Reviews and Comments

Yet another 90's SFBC selection I could not muscle through

The American Zone was a good way to end out the North American Confederate series. Nearly as good as the first. It really can stand on its own certainly no reason to read the rest of the series. That being said it is certainly a product of its time, written at the tail-end of 2001 there is a more than mild obsession with terrorism and the possibility that the terrorist aren't who they seem but actually folks who want to create a laviethan state. I susepct that L. Neil Smith is, or at least was at the time, a so-called 9/11 truther. Regardless the story is entriguing. Our hero Win Bear is saved by his healer wife far more times than should be justified for any red-blood American. Even the open-minded confederates start blaming the terror plots on immigrants, like those from the USA and other alternative realities, after all they didn't have these issues before there was an "American Zone." A few thigs do seem a bit far fetched, like that one of our newcomers finds a market for impoeting troll dolls because they never came to this reality, but somehow no one has thought to bring all the gold from all the other realities to debase their precious metal currency? Oh and of course there is Smith's regular obsessoin where we get more descriptions of a character's firearms than we do of the characters' character.

I loved this book. One of the best SG-1 novels. Disappointed to learn this was the only won that Waggoner wrote. Jonas Quinn shows up for the first time in years. He's been working on a planetary defense system to protect Langara from the System Lords and wants Carters help reviewing their work. Carter is called away with Danniel Jackson and the rest to a planet known as Valhalla. They meet Vikings who after death on Earth have ended up here and each day battle each other and go home to get drunk and start again the next day with their comrades returning from the dead.returnreturnQuins story continues separately with their government forcing them to test the system way too early, and that goes about how you expect.returnreturnMeanwhile giant Vikings are attacking SG-1 when they find out what's really gong on after 500 years of fighting for Odin. T'ealc and O'Neal head to Langara to get Quinn's new Naquadrium battery to fix the problem on Valhalla, just in time to get trapped.returnreturnIt's really a great ending that needs to read to believe. I usually only read books I own in between waiting for inter-library loan books to get transferred between libraries, but this one I kept going back to even when I had a book with a due date to finish.returnreturnAs with every other book in the Fandomonium series there is no need to have read any other ones as it is a self-contained story.

I was incredibly surprised how great this was from an author and a publisher I never heard of. It is as if Duncan predicted Jan 6th four years before it actually happened. Though his story goes one step further than 1/6/21 and actually may result in an all on civil war from a "tied" election. I hope the 2024 election turns out better than his 2016, but I wouldn't put it past my fellow Americans. returnreturnFrom beginning to end Duncan keeps you guessing. I kept wondering "is this guy a conservative or a liberal, a Republican or a Democrat" there are times both groups are shown as saintly or as complete devils. Clearly, he's not a third-party guy as there was 0 mention of any other candidates causing the downfall of America. From the main character who has been fighting for social democracy since childhood, to her born-again conservative green beret brother, to her transgender life-long friend and campaign manager, to the conservative Baptist republican nominee, to all the rondos on @Twittter that we see taking a part, not to mention her daughter with a life-threatening despise that wraps the whole story together, the characters will brilliant. I do say one very minor character gave up way too much, in fact when he appeared around 3/4 of the way through the story I almost gave up on the book as his mere name made it much clearer where the author was and how he'd get to the climax. This is the reason I give Blood Republic 4 rather than 5 stars. returnreturnI certainly would at least give them a different name if a sequel wherever to be published. The end of the book tells us to look forward to one and to subscribe to the publishers' newsletter online for more information, but alas I suspect it went out of business as the website is not accessible in 2023. It's a real shame if that's the case. Whether a sequel is published or not, some publisher really needs to get James Duncan on contract, or we'll lose a literacy genius.

We join our hero a year after our last adventure where his memory was altered and his wife had passed. Indy is looking for something to get out of teaching Celtic Archeology & the dean is looking to rid the university of him. returnreturnHis trip to his al ma matter in the University of Chicago doesn't quite go as planned, it seems his juvenille hijinks from the first book in the series are still haunting him. He's able to hook up with his old college roommate, Jack Shannon, who's Jazz club is off-the-charts these days, but Al Capone is not down with dat. returnreturnThe book felt like MacGregor had recently been born-again during his authoring of the series. While biblical adjacent stories are not new to the franchise, look at "Raiders of the Lost Arc", this has a lot of very baby Christian references far beyond the academic fiction of Raiders. Shannon himself has recently been born-again but sees little issue of him committing to his crime-family and his Pentecostal church. He is infatuated by a young woman whose dad comes to speak at his church regarding Noah's Ark. returnreturnIndy too likes the new girl, which is the primary reason he agrees to go with her dad on the quest to re-locate Noah's Ark. Dr. Vladimir Zobolonksy for religious/political reasons, Indy for personal/academic. Some Russian communists, and Islamic Fascists try to stop their journey along the way because...why not?returnreturnThe story kept the plot moving as an Indian Jones film. This is the first book in the series I felt actually would have been better as a movie, mostly because the characters are frequently speaking different languages, which would be much clearer on TV with English Subtitles than reading it all in English and only getting hints on code-switching. Otherwise, MacGregor does a fine job, he is great at making large jumps in time of the plot make sense and feel normal.returnreturnThe biggest reason "Genesis Deluge" does reach my 5 star is two of the tertiary characters have close loved ones die, yet their mourning is complete in a sentence or two. While MacGregor tries to cover this with the characters' own lives being in such peril that they have to move on quickly, it doesn't feel realistic nor emotionally intelligent.

Mexican Masks wasn't really what I hoped it would be. Cordry clearly has a great understanding of masks used by what he refers to as Mexican Indians. He lived among them for years and collected as many as he was able to barter for. He found in many states & villagers the locals had abandoned the ritualistic dances that used such masks in favor of the Catholicism of Spain that few had any idea what they were even used for anymore. I feel like Conley was trying to make a big beautiful coffee table book full of pictures of these masks from his private collection and many others'. It also appears he wanted to create a serious academic work, well cited and pear reviewed. I think what we got was neither. it was hard to read in that it would often reference photos on completely different pages, ideas are repeated many times "as stated previously..." & many other troupes that even in public school we were recommended against "I will cover that in Chapter 10." Not to mention times discussing the colors of particular masks and referincing a picture that the publisher included in B & W to save $$.returnreturnTo be fair the publisher said he fines herd the book only 2 days before he died and it was nearly 3 years later before it was published. He very well may have been trying to write two different books and his wife & UT just put them together for their simplicity.returnreturnWhat I liked best was the reflection of masks and dances that were continued to be used after most villagers converted to Christianity, such as images of bad gods having horns added to make them devils & demons and changing others, like say replacing a fertility god with the virgin Mary. Though most regions this is not so.returnreturnSome of his personal 1970s biases were present, like blaming the Catholic Church for opressing history, and defining art as something men did while crafts being women's work.returnreturnGiven that I still was able to get done with in in like 2 weeks I believe it was worthy of "I liked it" = 3 Stars.

I'm a Libertarian and a wrestling fan, so this should have been just up my alley. The wrestling stories where good, even if I had heard some of them before. I appreciated Kane's story about meeting Ron Paul with regards to him having been around famous people most of his life, but that was the only time he was ever actually nervous about meeting someone. returnreturnI was disappointed in the life in politics side of it. Kane talks about being influenced by von Misses and Harry Browne, not to mention Murray Rothbard, but then spends nearly a quarter of the book talking about how great Trump is. A politician that is the antithesis of libertarianism. returnreturnThis audiobook was read by the author, but it may be the one time I would have rather someone else did it. Glenn stumbles over his own words and his reading voice is so different from his wrestling voice I actually had to double check it was him. As an author he also repeats himself. For example, two different locations in the book he talks about when he was courting his wife much of it was done while sitting at her daughter's hospital bedside.

There is 0 break in the story, for whatever story there is, between The Golden Apple and Book 1 The Eye in The Pyramid. I guess that's one reason why since at least the 90s Illuminatus! has only been printed as one single volume containing the whole trilogy. returnreturnThere is not much I can say about this that I didn't already say in 2022 when I reviewed The eye in the pyramid: The writing style is out there; the character who makes up the first person prose changes without notice; I feel it is like what reading an LSD trip would be like. Part of me wondered what it would be like to read while on drugs, but I was not going to start doing drugs just to find out.

Without the description of the black mass, it wasn't quite as offensive as the first. Personally, I could not have read all three straight through, my brain just needs time to heal from all this.

In many places, including on the cover itself, this book is classified as Science Fiction, but it's not science fiction at all in any way. Not like a "But Star Wars isn't Science Fiction, it's a Space Opera" way but there is nothing in the plot related to changes or questions about science. I mean sure there is a submarine on the cover, and there is like one scene that take place aboard the submarine "Leif Erickson" but that's it. returnreturnI'll finish the Trilogy, but it will probably be another 3 years before I do.

A very good read. light and fast. I did have to re watch SG-1 S04E10 "Beneth the Surface" to get some of the subtext of the immediate previous mission.

While still recovering from memories of someone else living in their head, SG-1 advances to a new planet in search of the "Shield of the gods" hoping that its a defense mechanism against the Go'ahuld.

They find another very clean happy advanced city protected from the sun that would otherwise burn them to death, think climate change 40000 years from now. They all have accepted the same religion, which is lived out through the daytime soap opera of Sunrise teaching the beatitudes of their sun god.

They find the daughter of the pastor knows of a whole beyond their ark. They meet people who are barley surviving and have mixed feelings about sun rise.

The sun god they worship and fear is not Ra but their sun itself. SG-1 must find forbidden knowledge to save the people, the planet, and maybe someday mankind itself.

I don't remember the last time i fished a book in less than week, and i would have been two days if I had more time. I had to keep turning the page to see what happens next.A brilliant story even better than some of Lucasfilm. After getting his PhD in France Indy gets his first teaching job in London by the help of Marcus Brody. He teaches an intro class that most kids gloss over but the one egg head is also the deans daughter. Shes smaet young beautiful what every young American dreams a Scottish lass may be, but he's too scared.

Then crazy men start following him, eventually figuring their employees of this girl's ex..omg. Her term paper makes some pretty bold claims that Merlin was a historical figure, and she can prove it, as her mom just happened to br heading a dig this summer in same local.

Indy and Deidre head out to Scotland, mom will join later, sex the train, a big party when they get there.

Local priest is worried anything connected to metlin will bring pagans and Death and sin upon his town. Are the Catholics tryinh to ruin the dig, or is it the druids?

Aftee many near death experiences the couple ends up in stone Henge with even more secrecy, more like exbf and half brother troubles, and a changed soul. Highly recommended to anyone who likes adventure fiction.

I don't remember the last time i fished a book in less than week, and i would have been two days if I had more time. I had to keep turning the page to see what happens next.A brilliant story even better than some of Lucasfilm. After getting his PhD in France Indy gets his first teaching job in London by the help of Marcus Brody. He teaches an intro class that most kids gloss over but the one egg head is also the deans daughter. Shes smaet young beautiful what every young American dreams a Scottish lass may be, but he's too scared.

Then crazy men start following him, eventually figuring their employees of this girl's ex..omg. Her term paper makes some pretty bold claims that Merlin was a historical figure, and she can prove it, as her mom just happened to br heading a dig this summer in same local.

Indy and Deidre head out to Scotland, mom will join later, sex the train, a big party when they get there.

Local priest is worried anything connected to metlin will bring pagans and Death and sin upon his town. Are the Catholics tryinh to ruin the dig, or is it the druids?

Aftee many near death experiences the couple ends up in stone Henge with even more secrecy, more like exbf and half brother troubles, and a changed soul. Highly recommended to anyone who likes adventure fiction.

A very good read. light and fast. I did have to re watch SG-1 S04E10 "Beneth the Surface" to get some of the subtext of the immediate previous mission.

While still recovering from memories of someone else living in their head, SG-1 advances to a new planet in search of the "Shield of the gods" hoping that its a defense mechanism against the Go'ahuld.

They find another very clean happy advanced city protected from the sun that would otherwise burn them to death, think climate change 40000 years from now. They all have accepted the same religion, which is lived out through the daytime soap opera of Sunrise teaching the beatitudes of their sun god.

They find the daughter of the pastor knows of a whole beyond their ark. They meet people who are barley surviving and have mixed feelings about sun rise.

The sun god they worship and fear is not Ra but their sun itself. SG-1 must find forbidden knowledge to save the people, the planet, and maybe someday mankind itself.