Dr. No by Ian Fleming (A James Bond Novel)

 James Bond has recovered from the near fatal wound that he received in his last adventure against SMERSH. M has decided to give him a soft job to get him back in the swing of things. The head of the Jamaica station and his secretary have been murdered, although no one knows it. They have simply disappeared. M wants to know what has happened so he sends James. When Bond arrives he is met with a strange mystery. It seems that all of the trouble is coming from a place called Crab Island which is owned by the reclusive Dr. No. Now Bond has to get himself back in shape to hunt down the truth behind this elusive and potentially deadly new foe.

There is everything we expect from a Bond novel, a beautiful, sexy woman, an evil villain, dangerous traps, and determined heroics from 007. As always the Bond books are a lot of fun.

The Glorious Cause by Robert Middlekauff

The Glorious Cause is a part of the Oxford History of the United States. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. It is one of the best one volume books on the period from 1754-1789. The complexity of events during this period are nothing less than daunting. The colonists fought a nine year war on behalf of the British Empire. Their loyalty to the crown was unquestioned. In a series of laws after the 1763, changed all of that. As the British Parliament began to assert itself the freedom loving American began to push back. Accustomed to representational government and a certain amount of autonomy, many colonists began to resist. By 1775, only a dozen years after the end of the French and Indian War, the resistance erupted into full rebellion.

Over the next eight years the new American Nation would fight for her independence against the greatest army and navy in the world. The Peace of Paris ended the war, but not the trouble in America. The weak nature of the Articles of Confederation meant that there was no way to maintain a strong national government. The solution for some was to create a new government. To this end the Constitution was written.

This book gives an excellent overview of this period. All of the major events are touched on. The size of the book means that not every topic can be dealt with in depth, but it gives readers a starting point. Middlekauff’s prose is not academic in nature and is very accessible to the average reader. Read this along with Gordon Woods’ Empire of Liberty and Daniel Walker Howe’s What Hath God Wrought and you will have a very strong foundation in American History.

Stolen Away by Max Allan Collins (A Nathan Heller Novel)

Stolen Away is the fifth novel in the Nathan Heller series. In the opening pages of the story Detective Heller of the Chicago Police foils a kidnapping. Everyone is on the lookout for the Lindbergh baby who has recently been taken. Heller thinks that he sees the baby and moves in. It turns out that he has cracked the wrong kidnapping case, but he is still celebrated as a hero. He is then recommended by Elliot Ness to go to New Jersey and help on the Lindbergh Kidnapping case. There is the belief that there may be a connection to the Chicago mob and Al Capone. Heller leaves for New Jersey and is pulled into the drama surrounding the most infamous kidnapping case of all time.

Collins is a great storyteller and he skillfully weaves his fictional character into the historical events. Before it is over Heller has dealt with psychics, including Edgar Cayce, mobsters, wealthy women, the New Jersey state police, IRS agents, and many others. This is a great addition to the Heller memoirs and takes place in the period before the first novel True Detective.

Sea of Swords by R. A. Salvatore (A Drizzt Novel)

With Sea of Swords Salvatore returns to the story of Drizzt and his companions. Drizzt, Catti-Brie, Regis, and Bruenor have returned to Icewind Dale. They still miss Wulfgar, but have found other things to occupy them. While Bruenor has reopened his old mines Regis has once again made his way to the Council. Drizzt and Catti-Brie have taken up hunting the bandits that are plaguing the caravans from Icewind Dale to Luskan. After defeating one of the bandit groups they capture a bandit who has a brand on her shoulder. They recognize the brand as having been made by Wulfgar’s hammer Aegis-Fang. The companions decide that it is time to find their missing friend. 

Meanwhile Wulfgar has taken up with the famed pirate hunter Captain Deudermont. Together they are searching for the female pirate captain Sheila-Kree. Wulfgar has learned that she is the one who has Aegis-Fang. Even though he has worked through many of his problems Wulfgar is still not in control of his rage in battle. This causes problems as he tends to put his comrades in danger in battle.

How will the companions finally meet up with each other? Will they be able to defeat this pirate captain? Who is this elf warrior Le’lorinel who seems to have no greater desire in the world than the death of Drizzt? Why this intense hatred for one he has never known? All off these questions are answered amidst the action and adventure that one expects from a Drizzt novel.

Servant of the Shard by R. A. Salvatore

Servant of the Shard  is the first volume in the Sellswords Trilogy by R. A. Salvatore. The book picks up the tale of Drizzt’s old foe Artemis Entreri. Entreri is now in league with the drow mercenary Jarlaxle and his Bregan D’aerthe band. Jarlaxle has decided to extend his reach to the surface world. He sees great profit to be had. He knows the hatred that the surface world has for the drow so he uses men like Entreri to run the front end of the business. There is only one problem with the setup. At the end of The Silent Blade Jarlaxle stole the sentient artifact Crenshinibon from Drizzt. Now the artifact is doing everything it can to take control of the drow leader. Before it is over Entreri will have to do everything he can to save himself. The only way to do that is to save Jarlaxle from Crenshinibon. Before all is over the human assassin and the drow mercenary will find themselves new enemies and ally with the powerful cleric Cadderly and his companions. This is high intrigue and high action. All the best you can expect from R. A. Salvatore and his Forgotten Realms books.

Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson

This fascinating look into Western Civilization by Niall Ferguson is certain to ruffle some feathers. It is bound to raise controversy. Ferguson asks the question that can’t be asked. The question that must never be asked in our modern world: Why did Western Civilization come to dominate the rest of the world in the last 500 years? After all, five hundred years ago a betting man would have looked at puny Europe and compared it with the powerful Moslem world and the vast Chinese realm and scoffed at the idea that the Europeans would have come to dominate. What caused this? The stock answer today is colonialism. That is of course nonsense. After all the Islamic world was built oni colonialism. China was a vast empire. Why were they not ascendant?

Ferguson comes up with the answer. Western Civilization developed six concept, what he calls “killer applications” that allowed it to grow and dominate. These “killer applications” are competition, science, democracy, medicine, consumerism, and the work ethic. He goes into great detail about each of these concepts, how they developed, and why the lack of these “killer applications” or their underuse lead to the other world powers drop at the same time that the West began to rise. There is some fascinating material here. I am sure that many will argue against Ferguson’s points, but the ability to debate and discus such concepts freely is itself a mark of the West.

One of the things that I like about this book is that it eschews any racial nonsense. The West did not become superior due to any superiority on the part of Western man. Rather it became superior because of it’s ideas. He shows that as nations begin to adopt these ideas they begin to grow. The ascendency in our own time of China is in many ways related to the slow acceptance of these ideas. This is an excellent book and deserves a reading.

Spine of the World by R. A. Salvatore

Spine of the World picks up the story of Wulfgar from The Silent Blade. Broken in spirit by his many years as a prisoner of the demon Errtu, Wulfgar has left his friends and become a bouncer at a bar known as the Cutlass in the city of Luskan. He has found that the only way to drown the pain is to drink. At night he drinks and fights and drinks some more. His new companion is an unsavory character known as Morik the Rogue. Before the book ends Wulfgar will have plunged to the very depth of his soul. He will dig himself out and begin the process of trying to find himself again.

The is the first of the novels to focus on one of Drizzt’s companions other than the drow ranger. Salvatore gives a fascinating look at the character of Wulfgar and what it means for a man to try and find redemption and to find his sanity again after losing everything and going through unspeakable tortures. Wulfgar’s journeys take him from Luskan to the Spine of the World. The greatest journey though is the one within. How does the nobel barbarian finally find his way back? For that you have to read this difficult, but excellent book.