out there will now know (please dont mention on Facebook), I am to be a father in a few months and I am still finding the prospect terrifying. I am however, now also a health nut and have been going to the gym every day so the somewhat chunky John most of you might know is now dead and is a new three stone slimmer model.

Over the past month I have read alot and heres a quick rundown of what I have read:

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore (3/5)
I Am Number Four (4/5)
Robotech: The Macross Saga books 1-6 by Jack Mckinney (overall I would say 3.5/5)
Star Trek Destiny: Gods of Night by David Mack (4.5/5)
Star Trek Destiny: Mere Mortals (2.5/5)
Star Trek Destiny: Lost Souls (4/5)
Orphange by Robert Buettner (5/5) yes I should write a full blog about that as i've read it about 5 times in the past year.
Evolution Expects by Jonathan Green (5/5) another regular read so will defo have to write a review. Unlike the series of Buettner books where I only like the first in the quintology, I usually plough through Greens books in a day each, but will wait for the next book before I hit the entire series again.

So as you can see, I've read alot and I have been lazy when it comes writing. Thanks also to encouragement from my flatmate and a friend who seems to be able to make me want to always try harder at anything I do (in a good way) I have been working alot on writing myself. Whilst I dont consider anything that I do any good in my writing, I do enjoy doing it. Plus, said lady with severe powers over me says I should work harder to follow my dream of working some way in publishing. But hey, thats enough about what I am doing and my bad excuses, heres the review of Battle Earth by Nick S Thomas that I read yesterday and today.

I'm giving this a 4/5.

This is oddly enough the first time that I have seen the cover art for this as this is another that I downloaded on to the dreaded Kindle (see past blog post about Kindle to know I eat myself up every time I read from the devil machine).

It was easy for me to think that this book was written by an American as there are moments when it seems like only America can save the day. However, as the story progresses you get introduced to some brilliant Brit characters that from their descriptions sound like they are unstoppable titans.

This premise of this book is simple. Aliens show up and just invade. There is nothing in this from the alien point of view so you have no idea about their motivations and that also leads to many of the mistakes from the human nations in the beginning of this conflict. The main character is called Mitch Taylor a US Marine Major. He is thrown into the thick of it when the aliens, known simply as Mechs attack the moon colony, after already wiping out the Mars colony. The aliens remind me of elementals from the Battletech series of books, but are probably a lot taller and they use tank like vehicles and planes like humanity, only far more advanced.

This book is the first in a large series and I thoroughly enjoyed it and bought part two as soon as I finished this book with the first chapter already seeming to be as enjoyable as the first. My problem with the second book of Robert Buettners Jason Wander series is the first book is epic, and then the following books shift in style and the story just isn't as good. This however seems to keep going so I am rather looking forward to the next part.

There is nothing deep about this book, it is quite simply humans defending their home as best as they can against overwhelming, near invincible foes. The book does not get bogged down by politics and thankfully no religious beliefs, it is a simple war book and it could be because I felt like some really good escapism, but its well worth a read and I implore you to give it a try.

I'm very sad to say that I have not posted for quite some time. The reason being that I have had some bad news that has made it very difficult for me to do anything let alone think about writing anything. I have no idea at this point in times if things are going to get worse or if they are going to be ok, but until I do I thought that it was time I wrote a review one of the many many books that I have read over the past few months. I'm hoping to get a few thrown up here over the next few days, maybe even tonight.

Well here goes.....

Darth Plagueis by James Luceno

 Rating: 4/5


I've always come to expect a great deal from James Luceno's work and I can say that this did not disappoint.

The one reason that I would implore anyone to read this book is quite simply that it makes Star Wars Episode 1 not seem as bad. 

This book takes place across a great period of time from the young and impressionable Palpatine, who you find out has forsaken his first name is moulded and shaped into being Plageueis' apprentice and you can see how he then used similar tactics to influence a young Anakin Skywalker.

The book then takes place over many years and gives great details that are easily believed as to how the pair of Sith take great steps to destabilise the Republic to bring about the events that can be seen in the prequel films.

The greatest sections of this book occur during the time frame of Episode 1. One great scene in that film has Darth Maul, acted by Ray Park and voiced by Peter Serafinowicz talking to Palpatine about how they will finally come out of hiding and have their revenge. This sequence takes place in the book but it is from the perspective of Plagueis watching his apprentice from a building opposite and wondering how far Mauls training really is along. It really sets the scene for the way in which the Sith might be doing their best, and succeeding, at bringing down the Jedi and Republic through political means, they are also still perpetually struggling amongst themselves.

A great read and it is a must for Star Wars fans, especially those that do not like Episode 1. Plus, it finally answers the Anakin birth question that has been floating around Star Wars circles since Palpatines speech to Anakin at the opera in Revenge of the Sith.

I should have written this sooner...

I haven't posted on here in a while. I've been rather annoyed at myself for this, but things have been rather busy in April for me. Firstly it was my birthday on April 4th and so the weekends surrounding that were generally taken up with different activities and partying. Plus, I had an accident whilst climbing on my birthday which made it difficult for me to do anything for a few days as most of the muscles in my upper torso were bruised and very swollen. Then of course there was work, which whilst I cannot say what my job is, I have been putting a lot of overtime in because of certain projects that are very important.

Other than that I have been pouring alot of time into my climbing and my golf at the moment as I have both an important golf comp in May and also a climbing holiday so I need to make sure that I am at my best for both. Plus, I'm also doing alot of other exercise such as weights and cardio exercise etc etc in order to improve my health. I must be doing well as I found a pic on my computer of my outline and compared it to a pic I took today and I have lost a load of weight. Score.

Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

 

My rating: 4/5

This is the sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora, which is an incredible book. I was bought that by a friend for Christmas as he (and several others) had said that it was my cup of tea, but I had read the back and I wasn't that interested. However, after I ploughed through three books in as many days on my Kindle that I was bought for xmas I looked at the book and thought that it would be rude for me to not give it a read. I am very happy that I was wrong as I really enjoyed the book. The characters are brilliant and the environment and world that Lynch has created is amazing with both aspects of a first civilisation and a second human "empire" that has also passed into history and left mankind with a series of city states.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Red Skies takes place just over two years after the events of Lies and Locke is up to his usual tricks. I don't want to say too much as it is difficult to say anything that without giving away large amounts of the plot. Basically there are a great amount of boats and naval action in this book and its brilliant. Its very much like Pirates of the Caribbean 3 if it had been good.

The best bits of the book for me were the usual flashback chapters in which you get to see Lockes recovery from his ordeal in the first book and how it is not only the physical aspects that he has to deal to with the psychological as well. As always Jean is Lockes rock and the relationship between the two "brothers" is brilliant.

A number of my friends told me that this was not as good as the first book, and I was afraid to start it because I thought it would not live up to my expectations. I don't think that this is better than the first book which set the bar very high. I do however think that this is just as good. 

The only downside of this book is that Lynch tends to take his time with writing the follow up (although it took George R. R. Martin six years to write Dances With Dragons after Feast for Crows and in the back of crows he says that he will have a new one out next year!!!!!!!!! sorry rant over.) The cliff hanger at the end of Red Seas Under Red Skies will have you screaming to get your hands on the next one.

Brilliant book and a great continuation of the story.