Book Review: Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson

Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The city of Elendel is seething with angry workers, corrupt politicians, and crime syndicates running amok now throw in an insane immortal out of legend. Shadows of Self is the fifth book in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series as legendary lawman Lord Waxillium “Wax” Ladrian, his sidekick Wayne, and future sister-in-law and new constable Marasi race to stop a conspiracy that has even the god Harmony concerned.

Over the course of almost 450 pages that cover an exhausting day and a half, Sanderson writes a racing narrative that sees Wax and Wayne come up against a creature of legend that has gone insane and meet characters the readers remember from the original trilogy who are themselves considered holy now. As the two and the constables of the 4th Octant race to save the city’s governor, who probably is corrupt, from assassination there are priests of various religions getting killed by imposters from competing religions ramping up tensions from overwork or no work and growing concern for food. Not since the fall of the Lord Ruler has there been this many people on the streets, but to save the day Wax confronts something that makes him question everything.

Shadows of Self is a quick-paced fantasy thriller that sees Brandon Sanderson take us the reader through a myriad of emotions and action scenes to a stunning conclusion.

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Book Review: Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin

Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System--and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are few people alive today that experienced the onset of the Great Depression nor seeing reactions in real time or the in-depth analysis of financiers, pundits, government officials, and politicians however that isn’t the case for the beginning of the Great Recession. Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System---and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin that provides an overview of the 2007-8 financial crisis from the aftermath of the sale of Bear Stearns to the creation of TARP.

The main figures throughout the book are Treasury Secretary Henry ‘Hank’ Paulson and his staff, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, and President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Tim Geithner though throughout the first half of the book the major secondary figure was Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld. While Sorkin covers all the threads of the slowly deteriorating of the economic environment, it’s Fuld and Lehman Brothers that is focus due to their bankruptcy leading to one of---if the most---tumultuous weeks on Wall Street, in Washington, and around the world in financial history. Let’s be clear, there are no heroes presented just people finding their worldviews getting a serious reality check as they stare into the abyss. Through Fuld is in no way a sympathetic individual, Sorkin’s writing does make him a tragic figure whose efforts to save his company were at times undermined by his own brash bravado to the point that in the end his subordinates cut him out of the increasingly futile efforts to save the company. Though originally written and published a little over a year after the dark days of September and October 2008, there is some fuzziness on the state of the world then when viewed 15 years later and the afterworld written for this 10th anniversary edition only shows a little of the long-term effects and aftershocks that are affecting the world today.

Too Big to Fail chronicles the inside story of how the financial system imploded even as Wall Street and Washington struggled to save it. Andrew Ross Sorkin portrays the situation in understandable terms and presents the participants as people struggling against a situation that undermines their preconceived notions without prejudice or favor.

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Book Review: Caesar and Christ by Will Durant

Caesar and Christ by Will Durant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A little village on an inconsequential river eventually expands to command the entire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe creating an economical and cultural exchange while their homeland disintegrated allowing their conquests to eventually rule over them in politics, culture, and religion. Caesar and Christ is the third volume of Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization series focusing on the rise of the Roman Empire and it’s conquest from within by Christianity.

As with the previous two volumes, Durant began the book with a prologue of sorts this time focusing on the Etruscans and other early Italians that would be subsumed by Rome. Covering roughly a millennium of time from the reputed founding of the city in 753 B.C. to the reign of Constantine, Durant covered all aspects of the development of Roman society from government to architecture to religion and philosophy to military conquest to societal and economical interplay. Once on the verge of the Christian era, Durant begins alluding to the conditions in Roman society and religion that would allow Christianity to grow before focusing on the development of Christianity from Jesus’ ministry to Constantine’s conversion. Though comprehensive in his material Durant’s phrasing was problematic due to his use of the ”Roman race” throughout the book, given the original publishing date was in 1944 this suggestion very outdated thinking about the development of human societies. Another important analysis from Durant’s description of the spread of Christianity was the Church’s absorption of practices from other religions that would come to the fore 1200 years later.

Caesar and Christ details the most impactful political and religious institutions that still resonate today in the West.

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Book Review: Exploring Romans: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight

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

The Christian community in Roman was having issues in the mid-1st century that wasn’t unique to itself like other early churches who were written epistles in the New Testament, what the Romans received was Paul’s perfected sermon on salvation. Exploring Romans: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight explains how this Epistle is the clearest explanation of the salvation for Christian throughout the millennia especially during the Reformation.

Knight guides the reader through Romans in 62 segments using various translations to find the most accurate wording for the passage covered in each segment. Each lesson has Knight not only explain the passage within the context of the Romans but also in the whole Bible but also provide commentary about what the passage means to use today. Throughout the book Knight stresses the central theme of Paul’s message, the obtaining of salvation as well all the branching teachings on who needs it and why, the role of the law, and how to implement Christianity into life. Given the issues that Paul addresses two millennia ago are still around in some form or another today within the larger Christianity community, Knight makes sure the reader understands Paul response to these issues and why they are important even today.

Exploring Romans is an excellent commentary and devotional authored by George R. Knight that gives readers an in-depth understanding of Paul’s message on the plan of salvation.

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Book Review: Claudius the God by Robert Graves

Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina by Robert Graves
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For most of his life a historian survived his murderous family to become the leader of one of the greatest empires in history, now he must rule. Claudius the God is Robert Graves historical fiction follow-up to I, Claudius as the now fourth Emperor of Rome continues his secret autobiography that focuses on his time as Caesar.

This sequel focuses on Claudius’ time as Emperor, primarily up to fall of his wife Messalina, except at the beginning when the life of Herod Agrippa so that Claudius could explain how Herod helped him become Emperor. Throughout the book Claudius tells how he wants to undo the damage his uncle and nephew have caused and fulfill Augustus dream of retiring and allowing the Republic to return. However after Claudius learns of his wife’s secret life and his near overthrow, he comes to the conclusion that Rome needs a worse emperor than Tiberius and Caligula combine for the Republic to the be restored. Like the first book, Graves presents Claudius as a believable person with high hopes that see them dashed against reality while also presenting a great first-person narrative that uses Suetonius and Tacitus as primary sources that gives the reader a look into Roman history without it being dry.

Claudius the God brings the life of the fourth Roman Emperor to it’s conclusion as Robert Graves once again gives the reader a great character to follow throughout the book.

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