I’ve been reading a lot lately. Herewith a few quick reviews of my latest.
- Lashner, Fatal Flaw. His other books were much better. Turgid, needlessly convoluted plot and unsympathetic characters. Don’t bother.
- Turtledove, Days of Infamy. What if the Japanese strike at Pearl Harbor had been followed up by an amphibious landing? That’s the central premise of this book, which is well enough written that I slogged through the exceptionally slow first 2/3rds of it. I hope the next book in this series (because there will be one, no doubt) is a little snappier.
- Silva, Prince of Fire. Five stars and then some. Silva is, for my money, the best thriller writer in the business (with Barry Eisler a close second). Rich characters with complex motivations, rapid plotting, and a thorough mastery of both storytelling and the political and social forces that underlie the characters’ actions. Highly recommended.
- Lefcourt, The Deal. I only read this because our library didn’t have The Manhattan Beach Project yet. This was supposed to be a satire of 1990s Hollywood, but it felt contrived and lacked the edge that’s so important to pulling off a satire. Maybe it would have been better in 1992 or so. Not especially recommended.
- Gaiman, American Gods. Why, oh why, did I wait so long to read this? Superb.
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