Book Review: Valhalla Rising by Clive Cussler

Valhalla Rising by Clive Cussler
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A plot to monopolize North American oil and natural gas production leads to terror attacks on two ocean liners that have newly installed revolutionary engines that will destroy the oil industry as we know it, the only man to stop this plot is of course Dirk Pitt. Valhalla Rising is the sixteenth books of Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt series that finds the Pitt and NUMA attempt to foil this diabolical plan while attempting to find the secret lab of a reclusive scientist.

In the early 11th-Century, a fleet of ships from Iceland sail past Vinland to the entrance of the Hudson Bay and find sanctuary in a large underground cove that has a passage almost to the palisades above and is carved out by the explorers. The resulting settlement only last a few years before a conflict with the Native Americans results in its destruction. In the 1880s, a US Naval ship is destroyed by a metallic sea monster that has portholes in which the captain sees man face looking out at him. In 2003, Dirk Pitt spearheads NUMA efforts to rescue passengers on two ocean liners that were targeted by an oil and natural gas cartel’s CEO that wants to discredit the revolutionary magnetohydrodynamic engines installed on both by a reclusive genus scientist—that dies in the first liner’s disaster—to help his efforts control all North American oils resources and supplies then to shut out foreign oil. Along with figuring out where the deceased scientist’s lab was Pitt must deal with a plot to destroy the World Trade Center with a natural gas tanker while Loren Smith must deal with bribed officials to investigate the evil CEO in a Congressional hearing. After evidence from St. Julian Perlmutter found in Jules Verne’s home, Pitt finds the cove found by the Vikings that not only contains their longships but the actual Captain Nemo’s Nautilus with a prototype of the revolutionary engines that the reclusive scientist deciphered and improved. At the end of the book when Pitt attempts for the third time to propose marriage to Smith, he is interrupted by the surprise arrival of his until then unknown children, twins Dirk Jr. and Summer, by Summer Moran.

Let me start with addressing the WTC plot first by saying this book was originally published in August 2001, a mere three weeks before terror attacks so Cussler was not attempting to profit off a real-life situation. As for the actual events in the book and of the overall series, there are a lot of retcons throughout this book that void the events in Raise the Titanic! and add to the events of Pacific Vortex, especially the former with the introduction of the Pitt twins that were set up throughout the book by Cussler having Dirk think about how he was getting old. As to the actual narrative of the book, I found this book not up to Cussler at his best. The main antagonist is really the CEO’s terror cell leader who I did not mention above because he is not memorable compared to other characters that he shares traits with throughout the overall series. Honestly, this is more an investigation into the reclusive scientist’s life with stopping an evil plot as a side quest type of deal.

Valhalla Rising is a book that read like a mishmash of plots and events that were intended to build to the future of the series, but also discredited events from the previous books. This is the penultimate book that Clive Cussler solely wrote himself before his son Dirk would become his coauthor, which makes one wonder if the quality of this book and the next made his publisher want to give him help. Overall, not this is not the worst book of the series—far from it compared to the very first books—but things throughout the novel felt off.

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Book Review: A History of My Times by Xenophon

A History of My Times by Xenophon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War ends suddenly with seven more years to go, one man decided to pick up the history and its aftermath which for centuries many readers were grateful for. A History of My Times by Xenophon sees the end of the Second Peloponnesian War and follows the aftermath of that devastating war which saw hegemony move from Sparta to Thebes.

Xenophon begins his history right where Thucydides’ left off and the first two books of the work cover the last seven years of the Peloponnesian War, which saw the return of Alcibiades to the Athenian military and the resultant Athenian naval victories before his second exile and the rise of the Spartan navy that led to the fall of Athens and the establishment of the 30 tyrants allied to Spartan hegemony. The internal politics of Athens took centerstage as the reign of the tyrants resulted in a civil war that saw the restitution of Athenian democracy. Book 3 looks at Spartan politics and the campaign of King Agesilaus to Asia Minor to fight the Persians. Book 4 sees the Persians bribe Sparta’s traditional allies and enemies to unite to attack Spartan hegemony as well as end Agesilaus’ campaign. The resulting Corinthian War continues through Book 5 when both sides accept terms by the Persian King in the so-called “King’s Peace”, however five years later a Spartan general captured the Theban acropolis resulting in Sparta controlling the politics of the city until a band of exiles retakes the city and begins reestablishing the Boeotian League with the resulting Boeotian War. Book 6 sees the end of the Boeotian War and Spartan hegemony with the Battle of Leuctra, which inaugurates the short-lived Theban hegemony. Book 7 sees Sparta and Athens ally to battle Theban hegemony even as the former is convulsed with internal rebellion and outside Peloponnesian resistance allowing Thebes to invade the Spartan homeland. The work ends with the second Battle of Mantinea which was a tactical Theban victory but strategic defeat that saw the end of Theban hegemony with all the major powers of Greece weakened from decades of fighting.

In his introduction of the book, George Cawkwell essentially said this history of Greece by Xenophon was a memoir that was circulated amongst his friends who knew all the details of the events Xenophon was writing about. Meaning that modern-day readers like myself are totally in the dark and basically Cawkwell would have to fill us in with his footnotes thanks to other sources from the era that essentially showed that Xenophon was an Athenian-born Spartan partisan and Agesilaus’ fanboy. Though Xenophon mentioned his adventure with the Ten-Thousand expedition against Artaxerxes II, he does not go into it given he had already written the Anabasis and given full details though it might be a better read then this book.

A History of My Times for centuries was thought to be “the” history of the end of the Peloponnesian War and the early 4th Century B.C., but after other sources came to light it turns out Xenophon left a lot of things out. This does not mean that the book is totally worthless, however it needs to be read critically.

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Book Review: The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The journey of Locke and Jean find themselves facing off with their “Sister” in an election game overseen by some of the most powerful people on the planet. The Republic of Thieves is the third book of Scott Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastards sequence which see the first appearance of the Lady Bastard herself and Locke’s former lover facing off with the duo.

The book begins with flashback to the first meeting of Locke and Sabetha, the woman that he has been in love with throughout the series but who has not been introduced until this book, when they are still part of the Shade's Hill gang under the Thiefmaker. Locke falls for her but does not get to see her often then learns from older children that Sabetha drowned, and he will never see her again. Throughout the book in a series of flashbacks Locke and Sabetha as a part of the Gentlemen Bastards through their early years and finally how they became a couple while playing actors in a production of the book’s title, The Republic of Thieves. The book’s present narrative begins weeks after the previous one with Locke is dying and Jean is working to save his life, including kidnapping a physiker that brings down a local gang on them that takes everything they have. Afterwards a Bondsmagi by the name of Patience appears and offers the pair a deal. They can work with her faction of the Bondsmagi to rig elections, in favor of the Deep Roots Party, in exchange for money and Locke's life. They agree. The Bondsmagi carry Locke to the ship to Karthain on which they perform the healing. When completed is Locke is alive and hungry, it is now that they learn that Sabetha is working for the other side, the Black Iris party, and has been there a few days. Upon their arrival in Karthain, the two sides play several childish pranks back and forth. Locke is tricked by Sabetha and he and Jean awaken on a luxurious boat. Locke and Jean barely escape this boat by cutting off a small boat and escaping to shore. After a multiple day journey back to the Karthain, Locke and Sabetha make a truce for the safety of themselves and Jean to prevent issues and ensure a good show for the Bondsmagi. The elections continue and near the end Patience explains to Locke and Sabetha that Locke may be an ancient Bondsmagi who successfully moved from one body to the body of a child. The cost of this was the plague mentioned in previous books. The election result is 10 – 9 in favor of the Black Iris party. One of Locke's schemes plays out and a key Black Iris member changes his position to neutral making the result 9 – 9 – 1. Locke, Jean, and Sabetha escape the fallout to a safe house. Locke awakes in the night to find Patience there and Sabetha gone. Patience explains that Locke may or may not be the magi, but she will not tell him. Sabetha has left after learning about this. Jean appears and Locke tells him he will respect Sabetha's wish for space and will only go after her if she would wish it. The epilogue gives a story about the Falconer and his journey regaining power. The epilogue ends with the Falconer killing his mother, Patience.

This book was hard to judge because I was more interested in the flashback narrative of the young Gentleman Bastards’ first con as actors in Espara than the present-day political contest between the Bastard Brothers and their Sister. That is not to say that the political game was not interesting but compared to the early adventures of the Bastards the election felt more like it was set up for the Bondsmagi plot, though the introduction of Sabetha was nice especially as she will be important later in the sequence most likely. And the purported origin of Locke could either be very interesting or a big misdirection which will be interesting to see play out.

The Republic of Thieves felt like both a prequel and continuation of Scott Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastards sequence with underlining plot thread that will no doubt become important in the future of the series. This interesting combination does not make the book bad but does not make it feel like a united whole either. However, at the end of reading I’m still interesting to see what Locke and Jean will do in the future.

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Review: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The death of their father puts two sisters’ futures in doubt, but good things might come to those who wait. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is the first published novel of her literary career, though initially anonymously, but has been a favorite with readers for over two centuries.

Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are the two eldest daughters of Henry Dashwood’s second marriage whose lives and futures are diminished when he passes, and their elder half-brother John takes over the family estate then is persuaded by his greedy wife to not help his sisters and stepmother financially. The Dashwood’s sister-in-law Fanny does not like Elinor due to the relationship between her and her brother Edward Ferrars believing Elinor is after Edward’s future inheritance. The sister’s mother looks for a different place to live when a distant cousin, Sir John Middleton offers a modest cottage for them to reside, which is happily accepted. Once established, Sir John begins inviting his cousins to his house to interact with his various friends that include 35-year-old bachelor Colonel Brandon and the young bachelor Mr. Willoughby as well as his family, his wife Lady Middleton and talkative mother-in-law Mrs. Jennings. Marianne falls for Mr. Willoughby and believes they are nearly engaged while perceiving Colonel Brandon coolly, while Elinor navigates hopeful matches incubated by Mrs. Jennings before a visit by Edward in which he very. Weeks on, Sir John brings his other distant cousins of Mrs. Jennings, Anne and Lucy Steele, to his home for a visit. During which Lucy and Elinor become friendly when Lucy lets her know she is engaged to an Edward Ferrars that Elinor presumes to not be her Edward, but evidence proves the reverse. Mrs. Jennings convinces Elinor and Marianne to accompany her to London whereon arrival Marianne writes several letters to Willoughby, which go unanswered until after meeting him and his fiancé at a dance that results in a letter from Willoughby that curtly cuts off all communication with her while including everything she sent and gave him. Brandon arrives soon after and relates to Elinor that Willoughby seduced, impregnated, then abandoned Brandon’s young ward, Miss Eliza Williams resulting in Willoughby’s aunt disinheriting him thus leading to his engagement to another woman, so Marianne knows of Willoughby’s true character. The Steele sisters come to London through an invitation of Mrs. Jennings, but upon meeting John and Fanny Dashwood they are invited to their London house. Anne betrays Lucy’s secret engagement to Edward to Fanny resulting in them being cast out of the house while Edward is ordered by his wealthy mother to break off the engagement, but he believes it dishonorable and is disinherited. Admiring Edward’s conduct, Brandon offers him the clergyman’s income for the Delaford parsonage so he can marry Lucy after he takes orders. Mrs. Jennings takes the Dashwood sisters to her second daughter’s home where a still distraught Marianne takes a walk in the rain and becomes dangerously ill so much so it’s believed her life is in danger and a visiting Brandon volunteers to bring Mrs. Dashwood to Marianne. Willoughby arrives, revealing to Elinor he genuinely loved Marianne and is miserable which elicits Elinor’s pity because his choice made him unhappy but is disgusted by how he talks of Miss Williams and his own wife. Marianne recovers from his illness and is told of Willoughby’s visit which results in Marianne realizing she would never by happy with Willoughby’s immoral, erratic, and inconsiderate ways. She values Elinor's more moderated conduct with Edward and resolves to model herself after her courage and good sense. Edward later arrives and reveals that, after his disinheritance, Lucy jilted him in favor of his now wealthy younger brother, Robert. Elinor is overjoyed. Edward and Elinor marry, and later Marianne marries Colonel Brandon, having gradually come to love him. The two couples live as neighbors, with both sisters and husbands in harmony with each other.

Overall, my first Austen novel was a good read as I found the main characters readable and the secondary characters full of interesting quirks and backstories though Lucy Steele’s manipulative and scheming that slowly comes out throughout her appearances. If there is a good starting point when reading Austen, it appears her first published novel is perfect.