I can't review this book without thinking of Ian Fleming's Octopussy - in part because I can now never think of Fraser at all without making that connI can't review this book without thinking of Ian Fleming's Octopussy - in part because I can now never think of Fraser at all without making that connection, as I only recently learned that he wrote the screenplay for that dreadful film. But it's also because this book is very similar to Fleming's in that both are unusual late-career entries to long-running series that consists of several short stories/novellas (three for Frasier; four for Fleming) rather than their usual full-length novels. (Oh yeah, and also because much like Flashman himself, Roger Moore's Bond character is also a ridiculous servant of the queen with a grossly over-inflated reputation and self-image, while in fact he is mainly a lecherous idiot whose main skill involves frequently getting captured and then escaping).
Anyway - in reserve order:
FLASHMAN AND THE TIGER: The best of the bunch, although spoiler - there are no tigers; the title merely refers to the fictional John Sebastian "Tiger Jack" Moran, who is not only the villain here but also in several Sherlock Holmes stories, where he is Professor Moriarty's right-hand man. As a result, Fraser sets up a hilarious third-act cameo and takedown of the famous detective, which alone is worth the price of admission, (which in my case was just $0.49 from the peerless McKay Used Books in Manassas).
The story begins (misleadingly) with an action-packed set piece featuring a typical Flashie attempt to outrun the Zulus at Isandlwana…but then jumps ahead fifteen years to boring old English where an elderly Flashman re-encounters Moran and has his brief run-in with Holmes. Decent if not memorable story; but more fun here are the Easter eggs. Aside from the Sherlock/Watson cameos, Flashman finally alludes to his presence at both Gettysburg and Omdurman - two glaring omissions in his otherwise omnipresent mid-19th Century history that many readers have long wondered about. Frasier also makes mention of a "Captain Younghusband" in his notes on Isandlwana - but to my surprise this was neither the famous Francis nor his lesser known brother George, but a Capt. Reginald Younghusband who I'd never heard of before, (likely because he did not survive the battle). And finally, the odd cover illustration: Flashman generally appears as a heroic if often pompous figure on his book jackets. But here? He's in fact the drunken old man being poked by Holmes…although you'll have to read to understand why.
THE SUBTLETIES OF BACCARAT: An ironic title, since as Flashman correctly notes "baccarat is the most imbecile of card games, in which half-wits sit around a large table…Endless fun, assuming you can count to nine." And as far as I can tell, it really is a stupid game - God knows why Fleming had Bond play it so often; but luckily they changed it to Texas Hold'em in Daniel Craig's "Casino Royale," (although I'm sure if that had been a Roger Moore movie, he'd have been playing "Go Fish").
THE ROAD TO CHARING CROSS: Nope; haven't read it - longest of the three and takes place in Europe; my least favorite setting for the Flashman stories (other than England itself). Will probably return to it at some point; but as I've noted elsewhere, having gotten through most of the "interesting" (to me) Flashman's, I'm probably done with him for a while - it was really only the low-low price that attracted me to this one....more
SECOND UPDATE: Having recently finished Persepolis Rising, I returned here mainly for "Auberon," which is another Empire-based story that takes place SECOND UPDATE: Having recently finished Persepolis Rising, I returned here mainly for "Auberon," which is another Empire-based story that takes place some time after Persepolis. And it was really good - Corey has always done a great job making even his villains well-rounded, morally-conflicted and even sympathetic characters, and he does so again here. He also links in other minor characters from a range of previous material - Singh, Cortazar, Overstreet, even a lovely surprise return from "The Churn" - so that when I was done with this story, I went back and reread a few of the others, particularly "Strange Dogs" (which I didn't remember being set on Laconia, and which includes some vital background on Singh and Duarte) and "The Vital Abyss" (Cortazar and Michio Pa), just to see how well-crafted all these stories are in pulling together bits and pieces from other stories and books.
Probably my biggest personal problem is that I've stretched out reading The Expanse for well over a decade - first read Leviathan Wakes way back in 2011 - so I've either forgotten some of the characters and their backstories, or get them confused with their often-different TV versions. However, reading or rereading these stories (and checking The Expanse's character wiki pages) has helped pull it all together. There's still one more story here - "The Sins of Our Fathers" - but I think I have to finish the last two doorstop novels first; so will be a while before I can actually move this book from my "will-get-back-to" list to just "read" :)
Anyway...in light of this latest story - and a heightened appreciation of The Expanse's "bigger picture," am upping to 4 stars.
FIRST UPDATE: Just finished Babylon's Ashes and the final season of Amazon's excellent "The Expanse," so revisited this to read two more stories that bookend Ashes - "The Vital Abyss" and "Strange Dogs."
- "Abyss" (set before Ashes) gets off to a slow, "Squid Games" kinda start, and then spends too long in a fairly boring character backstory. But it picks up (and becomes almost a prequel to the original Leviathan Wakes) when it finally discusses the early days of the protomolecule's discovery and misuses.
- "Strange Dogs" turned out to be the slightly "huh??" pre-credits story that kicks off every episode of Amazon's Season 6 - so not a bad story at all, but if you've seen the show there's really no reason to read this story, because they are frickin' identical.
So overall - still holding steady at a solid 3 stars.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Getting ready to read Nemesis Games and then watch Season 5, but thought I should read at least those stories here that lead up to Nemesis. Turns out three of the stories - "Drive," "Butcher of Anderson Station" and "The Churn" take place even before the events of Leviathan Wakes (although for some reason "Churn" is the fourth story in the book), while "Gods of Risk" takes place between Caliban's War and Abaddon's Gate.
Also turns out that at least the gist of the events in "Drive" and "Butcher" were included as flashbacks in Seasons 1 and 2, and all of "Gods" became at least a part of Bobbie's story back on Mars throughout Season 4. And now that I know Amos goes back to Baltimore in Season 5, I'm curious whether they incorporate part of his "Churn" background here.
"The Churn" was definitely the best of the stories here, and well worth listening to separately as an audiobook (which I had done previously). Now that I'm caught up, I'll probably revisit the remaining stories at the right time as I read through the next couple of books....more
Or in my case, "Why I Don't Sleep," since I've been an insomnia zombie the past couple months...so reading this more out of desperation rather than soOr in my case, "Why I Don't Sleep," since I've been an insomnia zombie the past couple months...so reading this more out of desperation rather than some innate interest. But that said, so far it's a fascinating if horrific read, because the importance of sleep - and the havoc caused by not getting enough of it - cannot be overstated. ...more
Apparently there's an earlier audiobook version of this recorded by Bryson himself, which I would love to get my hands on somewhere, because I've enjoApparently there's an earlier audiobook version of this recorded by Bryson himself, which I would love to get my hands on somewhere, because I've enjoyed his low-key reading on several of his other books. Unfortunately, this version narrated by William Roberts quickly became unlistenable. I just barely managed to get through the first CD, but by then was pretty much ready to drive into a brick wall. Roberts overacts shamelessly and relentlessly, sounding like a character from some 1940's radio comedy like Fibber McGee & Molly, or else the guy who let's you know that Fibber is "brought to you by Chesterfields, the cigarette smoked by more doctors than any other." At times he even chuckles gently at "his" (i.e., Bryson's) own cleverness...nyyaarrRRRGGH !!
That said, Bryson remains a highly skilled and amusing writer. I particularly enjoyed his very first piece on returning to America after living 20 years in England, since his experiences readjusting to the land of his youth reminded me so much of my own return to the States after 15 years in Taiwan - he just tells it so much better than I ever could. But from there on, he sounds increasingly like the bastard child or Garrison Keillor and Jerry Seinfeld during his observational "what's the deal with...?" period, as he riffs on more mundane topics like airports, basements, garbage disposals and the like.
This could well be a 5-star book, but with this 1-star narration I couldn't give it more than an overall 3-star average. However, I will definitely look for it in either print or Bryson-read formats and hopefully give it the review - and rating - it truly deserves....more
Excellent summaries of the major battles, with great maps, way-cool graphics,* and just the right amount of text. Am using it as a guide to eventuallyExcellent summaries of the major battles, with great maps, way-cool graphics,* and just the right amount of text. Am using it as a guide to eventually hit most of the major Eastern battlefields - had already done Bull Run and Gettysburg several times, and visited Antietam just today - and look forward to visiting the other Virginia sites in future day trips, which (if you include the surrender at Appomattox) is over half the book...always surprised to remember how much of the entire war was fought within an easy day's drive of either capital. But then, getting me and my wife to Gettysburg (a 90-minute car ride) is a lot faster today than trying to march an entire army up there 150 years ago...
* Each "chapter" includes a birds-eye view of the battle being covered, like the one shown on the cover - so looks just like how I used to set up my million (or so it seemed) "Marx" Civil War soldiers back in the mid-'60s....more
My current nightstand book. Whether you always agree with him or not, Teddy was just so goddam smart - the perfect (if depressing) antidote for our owMy current nightstand book. Whether you always agree with him or not, Teddy was just so goddam smart - the perfect (if depressing) antidote for our own "intelligence is bad and science isn't real" times....more
Very, very funny book as I remember it -- but no one else seems to have ever heard of it, and it's pretty difficult to find anywhere. Was it really thVery, very funny book as I remember it -- but no one else seems to have ever heard of it, and it's pretty difficult to find anywhere. Was it really that politically incorrect that it's more or less disappeared? This really should have gotten a wider readership than it apparently did, as I don't recall it being religiously offensive at all....more
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