The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison

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On August 1, 2014

In F-J, Fiction, Kim Harrison, The Hollows (Rachel Morgan), Urban Fantasy

The Undead Pool (The Hollows #12)The Undead Pool

by Kim Harrison

Series: The Hollows, #12
Mass Market Paperback, 480 pg.
Harper Voyager, 2014
Read: July 30 – 31, 2014

Whaddyaknow? I can like a Hollows book unreservedly and without a list of complaints. I’d forgotten what that felt like.

If you’d told me that Rachel Morgan’s penultimate adventure would kick off on a golf course, I’d have told you that you were nuts. But if anyone can start trouble on a golf course, it’d be Rachel. In an interesting change of pace, the trouble that ensues really has almost nothing to do with her — sure, an exploding golf ball that practically creates a sand hazard on the course sounds like something she’s responsible — but not this time. Spells and charms are going wrong (mostly in a super-sized fashion) throughout Cincinnati and the Hollows — causing injuries, inconveniences and deaths.

But wait, there’s more — something’s going on in town that’s keeping the Master Vampires asleep, and they’re not waking to feed and exert influence over their clans. Which is great if that’s something you were working towards, and were prepared — like Ivy was awhile back. But these vampires aren’t ready for that level of freedom and self-determination yet. Which means that you’ve got unstable vampires roaming the streets. Which can’t be good for anyone.

This would be enough to keep any Urban Fantasy hero busy — but females in this genre have to have something going on in their personal/romantic life, too (male UF heroes frequently have that it, too — but it doesn’t see as de reguerre). So looking to that front, Ellasbeth, Trent’s fiancé returns; so naturally, Trent and Rachel go on a date the night before she arrives (their first and last). Everyone’s favorite demons, Al and Newt, are not at all happy about how close Rachel is getting to the elf. A couple of elven religious leaders come to town to help with the malfunctioning magic — and they like Trent hanging out with the day-walking demon even less than Al and Newt do. And there’s this really familiar-looking blond vampire that Rachel keeps seeing — but that can’t be right, can it?.

Yeah, that’s enough to keep Rachel, Ivy and Jenks busy.

Here’s the best part: It’s like Harrison asked herself, “How do I make ol’ H. C. happy?” and then things actually happen in the book. Resolution is reached on a lot of these plots that have been ongoing for several novels (even all, or almost all, of the series). Even things I’d forgotten about get tied up. I’m not saying I’m happy because I like all the choices that the characters/Harrison made, because I’m not. But instead of another 400+ pages of Rachel (or Trent or Ivy or . . .) hemming and hawing and then not really reaching a decision on anything, these characters think about their problems, discuss solutions in a constructive manner with each other, and then act on it. They don’t all lead to a happily ever after — but they lead to something. Finally.

Harrison’s clearly setting the table for the last book in the series and tying up what she can — as well as delivering a pretty cool story. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to just focus on the soap-y ongoing story arcs. The stuff with the vampires and the out of control magic was great, and would’ve been enough to make this a compelling read. But the ongoing arcs have been such a drag on this series for so long, the fact that they weren’t at all this time is leading me to focus on them.

I really don’t know how to comment on the master vampire problem or the magic problem without getting into story details — but the implications of both were fascinating, and are the kind of thing that separates the Hollows from most Urban Fantasy. I’m so glad we got these situations.

For the first time in a long time, I can say I’m looking forward to seeing what Harrison does next. I have a lot more hope for her sticking the landing than I’ve had (even as I dread the fates of a couple of characters).

—–

4 Stars

W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton

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On July 31, 2014

In Fiction, Kinsey Millhone, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Sue Grafton

W is for Wasted (Kinsey Millhone, #23)W is for Wasted

by Sue Grafton
Series: Kinsey Millhone, #23

Hardcover, 486 pg.
A Marian Wood Book/Putnam, 2013
Read: July 25 – 26, 2014

There are two (dead) men that we focus on in this novel — the first, Pete Wolinksy, I’m pretty sure we’ve met before. He did some work for the men that Kinsey apprenticed with, and she’s run across him at least once before in the novels (but I’m not going to run off an verify that). The other deceased individual was a homeless alcoholic who died on the beach with Kinsey’s name and phone number in a pocket. With business slow, and her back account healthy — that’s enough to let her curiosity take over and find out what happened to this man, and to find out why he was carrying her name.

Along the way, Kinsey finds some relatives from her father’s side of the family — in recent years, she’d learned a good deal about her mother’s family, but hadn’t looked into her father’s. Now she has the opportunity, and while she doesn’t find as much (for now), but it’s something. This allows her to reflect a little on her current relationship with her mother’s side, too. I appreciate Kinsey’s self-awareness about how whiny she is can be (and usually is) regarding her extended family and how she really doesn’t feel that way any more except out of habit. Hopefully, in the next book or two, we see some real development and some degree of closure with her maternal grandmother, aunts and cousins. I’ve read a lot of criticism lately (particularly focused on this book) about how little character development there’s been here. This book — the 23rd — takes place 5-6 years after A is for Alibi, right? So of course, the development will be incremental — that’s how people change in such a short amount of time. It seems natural to me.

The mysteries weren’t all that compelling to me, and mostly seemed to be excuses to expose Kinsey to her family, Dietz, and to allow her to comment on the homeless problem in Santa “Theresa.” It took me a long time to get/care about the subplot told in flashbacks — once I did figure it out, I felt pretty stupid, to tell you the truth. Regardless, it wasn’t the most interesting flashback sequence Grafton’s done. It was effective enough, I guess, it just seemed to be missing something.

The new stuff aside, what about our old friends? We got a little time with Henry — Henry as meddling, advise-giving, semi-authority figure. William is his regular annoying self, and his wife, Rosie, was around just enough. There was a quick appearance from Con Dolan, and another from Cheney Phillips. Best of all, we get to hang out with Robert Dietz for a few chapters, and see a slightly different part of him. It seems very likely, and maybe even probable, that we won’t be seeing (at least) one of these characters again, based on what we saw here (and the number of books left).

The main quibble I have with this one is the dialogue — too often it’s just dreadful here. Painful to read — some of these characters read like technical manuals, or brochures for a tourism board. I’d b e willing to bet another editing pass from Grafton could’ve taken care of almost every flat, dull, or expositional line of conversation. But at this point, who’s going to make Grafton do something like that? If she catches it on her own, great — but there’s no editor in the world that’ll hold her feet to the fire.

Not her best work, there was almost no suspense at all here, and at a certain point, the whodunit became so obvious it was almost impossible to care about any more. But Grafton did enough to keep my interest and keep my fingers turning pages, and that’s enough. Kinsey’s never been the flashiest P.I. around — she’s stable, down to earth, and gets the job done. Which is pretty much what we got here.

—–

3 Stars

The Competition by Marcia Clark

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On July 31, 2014

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Competition (Rachel Knight, #4)The Competition

by Marcia Clark

Hardcover, 416 pg.
Mulholland Books, 2014
Read: July 28, 2014

So, Rachel Knight and her pal Det. Bailey Keller are called to the scene of a deadly shooting at a high school. Very deadly — it soon becomes clear that there will be a higher death count here than any other school shooting, which is exactly what the gunmen were going for. Students of mass shootings throughout our nation’s recent past, these criminals have set out to out-perform those they see as their inferiors.

The Rachel Knight novels are typically legal tension, wrangling, and some suspense — but mostly it’s about how do we catch this guy up in a lie?, how do we prove what we know?, and so on. But from page 8 when the bullets start flying, The Competition is pure, old-fashioned thriller-style tension. How long will it take to find the guys?, what will happen before they do? Riots, panic, more shooting? Yes, there’s also plenty of twists and turns, and the requisite Rachel Knight et al. cuteness. But mostly, this one’s a race against time and danger.

Marcia Clark steps out into some risky territory here — one only has to look back to the season premier of Sons of Anarchy last year to see the very divided critical and fan reaction to the school shooting. She manages it very well, not pushing any of the several political or social debates that she could here. The focus is kept on the criminals, trying to figure out why they did what they did, how to stop their evil. I can’t help but think of the old Nero Wolfe line, “Nothing corrupts a man so deeply as writing a book; the myriad temptations are overwhelming.” It’d have been so easy for Clark to succumb to temptation and pontificate here, to push her particular viewpoint on gun-issues, but she doesn’t. Well done.

I did guess almost every plot twist she used (and one I was convinced she was going to pull, but didn’t — even after the moment passed, I was looking for it). But it didn’t matter, she played every note just the way she should’ve, and even if I saw a trick coming, it worked. Was an edge-of-your-seat page-turner through and through. Hope to see a little more of Rachel the lawyer rather than Rachel the investigator next time, but chalk this up as another win for Knight and Clark.

—–

4 Stars

Never Go Back by Lee Child

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On July 30, 2014

In Authors, Fiction, Jack Reacher, Lee Child, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Never Go Back (Jack Reacher, #18)Never Go Back

by Lee Child
Series: Jack Reacher, #18

Hardcover, 400 pg.
Delacorte Press, 2013
Read: July 23 – 24, 2014

The journey that Reacher started following 61 Hours is at an end — he’s back at the 110th MP, his old unit to meet the person the goes with the voice at the other end of the phone line — the new CO, Maj. Susan Turner. He’s planning on asking her to dinner, and to see what happens from there. Sure, walking from South Dakota to get a date seems extreme — but other than bringing justice to various locations between South Dakota and Virginia, what else does Reacher have in his day planner?

Sure, since this is Jack Reacher — it won’t go all that easily for him. He arrives at the gate, hoping to get a date — instead he gets a global conspiracy, a cross-country trip, a chance to visit life-changing mistakes he may have made over a decade ago, and a return to active duty. On the whole, this is a lot less violent than most Reacher novels — with a comparatively very small body count (but it is violent, and there is a body count — never fear).

This story alone is fun — Reacher being Reacher. This time he’s got a version of himself along for the ride. Turner has the job he used to have, has a lot of the same opinions, skills, background — but Turner’s made some different choices in her life, has different attitudes, making her a mirror image in many ways (not just being small and female). She’s willing to do a lot to take down the criminals behind the conspiracy, but not as far as Reacher will. She’s far more interested in the courts and the Army having a crack at the conspirators, while Reacher’s just focused on stopping them and breaking as many eggs as he has to go get his omelet made.

Turner’s own appraisal of Reacher and the reader’s own look at her in contrast to Reacher tells us a lot more about the ex-MP than what we’ve seen before (at least adding depth and color to our impression of him, if not actual new information). In many ways Susan Turner is the most objective look we’ve ever gotten of Reacher (our typical omniscient third-person narrator isn’t terribly objective when it comes to Jack Reacher). She likes him — a lot — but is very critical. I like her and think there’s probably a lot her appraisal.

This was a very satisfying read — Lee Child and his hero, firing on all cylinders, doing what they do best. Told in a pretty fresh way, with added insight into the character. Just what the doctor ordered.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

The Sound and the Furry by Spencer Quinn

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On July 29, 2014

In Authors, Chet and Bernie, Dogs, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, P-U, Spencer Quinn

The Sound and the Furry (A Chet and Bernie Mystery #6)The Sound and the Furry

by Spencer Quinn
Series: Chet and Bernie, #6

Hardcover, 320 pg.
Atria Books, 2013
Read: July 23, 2014

I cannot think of another narrator in contemporary fiction as charming, as relateable, as endearing Chet — unreliable as all get out, but utterly trustworthy. I’m sure there are readers out there who are not susceptible to Chet’s canine charms, but I’m not one of them. I chuckle, I laugh, I am drawn in instantly — and as long as the stories are passable, that combination is a winner.

Thankfully, usually the stories are more than passable, which is just frosting on the cake. This time out, the Little Detective Agency finds itself on the road to New Orleans, of all places — a far cry from their normal stomping grounds. It’s good to see Quinn shake things up a little, he can’t be as dependent on things like Bernie chasing down a former C.I. or a familiar source of information. They also don’t know the lay of the land at all, and Bernie has to acclimate himself quickly.

Sure, some of Quinn’s tropes are here — Bernie not making sound financial choices, Chet causing a little trouble (tho mostly charming people), Chet getting separated for a time from Bernie (although this time it felt more organic than in any other of these books — I was a little bit into the separation before it dawned on me that, “yup, it’s about time for this”). But that doesn’t detract from the change in setting — or make it seem like less of a change. Instead, the presence of Quinn’s usual moves just underlines their universality.

It’s not uncommon for the sidekick of a detective to notice something missed by their associate — and it’s not uncommon for the sidekick to be unable to get the detective to see what they want them to/understand what they’re excited about, etc. And in almost any other detective novel where the detective is so clueless about so much of what the sidekick notices would be full of griping and complaining from the sidekick (justified griping, but griping, nonetheless). Not these books , however – except for his questionable financial decisions, Chet can’t even think of Bernie negatively, and he forgets anything that approaches negative almost instantly. This leaves the reader to chew on all the clues that Bernie’s missing while Chet’s focused on other things. I Love that. Typically, it’s the detective that has access to clues before the reader/independent of the reader (and that’s true here to an extent) but these books turn the tables on that, giving us readers the advantage.

Don’t know of its because Chet’s a dog, or if Quinn’s just that good at what he does (or some other thing), but when Chet’s in danger I get tenser than I do reading just about anything else — even if the danger’s not that great ultimately. But when Chet tussles with a certain critter in this book, I know my adrenaline levels jumped up and I read a lot faster just so I could get to the resolution of the fight.

My main (only?) problem with the book is its treatment of Suzie Sanchez. She seemed more like a refugee from Three’s Company than the reporter we’ve come to know and like. Quinn’s bounced between from treating her as a strong, capable character and this disappointment — she deserves better (as do Bernie & Chet, and the readers). If I’m drawing the right inferences from the cover image on the seventh Chet & Bernie book, it looks like he’ll give it a shot. If I’m wrong, Quinn should just write the character out of the series and start over with a new love interest.

We’ll never see it — I don’t imagine — but Chet kept hinting at this deeper, darker story, this side of Bernie we haven’t really seen (I think we’ve gotten glimpses before, but nothing like in this book). The kind of thing that belongs in a far more hard-boiled novel than this one. And unless we get someone else’s point of view, we’ll never see this side of Bernie in full because Chet can’t really admit it to be true. But we got a few hints this time — I sure wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of Bernie.

Until then, we get these light, joy-filled mysteries equal parts puzzle and entertainment. Who’d ask for more?

—–

4 Stars

From the Archives: Year Zero by Rob Reid

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On July 28, 2014

In Fiction, Science Fiction

Year ZeroYear Zero

by Rob Reid

Hardcover, 364 pg.
Del Rey, 2012
Read: October 27 – 29, 2012

Aren’t we at the point yet where just because something involves aliens, spaceships and more than a few laughs, we don’t have to invoke Douglas Adams? (not that I have anything against the man or his work) But this book owes more to Scalzi’s Agent to the Stars than to anything about Arthur, Ford or Zaphod (or even Dirk). Yet that doesn’t stop 70% or so of the reviews from mentioning Adams. Time to move on folks — or at least realize there are others out there doing funny SF.

I’d give this 4.75 stars, really. Rounded up. But whatever, the important thing is that this book is a hoot. There’s nothing about this that isn’t funny–the plot, the characters, the commentary on the music industry, congressional shenanigans, trendy restaurants, Microsoft…whatever Reid touched on, he hit squarely and hilariously. I laughed out loud a whole lot. And then some more.

I think towards the end, plot lines and plot points got a bit out of control. But honestly, he just reminded me of most of Christopher Buckley‘s work in that regard (and several other ways now that I think of it)–though I think Reid did a better job of pulling it all together at the end than Buckley usually does.

And the coda? Perfect. And more than made up for any flaws.

—–

5 Stars

Saturday Miscellany — 7/26/14

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On July 26, 2014

In Books, News/Misc.

Thin week overall, but what I have to offer, I really liked.

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

  • Things I Understand Now that I’ve Finally Read the Harry Potter Series — It’s nice to see an adult who didn’t read these back then tackle the series and respond. I found it a good reminder of what I liked about the series — good incentive, also, for adults who haven’t taken the time to read these books.
  • Favorite Crime-Fighting Duos — Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, noted for their new Fox & O’Hare series list their favorite duo’s — I don’t know 1 off each list, and other than Evanovich’s last item, I’d second every word of those I do.
  • The 20 Best Paranormal Fantasy Novels of the Last Decade — I’ve read a lot of these, and while I might quibble with the placement of a couple items on the list, this is a pretty good line-up. I do not understand, nor share, Allen’s estimation of Harrison’s Hollows series — that aside, good list, good place to start if your interested in the genre.
    This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:

  • Hounded by David Rosenfeldt — The newest Andy Carpenter book will feature dogs, banter, legal tension, humor, and more dogs. Just a hunch, really, all I know is that there’s a new Andy Carpenter book, the rest is just a guess.
  • The Forsaken by Ace Atkins — Book 4 of the Quinn Colson series. Atkins is becoming a real favorite of mine, and the only thing he does better than aping Robert B. Parker is write these Colson books. Can’t wait to get my hands on this.


Categories: Books, News/Misc.
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Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

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On July 24, 2014

In Humor, Non-Fiction

Dad Is Fat

by Jim Gaffigan

Published May 7th 2013 by Crown Archetype
Read: July 19 – 22, 2014

It’s been years — almost decades since I last read a book by a stand-up comedian. I used to love them — you get their act, usually expanded — if not, at least more of it then you got to see on TV in Idaho. If you were familiar enough with the comedian, it was almost automatic to hear their voice in your head as you read. Always liked them, just ran out of time/money.

But I’ve been feeling the pull towards Jim Gaffigan’s Dad is Fat for awhile now, so when Blogging for Books offered me a copy, I jumped on it. Which was a good move on my part — this is a funny book.

Not a a surprise, I realize. Still, it is good to see that he can transfer his humor to the page (you can never be sure). A good deal of the material — but not all — is adapted from his stand-up, and that’s funny enough. But the rest is just as good — if not better, because it’s fresher and in a different medium, so he can do other kinds of humor. I laughed out loud more than a few times, and had to resist reading the entire thing to whoever happened to be near-by.

But frequently, Gaffigan sets the jokes aside to talk about being a parent, the choices that women and men make to do that — how so many don’t understand why people do that. He defends the choices his family made to have kids, to have as many as they have, and to have home births. He doesn’t stop joking as he does this, but they do take a back seat to what he’s talking about though (while serving as the proverbial spoonful of sugar to help). These points are where the book is the strongest, he doesn’t attack those who disagree, rather he says this is what they’ve decided to do, let them follow their own convictions and stay out of their way. Which doesn’t seem so much to ask, but we all know better. He takes a simple, commonsense approach to this stuff — he doesn’t get too esoteric or philosophical, just a simple, pragmatic “this is what we did, and it works for us.” My esteem for he and his wife/writing partner increased after reading this book.

They’re short essays, and I wouldn’t recommended reading too many of them in one sitting — just a few at a time to keep it fresh and funny.

If anyone in the world actually remembered the book, I’d compare this to Paul Reiser’s Babyhood but from a different angle. It has a similar mix of humor and sentiment on the same topic. Dad is Fat has a lot of laughs, some warming of the heart, and so many lines that I want to quote, I’d cross into copyright infringement if I tried. Give it a whirl, even if you don’t have kids, you’ll probably enjoy this.

—
Note:I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. Which was generous and cool of them, but didn’t impact what I said about the book.

—–

4 Stars

Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta

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On July 23, 2014

In Fiction, K-O, Michael Koryta, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Those Who Wish Me DeadThose Who Wish Me Dead

by Michael Koryta

Hardcover, 388 pg.
Little Brown, 2014
Read: June 21, 2014

Once Koryta left Lincoln Perry behind and started writing stand-alones, I read one and never got around to the rest — but something about this one drew me in (and it doesn’t look like my typical suspense preference) — and now I’ve got to find time to go back and pick up the three or four I’ve missed. It was just so good.

The elements are all here: characters, plot, pacing, setting. As cliché as some of the characters may be in theory, they really aren’t that in Koryta’s hands — the 13 year-old murder witness, the scarred (emotionally and physically) hero firefighter, the survival expert being pushed beyond his limits, the hapless federal Marshall, the troubled teens on the wilderness survival course, the pair of killers who are possibly creepier and deadlier than Breaking Bad‘s Salamanca Cousins. All of these are drawn sensitively and realistically.

The first couple of chapters were enough to keep you reading, but that’s about it — set up the story, establish the main characters, typical stuff. But it takes almost no time at all to go from that to shut-off-the-phone/ignore-the-wife-and-kids exciting. Gritty, fast-paced, visceral, with a strong sense of character and realism. Exactly what you want in this kind of book.

I don’t know if this particular bit of Montana actually exists — but Koryta gives you a strong enough sense of place that it might as well. From the Serbins’ home, to the trail the teens travel, to Hannah’s look out tower, to the mountain the bulk of the action takes place on, I feel like I could hop in the car, drive a few hours and be right there in the midst of them. Not now, during fire season, obviously — don’t need that level of realism.

Koryta has so many opportunities to drown us in details about the backstory of the characters — which is not to say that he doesn’t give us enough to get to know these people. But most authors would’ve given us a lot more about the history of everyone — particularly Ethan and Allison. He hints at things, the characters are still acting in response to what’s gone on before these events, but we’re only told a bit more than we need to know. His restraint is commendable, and only adds to the immediacy of the action and the pace.

From the point where Koryta kicks things into high gear to the gut-wrenching climax, this is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that delivers exactly what it promises — action, suspense, and as much entertainment as you can squeeze into just under 400 pages. How good was it? Just writing this up has whet my appetite for a re-read.

—–

4 Stars

The Rise & Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman

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On July 22, 2014

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

The Rise & Fall of Great PowersThe Rise & Fall of Great Powers

by Tom Rachman

Hardcover, 384 pg.
The Dial Press, 2014
Read: July 15 – 19, 2014

He raised his menu.
She consulted hers. “You don’t like sweet-and-sour, do you.”
“No,” he confirmed. “I want food that can make up its mind.”

I had a real difficult time connecting to the people, the story, this book — but early on, I came upon this exchange between a man and a young girl — Tooly, the protagonist. That was enough to keep me going — that, and Rachman’s previous work, The Imperfectionists.

There are three storylines running through most of this book — Tooly in 1988, Tooly in 1999, and Tooly in 2011. We see her as a child, still growing up; we see her all grown, but still figuring out her place in the world; and then as an established adult who’s made a place in the world — but she’s still expecting/looking for the same one she tried to find in ’99.

I spent most of the novel not really sure where any of these stories were going — maybe 2/3 of it. It didn’t take me too terribly long to come to the conclusion I wouldn’t be sure for awhile, so I decided to just enjoy the ride. Which was so easy to do — Tooly spent her life surrounded by a great menagerie of people — Paul, a traveling computer technician working for various U.S. embassies in the 80s; Venn, a very charming con man; Humphrey, a Russian ex-pat and armchair intellectual; Fogg, a small-town bookseller; Sarah, a — I don’t know how to describe her, a histrionic woman with a short attention span (I guess, you eventually learn a lot more); a lout of a lawyer (whose name escapes me at the moment), who really isn’t that much of a lout; and others. It doesn’t matter what they’re talking about, you want to hear them talk, you want to see the interactions between these people and each other, or these people and Tooly. The actual plot seems secondary as long as you get bits of conversation like this (like the above quotation, this is from 1988’s story):

“I know exactly what you’re like,” Sarah affirmed.
After a long pause, Tooly responded, “What are you like?”
“Me? Well, I like bread with strawberry jam and believe raspberry jam ruins everything. I think those who joke around with such matters are barbarians. And I’m right about everything. Except in the morning, when I’m wrong.”

Each chapter moves the various stories along, bit by bit — and you get one or two strange encounters between Tooly and the other characters, you hear some strange theory about the way the world works, or how someone decides to do something, or some scheme to make sense of it all — and I can’t describe it for you better than that — just give it a read.

Eventually, Rachman decides to let you see the pattern he’s stitching — and then it all comes together, each piece falling into place and while there was no way to see all of it coming, it all feels like it fits. Not a “ohh, sure, I should’ve guessed that;” but “well, naturally — there was really no other way for that to work, was there?”

For Fogg, Humphrey, and Tooly (and most of the other characters to some extent) books are a vital part of their existence — or at least their way of thinking. They’re how they connect to the world, to people, to their experience. The various ways the characters interact with, describe, and use books are just fascinating and are right up my alley. Just for exposure to the various things this novel says about books, it’s worth slogging through all the “what’s going on?” of this read.

For example — shortly after young Tooly first meets Humphrey, she asks to see his books (he always has stacks by him, but they keep changing, so she knows he has a stash somewhere). He takes her to a closet bursting with books.

“Books,” he said, “are like mushrooms. They grow when you are not looking. Books increase by rule of compound interest: one interest leads to another interest, and this compounds into third. Next, you have so much interest there is no space in closet.”
“At my house, we put clothes in the closets.”
He sneered at this misapplication of furniture. “But where you keep literature?”

That compound interest line is a great one, isn’t it?

The Rise & Fall of Great Power is a lovely little book I can’t really talk about without over explaining. Filled with great characters; plausible, yet implausible events: an embarrassment of riches when it comes to quotable lines; interesting philosophies; stacks of books; and a dash of hope mixed a hint of existential despair. More than worth your time.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

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