Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Rising Tides: Destroyerman 5

Rising Tides is the fifth book in the "Destroyerman" alternative history/science fiction series. Some world war 2 ships end up in some alternate earth filled with sentient animals. There are crazy mean monsters as well as cats that serve as crew. The author is obviously a military buff and spends a lot of time talking the details of military equipment. The plot is confusing with a large number of characters and animals doing various things. The book just had no appeal to me.

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club

At the outbreak of World War II, Germany marched into Scandinavia. Norway put up a fight. Denmark, however, capitulated quickly. Businesses were more than happy to earn money from the German "protectors". Germany treated the Danes as a near-equal (they were the right race), and still let them govern themselves. However, the Germans occupied some of the key strategic areas for themselves. While many Danes objected to this, few were willing to take action. Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club were some that did.
They were teenage students that did not like the Nazis. They committed small acts against their oppressors. They stole weapons and vandalized Nazi holdings - often in broad daylight. However, they were primarily upper middle class teenagers and didn't have the heart to seriously injure others. In the book, it felt like they were building up to their big acts of sabotage as they finally destroyed some Nazi holdings. However, shortly afterwards, they were caught and jailed. Half the book details their activities after being caught. They were unwilling to back down. They pretty much forced the government to jail them (otherwise the Nazis would have excuse for taking over the justice system.) Even in jail, they had many a sympathetic Danish ear, and some were able to sneak out of their cell and wreck havoc at night before returning to their cells. Some were moved to German controlled cells and treated much worse. Eventually, they were freed and some were able to participate in the resistance movement at the end of the war. Some of them were able to go back to school and continue on with their lives afterwards. Others were seriously traumatized by the experience. What they accomplished did very little to directly impact the occupation. However, they did provide the seed for the later Danish resistance.
I was initially expecting some bold events in the story. But, in typically Danish fashion, there is very little drama going on in Aalborg. It is the subtlety of the Danes that undermines. The book shows the kids with a strong rebellious defiance, even if they are not able to accomplish much with it.

Saturday, October 07, 2017

Wrath of the Storm

The conclusion of the Mark of the Thief trilogy amps up the stakes significantly. Our hero, Nicolas Calva escapes certain death in numerous occasions. He also finally shares his feelings towards the girl he loves (and realizes that his "competition" for her actually has a ting for his younger sister. During the story, Nicolas makes a habit of ignoring the advice of others. This causes him to get into deeper and deeper trouble. However, it ultimately leads to him saving the empire and fending off war among the gods and men. The ending takes perhaps too many turns before it finally comes to its conclusion. I wonder how many of the characters are actually based on real ones, and how many are purely made up for the story.

Thursday, October 05, 2017

Rise of the Wolf

Rise of the Wolf weaves together an interesting historical fiction narrative. It is set in a Roman fantasy world where the Roman gods are "real" and magic is just an everyday thing that people use. This second book in the Mark of the Thief series continues the episode of our young hero as he tries to "save" Rome from those that want to create a war among the gods. He learns that other our really his friends. He also finds he has feelings for "the girl" when his friend asks her to marriage as a means of saving her. Most of the book is dominated by his morality. He feels a strong desire to save Rome and save those he loves, while not inflicting harm on others. He feels a kinship for magical creatures (such as the unicorn he meets.) He does not for anyone to be hurt. He has grown more powerful in his magic. However, he has learned to control it better. Sometimes he withholds the use for the greater benefit. He is ostensibly not a slave anymore. However he often seems to be in a battle of wills between his grandfather and the Praetors. A chariot race is one event where he is expected to use his cunning to achieve victory. However, the other sides "cheat" in various ways, and there are numerous twists and turns before the unexpected ending. The book ends as a typical middle book in a serious with everything falling apart and the possible beginnings of a great war.