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wyntrchylde's reviews
636 reviews
Wonder Woman & Justice League Dark: The Witching Hour by James Tynion IV
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
Wonder Woman and Justice League Dark: The Witching Hour
Author: James Tynion IV, Jesus Merino, Emanuela Lupacchino, Alvaro Martinez Bueno, Fernando Blanco, Miguel Mendonca, et al.
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REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
Why this book:
Cause it was there and the cover drew me in.
_________________
Least Favorite Character:
Zatanna playing the self-doubt and more self-doubt alongside being the Doubting Thomas relating to Wonder Woman acting while the others aren’t. If everyone just sat on the sidelines, or retreated to rethink, Hecate would have destroyed Nanda Parbat and the Parliament of Trees before any of them could react.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
So did the other two aspects of the triple-faced goddess commit suicide by turning on their sister and helping to stop her in the way that she was stopped? Or are they still out there? Or are they connected to Diana now in a patron-ish connection since this suggests that Olympus and the Olympians are gone, again. They do seem to abandon and disappear from Diana repeatedly only to resurface later on.
Favorite Concept:
I did like that the writer put the Nightmaster’s sword back in Detective Chimp’s hand.
Uhm Moments:
Hecate turning on the “baby” witches doesn’t really wash. How much power could they really have? She’s after the bigger fish in the magical DCU. The “baby” witches are very much small fry in that ocean.
A Path I Can’t Follow:
I don’t like how, in most of these events, otherwise competent and powerful characters are written as helpless foils so that the protagonist of the specific crisis can save the day.
Anachronism:
I get why they do it. But I wish they wouldn’t always show Vandal Savage, the immortal caveman, mystical meteor enhanced to live forever, conqueror, murderer, evil, when they do their dawn of time/history of man splash pages. Even unnamed, it is obviously him. He’s always the caveman with dark, black, lustrous hair, looking like he visits the beauty shop every week…the beauty shop that shouldn’t exist for another 2 and a half million years.
Forgotten Lesson/Forgotten Common Sense:
After all of the rehabilitation effort to make the Ted Kord Blue Beetle a more solid character to have him thrown back on the comedy relief pile is hard to read.
Predictability/Non-Predictability:
I usually dislike the “post-credits” scene where you get the foreshadowing of future threats, but these were well done in a “fight this battle, so that, at least, you and the world are still here to fight the next one.”
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Last Page Sound:
Not the ending I expected out of the one, but definitely the one I expected out of the other.
Things I’d Like to See:
Hope the Ghost of Witchfire reappears. But too often, especially in DC Comics, characters that have potential blip and disappear into limbo.
Things I'd Like To Unsee:
The Upside-Down Man is creepy AF.
The Witcher Omnibus by Paul Tobin
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
The Witcher Omnibus, Volume One
Author: Paul Tobin, Joe Querio, Piotr Kowalski, May Bertolini, Carlos BAdilla, Brad Simpson, Travis Currit, Marcin Blacha, Borys Pugacz-Muraszkiewicz, Nate Piekos, Covers by Mike Mignola with Dave Stewart
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REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
Why this book:
Because of the series. I missed this when it was new. I have a love of sword and sorcery.
_________________
The Feel:
The art is very atmospheric.
Favorite Character:
I really like Vara. …course, she’s a succubus…so it’s kind of her thing. And yes, I shipped her and Geralt staying together. …I know…I know. What kind of story would you have if your “hero” settled down at the end of the first story.
Favorite Scene:
The story of Jakob and Marta is tragic…and awesome.
The Pawliga scene. Jeez. SMH. Ha.
Wisdom:
The wolf who saves you from jackals may be inviting you to be on the menu.
Missed Opportunity:
Can’t believe I waited this long to read The Witcher.
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Pacing:
The pacing of this was great.
Last Page Sound:
That was pretty damned cool.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Incest, Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, War
Becoming Charlemagne: Europe, Baghdad, and the Empires of AD 800 by Jeff Sypeck
informative
fast-paced
3.5
Becoming Charlemange: Europe, Baghdad, and the Empires of A.D. 800
Author: Jeff Sypeck
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REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
Why this book:
Love history. Loved the myths surrounding Charlemange and the birth of “modern” Europe. And I guess I can’t call it a nonfiction kick anymore, I’m reading more nonfiction than fiction. Seeing way too many DNFs when I try to read fiction these days. Ah well, forwards.
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Favorite Quote:
The papal messengers describing Aachen, seat of Karl’s, soon to be Charlemange, power. “Although barely built, Karl’s capitol was almost civilized and unexpectedly alive: forceful, clearly Christian, slightly cruel. The messenger realized, on reflection, that it was just like Karl himself.”
Hmm Moments:
Never realized that the Carolingians and the Medicis had the power behind the throne, rise to power, seize power in a (bloodless/quiet) coup in common. The “mayors” of the castle…yeah…they aren’t Robespiere-ing/Cromwell-ing their way to the top, not at all.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
Many of the monkish anecdotes about Karl are obvious fabrications. Example being, by the time that Karl ruled from the North Sea to Marseilles, he would have been hard pressed to slip away and have dinner in a seaside town without any entourage and if pirates or Vikings appeared, the King would have been harried away by numerous hangers-on.
Apropos of Nothing and Everything:
Spends pages and pages on Abbot Alcuin of Tours et al and the Empress Irene of Constantinople.
Book is more dedicated to its subtitle than the title character.
Anachronism:
Effectively a reverse anachronism, though it has no doubt popped up in more than this and the obvious modern instance, Karl(Charlemagne) renaming things after he becomes Emperor of the (Holy) Roman Empire and the people, basically, ignoring it. “Rarer still was the Frank who dared tell Karl an obvious truth: regardless of how great an emperor was, the winds blew without permission—and they blew no matter what he decided to call them.” Sounds familiar, ay?
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Last Page Sound:
Loved it.
Things I’d Like to See:
What Ifs involving Charlemange. Something where Aachen becomes the new Rome that he wanted it to be or, even, the new Jerusalem that he dreamed of.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Station Eleven
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
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REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
Why this book:
Because I liked Sea of Tranquility by this author.
_________________
The Feel:
Early, this gives strong The Stand vibes. And in our we’ve survived COVID, COVID is still there, here comes the Bird Flu world, honestly, it's a freaky mood.
The referenced vibes above fade as you get into Kristen and the Symphony’s 20-years-later, post-epidemic era. Probably going for a Walking Dead feel, but it feels more like the audience is waiting for the kick and the producers and networks are trying to fill their episode count. The author is planting seeds for later amidst the Symphony’s visit and walk in the woods leaving…but you know the prophet isn’t done with them.
Favorite Character:
I find myself drawn to Arthur. He’s an interesting character. Really appreciated the flashback to Arthur’s earlier life, even if it is just an aside…though is it?
Jeevan Chadhaury, as well. Can’t wait to find out what happened to him. …of course, that’s assuming that he wasn’t just a casualty of the Georgia Flu who disappears from the pages of history, same as so many who fall before nature’s fury in that way.
Kristen growing up in the apocalypse and all that shapes her life from the moment she is witness to Arthur’s last to her run-in with The Prophet, and his connection to Arthur as well.
Clark grows as a character after the apocalypse.
Least Favorite Character:
The Symphony, as a group, beyond Kristen seem cardboard. I get that they are mostly bit players and cameoists. Hence, them being named Second Cello, Third Guitar, the Conductor, and such. This could be a me problem, looking at them as the above referenced bit players and cameoists. Though it is a full cast of interconnected people without them being fully drawn.
Tyler is a scary little zealot who grows into a scumbag.
Character I Most Identified With:
I really liked Miranda. She seemed the most grounded. And her being the creator of Dr. Eleven as a story within the story is just awesome. Hell, I wanna read the adventures of Dr. Eleven.
Favorite Concept:
The fluidity of Mandel’s storytelling and the way that they weave the characters together across time and space.
Suspension of Disbelief:
The Symphony seems to be too big a group to be subsisting on the road and being a drain on the local resources of the small towns in the post-apocalypse of the Georgia Flu. Those small towns wouldn’t be very welcoming as a whole. …based on my experience of small towns in the modern world. The “you’re not from around here” is much stronger than Mandel shows here, though it is mentioned.
The Unexpected:
I didn’t see Clark’s role in the story, thought him a bit player in Arthur’s life.
Calling the Ball:
The members of the Travelling Symphony are idiots. They’re survivors of an epidemic apocalypse, 20 years out. They have to have seen things. And they are in a town where one of their members took a year long sabbatical and they’ve found a fake grave with their friends names on it and people are telling them that they left. They’re also being told that there is a prophet. And that more people than just their friend “left”. And that they should leave town before it is too late. … …and they’re, at least, staying the night and doing one show so that they can search for their friend and learn more. … …so much NOPE.
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Pacing:
Excellent pace that seems to accelerate as you move through the story. It does step on the brakes pretty hard after the opening, but it takes off again.
Last Page Sound:
I really liked this.
Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power by Anna Merlan
dark
sad
fast-paced
2.75
Republic of Lies
Author: Anna Merlan
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book:
Considering that we swim in a sea of conspiracy theories and theorists now, this book hits the spot.
_________________
The Feel:
Makes me sad about my fellow human beings. The sadness of this is a bit overwhelming.
We Can’t Go On Together With Suspicious Minds:
Lotta people who think they're critical thinkers…and they're not.
Favorite Quote:
Considering the times we live in the Jonathan Swift quote that starts this off is so very, very apropos. “Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late.”
Favorite Concept:
The idea of going on a conspiracy theorist cruise and being trapped on a boat at sea with a shipload of them is horrifying to me. Surprised “they” would go on one considering the repeated outbreaks of norovirus and such that seem to happen on them.
Uhm Moments:
The entire anti-vaccine movement is based on Andrew Wakefield’s measles vaccine study linking it to behavior problems. Not autism. And the whole thing is based on a study of just 12 subjects. But it gave “them” something to hold onto, something to blame, and away we went in the conspiracy whirlwind.
WTF Moments/RUFKM Moments:
The FBI used spy planes to intel gather on protesters inside the US in 2015. The BLM and Standing Rock Sioux protests drew a lot of that focus. In the second half of 2015, the FBI deployed spy planes 3500 times. Not a conspiracy theory. This was admitted to by the FBI at the deputy director level. Things like this is what makes it easier to believe FBI/US surveillance-related conspiracy theories. Taken in context with COINTELPRO and MKUltra, which gets bandied about in the nutso sector a lot, is it hard to imagine that the gung ho among the security/law enforcement apparatus in the US goes too far when they believe they are doing the right thing, regularly.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The “Loose Change” “documentary”, quotation marks intentional, purported that 9/11 was a false flag. That is STUPID. Reasoning that it was to allow a multigenerational war over oil and power in the Mideast. … … …students of history realize that the Mideast and West have been at war with each other since the Greeks. Now, it may have become a Cold War at various points, and they may have even fought together against outside forces, but the war was always at some point on the temperature scale between Cold and Hot.
Suspension of Disbelief:
Revealed secret operations once dragged into the light of day make conspiracy theories seem more likely and believable.
Wisdom:
When reason truly looks at the underpinnings of conspiracy theory, many fall apart in the cold hard light of day. Some don’t because they have a kernel in them that may be true or that may seem true. Some don’t because they’re so far out there that there isn’t a basis on which they can be judged vs the reality of day-to-day life.
Juxtaposition:
The state-sanctioned forced, coerced, and encouraged sterilizations of the differently abled, African American and First Peoples taking place up until as recently as 1979 compared to the encouragement of Caucasians to have more and more children. Juxtaposition rings hard on this one when as recently as the late 80s-early 90s, a Caucasian friend who wanted her tubes tied for personal reasons was basically bullied to keep her from doing it because she was of child bearing age.
MUFON’s embrasure of the psychic quotient among the believers means that those who are interested in the concrete and genuine unexplained occurrences have to wade through the look-at-mes and the money grabs to get to the encounters that can’t be explained as opposed to those that are only imagined as a way to feed ego or wallet.
Questions and Answers:
The conspiracy theory that the CIA created HIV/AIDS to kill African Americans and gay people was rooted in a Soviet KGB plan called Operation: Infektion which saw the light of day through propaganda newspaper reports in India that, then, spread around the world.
Calling the Ball:
Call it 1 part opportunistic a-holes and 4 parts gullible rubes with loud mouths.
MUFON going all-in on the esoteric, psychic, astral parts of the UFO milieu puts the scientific and investigative aspects out on a limb with any legitimate scientists.
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Pacing:
Fairly fast paced.
Last Page Sound:
Closing with Russiagate, QAnon, and Trumpism leaves a horrid taste in the mouth of the reader.
Disappointed.
Conclusions I’ve Drawn:
The 24-hour news cycle, the rise of the internet, and the media powers that be not acting with integrity have lead us to where we are vis-a-vis conspiracy theories and theorists. They gave the crackpots a bullhorn and it has morphed into platforming.
The author’s treatment of Russiagate throws the whole book in the pooper. While the book does cover conspiracies, both real and imagined, and treats them fairly properly, Russiagate isn’t treated in the same way. The author takes the bloviating aspects of modern media and uses it as a tool to nick at the balloon…problem being Russiagate was real and isn’t treated in concert with the other “true” conspiracy theories in the book.
Things I'd Like To Unsee:
Very disappointed in the revelation that MUFON has a racist bent at the highest levels that has left a stink on the organization driving some of those interested in investigation of the unknown away.
The Wolf Age: The Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons and the Battle for the North Sea Empire by Tore Skeie
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
5.0
The Wolf Age: The Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons and the Battle for the North Sea Empire
Author: Tore Skeie
Translated from the Norwegian by Alison Mccullough
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book:
Vikings
_________________
Favorite Character:
Snorri Sturluson. The author talking about how odd it was that he didn’t call together his army in the face of what was coming. Being the student of history that he was, he knew what was coming and what would happen to all those he loved if he stood in the way of the oncoming tide. The concept of having your own defiance but not letting it devour all that you love is an awesome testament to the character of the man.
King Edward, son of Edgar the Peaceful, sounds a LOT like Joffrey from Game of Thrones.
Least Favorite Character:
Eadric Streona got what he deserved, just not soon enough. Everyone who dealth with him in those years knew that he had turned on people over and over. Three or four separate occasions he was in charge of people invited in under a truce and safe passage and then knifed them, hung them up, cut off their heads, and put their bodies on display. He was treacherous.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The hypocriticalness with the idea of fidelity as the highest virtue of Norse culture when we see example after example of their loyalty being for sale time and again.
Juxtaposition:
There are similarities between Athelred’s story and that of King Arthur, though Arthur is never referred to as the Unready. His later chroniclers ignored that he was king for 30-something years and fought wars almost constantly against Viking invaders.
Calling the Ball:
The whole invalidation of coins at the King’s will, and forcing the populace to turn in 10 coins to receive 8 of the new coins created a transfer of wealth back to the King that was destined to blow up in their face at some point. The Vikings saw that silver flowing around and came to get a piece…especially after the reconquest of the Danelaw region by the Wessex King.
_________________
Pacing:
Very well paced.
Last Page Sound:
This was a really good book.
Wolverine: Old Man Logan Vol. 6: Days of Anger by Ed Brisson
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5
Wolverine: Old Man Logan: Days of Anger
Author: Brisson, Deodata Jr, Martin, Petit
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book:
Because I’ve read the other 5 volumes and I wanna see the next part of the story.
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Favorite Character:
The Hulk Gang…they remind me of that weird X-Files episode where the family tree didn’t fork…at all. They have a super creepy aura that built up over the entire Old Man Logan milieu. Them chasing him across dimensions is very much in-character for them. And not a surprise that there were survivors after he thought he had taken care of all of them. Bruce was prolific in the ickiest way possible. That dimension’s Bruce Banner was brain damaged from all the gamma radiation, but his whole family thing is just…ick.
Hawkeye when he's done right is awesome.
Least Favorite Character:
The easily manipulated, inbred members of the Hulk Gang. They are what they are, but once Daddy Bruce was gone, and Logan tore through the majority of the family in the original OML storyline, the brightest bulbs aren't left on the string for Maestro to pick up and use. This should've been a Juxtaposition, but they are a favorite and a least favorite.
We Can’t Go On Together With Suspicious Minds:
So, he's a Maestro, not the Maestro. Probably another multiversal refugee like the Hulk Gang. Was half convinced he was Old Man Hawkeye before he hulked out.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Considering that Logan has been taught over and over in this series that he should let his friends help him, it appears that he forgot this lesson again.
Favorite Scene:
The diner fight is excellent. Love me some Logan vs the Hulk Gang fights.
Favorite Quote:
Maestro’s nihilism and expiration date speech. Well done.
Cover and Interior Art:
This one is beautifully drawn and colored.
The visuals of Malachi and Maestro are well done. Maestro in both normal and hulked out form is greatness.
Confirmation Bias:
Telegraphing the turncoat of n the Hulks’ ranks.
Questions and Answers:
Started to ask why Maestro is so afraid of Logan, but he's been wading through the Hulk Gang at a pretty good clip ever since the Wasteland.
Calling the Ball:
Think I know who Malachi is. Not giving it away…or who he grows up to be, but yeah…
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Pacing:
Very well paced.
Last Page Sound:
Well done.
Author: Brisson, Deodata Jr, Martin, Petit
=======================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book:
Because I’ve read the other 5 volumes and I wanna see the next part of the story.
_________________
Favorite Character:
The Hulk Gang…they remind me of that weird X-Files episode where the family tree didn’t fork…at all. They have a super creepy aura that built up over the entire Old Man Logan milieu. Them chasing him across dimensions is very much in-character for them. And not a surprise that there were survivors after he thought he had taken care of all of them. Bruce was prolific in the ickiest way possible. That dimension’s Bruce Banner was brain damaged from all the gamma radiation, but his whole family thing is just…ick.
Hawkeye when he's done right is awesome.
Least Favorite Character:
The easily manipulated, inbred members of the Hulk Gang. They are what they are, but once Daddy Bruce was gone, and Logan tore through the majority of the family in the original OML storyline, the brightest bulbs aren't left on the string for Maestro to pick up and use. This should've been a Juxtaposition, but they are a favorite and a least favorite.
We Can’t Go On Together With Suspicious Minds:
So, he's a Maestro, not the Maestro. Probably another multiversal refugee like the Hulk Gang. Was half convinced he was Old Man Hawkeye before he hulked out.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Considering that Logan has been taught over and over in this series that he should let his friends help him, it appears that he forgot this lesson again.
Favorite Scene:
The diner fight is excellent. Love me some Logan vs the Hulk Gang fights.
Favorite Quote:
Maestro’s nihilism and expiration date speech. Well done.
Cover and Interior Art:
This one is beautifully drawn and colored.
The visuals of Malachi and Maestro are well done. Maestro in both normal and hulked out form is greatness.
Confirmation Bias:
Telegraphing the turncoat of n the Hulks’ ranks.
Questions and Answers:
Started to ask why Maestro is so afraid of Logan, but he's been wading through the Hulk Gang at a pretty good clip ever since the Wasteland.
Calling the Ball:
Think I know who Malachi is. Not giving it away…or who he grows up to be, but yeah…
_________________
Pacing:
Very well paced.
Last Page Sound:
Well done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, War
The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World's Most Famous Dynasty by Natalie Livingstone
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
4.5
The Women of Rothschild
Author: Natalie Livingstone
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book:
I’m on a history and non-fiction kick.
_________________
The Feel:
There’s a great sweep of history.
Favorite Character:
Hannah Barret Cohen Rothschild
Constance de Rothschild, Lady Battersea
Rozsika von Wertheimstein
Nica (Kathleen Annie Pannonica) Rothschild
Miriam Louisa Rothschild
The stories of these and the other Rothschild women was fabulously told here. Especially once we got past where they had to live in the reflected light of the Rothschild men.
Least Favorite Character:
Mayer Amschel Rothschild using his will to throw all of the women in the family out of the family business, forever. Nice guy there. Product of the times. But considering that his wife Gutle and his daughters were part and parcel of his businesses success, it is a mean-spirited slight. And you can see it being used as a weapon by the misogynists in the family down through the ages. And leaving his wife the house and a trust, but the trust is locked within the Rothschild businesses and those are handled by the sons and she has no say in how it was used. And again, yes, product of the times, but damn. He wouldn’t have been a success without Gutle. And this is how he rewarded her…and all their female progeny. Though despite his interdiction, the women of the family seemed to generationally fall into leadership roles within the family, society, politics, and banking either through the passing of their family patriarchs or some shortcomings of the men in their generation.
Baron Jules Adolphe de Koenigswarter was classic misogyny and toxic masculinity. All the things that attracted him and Nica to each other before World War Two died on the vine amidst the horrors of war and the marriage staggered on in the aftermath. As his career advanced, he expected her to be seen and not heard and to “know her place.” He went so far as to destroy her record collection when she didn’t do to please him. He sounds like a horrid little man.
We Can’t Go On Together With Suspicious Minds:
So, the British promised Chaim Weizmann and the proto-Israelites, and the Prince of Mecca that the British Empire supported a homeland for both Arabs and Jews in Palestine. Lord Crewe could've been a modern American politician.
Favorite Concept:
Hannah Barret Cohen Rothschild sneaking away to the exchanges in Paris while she was supposed to be attending her daughter who was expecting her grandchild.
Uhm Moments:
So, the cousin loving in pre-20th century Euro society extended beyond royalty to aristocracy and wealth. Whole lotta keeping it in the family. Ick.
Juxtaposition:
While interesting, the “focus” on the Rothschild women wanders severely telling us the story of the men while the women stand at the edges of the story, at least in the early chapters. The story of Hannah Barret Cohen Rothschild and her husband Nathan expanding his businesses in England including getting involved in smuggling payroll and such to the Duke of Wellington in Spain.. And he and his brothers on the Continent making huge currency exchanges between the pound and the franc behind the scenes during the Napoleonic wars. But that story is told as a part…an overwhelming part of the story of Nathan being the first of the Rothschilds to move to and marry into the growing English Jewish community with a strong woman who softens his strident and gruff business personality increasing the business and the tenor of his professional associations through her efforts. In fairness, as the history advanced, Hannah Rothschild became a force of nature in politics through the soft power of socializing and hosting, and her charitable work.
Anachronism:
The whole scribbling notes, writing letters, and diaries as opposed to modern social media…a poorer world? The difference in writing words that you’re never sure anyone is going to read as opposed to writing words designed to elicit someone to read them.
Pareidolia:
Miriam’s husband, married in wartime, George Lane, nee Gyorgy Lanyi, being involved in X Troop of No. 10 Commando and being dropped into northern France to obtain details of German mines and prepare for Allied landings reminds of an Anglo version of Inglorious Basterds, though probably with fewer baseball bats.
The Unexpected:
So MUCH cousin marriage. Exceeding European royalty factors, even. The branches of the tree grow back together so much that it is hard to keep track of.
_________________
Pacing:
Very well paced.
Last Page Sound:
This was a really good book.
Conclusions I’ve Drawn:
Having survived World War One largely intact, the impending horror of World War Two and the Holocaust hangs over the pages. It is similar to the feeling when you are reading a book you really love and you approach the end, and you don’t want to get there. This book is wonderfully well written. The characters are well fleshed out and true to life. I don’t want to read what is about to happen to them as it happens to all of the people of Europe.
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf
informative
medium-paced
3.0
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes
Author: Amin Maalouf
Publisher: Schocken Books
Publishing Date: 1984
=======================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book:
Makes a fascinating juxtaposed view to what is usually presented in Western realms from our own perspective.
_________________
Hmm Moments:
So many of the successful leaders of the Muslims in opposing the Franj were felled by the hands of people in their entourages. Body servants, nobles, people who approach them on the street, etc, the knives are all about. Some of those were of the sect of the Assassins, but most were just people wronged for this reason or that reason or acting for an outside power, usually another Muslim leader.
Uhm Moments:
Wish the various Franj invasions and adventurism was associated with whichever Crusade they were part of, but it is on brand that it isn't since those names wouldn't mean anything from the Muslim perspective.
Apropos of Nothing and Everything:
Louis the IX of France and Ayuub of Egypt sending messages filled with strident purple prose threats back and forth reminds me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail when the Frenchmen in their castle won’t treat with Graham Chapman’s King Arthur. IYKYK.
Juxtaposition:
I never connected Genghis Khan’s later life with the Crusades. Timeline-wise, he was a definite influence on events and Muslim and Franj conquest adventurism in his driving of some conquered Turks before him into Muslim lands. These impacts lasted beyond Genghis’s life into those of his heirs.
_________________
Pacing:
Well paced.
Last Page Sound:
Interesting.
Questions I’m Left With:
From a cultural/historical and Arabic perspective, did the Crusades ever end? Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt, the post-WW1 era of French and British Mandates and every invasion and action by Western powers in the region all being seen as merely the latest iteration of the Crusades?
Author: Amin Maalouf
Publisher: Schocken Books
Publishing Date: 1984
=======================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book:
Makes a fascinating juxtaposed view to what is usually presented in Western realms from our own perspective.
_________________
Hmm Moments:
So many of the successful leaders of the Muslims in opposing the Franj were felled by the hands of people in their entourages. Body servants, nobles, people who approach them on the street, etc, the knives are all about. Some of those were of the sect of the Assassins, but most were just people wronged for this reason or that reason or acting for an outside power, usually another Muslim leader.
Uhm Moments:
Wish the various Franj invasions and adventurism was associated with whichever Crusade they were part of, but it is on brand that it isn't since those names wouldn't mean anything from the Muslim perspective.
Apropos of Nothing and Everything:
Louis the IX of France and Ayuub of Egypt sending messages filled with strident purple prose threats back and forth reminds me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail when the Frenchmen in their castle won’t treat with Graham Chapman’s King Arthur. IYKYK.
Juxtaposition:
I never connected Genghis Khan’s later life with the Crusades. Timeline-wise, he was a definite influence on events and Muslim and Franj conquest adventurism in his driving of some conquered Turks before him into Muslim lands. These impacts lasted beyond Genghis’s life into those of his heirs.
_________________
Pacing:
Well paced.
Last Page Sound:
Interesting.
Questions I’m Left With:
From a cultural/historical and Arabic perspective, did the Crusades ever end? Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt, the post-WW1 era of French and British Mandates and every invasion and action by Western powers in the region all being seen as merely the latest iteration of the Crusades?
The Longest Line on the Map: The United States, the Pan-American Highway, and the Quest to Link the Americas by Eric Rutkow
informative
slow-paced
3.0
The Longest Line on the Map
Author: Eric Rutlow
Publisher: Scribner / Simon & Schuster
Publishing Date: 2019
=======================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book:
I’m on a nonfiction kick, seem to be getting more enjoyment out of them than fiction. Love travelogs, but this one turned out to be more history and politics than travelog.
_________________
The Feel:
Told the story they wanted to tell rather than the one promised in the title.
Least Favorite Character:
Most of the Oligarchs of rail and finance who appear in these pages are severe bastards. Same with the politicos involved. Whole lot of colonial thinking, moving pieces around on a chessboard and borders and lines around on the map, with no regard for those pieces and lines representing people’s lives.
The blustery Congressman/Senator who gins up a storm of conspiracy, forces hearings, lets fly accusation after accusation, and then, the report doesn't move the charges he made forwards in a way that they could go before a judge at a criminal proceeding is classic. Horrid. But classic.
We Can’t Go On Together With Suspicious Minds:
Whole lotta dragging of the feet and talking about other stuff before it gets to the Pan-American Highway. Railroads, and the politics and science of American roadways and highways. Halfway through the book before the concept of a Pan-American Highway is even broached and, even then, it is all about politics rather than the surveying, logistics, materials, and route of the actual highway. I realize that in international circumstances all of that is part and parcel, but we’re over 200+ pages deep.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
If they wanted to write a Pan-American Railroad book, they should have. Doing 140+ pages of that as preamble seems a bit much. Lot of good info there, but not really, truly on topic. Same with a history of roadbuilding and science of roadbuilding, both of these could have been done in service to the story of the Pan-American highway story, instead of taking the entire middle section of the book, after the preamble was taken up by the railroads and dreams of a Pan-American Railroad, instead of the titular subject matter.
Tropes:
The historical namedropping is large in the overly large, off-topic section on railroads, railroading, and colonialism. Not unwarranted, but some of the famous names that cameo, wander around the extreme edges of the narrative, and then disappear, doesn’t exactly advance the story.
Turd in the Punchbowl:
Spends the entire first third of the book mired in the aborted history of the Pan-American Railroads fits and starts and bits and pieces, and sidelighting to the Panama Canal before we even get to the idea of the Pan-American Highway. This is going a long way to justify the last line of the subtitle, The United States, the Pan-American Highway, and the Quest to Link the Americas.
Wisdom:
Dictators for life and American tycoons made life hell for the peoples of Central America during the so-called Gilded Age.
Juxtaposition:
Whole lotta financial speculating dressed up in high ideals butting up against realities on the ground.
The names dropped in the railroading section are huge, mythic, American historical figures…while the ones in the roadbuilding history and science section, not so much.
Anachronism:
Bicyclist vs Farmer evolving into Farmer vs Motorist in the Good Roads movement.
Logic Gaps:
The jingoistic crap epitomized by the purported French and British awestruckedness at the nascent American roadbuilding ingenuity while both having multiple orders of magnitude more usable, driveable, and better conditioned roads than America is an asinine assertion that I’m sure played well to the rubes reading the newspapers, biographies, and monographs of that era.
Questions and Answers:
Why wouldn’t you build bridges across the Panama Canal as part of the construction of the canal in the first place?
The Unexpected:
The Pan-American Highway…except for this little 250 mile wide piece.
Forgotten Lesson/Forgotten Common Sense:
Missed Opportunity:
Barely a hundred pages left and the author hasn’t done more than talk platitudes and politics of the South American part of the Pan-American Highway. Short shrift is being given to that. Once the focus of the books shifted away from the railroads and onto the highway, it bogged down in Central America and stayed there. It is interesting, but it isn’t completing the road, which won’t be completed anyway thanks to the Darien Gap. The highway, while it is traversable all the way to Panama and across the canal, doesn’t connect into Columbia through the swamps and rivers of the Darien Gap.
_________________
Last Page Sound:
Well...so…they never really finished it. Went into this wanting more travelogue than history. I like history, just not what I was here for with this one. Got too much Gilded Age, Robber Baron than I really would have preferred. And spent way too much time on the railroads. Totally left out what happened in South America, whether the road networks down there became interconnected or not in this period. “Pan-American”, in name only.
Author Assessment:
I enjoyed the writing and the story, but the essay seemed to wander from its purported focus and lose itself in side quests along the way
Author: Eric Rutlow
Publisher: Scribner / Simon & Schuster
Publishing Date: 2019
=======================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book:
I’m on a nonfiction kick, seem to be getting more enjoyment out of them than fiction. Love travelogs, but this one turned out to be more history and politics than travelog.
_________________
The Feel:
Told the story they wanted to tell rather than the one promised in the title.
Least Favorite Character:
Most of the Oligarchs of rail and finance who appear in these pages are severe bastards. Same with the politicos involved. Whole lot of colonial thinking, moving pieces around on a chessboard and borders and lines around on the map, with no regard for those pieces and lines representing people’s lives.
The blustery Congressman/Senator who gins up a storm of conspiracy, forces hearings, lets fly accusation after accusation, and then, the report doesn't move the charges he made forwards in a way that they could go before a judge at a criminal proceeding is classic. Horrid. But classic.
We Can’t Go On Together With Suspicious Minds:
Whole lotta dragging of the feet and talking about other stuff before it gets to the Pan-American Highway. Railroads, and the politics and science of American roadways and highways. Halfway through the book before the concept of a Pan-American Highway is even broached and, even then, it is all about politics rather than the surveying, logistics, materials, and route of the actual highway. I realize that in international circumstances all of that is part and parcel, but we’re over 200+ pages deep.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
If they wanted to write a Pan-American Railroad book, they should have. Doing 140+ pages of that as preamble seems a bit much. Lot of good info there, but not really, truly on topic. Same with a history of roadbuilding and science of roadbuilding, both of these could have been done in service to the story of the Pan-American highway story, instead of taking the entire middle section of the book, after the preamble was taken up by the railroads and dreams of a Pan-American Railroad, instead of the titular subject matter.
Tropes:
The historical namedropping is large in the overly large, off-topic section on railroads, railroading, and colonialism. Not unwarranted, but some of the famous names that cameo, wander around the extreme edges of the narrative, and then disappear, doesn’t exactly advance the story.
Turd in the Punchbowl:
Spends the entire first third of the book mired in the aborted history of the Pan-American Railroads fits and starts and bits and pieces, and sidelighting to the Panama Canal before we even get to the idea of the Pan-American Highway. This is going a long way to justify the last line of the subtitle, The United States, the Pan-American Highway, and the Quest to Link the Americas.
Wisdom:
Dictators for life and American tycoons made life hell for the peoples of Central America during the so-called Gilded Age.
Juxtaposition:
Whole lotta financial speculating dressed up in high ideals butting up against realities on the ground.
The names dropped in the railroading section are huge, mythic, American historical figures…while the ones in the roadbuilding history and science section, not so much.
Anachronism:
Bicyclist vs Farmer evolving into Farmer vs Motorist in the Good Roads movement.
Logic Gaps:
The jingoistic crap epitomized by the purported French and British awestruckedness at the nascent American roadbuilding ingenuity while both having multiple orders of magnitude more usable, driveable, and better conditioned roads than America is an asinine assertion that I’m sure played well to the rubes reading the newspapers, biographies, and monographs of that era.
Questions and Answers:
Why wouldn’t you build bridges across the Panama Canal as part of the construction of the canal in the first place?
The Unexpected:
The Pan-American Highway…except for this little 250 mile wide piece.
Forgotten Lesson/Forgotten Common Sense:
Missed Opportunity:
Barely a hundred pages left and the author hasn’t done more than talk platitudes and politics of the South American part of the Pan-American Highway. Short shrift is being given to that. Once the focus of the books shifted away from the railroads and onto the highway, it bogged down in Central America and stayed there. It is interesting, but it isn’t completing the road, which won’t be completed anyway thanks to the Darien Gap. The highway, while it is traversable all the way to Panama and across the canal, doesn’t connect into Columbia through the swamps and rivers of the Darien Gap.
_________________
Last Page Sound:
Well...so…they never really finished it. Went into this wanting more travelogue than history. I like history, just not what I was here for with this one. Got too much Gilded Age, Robber Baron than I really would have preferred. And spent way too much time on the railroads. Totally left out what happened in South America, whether the road networks down there became interconnected or not in this period. “Pan-American”, in name only.
Author Assessment:
I enjoyed the writing and the story, but the essay seemed to wander from its purported focus and lose itself in side quests along the way