'Armada' by Ernest Cline

Armada, Ernest Cline (3.0)

While not as thoroughly engaging, complex or as pertinent to those of my generation as Mr. Cline’s previous novel, ‘Ready Player One’, I did find some things to like in ‘Armada’. His predilection for video games and science fiction are strong in the story, though the ‘80’s movie and music tie-ins are subtler. The main character, Zack, spends much of his teenage years playing Armada, a multi-player video game involving a war against an invading alien army where our armed force uses unmanned replaceable drones for the majority of the fighting. When he starts realizing that his video world and real world may be combining (uh, steal much from ‘Ender’s Game’?), he believes he is having a mental breakdown a la his father, who died very early in his life. I won’t say more as this book is really quite predictable enough, but I did find it more compelling as he moved out of the video game sphere and into real life. I am a sucker for most types of Sci-Fi, particularly when the invading alien motivation is somewhat cryptic. I think most readers over 40 will read this book and pine for ‘Ready Player One’, but those younger may be happy, as is.

"All the Light We Cannot See' and 'The Book of Life'

All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (3.5)

Reading this book while travelling through Austria was a unique experience. Hearing lots of German being spoken certainly put me in the right frame of mind.  That being said, I have mixed feelings about this book. My main complaint is how one of the main characters, the German boy, Werner, was written to be one of the most sympathetic Nazi characters I have read.  From his introduction, I felt manipulated into liking him and knew I would be called on to ignore or at least understand his war actions.  The story is told mainly from his point of view and that of a 16-year-old blind French girl. The author jumps back and forth from a time shortly after the invasion of Normandy to a time 5-10 years leading up to it. The point of view at various times comes from a couple of other characters (a Nazi gemologist, the girl’s father, her uncle, etc.), which seems a bit disjointed but does work.  I liked the unique qualities of the story, including the plot, but I found the ending a little unsatisfying. The climax happened quite early (~85%) and the story dangled on with many more small events. Overall the plot was compelling, I liked how some of the characters were written, but something was ‘off’.

The Book of Life (All Souls), Deborah Harkness (3.5)

For light, romantic, ‘Twilight’ for adults’ type reading, this series fits the bill. Sprinkled with interesting historical information and characters you want to follow, these books have a bit less ‘mooning’ and more action as the two main characters (a witch and a vampire) fall in love and try to figure out how witches, vampires and daemons came to be and are supposed to flourish. As typical with unconventional lovers, most everyone is against them and many roadblocks thrown in their way.  I found this third book better than the second – it wrapped most elements up well, leaving a bit open for more, but was generally satisfying in its closer.

'The Boys in the Boat', by Daniel James Brown

The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown (3.0)

I was a bit disappointed in this award-winning book. While the story is fascinating, I was let down with the story telling. All the elements were there: a group of scrappy athletes (many who had come through adversity), an unlikely winning college team, and the dramatic setting of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. I’m glad I now know the story in more detail, but on completion I had a sense of missing a better version. The author picked wisely in his main character. He follows the story of Joe Rantz, one of the rowers of the 8-oar crew team from the University of Washington in the mid 1930’s. Joe’s childhood reads today as a harrowing abandonment, although it was likely a more frequent scenario during the Depression. His journey to get on the team and to the great success achieved should be inspiring to all and impresses on us the type of strong personal character he had. I think many people will enjoy this book. While similar and as inspiring, it’s not quite ‘Seabiscuit’ or ‘Unbroken’.

'Down to a Soundless Sea, Stories' by Thomas Steinbeck

Down to a Soundless Sea, Stories, Thomas Steinbeck (3.5)

Since we’ve moved to the Central Coast of California recently and just started to deeply investigate the area, I found these short stories particularly interesting. Mr. Steinbeck admits in the Author’s Note that his family would indulge their storytelling abilities at gatherings – led by his famous father, John Steinbeck. Most of these stories have JS’s feel of the area, the characters and often a sense of sadness you find in his famous books. The stories weave names familiar to us now (Cruickshank, Post, Pfeiffer, etc.) as they were real people who worked and lived in the area in the late 1800’s. There are also several characters from the diverse cultures that settled in this area, from the Chinese to the Filipinos and the industries that drew them such as shipping and mining. One of the longer stories (‘Blind Luck’) reminded me of ‘Two Years Before the Mast’, the excellent telling of Richard Henry Dana’s experiences in the shipping industry along the California coast. Overall I really enjoyed the history lessons palatably served as touching stories and I believe, through these stories, we are privy to the fireside stories told by and to Thomas Steinbeck.

'Seveneves' by Neal Stephenson

Seveneves, Neal Stephenson (4.0)

This book may have the best first sentence ever. I don’t want to give it away, but basically something extremely shocking happens so that people realize that earth will be unlivable in 2 years. Imagine the whole world coming to this understanding and working together to try to save the few people it can. The first third of the book covers humanity’s efforts to save what it can during those 2 years – mostly off world. The rest of the book covers both the near and long term effects of the devastation. Amazing how much was put into the details of space stations and issues with long-term space living. Stephenson also addresses many of the social issues involved with maintaining humanity. Oddly, it isn’t until two thirds of the book that the mean of the title is revealed! In usual Stephenson style, the book is long, interesting and full of technically accurate details. My only complaint is that some of the technical accounts were a bit long-winded for me, but the plot and characters were riveting and kept me reading at a fast pace.

'Out' by Natsuo Kirino

Out, Natsuo Kirino (3.0)

This macabre story of murder, cover-up, Japanese mobsters and terribly sad people is not for the faint of heart or squeamish. While I found the graphic murder and dismemberment scenes (yes, there are several) off-putting, the characters were interesting and the plot was gripping. I particularly enjoyed the depiction of the regular workers of Tokyo, who consider an office job an enviable one. This was not the Tokyo I had seen or people I had met on my many visits. The story revolves around 4 women who work the night shift at a lunch box factory – assembling the familiar rice, pork, and pickle lunch boxes seen at all corner 7-elevens in Tokyo. Each woman has her own unique reason for working the night shift.  In a private culture, such as found in Japan, you wouldn’t call these women ‘friends’, but they did form a team in order to survive their hours in the factory. This teamwork is called upon again when one of the women kills her husband. The story follows the aftermath as the characters struggle with what they’ve done, who they’ve gotten involved and what will happen next. I appreciate that Kirino-san did not take the obvious or easy way out for the guilty, though the ending was slightly mystifying to me and I found it took a bit away of my admiration for the writing.