A Modest Construct

Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Publisher: Del Ray

Year: 2004

Pages: 384

In Brief: “To put it simply, Broken Angels was enough of a disappointment to me that my plans to read the third and (so far) last Takeshi Kovacs novel, Woken Furies, are wavering somewhere between reality and oblivion. I’m afraid that the third book is going to be the most derivative yet, copied wholecloth from a more competent writer. Only time will tell if I bother at all. While I might still recommend Altered Carbon for it’s semi-unique meld of the hard-boiled detective novel with the sci-fi dystopia, Broken Angels seems to blaze no new ground at all.”

№31

Redwall by Brian Jacques

Publisher: Philomel

Year: 1987

Pages: 352

In Brief: “Redwall the book is a romping adventure which establishes Jacques’ formula, begins the Redwall canon, and forecasts the absolutely amazing literary world to come. Admittedly, it’s a book for young teenagers (generally between 350 and 450 pages per book), so it might be of little interest to many of my readers.”

№32

Mossflower by Brian Jacques

Publisher: Philomel

Year: 1988

Pages: 432

In Brief: “It seems as though Jacques really caught his momentum with this book—some of his most endearing characters are in Mossflower—and began to build out his canon, realizing, I suppose, that he was not merely the author of a single autonomous novel (Redwall), but an entire world. In Mossflower comes Salamandastron, the mountain home of badger lords and fighting hares; the famous sword of Martin the Warrior is forged, sea rats are killed, the refugees from the distant abbey of Loamhedge foreshadow the eventual building of Redwall Abbey. This particular book to this day remains one of my favorites in the series, despite the stiff competition.”

№33

Mattimeo by Brian Jacques

Publisher: Philomel

Year: 1990

Pages: 448

In Brief: “I admit to being a little underwhelmed by the villain in this one—not the mutilated fox, but the polecat who enters later. The entire climactic battle was a bit difficult to understand, which put kind of a damper on its excitement. So, too, the battle on the homefront, with the ravens, was solved with a bit of a deus ex machina and wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped. I recall being similarly disappointed with Mattimeo when I first read it as a young boy.”

№34

Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain! by Scott Adams

Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover

Year: 2007

Pages: 368

In Brief: “Adams isn’t a bad writer, but there are certain things about his writing that don’t sit well with me, as though he’s trying for tropes and somehow manages to get them just a little bit wrong. [W]hy bother? Why not just write a freaking comic?”

№35

Mariel of Redwall by Brian Jacques

Publisher: Philomel

Year: 1992

Pages: 400

In Brief: “Mariel of Redwall is not only a good book in its own right, but another strong step in a long, progressive evolution of Jacques’ writing and the Redwall canon. I recommend this as strongly as I recommend the rest, even if I prefer others to this one, relatively speaking.”

№36

John Adams by David McCullough

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Year: 2002

Pages: 752

In Brief: “There has been plenty of criticism of John Adams for its shortcomings, among them understressing the importance of Adams as a political philosopher and public intellectual, and perhaps dwelling overlong on mundane and ultimately unimportant details culled from the volume of Adams’ correspondence. Still and all, I found the book, though lagging a bit at times, to be generally a wonderful read. McCullough has a rare ability to turn historical information into a gripping narrative without sensationalizing or fabricating; John Adams really is a story, rather than a collection of data, and it shows off not only the illustrious life of one of America’s most important individuals, but also McCullough’s skills as a historian, biographer, and writer.”

№37

God’s Problem by Bart D. Ehrman

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Year: 2007

Pages: 304

In Brief: “God’s Problem is a bit of an without a problem. Although it’s an excellent survey of historical and current Christian teachings regarding theodicy, its contextual problems—the author’s own revulsion to suffering and its effects on his faith—aren’t likely to sway any reader on any side of the debate. I think Ehrman understands this (he appears to disclaim as much), and yet much of his personal narrative, injected between textual analyses, appears worded to provoke just such an event. Theodicy is a very real topic of debate that continues to inform sermons even today, and remains relevant as long as the world continues to appear an arbitrary and cruel place. I knew, generally, of the arguments for suffering, having heard of and contemplated Epicurus’ (in)famous proposal long ago, but it was nice to get lot of textual information with which to frame the subject.”

№38

Salamandastron by Brian Jacques

Publisher: Philomel

Year: 1993

Pages: 400

In Brief: “Ultimately, I think Salamandastron is one of the weaker Redwall novels, especially among the earlier ones; Jacques seems like he was phoning in this one, throwing his trusty tropes into a bag and swinging it at a wall until it was good and messy. It’s not bad, but as one entry in a long line of good fantasy novels, it rather pales in comparison to its siblings.”

№39

The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil

Publisher: Penguin

Year: 2000

Pages: 400

In Brief: “If Ray Kurzweil wasn’t such a business success and obvious technological genius, I’d write The Age of Spiritual Machines off as underwhelming, somewhat obvious predictions. Or maybe they just seem obvious in retrospect: still, there are plenty of Kurzweil’s contemporaries who think, especially with his latest book about technological singularities, that he’s perhaps drunk too deeply of his own Kool-Aid™. Still, the man is obvious very smart, and so I give him credit for his insight, and as a futurist myself I empathize with him, but I fall short of necessarily praising him as a brilliant prognosticator.”

№40

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