Tag Archives: #Leadership

Adventure, Fantasy

McDermott, J.M.: Never Knew Another (2011)

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“Never Knew Another” is the first book in the Dogsland trilogy. What a dark and moving novel. We’re not left with a lot of hope for our protagonist after finishing this book. I’ve read complaints about the sudden ending, but I felt it was just right. The cover art fits incredibly well with the mood of the book.

There is no warning. Right off the bat the memories of Jona are drawn out of his skull by the Walker. Walkers are servants of the goddess Erin dedicated to hunting and killing the seed of the demon Elishta. Demon children, half human-half demon, are considered extremely dangerous, polluting whatever they come into contact with. Walkers are wolves with the ability to change into humans. Their ability to “merge into the mind of a dead man” is essential in their battle against half-demons. While delving into the memories of Corporal Jona the Walkers discover that there is another demon seed in the city of Dogsland, Rachel Nolander.

With her brother Djoss, Rachel has to hide her parentage from other humans. Burning is considered the best way to get rid of all traces of the evil that she is supposed to represent. Hiding who she is, is not a simple matter. Continuously on the move, only chance (or perhaps fate) brings her into contact with Jona, the only other demon-seed she has met. The hunt of Rachel becomes the prime objective of the Walkers.

Fantasy, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult

Grant, Mira: Newsflesh trilogy

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Writing under the pseudonym Mira Grant, Seanan McGuire published the political thriller/zombie trilogy Newsflesh including the books “Feed”, “Deadline” and “Blackout”. I am anything but a zombie fan, but Grant has written a thriller that goes far beyond zombies. We become embroiled in politics and corruption, discussions on freedom of the press and get a look at dysfunctional societies and families. Excellent author that she is, Grant brings her characters alive and gives them depth and color. And the action. My goodness is there ever action in this trilogy. And death. Prepare yourself for a heavy toll on people who made me care about them. Did I say I liked these books??????? Keep on writing under either name and the world will be a better place.

The concept of the Newsflesh trilogy is based on the unforeseen consequences of biological research. By 2014 cancer and the common cold had been defeated. Unfortunately, the side-effect was that when you died you became a zombie and started feeding. Oops. The world was changed forever.  The mainstream media fell, Internet news acquired an undeniable new legitimacy, and the CDC rose to a new level of power.

by dust-bite

FEED (2010)

Set twenty years after the Rising, the Newsflesh trilogy follows a team of bloggers, led by Georgia and Shaun Mason, as they search for the brutal truths behind the infection.  When Senator Peter Ryman of Wisconsin decides to take a team of bloggers along on his run for the White House, Georgia and Shaun Mason are quick to submit their application.  They, along with their friend Georgette “Buffy” M. are selected, and they view this as the chance to launch their careers to a whole new level…that is, if they can survive the campaign trail. Feed follows the Masons and their crew into a world filled with the living dead—and the much more dangerous living.

Shaun Mason by Rowan

DEADLINE (2011)

In Deadline, the members of the After the End Times staff are reeling…none more than Shaun Mason, who can’t figure out what he’s supposed to be doing with his life now that he’s found himself unexpectedly in charge.  The arrival of Dr. Kelly Connolly from the CDC provides a new direction, and a possible new route into the conspiracy that caused so much damage just a year before. However, it turns out that Dr. Connolly’s arrival heralds more death and despair for the crew.

From All Forsaken

BLACKOUT (2012)

The world is getting more and more bizarre by the moment for Shaun and now Georgia. Both of them have had their worlds turned topsy-turvy and struggle to maintain their sanity and belief in humanity. Nothing is as they thought it would be and they are both bruised and battered. But there is hope. Not a great one, but nevertheless. The cost of a free press is clearly portrayed in the courage and sacrifice of the characters of this novel. Sometimes no price is too high to pay to share the truth with the general public.

Adventure, Fantasy

Cooper, Elspeth: Songs of The Earth (The Wild Hunt I) (2012)

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Songs of The Earth is Elspeth Cooper’s debut novel and a pretty good one at that. There are some rough patches (text hiccups mainly), but all in all Songs of The Earth is solid. There is content that somewhat detailed sexually and there is some descriptive violence.

Songs of The Earth is book one of The Wild Hunt series. In it Cooper brings us into the world of Gair, a world where hearing music is considered of the devil. Historically, we know what happens to people who are considered devilish. They are burned. This is to be Gair’s fate, but against all odds he is saved and gets to live out his story.

Cooper’s novel is concentrated on Gair and his path into magic. It touches upon his main enemy, Elder Goran and one of the good guys, Masen, a gatekeeper.

These three are well-developed characters. I feel their fear, lust and worry. Fortunately Cooper manages to avoid black and white thinking. We see this in the personalities of her characters, except for Goran. He is pretty dark.

Translations:

Adventure, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Norton, Andre: The Forerunner Factor (2012)

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Andre Norton’s “style is clean and simple. She doesn’t digress into an examination of minutiae, of either exterior or interior worlds. With graceful economy she hands the reader the very hearts of her characters, and cleanly etches her settings – like an artist who can suggest the whole shape of an object by the thickness of the line with which she draws. The result are lean, rich stories that move.” Linda Taddeo

The Forerunner Factor“The Forerunner Factor” is an omnibus containing “Forerunner” and “Forerunner: The Second Venture”. Andre Norton’s books talk about the Forerunners. They are those who went before and have left artefacts that noone understands. We desire what they were and had.

In “Forerunner” we meet Simsa, the orphan. She lives in the Burrows, the slums in the spaceport-city on the planet Kuxortal. Her looks are exotic with iridescent blue-black skin and white hair. As many of Norton’s other protagonists, Simsa has a telepathic bond with her batlike zorsal but does not truly communicate with them. The adventure begins when she gets involved with a spaceman in search of his brother. Together they end up running for their lives. Eventually they come into contact with a Forerunner artefact and, what do you know, Simsa is revealed as one.

In “Forerunner: The Second Venture” Simsa escapes captivity, crash landing on another world where life does not seem viable. She comes into intelligent life, manages to communicate with it and discovers that the Forerunners have also been there. In this novel Simsa has two goals. First and foremost she seeks to remain herself. The second is to survive without recapture.

Mystery, Science Fiction

Meaney, John: Paradox (2001)

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Paradox: Book I of the Nulapeiron Sequence (Bk. 1)

Cover art by Jim Burns

I’ve now read “Paradox” for the third time and am still enjoying it as much as the first. Because I’m a dork, I just realised that there are two more books to this series. Well, well, live and learn.

From the above I’m sure you can tell that I really liked “Paradox“. We get a large dash of philosophy, some biology, sociology, lots of action and a thoroughly likeable protagonist. Tom Corrigan is at the centre of our attention throughout the whole novel. He raises himself through the various layers of society through hard work, luck and other people’s ambition. There is no sugar-coating of our hero. He rises to the greatest heights and falls to the deepest depths of hell. Meaney is a really good writer.

Nulapeiron is a strange world. Semi-alive dwellings and vehicles. Subterranean demesnes layered from the poorest to the richest. At the very top we find the Oracles.

Tom Corrigan is witness to the brutal killing of a woman by the militia. She just happens to the same woman who gave him a small, seemingly insignificant info-crystal. Shocked to his core, Tom realises that she is one of the mythical Pilots.

This info-crystal, along with the Oracle Gerard, are the two things that push Tom onto a path that will take him to his destiny.

Science Fiction

Weber, David: Honor Harrington

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Field of Dishonor by David Mattingly

The Honor Harrington series by David Weber consists of 12 books:

  • “On Basilisk Station” (1992)
  • “The Honor of the Queen” (1993)
  • “The Short Victorious War” (1994)
  • “Field of Dishonor” (1994)
  • “Flag in Exile” (1995)
  • “Honor Among Enemies” (1996)
  • “In Enemy Hands” (1997)
  • “Echoes of Honor” (1998)
  • “Ashes of Victory” (2000)
  • “War of Honor” (2002)
  • “At All Costs” (2005)
  • “Mission of Honor” (2010)

The Honor series is military science fiction. Technical information is important. The series goes into detail about the various vessels Honor is on. It also explores the relationship between the kingdom of Manticore and the People’s Republic of Haven. Honor is a citizen of the Manticoran kingdom, originally from the planet Sphinx. Along with her is her bonded companion, the tree-cat Nimitz.

Honor and Nimitz end up being in the center of conflicts between the Peeps and the Manties. They survive impossible situations in space and on the ground and Honor really needs her brass ovaries to survive the gruelling conditions she often finds herself in. At the center of each book is the conflict between the Peeps and the Manties. There is always some kind of scheme by the Peeps to get the Manties to reveal their military strength or to get the Manties to join in war. Part of that is due to the instability of the Peep system. Governments come and go and in many ways it reminds me of Russia at the time of the revolution in 1917.

The Manties, on the other hand, have a monarchy with all of its attendant problems. There is a government pretty much like the government of the UK – Overhouse/Underhouse with the peers in the Overhouse and the commoners in the Underhouse. There is plenty of corruption and political scheming. Someone is always seeking more power, quite often at the expense of the Manticoran system.

Wikipedia gives an excellent summary of each book, but be warned of spoilers.

David Weber is a fun writer. There are political discussions, but they are placed in a context that make them interesting not preachy (mucho importante). Adventure, adventure, adventure and then some humor are important ingredients. There is some romance, but thankfully not much. My favorite book in the series is Echoes of Honor. It seemed the most different from the rest, and the action centered around a great deal of people, not just Honor.

General

Weber, Max: On Bureaucracy (Iron Cage)

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It is easy to see the despair of this man sitting in his iron cage. For some reason he’s stuck there and probably will be for quite some time. This despair is part of what Max Weber wishes to illustrate with his description of bureaucracy’s iron cage.

Rules are good. They are part of what makes it possible to have a functioning society. But sometimes (or maybe all the time) power ends up with the few (like Hitler’s Germany). Having just read “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” I was reminded of Weber’s work. Along with Ervin Staub I think Weber manages to prompt insight into our own and society’s darker potential. Wikipedia manages to give an easily understood description of Weber’s thoughts on bureaucracy and rationalization.

Through rationalisation and dehumanization through strange bureaucratic rules, a group of people like the Jews experienced the Holocaust. While the Jews were dehumanized, it was also easier for those who sat behind their desks following whatever regulations were sent their way to rationalise away that humanity.

Adolph Eichmann is a classic in that regard. He could/would not see that he had done anything wrong for he had only “followed directives”. In fact his only regret was that they had not done a good enough job. But Eichmann wasn’t anything unusual when you look at the role beureaucracy has had in making lives more difficult or even horrible for others. Sometimes one might even wonder if along the way some bureaucrats lost their own humanity and as such became slaves of a system that they depended upon to give them their wages.

“The Boys” by Martin Gilbert is another book that illustrates the effects of such a dehumanization of people. It seems to me that we need to be aware of our darker sides. Only through acknowledging them will we be able to make conscious choices (for good or bad).

In my opinion all of these authors ought to be on everyone’s must-read list.

Norwegian article that illustrates Weber’s theory in practice

Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Marion, Isaac: Warm Bodies (2011)

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Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies is Isaac Marion‘s first novel. He has an interesting take on zombieism. According to the world of Warm Bodies, zombieism is not necessarily a permanent state. Just because something is, doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to remain so. But change will bring resistance from the more conservative (both living and zombies).

The main problem with this novel is that it’s message is too obvious at times – in fact spelled out. I felt as though I was being preached at. This is a first novel, though, and as such – pretty good.

I liked the way “R”‘s, the main protagonist, journey was presented. The road from moan and groan to being able to make himself understood on many levels was interesting. It gets kind of gory at times but probably not more than most teen-literature today.

There’s plenty of humor. I especially appreciated the way the schools for the living and the schools for the dead were.

Reviews:

Film-adaptation acquired 2010 by Summit Entertainment to be released 2013