Book Review: Punderworld (Volume Two) by Linda Sejic

Punderworld, Vol. 2 by Linda Šejić
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, what happens when an overprotected young goddess accidentally ends up in the Underworld with the socially inept king of the domain, what could possibly go wrong? Punderworld (Volume Two) by author-artist Linda Sejic finds Persephone and Hades attempting to get the former out of the Underworld as Demeter begins looking for her daughter.

The main arc of this volume is Persephone and Hades’ attempts to get the former out of the Underworld and back among the living so she can return to work on keeping things alive, however whatever they try it doesn’t work. This leads Hades to make a sacred oath to find a way for Persephone to leave the Underworld to reassure her, however it now endangers the Underworld itself if he can’t fulfill it. The secondary arc followed Demeter as she looked for Persephone so her daughter would agree with her side of things like always only to find her missing, which leads her to Hestia’s abode leading to a very interesting discussion that explains things and sets things up for later. Sejic includes a potential foreshadowing of how she plans to mimic the myth but in a unique way will Biblical allusions. The art is fantastic and I’m just not saying that as a superfan of Linda Sejic’s work, but in this type of media if the art isn’t good then it doesn’t help the narrative. Overall, this was a very good continuation of the Sejic’s retelling of the Persephone and Hades myth.

Punderworld (Volume Two) continues a modern retelling of the well-known myth, but with characters that are socially awkward and that adds a slight to certain character dynamics.

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Book Review: The Rise of Industrial America by Page Smith

The Rise of Industrial America by Page Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After fifteen years in which the future of a portion of the populace was at stake, a deal was made that forgot them and let the country move on into a bright golden future that turned out to be just a gilded age. The Rise of Industrial America: A People’s History of the Post-Reconstruction Era is the sixth volume of Page Smith’s A People’s History series covering American history starting in 1877 to 1901 which sees capital battle labor, reformers turn their attention to numerous causes including women’s right, the rise of radicalism and populism, and finally the sudden arrival of the reform movement to power.

This volume covers a remarkable quarter of a century of history that not only shows how the nation attempted to reunite after a devastating 15-year period, but as Smith covers in almost 1000 pages as transform it into more moral nation which to many meant non-regulated capitalism. Throughout the volume, Smith’s main theme was “capital vs. labor” with side tangents on reforms a few of which admittedly did touch on that theme though many didn’t. Yet Smith quite literally skipped over a huge element that not only impacted capital and labor, but farmers, the South, the West, cities, and yes politics. Smith’s dismissing of the monetary issues—Gold Standard and Free Silver—that were embedded quickly in his chapter covering the politics of this period was part of this. In his concluding retrospective Smith says he follows the simple adage “Tell what happened” over trying to write history based on a theory, but by neglecting showing the effects of the deflation Smith removes an element that helps explain what happened. While overall Smith’s writing is fantastic as always and his analysis of cultural, societal, regional, racial and ethnic, athletic, and other numerous elements of the United States during this time period is not only top notch but informative, his lack of at least properly giving a good overall description of the economy that played a role in how things were shaped is a big hole.

The Rise of Industrial America seems to be a transitionary phase in American history from the end of the Civil War and Lincoln’s time to the rise of Theodore Roosevelt and dawn of the American Century.

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Book Review: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A young female warrior-ruler from a barbarian northern country is called out of exile by her grandfather to become heir to the evil global empire that’s their family has governed for at least 1000 years as decreed by god, with so many tropes in one sentence that one is intrigued to see what it comes out as. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is N.K. Jemisin’s debut novel and the first of The Inheritance Trilogy which follows Yeine as she arrives in the floating castle that her family rules the world from and wonders why her grandfather has called her to be one of his heirs if he wanted her dead like her recently deceased mother.

I’ll be honest, the book was a page turner but was I satisfied with everything once finished? Not really. Yeine is the typical fish out of water and everything she does to help her native Darre is no use because events were started way before the book that would crush it, even before she was summoned by her grandfather. Yeine’s family are the typical spectrum of evil and were written fine, but it was easy to see what was being set up. The fascinating aspect is the inclusion of gods bound in mortal flesh after losing a divine war, which is connected with the main plot of the book which ended the only way it could though the twist at the end made one question if there was a massive plot hole given the worldbuilding connected with this part of the story. The only thing I really got annoyed about was the seemingly over reliance on sex—and talk of sexual relationships or speculations on said relationships between two characters—to take up word count and add book pages to the overall work. Honestly, I could see reason for some of the amount given but not all of it. Overall, this was an okay read, but I didn’t feel any need to continue reading the series.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin is an okay debut novel, I wasn’t really blown away by anything and if my one major annoyance had not been there it wouldn’t have changed my view of the book that much.

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Book Review: The War for the Union: The Organized War to Victory, 1864-1865 by Allan Nevins

The War for the Union: The Organized War to Victory 1864-1865 by Allan Nevins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Confederates had to turn their entire economy towards total war to gain independence, the Union organized its war effort with one arm tied behind its back and as a result the Union was victorious. The War for the Union, Volume IV: The Organized War to Victory, 1864-1865 is the eighth and final volume of Allan Nevins’ Ordeal of the Union series covers the last year of the Civil War which saw U.S. Grant’s multiple offensive strategy to stretch the Confederate’s resources to the breakpoint as the United States held a national election in the midst of a civil war, which both saw the collapse of the rebellion.

Throughout 404 pages of well-written and researched text, Nevins covers the military and political history during the last year of the war along with the “home fronts” and economic realities that each side faced during this last year then a glance in the immediate aftermath before concluding with a summing up of how the United States had changed in over four years of war. While Nevins coverage of Grant and Sherman’s campaigns were excellent, in particular the decision-making and preparation surrounding the March to the Sea, as was his writing on the 1864 Presidential election to me the most interesting chapters covered the Southern war effort in one and how it compared to another when Nevins detailed what Northerners were doing besides participating in the war effort, the juxtaposition between how both sections home fronts were like during this last year of the war was startling. The last chapter, “Toward a Mature Nation”, is Nevins glance at the United States in the aftermath of the war and how it had changed, though Nevins planned to write about Reconstruction but passed away before he could this chapter highlights how the nation changed over the course of 18 years in which he covered in the eight volumes of the overall historical series he wrote over the course of 24 years.

The War for the Union, Volume IV: The Organized War to Victory, 1864-1865 culminates a near quarter century of writing by Allan Nevins to detail how victory in a war against Mexico lead to Civil War and the birth of a new United States.

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Book Review: Lore Olympus Volume Seven by Rachel Smythe

Lore Olympus: Volume Seven by Rachel Smythe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Persephone is sheltering in the Underworld, and the rift of the realms is happening with a trial on the horizon, but when that trial starts the twists and turns come from all directions. Lore Olympus Volume Seven by Rachel Smythe finds Hades and Persephone getting to know one another better as well as dealing with their family and friends, drama around Apollo and his shenanigans continues, and other minor characters find themselves making discoveries that readers have been waiting for them to find out.

Covering episodes #153-179 of her webcomic, Smythe’s continues showing Hades and Persephone learning about each other which gives readers backstory without info-dumping the reader. The introduction of Leto and her own angle to things which helped lead to the trial was a nice way to add tension, especially as it plays into everything connected with Apollo. Once at the trial several minor characters get to add their spin on things and then surprises start dropping including an effective cliffhanger for this volume. Smythe’s art continues to be top notch, how Smythe presents characters in flashbacks is a nice way to show their “evolution” in their long lives, and how Smythe uses well known myths but with a spin of her own given the story arcs she’s created. While I enjoyed this volume as the main characters were given more depth; minor subplots were either completed, thrown on their head, or started with interesting potential.

Lore Olympus Volume Seven brings changes in Rachel Smythe’s webcomic as Hades and Persephone getting closer even as trouble continues percolating in the background or at a trial.

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Book Review: On War by Carl von Clausewitz

On War by Carl von Clausewitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is the most influential yet incomplete and unrevised book of military history and political theory as its readers developed the opening strategies that would lead to stalemate in 1914. On War by Carl von Clausewitz distilled his experiences in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars as well as his career long study of military history into book of on the nature and meaning of war in all it’s aspects.

Since his widow published his uncompleted work, in which only the first chapter of Book One was revised to his satisfaction, Clausewitz’s features discussions on strategic and tactical doctrines, engagements, a military force, and the basics of defense and attack. While many other 19th century military writers covered the same things, Clausewitz however took note of the differences of absolute and limited war, the violence of war, and most importantly that war is “just the continuation of politics by different means”. Clausewitz style is markedly different between the first chapter of Book One and almost the rest of the volume, except Book Eight, due to the unrevised nature of the text that doesn’t reflect the dual focus Clausewitz introduced at the beginning of the book. While numerous chapters deal with what lay readers would take to be military minutia, for those in the military who realize Clausewitz’s overall objective they understand why. Potentially for those like me who are civilians and want to read this book, it’s because of Clausewitz’s tying military theory with political theory with an eye to understanding how it influenced the Western way of war since its publication. Yet this aspect which was covered in essays and commentary by Michael Howard, Peter Paret, and Bernard Brodie informs the reader that the Imperial German generals and their French counterparts in the lead up to the First World War misinterpreted Clausewitz and emphasized the offensive and not the defensive as the author intended nor did they understand the author’s typing in of the political aspect of war. While reading the book with this knowledge it was a great help in understanding what Clausewitz was talking back.

On War is one of the most influential books of the 20th Century due to its use by those in the military who misinterpreted the intentions of author Carl von Clausewitz, even though the book is incomplete and not revised to the author’s satisfaction. The Everyman edition with essays and commentary really helps laymen like me understand what the Prussian intended to leave to future military professionals.

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Book Review: The Letters of John by Ekkehardt Mueller

The Letters of John by Ekkehardt Müller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Of the five books in the New Testament written by the Apostle John, the three short letters near the end of the Bible are often overlooked but they are offer many of our descriptions of Jesus. The Letters of John by Ekkehardt Mueller is the companion book of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study (3rd Quarter 2009) in which he aims to reveal John’s wish for believers to know the correct understanding of all aspects of Jesus. Mueller divides his topic over 13 chapters in which a chapter is an overview of the letters focusing on Jesus, ten chapters dedicated to a breakdown of 1 John and an overview of important themes, and then a chapter each for 2 and 3 John. Throughout the 119 pages dedicated to text, Mueller gives pinpointed analysis to give the reader an excellent resource to use in during their own Bible study of these letters or like myself wanting a short but knowledgeable read.

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