Storm Front

This is the first in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.

I should have titled my review "Wish I'd Thought of This Myself" which is taken from a quote by Glen Cook on the front of the edition of this book that I read. I have to agree with him. This is a great concept, and Butcher handles it quite well in most respects.

To digress just a moment, there was a recent TV series based on the Dresden Files books - unfortunately, it lasted only one season. If you did not see it, I recommend that you buy or rent the DVD's and take a look, as the episodes are quite good. The present book is really the only one of the book series actually depicted in the TV series from what I have read. Even that episode is a little different from the book, although quite similar. I do have to say that after reading this book that the TV series followed the concept in the books very well if not all the actual stories. People who liked the TV series should like this book and vice versa.

In any case, in both the book and TV series, the main character, Harry Dresden, is a wizard who works as a private investigator on paranormal type cases. He also consults for the Chicago police in this regard. In the present book, he is involved in multiple "strange" matters that turn out to be related as the book proceeds. The title is relevant to the story in a major way as thunder storms are the source of power (helped along by lust, greed, anger and the like) that the bad wizard uses to do his dirty work - brutal murder, creating a new illicit drug and the like.

There is something for everyone here. Good wizards, bad wizards, vampires, demons, pretty girls, hard nosed cops, gangsters, a new illicit drug that lets you see visions, a little sex, a few murders and more. Don't get the wrong idea, as this is no hard to believe fantasy world nor violence fest. The author sets things up very well, so that all the magical stuff seems quite believable happening in present day Chicago and the action seems necessary (for the most part at least) and not gratuitous.

There is plenty of action, but there is not the overload (except maybe near the end) one often sees throughout books of this type. Harry Dresden is a good and likeable guy. Someone who would probably make a good friend even without his magical powers. He actually has to do a lot without using magic as well - things are never too easy for him.

The reason I gave the book 4 and not 5 stars was I did not care for the caption that the author decided he should tell readers about that was on the T-shirt that Harry puts on mid-way through the book; I don't know why the author did this as it will offend a lot of people, was totally unnecessary to the story and will even give people who think that books about wizards are "evil" something to point to to make their argument (remember the anti-Harry Potter protests?). I also thought that the final "battle" scene went on a little too long and had a few too many things going on in it as well.

Overlooking these issues that I had with the book, I liked it a lot and would recommend it to others. The author writes very well and makes a really "fantastic" plot line seem (almost) totally believable. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Royal Scandals

For the most part, I found this book sensationalist and shallow, but then I guess I should have figured that out from the cover - look it up and notice the location of the man's hand. That being said, I did learn a few non-sordid facts here and there.

I did not like the way the book is organized - more by subject than person or time period. Some people are thus mentioned more than once which got a little confusing.

It all seemed so out of context as well. As the British would say, "just the nasty bits" were covered without more for the most part. Some of the people covered were truly awful or had very bad luck generally, but for some this was only true a few times, yet the book might lead one to think this is all there was to their lives. The book might also lead some people to some false generalities like say that all the popes were lecherous murderers given how the book went on and on about some who were.

Maybe the author (Michael Farquhar) intended it all to be taken lightly, so no harm no foul you might say, but then so much of it was about deadly serious stuff. It all seemed depressing at best. So much like the usual fare on TV and in many mass type publications today.

There are also some clear errors - like on page 314 where the book tells readers that Cortes conquered the Incas in Mexico in 1521; the Incas were from Peru and never in Mexico to any extent that I ever heard, and I think it was Pizarro who did them in, while Cortes fought the Aztecs in Mexico. This is more than a mere typo.

I make it a habit to finish a book once I start, so I was very happy to get to the end of this one. I would skip it if I were you.

Prometheus Rising

This is a book by Robert Anton Wilson.

I'll say right upfront that I thought that this book has some strange stuff in it in places, but readers should put that aside long enough to read through the whole thing. Don't let the cover art put you off either, readers; I know that the green guy creeped me out, but he is not really mentioned in the text. This book is well worth reading.

I found this book while looking around for something easy to get through on General Semantics. However, it is mostly concerned with the eight neurological circuits (bio-survival, emotional-territorial, semantic, moral, neurosomatic, neurogenetic, metaprogramming and quantum) that Timothy Leary was big on - don't panic, there is no need to do LSD to understand what is going on here. The author also includes discussion on other topics like yoga and quantum mechanics (no math required here) as well as on many interesting subjects that I for one had never heard of before as he goes along. If they are like me, readers will give wikipedia a real workout right after finishing each chapter to learn more on many of these topics. There are very thought provoking exercises as well - I still haven't found any quarters, but I may have not tried hard enough yet. It may take some people a while to get through the book as a result, but it is worth the time to do the outside study as needed and to do the exercises.

The author spends a lot of time on the first 4 circuits and less on the others which is understandable I guess as the latter are newer and less understood. The chapters on brainwashing are frightening and probably all too accurate - readers might want to give these some more thought after finishing them. There is much more presented that warrants further thinking by readers as well. For example, one might get some insight into why certain people that they know behave as they do and maybe even gain some insight as to their own behavior as well. As the book winds up, the author presents some ideas about where we might be heading as individuals and as a species; some of his predictions did not come true, at least not yet, but there seems to be a ring of truth at least in much of this.

I found the book a little disorganized in many spots, but readers should be able to follow it for the most part anyway. I did find several apparent errors in the book early on, but noticed fewer as it went. Please note that sometimes at least it seems that the author meant melancholic when he wrote choleric - this may save some readers a lot of time trying to figure out Chapter 4.

Despite some real strangeness and disorganization here and there, most readers probably will learn a great deal from this book - at least if they are ready. If anyone wonders what I mean by that, they will have to read the book.

Highly recommended, but be prepared as there may be some shocks.