Review - Colleen McCollough's "Masters of Rome" series

As a general rule in this blog I won't review books that I haven't read in the last month or two but in some cases I need to discuss books that are just excellent. That is the case with the "Masters of Rome" series by Colleen McCollough. When I first began the series I was a little concerned - this was, after all, the writer of "The Thorn Birds". But my concern was misplaced - this is some of the best historical fiction ever written.

Her research and description of Roman life are amazing. How they governed themselves, how the courts worked, the Senate, the priests, the administration of the provinces, and the military campaigns are discussed in detail but also in the course of telling a great story. The story is the rise of Gauis Julius Caesar - the series begins when he is an infant and continues through his ascension to power and the competition with his rivals. So many important historical figures cross paths in these books - Caesar, Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, Cleopatra, Gaius Marius, Marc Anthony, etc are all brought to life.

The author uses the Roman terms for many items and events but don't be concerned if your Latin is rusty - the books each contain a glossary approaching 100 pages of key terms and people. Colleen McCollough does an amazing job bringing to life a key time in history and does so in a way that is not boring or textbook-like.


1. The First Man in Rome 'The First Man in Rome'
The beginning of Gaius Marius' career...

2. The Grass Crown 'The Grass Crown'
Enemy or friend?: Sulla's rise to power.

3. Fortune's Favorites 'Fortune's Favorites'
The rise of Pompeus Magnus and Caesar and the fall of Sulla

4. Caesar: A Novel
The Age of Caesar's wars...

5. Caesar's Women
Caesar falls in love...

6. The October Horse: A novel of Caesar and Cleopatra
The Cleopatra story and Ceasar's murder

I heartily recommend this for anyone who enjoys historical fiction, is interested in the Roman time period, or just likes great books.

Review "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire

"Wicked" is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West in the Land of Oz. But this book takes all your perceptions of the story and the situation and turns them upside down. (Why did Glinda the Good Witch give Dorothy the ruby slippers and send her to the Wizard? Why because the shoes were a symbol of Munchkinland independence and could lead to war with Oz if they stayed in the country.......This is the kind of thing that happens in the story.)

The Witch (Elphaba) is a very interesting and complex character. Does she end up calling herself the Wicked Witch of the West? Yes, she does. But is she truly wicked? One of the key themes of the novel is the nature of evil. Who, or what, in the story is evil? And the story is complex enough that it is not an easy question to answer. Maguire does a good job a weaving complicated plots and then seeing them from the perception of different characters.

I would recommend this book - it was very good. It is not for children who like the Oz story - this is a complicated adult book that includes sex, violence, political intrigue, religion, and magic.

While it is difficult to see where he will go with the story, I will probably read the sequel "Son of a Witch" in the next few months.

Books vs. Movies vs. Video games

Never judge a book by its movie.
J. W. Eagan


In the old days (say, before 1980), things were simpler. Someone wrote a book. If the idea was good and would translate well, then it might be made into a movie. Now, the ideas come from all different directions and move different ways - movies are made and then books written and video games created. Or a video game does well and then gets turned into a movie and books. Or a book becomes a movie and the movie inspires a video game.....

Here is what I think:

1) The book is always better than the movie (or the video game). But read the book first and then see the movie.

2) Rule #1 applies IF the book was created first. For books that were written after a movie or after a video game are often as weak as the movie merchandise that comes in a McDonald's Happy Meal. But there are a few exceptions to this rule. (I have been told to read the books inspired by the game 'Halo' and they are on my future reading list....)

3) A good book does not always equal a good movie or a good video game. But a weak book generally does translate into a poor movie or video game.

Best movies made from books?

The "Lord of the Rings" movies. (of course)

The Harry Potter movies are very faithful to the books, but until the 4th one they were pretty slow movies.


Worst book adaptation?

The first 'Dune' movie. (with Sting.) I was so mad when I walked out of that theater. The sci-fi channel mini-series is light years better.


If you can think of any more really good or really poor book adaptations please post them in a reply. Also if there are lists on the web somewhere of best and worst book adaptations (I have looked a little) then post them in a reply and let me know.

The book is still the higher form of art.

And what about video games? The "Icewind Dale" books became a game. "Halo" is a game that became books and is becoming a movie (with Peter Jackson producing). Raymond Fiest wrote a book that was directly tied to a computer game a few years ago, but the result was both were weak.

Update: What am I reading?

I am currently reading "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire - look for a review in a few days.


I just finished a series of fantasy short stories called "Legends II". It has stories by many of the authors on the list below including George R.R. Martin, Orson Scott Card, and Tad Williams.

Review "Dark Elf Trilogy" by R.A. Salvatore

In this trilogy R.A. Salvatore tells the background and upbringing of a character that he uses in many other books - Drizzit Drouen. Drizzit is a drow (dark elf) and while most drow are evil and cruel Drizzit somehow turns how to be a good and decent person. He continually struggles with his personal ethics in the three books - and that is the focus of the series. Drizzit finds that he cannot live in the society of the drow, where the only law is don't get caught. So he begins a long and entertaining journey to find somewhere safe to live where his ideals will fit in.

The books are a type of fantasy novel that I think of as "Dungeons and Dragons fiction" The novels are set a world created for the D&D game, and the rules in Salvatore's world are the rules used in the game. (Similar to the Dragonlance novels). This is good and bad - good in that it is fun to see the world brought to life but bad in that there is no mystery to most things - I knew what most the characters and creatures in the book could do before they did it. The novels are light and easy to read and filled with entertaining fight scenes.

These books were good and entertaining but not great. I will read Salvatore's next series (Icewind Dale) and then see if I want to go any further.

Do I ever stop reading a book and walk away?

Never read a book through merely because you have begun it.
John Witherspoon (1723 - 1794)


When you come across something (a book, movie, album, etc.) where it becomes clear that you aren't enjoying it and that feeling is not likely to change, what do you do??

If the feeling is ambiguous, I will probably continue to the end. But sometimes I come across a book and partway through I realize that I am not enjoying it at all. And if I am not enjoying reading I might as well not do it. So on rare occasions I will put a book down in the middle and say "That's it. Time to move on to something more enjoyable."

The most recent example of this occurred while I was reading "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. You may well have enjoyed that book, or would enjoy it. It is not poorly written. But is a very long, boring vampire novel with no action. There is low grade suspense that builds throughout the book, but I didn't enjoy it at all. Part of the problem is this: I don't like horror novels or vampire novels. Note the list below - the only Stephen King book is the Stand and I read one or two vampire books by Anne Rice but didn't love them.

I am wracking my brain to come up with more books that I have stopped and put down, but I am having a hard time coming up with any right now. When I remember some I will add them to this post.

Is there a book that you have stopped reading in the middle?

Update: What am I reading?

I am currently reading the Dark Elf trilogy by R.A. Salvatore. I will wait and write a review when I am finished with all three books. Why did I pick this to read first? Because it came into the library first - book karma.

It won't be long until I review this - I am close to finishing the second book and will start the third one tonight.


The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

What is on my radar (future books to read)?

I have spent a lot of time searching for other things to read since finishing my last book and since I haven't gotten to the library yet I will list a lot of the things I am considering here - feel free to add feedback if you have read any of these.....

"Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire

"Homeland" (Book 1 of the Dark Elf Trilogy) By R.A. Salvatore

"The Gunslinger" (Book 1 of the Dark Tower Series) By Stephen King

"The Last Templar" By Raymond Khoury (on the bestseller list now)

"Turning Angel" by Greg Isles (murder mystery in Natchez, MS)


Note that I have also updated the list of books I have read at the bottom of the blog.

My Problem with Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series

I have told several of you who read fantasy novels that I don't enjoy Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series anymore. I thought this would be a good time and place to discuss exactly why I have a problem with this series.

The first few books are excellent. But after the third or fourth book, Jordan takes a big turn and keeps going. (imagine that Tolkien writes another book and says "Well Sauron didn't really die at the end of 'Return of the King', that was just some Nazgul in disguise and now I will write 10-15 more books..... none of which getting any closer to actually ending the series.")

Over the course of 11 (and growing) books, Jordan has continually added new major characters, minor characters, countries, cities, wars, revolutions, family squabbles and whole dimensions of plot that make it so complicated now that is impossible to move the whole thing forward, even in a 1000 page book. I searched online for a complicated diagram to attempt to illustrate how complex the plot is but I couldn't find one. (And I enjoy complex books - but this series is so complex it collapses under its own weight. ) I checked out several of the major WoT web sites and found that "major characters" now includes 37 people (and by major character we mean someone who be the narrator/focus person for a chapter or more). And minor characters included several hundred names. Even the die hard fans need web sites full of chapter summaries and character lists to keep everything straight.

The bottom line is that Jordan created a really enjoyable series of books but went too far in adding characters/plot elements/places/factions and now I don't think he can successfully draw it to a close anytime soon. If you want to stop at the end of book 3 or 4 I can recommend it, otherwise don't start. I have read 8,560 pages in this series (since I haven't read the newest 783 page book - second smallest in the series!) so I feel I have earned the right to complain if I don't like the way it is going.

Review "Ordinary Heroes" by Scott Turow

In a change from his usual courtroom drama, Mr. Turow has written a book about World War II... and lawyers. The story is really about a son who discovers that his father hid details of his service in WWII, including fighting at the Battle of the Bulge and being court-martialed, found guilty and then having the charges dismissed. So after his father's death the son sets out to find the details of the story.

Turow does his usual excellent job of creating interesting characters and putting them in stressful situations. Most of the book is told from the father's perspective about his war experience. The stress and horror of combat, his attraction to a woman in the French resistance, his questioning of his orders are all very well done. (note that some of the combat scenes and Holocaust scenes are disturbing).

The book is good in that it is not a "WWII novel" but much more than that. Turow creates complicated characters that are very human and flawed. It is his ability to show the inner struggle in the primary characters that makes this novel so good. So I absolutely recommend it. (And you do not need to read any of Turow's prior books before you read this one.)

Update

Well I finished "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" for the second time last night. I am not going to do a review on this book because I am not sure it is humanly possible without spoiling anything. (and if I spoil a book for you on this website then I consider that a terrible offense on my part.)

But here are my thoughts after finishing that book:
1) There is no official release date for book 7 yet, but the primary Harry Potter fan website estimates that it will be July 2007. Ugh. 18 months??? I have to wait 18 months to find out what happens next?? Ugh.

2) The books get darker and more serious but they also get better. After six books Rowling has been able to create a lot of deep, interesting characters that grow and change as the events unfold around them. After six books you care about these characters and what happens to them.
3) I have a lot of theories about Book 7 but there is no way I am putting them on here.

___________________________________________________________

So now that is done and I need to pick up something else and read it. What should I read next? If you have suggestions feel free to add them in a comment or email me. Otherwise I will be browsing the library / bestseller lists / amazon.com looking for something that catches me eye.

Rank Michael Chrichton books

This isn't a review of all these books, just some thoughts about them and a rank of Chrichton's books from best to worst.

Chrichton writes entertaining books - but they are all two things:
1) Basically a screenplay masquerading as a novel (lots of action and complex scientific/medical/technical/legal theories and discussions but not a lot of character development)
2) a lecture on some topic that he feels is dangerous and complex

If you accept these two things and just go along for the ride some of these books can be very entertaining. He has written some very fun to read novels .... And some that I would rather eat the paperback version than read again. (This is why ranking him is so easy.)

1. Disclosure (Sexual harassment in a high tech company......)
2. Jurassic Park (like every book ever written: its better than the movie - you may not want to start this unless you have time to finish it quickly.)
3. Prey (Nanotechnology is not your friend.)
4. Case of Need (written in 1968 - a medical thriller that is still entertaining)
5. Airframe
6. State of Fear (Chrichton thinks global warming is greatly exaggerated.)
7. Sphere (great plot twists but pretty strange)
8. Timeline (love the medieval stuff - hate the modern stuff).
9. Andromeda Strain (Still a little scary even though it was written in 1969)
10. Rising Sun (No, the Japanese never were taking over America.)
11. The Lost World (Jurassic Park 2: The Quest for more cash)
12. The 13th Warrior (Eaters of the Dead) (So bad I stopped reading - and that's bad)
13. Congo (brutally bad - both the book and the movie.)


I challenge you to do one of the following in a reply to this post:
A) rank them yourself
B) list your favorite and least favorite
C) discuss why you disagree with me on my rankings