Tuesday, June 06, 2017

October's Baby (The Dread Empire: A Cruel Wind #2) ★★★☆☆


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
 Title: October's Baby
 Series: The Dread Empire: A Cruel Wind #2
 Author: Glen Cook
 Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
 Genre: SFF
 Pages: 247
 Format: Digital Edition





Synopsis:

Ragnarson, the mercenary leader from the previous book, gets pulled back into leading a campaign for
a queen who's kingdom is falling apart after her husband's death. Part of the problem is that it is suspected that her heir is actually a changeling switched at birth. Another issue is that the Dread Empire is working behind the scenes, this time with the faces of the children of the sorcerers from the first book. Nothing like daddy issues to get folks riled up.

In the end, there is huge battle, magic gets negated for the duration of the battle, both sorcerous children are either slain or depleted of power and the heirs of the kingdom under dispute are poisoned by a mysterious character. Yep, the book ends with kids dying from poison.




My Thoughts:

I was just confused for most of this book. A lot of names get thrown around, a lot of places mentioned, MANY battles are referenced and not a one could I remember from the previous book. It felt like this was referencing previous books that I had not read, but I believe I am reading these in publication order. So either Cook has the idea for prequels or he's just throwing stuff at the reader “because”.

Outside of that, I was still confused. Shifts of perspective and time, while clearly outlined at the beginning of each chapter, sometimes covered years and might only be a couple of pages. While 2 days might take up 10 pages. I just kind of held on and got the gist of the story.

Sorcerers, politics, big battle. Kids dying. That part just weirded me out. Neither of the heirs were actually the king's, but while we know about the changeling, I don't believe we ever know who fathered the heir actual. So why the heir actual had to die, I have no idea.

Not a bad read, but I felt like I was constantly in a mudhole fighting to get to firm ground and then sliding back into the pit.

★★★☆☆



Monday, June 05, 2017

Warrior King (Odyssey One #5) ★★★★ ½


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
 Title: Warrior King
 Series: Odyssey One #5
 Author: Evan Currie
 Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
 Genre: SFF
 Pages: 334
 Format: Digital Edition





Synopsis:

Humanity and the Priminae are working together and have created a new class of Interstellar Warships, the Heroics. Cpt. Eric Weston continues as the head officer upon the Flagship Odysseus. His current assignment is to backtrack the Drasin and find out who or what was controlling them.

At the same time, the aliens, simply known as The Empire, are missing a Drasin fleet. They're not to happy about that and they set out to follow the Drasin to see what happened. When the Odysseus and their carrier group, which includes the new Destroyers we are introduced to in King of Thieves, run into the Empire's Fleet, a battle ensues in which Humanity kicks butt.

Of course, now Humanity has picked a fight with an Empire that includes 149 star systems. We are in SO much trouble.




My Thoughts:

It's been a year and a half since I last read a book in the Odyssey One universe. Man, Currie is getting better. I really enjoyed Out of the Black, but when I read the first 2 Scourwind novels, I figured he couldn't top them. I was wrong. This was just as good.

There were 2 space battle scenes and they were both memorable. One was a small destroyer against an unarmed shuttle. That was more a battle of wits than anything. The Battle Group fight was just a massive brawl in space. The T-guns were useless, so that made the battle even more exciting.

We get a little bit of “universe” building going on but this was just like the previous books. Fighting, In Spaaaaace! It just doesn't get more fun than this.

★★★★ ½




Sunday, June 04, 2017

The Isle of Battle (The Swan's War #2) ★★★★☆


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
 Title: The Isle of Battle
 Series: The Swan's War #2
 Author: Sean Russell
 Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
 Genre: SFF
 Pages: 468
 Format: Digital Scan





Synopsis:

Hafydd follows Alaan into the Stillwater, who in turn is followed by Elise. The Stillwater is a swamp that was created by their uncle when he cast a spell to sunder the lands and to prevent him from going through Death's Gate. Each of Wyrr's children bring a group of followers with them and at some point each group must decide if their leader is truly worth following.

Meanwhile, the Rennes and the Wills begin their battle out in the known world. But with various smaller players potentially playing both sides, who is to know who will win? All of this is told through the eyes [ha] of Lord Carral, who is blind and Lady Lynne, who hides in her night garden so no one will see her hideously burned face.




My Thoughts:

While the first book, The One Kingdom, was much like the river that most of the story played out on, this book was very much like the Stillwater that half the story takes place in. A lot of paddling, a lot of fighting, a lot of movement but eventually it all leads to the characters simply trying to stay alive and to get out of the swamp.

This is once again a very character driven story. Lord Caral, father of Elise, thinking she is dead makes deals with the Renne to try to bring about a peace between the 2 families. He heads off to battle, even while being blind, and it is a testament to Russell's skill that the story doesn't suffer at all when being told from a blind man's perspective. In many ways I enjoyed the story parts more from his perspective than any of the Siblings [Hafydd, Alaan or Elise].

Things escalate. Where as in the first book we are dealing with the Children of Wyrr, *powerful sorcerers* [insert your own ghost noises], suddenly we're dealing with their Uncle, who was powerful enough to sunder the lands and cheat death for Millenia. Combine that with Hafydd's desire to cheat death and suddenly you have an Uncle and a Nephew, both powerful sorcerers, who are willing to work together even while trying to control the other. It is like stepping into the shallow end of a swimming pool that turns into a pond that then turns into an ocean. Unexpected depths and currents.

When I read this back in '09, I noted how quick things moved. This time around, I didn't feel like it moved quickly at all. More things happen, yes, but much like Alice in Wonderland, they had to run as fast as they could just to stay in place. Nobody WENT anywhere. I am already interested what I'm going to think of this when I read it again in a decade or so.

The other change is that I went from 5stars to 4stars. The biggest part is because the ecopy I read was an unproofed digital scan. That has nothing to do with the book itself, but does go to show how formatting, grammar, spelling, etc really are the building block upon which a story is built. I'm definitely going to be buying an official copy for my read of the final book. At one point things were so garbled that I was tempted to pull my hardcover off the shelf and finish the book with that.

The other reason I dropped it down was because I felt overwhelmed by the introduction of Aillyn, Wyrr's brother and the sibling's Uncle. I thought that the Children of Wyrr were a big enough threat without suddenly making them small in comparison.

The good side of this book is that the writing is just as fantastic as the first. Russell writes slowly, ponderously and with the weight of his ideas pushing you on. It felt like a tsunami wave, that starts very deep in the ocean and isn't really seen until it hits the shore. The end of the book was the Shore.

In closing, I have no regrets about buying this trilogy in hardcover or in re-reading this. I recommend this trilogy by Russell unreservedly.

★★★★☆ 






Friday, June 02, 2017

The Coming of Wisdom (The Seventh Sword #2) ★★★☆ ½


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
 Title: The Coming of Wisdom
 Series: The Seventh Sword #2
 Author: Dave Duncan
 Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
 Genre: SFF
 Pages: 350
 Format: Digital Edition





Synopsis:

Sorcerors are taking over cities and ruling them with much less graft and corruption than their swordsmen counterparts. The goddess obviously can't have this, so it is up to Wally to figure out the riddle and fix all the problems.

On a boat.




My Thoughts:

Enjoyed this more than the first book, that is for sure. Part of it was that this was not an intro story but with characters we already know about. Another part was that we don't get Wally wallowing in trying to reconcile 2 different world views. Internal self-angsting has it's place, but I don't particularly enjoy reading it. So the lack thereof in this book was rather nice.

The whole adventure pretty much taking place on a boat and on the river was nice. A different town every couple of chapters made for an adventure that never felt stale. And having things be between sorcerers and swordsman instead of swordsmen and swordsmen also added a nice difference from book one.

Several of the side characters got some real page time and became a lot more than just generic “helpers”. It is nice when characters become people.

Duncan is a good writer and when he's on top of his game and not pissing me off with his anti-religion bs, he keeps me captivated. This book kept me interested the whole way through and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.

★★★☆ ½






Monday, May 29, 2017

Shadow's Edge (Night Angel #2) ★★★★ ½


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission  
 Title: Shadow's Edge
 Series: Night Angel #2
 Author: Brent Weeks
 Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
 Genre: SFF
 Pages: 645
 Format: Digital Edition





Synopsis:

Kylar has sworn to give up killing to live in peace with Elene. They move to another city and Kylar begins life as an apothecary. But his hunger for justice causes him to go out each night, and while not killing, he does distribute justice to lowlifes and criminals.

All of that changes when his best friend Jarl, now the Shinga of Kylar's former city-home, comes begging for him to do one last job: Kill the godking. Unfortunately, another wetboy, Viv (who's a girl) is on the job to kill Jarl for the godking. Kylar watches his best friend die before his eyes. To make matters worse, Kylar must leave Elene (who he was going to ask to marry him the next day), for good. Because killing the godking is a one way job. He won't be returning from it.

He ends up hooking up with Viv through an incredible amount of circumstance twisting and they decide to work together to kill the godking. Turns out Viv is the godking's daughter and he has a magical hold of her. Kylar and Viv overcome through the magic of love (or at least, bonding magic) and everything is hunky dory.

Except Elene is kidnapped, Kylar can never be with her, he is magically bonded to a woman who killed his best friend, most of Kylar's friends and acquaintances are dead by the godking's hands and yet another city-state is waiting on the border to take over. And Kylar still doesn't know the cost of him coming back to life each time. He should really find out, you know?




My Thoughts:

Man, I plowed through this in 2 days, or just a little less really. I started Friday evening (hence my post A Small Selection) and was done by 10am Sunday morning. It was not a “I have to get through this, so man up, soldier and start marching” kind of drive. I just couldn't stop reading. Even while I knew roughly what was going to happen because this was a re-read.

The main downside to this book was that I had just read Return of the Crimson Guard and that book, while leaving me somewhat frustrated, also awed me with its depth, amount of plot threads being woven simultaneously and the battle scenes. Sadly, Weeks did not, really could not, compare. His writing was not bad, it was good in fact but it just wasn't AS GOOD. When you read two Epic Fantasy Books almost back to back, comparisons are going to happen whether you want them to or not. So read this after reading something by Michael Crichton or Modesitt and everything will be just fine.

For the record, I rated this higher than Crimson Guard. I enjoyed it more.

The biggest upside was a scene where Weeks totally riffs on Star Wars. As I stated, Viv is the godking's daughter. She's been developing feelings for Kylar during their stint together. Then, during one of the climactic clashes between the 2 wetboys and the godking, the godking lets it out that he's also Kylar's father. So a total Leia and Luke scenario. But it gets better. The godking then hollers out, “Just kidding!” I just about died laughing. Even now, while I'm typing this up, it still makes me laugh. And if you don't get the Star Wars reference, you'll lose nothing from the story. It just won't be as rich.

Like I mentioned in my Small Selection post, the violence here is pretty intense. Thankfully, it is not glamourized, but Weeks doesn't hold back in the slightest. Also the profanity is at the same level and of the same style as in Book 1. It's very anachronistic, besides being unnecessary.

There is another whole storyline revolving around Logan, the rightful King, that I'm not going to touch on.This is a 2 weave story and his is the second. It's pretty much about what a good man will do to survive and not cross the line into becoming a villain.

This book was just as good as when I read it in '09 and the trilogy as a whole is holding up as well.
*double thumbs up*

★★★★ ½



Downtown, Wing and a Prayer (Spiderman 2099 #6, 7) ★★★☆☆


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission  
Title: Downtown, Wing and a Prayer
Series: Spiderman 2099 #6, 7 
Author: Peter David 
Artist: Rick Leonardi 
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars 
Genre: Comics 
Pages: 45 
Format: Digital Scan


 





Synopsis:

Miggy survives his fall into “down town” with the aid of an anonymous doctor and immediately proceeds to act like an ass. He goes off before being fully healed or even knowing where he is. The Public Eye, under direct orders [yet again] from Stone, is looking for him to capture him. They find him but he is swept away by some guy who is the leader of the Freaks, a guy with metal wings and who can fly. Vulture 2099. Vulture wants Miggy to join him in his fight against the other gangs. Miggy refuses and runs off. A flying battle ensues.

At the same time, Miggy's brother Gabe heads downtown to look for Miggy, survives a mugging and ends up with a gun. While waiting outside his girlfriend's apartment, someone grabs his shoulder and he shoots without looking. The volume ends with it being a woman he apparently knows lying in a puddle of blood. 
 


My Thoughts:

Frenetic is the word to describe the pace here. Miguel continues his boneheaded and impulsive behavior and just reacts. It certainly allows for fights and action scenes to naturally flow because anyone with half a brain would think and then avoid the fights. Comics, sigh.


Stone, the apparent villain, has a conversation with the CEO of Stark-Fujikawa and that guy knows that Stone used the Specialist for his own purposes and warns Stone that he won't forget that.

Vulture 2099 is introduced, but since I didn't really know anything about him in the 90's, I can't compare. He appears to be a man who has been experimented on, hence giving him his abilities, but those experiments also seem to have left him mentally disturbed. He's a bloody cannibal for goodness sake. I guess we'll see if he develops as a real villain or just a caricature of the character from the past.

I probably could have read the next issue right away, as it's a continuation of this story arc, but I couldn't take any more of Miggy or the “practically on speed” pace of things.

★★★☆☆




Sunday, May 28, 2017

Rough 'n' Tumble (Eyeshield 21 #26) ★★★★ ½


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
 Title: Rough 'n' Tumble
 Series: Eyeshield 21 #26
 Author: Riichiro Inagaki 
Artist: Yusuke Murata
 Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
 Genre: Sports Manga
 Pages: 200
 Format: Digital Scan





Synopsis:

The game between the Devil Bats and the White Knights continues. Each team feeds off the other and individual players keep increasing the tempo of the game as a whole. This volume is mainly about the battles between Shin & Sena and Monta & Sakuraba.

The Kantou League President shows up to watch the game and it's Monta's old baseball Idol, which of course whips him into a frenzy.

The volume ends at the 3minute mark with the Devil Bats at 29 and the White Knights at 34.



My Thoughts:

In the previous volume, Perfect Players, Shin crushed everyone and anything in his way. This time, both Sena and Monta return the favor and simply go around, over and past anything the White Knights throw up as defensive measures.

The Shonen Influence is very visible, with each possession practically being a martial arts fight in spirit. Murata, the artist, does a fantastic job of showing the fighting spirit on the players faces and in their stances and actions. He made me feel like I was actually witnessing a battle between 2 armies. It was fantastic!

Even while this game is being written across multiple volumes, it hasn't felt dragged out. That was my biggest concern going into this game, that things would be boringly stretched out and I'd lose interest. That has not happened, not even close. I cannot wait to see how this concludes because it feels like it is going to be epic!

On a side note, I believe I have found a good way to manage my manga reading without burning out. I've simply added an empty “Manga” collection on my kindle. Every time it goes down the list and reaches the 6th position [I have 25 collections], I simply read another volume on my tablet and move the Manga Collection up to the 1st position. Rinse and repeat. It keeps my manga reading synchonized with my other readings, allows some time between volumes and prevents me from feeling pressured that I have to read a volume on a certain date. For whatever reason, I don't feel the pressure if it's just part of the collection list. Part of that is that my reading of it isn't tied down to a date or day, but simply to when I get to it. Isn't it odd how the mind works? But I'm glad I've found a solution, because I LIKE reading manga and that last burn out kind of scared me. I've got too much manga still to read to burn out, you know? *grin*

★★★★ ½ 

 

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Return of the Crimson Guard (Malazan Empire #2) ★★★★☆


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission  
 Title: Return of the Crimson Guard
 Series: Malazan Empire #2
 Author: Ian Esslemont
 Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
 Genre: SFF
 Pages: 732
 Format: Digital Edition





Synopsis:

I believe I counted Double Digit story threads going on, so I'm going to simply mention the overall highlights/plots.

The Crimson Guard vowed to fight the Malazan Empire and the Duke K'Azz was their leader. Due to the nature of their vow, the “Avowed” [the Guards who actually took the vow] cannot die of old age and are becoming superhuman. Once they do die, their ghosts stick around and act as messengers. The Guard was scattered after one particular encounter with the Malazans. Now they are beginning to come back together. The Duke is missing, so the next in command, Skinner, has taken command. But he's apparently in thrall to the Broken God and so has his own agenda that subverts the Guards Vow. The Guard is split between those who follow Skinner and those who remain faithful to the original intent of the Vow.

This is all happening because various commanders and top dogs from the Malazan empire are sick of Laseen's rule and are pulling away and allying themselves with local nationals. A splintering of the Empire that Kellenved began. Laseen comes to the continent with all the hosts she can muster to oppose the nationals. The Guard uses this to plan an attack on her to wipe her out. A phracking huge battle ensues.

A mad mage ends up opening a gate to Chaos and everybody comes together [sing it with me!] to stop him before the whole world is consumed. Laseen dies and Mallick Rel, introduced in Deadhouse Gates, becomes emperor. Treaties and peace negotians ensue and everyone is properly maudlin.




My Thoughts:

That synopsis was the shortest I could make it, honest.

This takes place several books later, chronologically, in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Erikson. However, characters from it, specifically, Mallick Rel, Korbolo Dom, Nil & Nether and even the reborn Coltaine, were relatively fresh in my mind from my read of Deadhouse Gates. That made connections MUCH easier to remember. Sadly, the reborn Coltaine gets just a couple of paragraphs before being sent back into literary oblivion.

Lets deal with my gripes first.

Once again, the deliberate with-holding of information about who a character is from the reader. It is not as simple as not telling us, but in several cases characters are thinking/talking about Mysterious Character X and it goes something like this:

No, it couldn't be. He's dead!”
A veiled glance from Mystery Character X to the character talking...
It IS him!”
Mystery Character X nods and walks away into the distance. Talking character is left in jaw dropping awe.

That makes me want to scream. It makes me feel like Esslemont is dancing in front of me going “Nyah, nyah, nyah! I know something you don't know!” It is frustrating and probably my biggest gripe with both Esslemont and Erikson. They seem to revel in spitting in my face with hidden knowledge. Since this whole series is a re-read, I know this will keep on happening. But I don't have to like it and I don't.

On to the good stuff.

If you want complex plots filled with political, personal, religious and psychological threads, this is the schizzle. Like I said in the Synopsis, double digit threads being woven. Pay attention or you'll get lost. Near the end, I DID get lost. Who was fighting who against who all became tangled up as new threats emerged and groups split and groups came together. Because there were Malazans on almost every side, it wasn't even a Malazan Against Others story. It was a big messy group dynamics story.

I couldn't race through this. I am finding that I need to slow down my reading to appreciate what I am reading at the moment instead of thinking about what I'm going to read next. This book was like walking through a mucky swamp; each step was an effort and you had to look right in front of you without looking at those distant mountains or you'd fall into a pit and never get out.

The munitions group, that coalesces around a Sergeant Jumpy is great. It made me laugh. It was a much needed comedic break because almost all the other story lines are of the Grimmest, Darkest Import. Everything else is weighed down by its own Self Importance. Just how they act and think is fun and I wish there had been a touch or two more of them.

Overall, I am satisfied with this re-read.
I had a lot more to say about this book this time around than I did back in '10. Probably getting a bit garrulous in my declining years.

★★★★☆




Thursday, May 25, 2017

Perelandra (Space Trilogy #2) ★★★½☆


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
 Title: Perelandra
 Series: Space Trilogy #2
 Author: C.S. Lewis
 Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
 Genre: SFF
 Pages: 322
 Format: Digital Edition





Synopsis:

Ransom is sent to Venus. There he meets the mother of Venus. She is unfallen and most ideas are new to her even while she is wise. It turns out that Weston has been sent to Venus as well, to be the updated snake in the garden. He is possessed by a malevolent evil, a servant of the broken Oyarsa of Earth.

It is a fight for the future of a whole new race and the continuation of the war for Earth.





My Thoughts:

Sadly, while I liked the Ideas presented here, Lewis does a LOT of sight seeing and I hate sight seeing. I hate traveling too. So this didn't work for me on so many levels. I had slight disagreements on some of the theology, but nothing that would make me dislike this book. It was just boring.

It has been just over 10 years since I last read this and you know what? My review from '06 is more than adequate. I wish I had a more words, but I pretty much used up my story of this trilogy when I wrote my review for Out of the Silent Planet.

If you are interested in wondering what a Post-Christ's Sacrifice universe might be like, this book definitely speculates and gives you a foundation from which to ask your own questions.

I don't know whether to recommend this book or not.

★★★½☆




Friday, May 19, 2017

The Twelfth Imam ★★★☆½


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
 Title: The Twelfth Imam
 Series: ------
 Author: Joel Rosenberg
 Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
 Genre: Christian Thiller
 Pages: 501
 Format: Digital Edition





Synopsis:

Iran gets the Nuke. And at the same time, the fabled Twelfth Imam appears and begins working miracles. His goal is an Islamic Caliphate. That is The End.

We work up to that by following a young man affected by September 11 who vows to become a CIA agent so he can catch and bring to justice Bin Laden. At the same time we follow another young man, an Iranian, who is a genius and meets incarnations of the Iman through his growing up years, all in preparation to control a military nuclear weapon and the facilities needed to create such a thing.

Lots of clandestine'y things, very spy novel. Then BAM, the 12th Imam appears to the leader of Iran, takes over, takes over Saudi Arabia and threatens the world with 10 nuclear weapons if they don't let him do what he wants. But at the same time he's appearing all over the Middle East healing people and performing miracles.

Several of the characters meet Jesus and begin to realize that the 12th Imam is an agent of the devil, hence his power AND his threats.



My Thoughts:

I don't read many spy thrillers, so when I do read one, it's all brand new territory for me and I don't have any experience to rely on. I enjoyed this book. There was a lot of character creation going on and this time around it worked for me. Sometimes that type of thing bores me, but not this time.

From a Christian perspective, and certainly from a 7th Day Adventist perspective, this fits right in to End Times theology. Adventists believe [in very broad terms here] that in the Last Days, Catholics, Protestants and Muslims will all unite into one Feel Good, Love Everybody group that will deny, by their uniting, the Divinity & Authority of Jesus Christ and the Unalloyed Sovereignty of God [Jesus will be a Good Man and the Pope will be God's Voice, with all of His Authority, on Earth]. The particulars of this book are a bit out of date, as Bin Laden is wormfood. However, considering that I just read an article about the Lutherans and the Catholics trying to make nicey-nice and claiming Luther just “misunderstood” a few things 500 years ago and that there is a concerted effort to create harmony between the major Theistic religions [I've heard it called “ChrIslam”], I hesitate to call such views crackpot theories any more.

The ending was COMPLETELY open ended, but any other way would bog itself down in specific End Times theories. Those things can get messy and very ugly, very quickly. I'm just as happy he didn't try to write out his pet theory, as I probably would have disagreed and then ended the book on a sour note.

Rosenberg includes a lot of quotes from the Qu'ran but without a lot of context, I am hesitant to place very much weight on them. Kind of like those Hollywood movies where the Evil Cult Leader quotes 1 Bible verse and suddenly he's the Token Christian representing all of Christianity in the movie even while being the complete antithesis of an actual Christian. But enough was quoted to show that Rosenberg had done some homework and not just googled “Jihad, Qu'ran” and slap dashed in the first thing that came up. What he does quote is very rather damning though.

To end on a completely different note, I've read other books by a “Joel Rosenberg”, which were fantasy books and honestly, not that good. I'd always assumed that THIS Rosenberg was also THAT Rosenberg. However, upon investigation, THIS Rosenberg is Joel “C” Rosenberg and is an American. The OTHER Rosenberg is just plain Joel Rosenberg and he's Canadian.
Score One for America!
Score One for Nationalism!
Score One for Irony! [my dad's Canadian and I was born there]

★★★☆½