Book Review: First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen

First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A boy from Ohio fascinated by planes and how they are engineered one day becomes the most famous man on the planet by stepping onto the Moon. First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong is the authorized biography of the Apollo 11 commander by James R. Hansen.

Hansen centers the biography on the Apollo 11 mission, which from the decision to name Neil Armstrong commander to his return home. The first quarter and the final quarter of the biography literally bookends those approximately eight months with the former detailing Armstrong’s childhood passion for flight that led to his career as a test pilot then astronaut and the later detailing how the modest Armstrong adjusted—or did not—to worldwide fame that only lessened in everyday life as he grew older. Given the number of pages that Hansen concentrated on Armstrong’s time with NASA, there are a lot of vehicle abbreviations that need to be negotiated when reading but Hansen does a good job in make sure readers learn the terms however if one doesn’t pay attention, you can miss something and get confused. Yet this book is a fantastic read thanks to Hansen’s interviews of Armstrong and his extensive research into the Apollo 11 logs which flesh out those momentous July days for those not alive to experience them.

First Man is a very well written biography that blends NASA archived logs, author interviews of Armstrong, and interviews of fellow Gemini and Apollo astronauts.

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Book Review: Exploring Hebrews by George R. Knight

Exploring Hebrews: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Old Testament allusions, Jewish rituals, and comparisons between Jesus and leaders like Moses makes reading the Epistles to the Hebrews seem daunting and confusing but within shows the grandeur of Christ’s sacrifice. Exploring Hebrews: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight explains the Epistle in through scripture and plain language to give readers a better understanding of the Biblical author’s sermon to 1st Century Jewish Christians and how its applicable to Christians today.

Knight guides the reader through the Epistle to the Hebrews using his own translation—though he consulted several English versions during the process—in 53 segments. Each lesson focuses on a passage of the Epistle with Knight’s giving commentary as well as giving it a practical application for the reader today. Throughout the book, Knight highlighted various themes that the Epistle’s author—most likely Paul—along with emphasizing when the book switches from theological exposition and practical exhortation to its readers. Two of the keys takeaways that Knight brings forth is the shadow that the Tabernacle/Temple ceremonies were of the events in the Heavenly Sanctuary upon Jesus’ ascension along with how readers then and now need to have the faith of the great heroes that could only look forward towards Christ than knowing what Christ had done.

Exploring Hebrews is an excellent commentary and devotional authored by George R. Knight that gives the readers a deeper understanding of the Epistle.

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Book Review: In These Last Days: The Message of Hebrews by Felix H. Cortes

In These Last Days: The Message of Hebrews Adult Bible Study Guide 1Q 2022 by Félix H. Cortes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Epistle of Hebrews is well-known for one chapter, but while by itself that chapter is inspiring when considered in context of the entire book it’s meaning only grows. In These Last Days: The Message of Hebrews, the supplement book for the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide (1st Quarter, 2022) by Felix H. Cortez, reveals the struggles that Jewish Christians were dealing against the dominate culture they had grown up with and lived among. Through 128 pages, Cortez shows that the author of the Epistle—most likely Paul—reveals to the readers then and today that all the teachings of the Jewish Temple were all shadows that pointed to Christ’s sacrifice and later ministry in the Heavenly sanctuary that all those in Jewish history faithfully looked forward to.

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Book Review: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster

The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The novelization of the first film of the Disney sequel trilogy The Force Awakens hit the shelves a few weeks after the film’s premiere in theaters to avoid spoilers, written by fantasy-science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster based on the script by J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, and Michael Arndt.

Foster followed the film script faithfully, so faithfully that he barely was in any of the characters heads giving them personality or extra scenes to flesh out the story. But even sticking with the script, Foster’s writing was lackluster and his transition from character to character in the same scene was near confusing at times. What makes it worse is that Foster’s short story, “Bait”, had better writing and characters in ten pages than 300 pages of the primary story of the book. Of the few extra scenes or focus on characters, Foster did address how Rey knew the workings of the Millennium Falcon which helped the narrative as did how Poe Dameron survived but Rey’s use of the Force like the film came off lame. The other and lengthier short story, “The Perfect Weapon”, by Delilah S. Dawson is fantastic and the best reason to pick up this book.

The Force Awakens is a novelization that exists, honestly the two bonus short stories that take up the last quarter of the 400 pages were better reads and earned the second star of this rating.

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Book Review: Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs

Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons by Ben Riggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads program in exchange of an honest review.

TSR just appear to be three letters, but it was the company founded to publish Dungeons & Dragons which launched the role-playing game genre and would impact fantasy throughout pop culture. Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons by Ben Riggs tells the story of a small company in a little Wisconsin city that changed pop culture.

Riggs account of the company that literally invented a game genre, not only covers the beginnings of the rise of geekdom into the pop culture zeitgeist but also the creative individuals a part of the company that created fascinating new worlds to play in or as time went on to delve into through fantasy novels both augmented by amazing art. In addition to interviewing scores of former employees and executives of TSR, Riggs delved into internal sales numbers, contracts, lawsuits, and other related financial details to full detail the health of the company over its lifetime while relating the information in easily readable prose. Although he tried to get her first-hand account, Riggs had to examine the role of Lorraine Williams—who came in to save the company but ultimately whose decisions resulted in its death a decade later—through the eyes of others each with their agendas and or grievances.

Slaying the Dragon records the history of a company that created and dominated its own industry until it collapsed trying to grow its customer base and broaden its portfolio. Ben Riggs does an excellent job in revealing the individuals that ran, sustained, brought it down, and ultimately though that saved its legacy.

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Book Review: Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul by John M. Barry

Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty by John M. Barry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The founding of the smallest state and its secular character are directly attributed to him and inspired the Founding Fathers, but Roger Williams is a man from a complex time in both England and colonial America. John M. Barry’s Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty is not only a biography of Williams but a cultural, political, and religious history of his time.

While it takes a while for Barry to focus on Williams and his soon-to-be very revolutionary thinking, he sets the groundwork not only for Williams intellectual and religious development but also the political and cultural context of his life. First and foremost is the political view of the early Stuart monarchs of divine right of kings going up against Magna Carta and Parliament that will eventually set off the English Civil War, and alongside it was the struggle over the Church of England and those Puritans who would not conform to practices that looked decidedly “popish”. It is easy to forget sometimes that England and its American colonies interacted before 1763 and the lead up to the American Revolution, but Barry plainly illustrates that events in each did have an impact on one another whether religiously or politically. Roger Williams’ vision of separation of church and state has come up against John Winthrop’s “city on a hill”, ironically a Puritan version of conform or else mirroring what was happening in England, throughout American history and this was central to Barry’s book even as he followed the live and struggles of Williams. One of the biggest takeaways from the book is that history does not happen in a vacuum as the development of Roger Williams’ revolutionary idea came from a messy political and religious background.

Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul is not only a book about the life of Williams, but Barry shows how Williams was influenced by not only important personages he came in contact with but also how he influenced them.

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