Sunday Morning Book Thread - 3-2-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

MIGHTY MEGA MORON REVIEWS

Several Morons sent me some book reviews for your enjoyment. Let's get started!

First up, we have this contribution from OrangeEnt:

A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

A Journey to the Center of the Earth begins likewise as Around the World. We get a description of the main character, Professor von Hardwigg. Superficially, he seems the same as Phileas Fogg: imperious, know-it-all, sure of everything he says is correct. The idea of the journey is impetuous, as Fogg's, because of a parchment containing runes found by the Professor, supposedly from a seventeenth-century scientist named Arne Saknussemm claiming he made it to the center of the earth. Hardwigg dragoons his nephew, the narrator of the story, Harry, playing the part of Passepartout, into the journey.

It takes a few chapters to start the journey. Iceland is their starting point, the extinct volcano, Mount Sneffels, taking along an Icelandic guide, Hans, who saves them many times. There's a lot of talk between the characters about the theories of how the earth is full of subterranean tunnels crossing the planet. Hardwigg dismisses the idea of crust, mantle, and cores, preferring the tunnel theory.

They traverse tunnels for miles and almost run out of food and water. They only speak of this whenever it's necessary to add excitement to the plot. It's a lot of wandering until over halfway through the story when they actually find something under the surface. They come to a huge subterranean lake that seems to go on for miles. Hans creates a raft from petrified trees, and during the sailing, they find sea
creatures, get caught in a fight between two, then find themselves in a storm that throws them back where they think they started from. The Professor and Harry explore the area and find mastodons and a very large human. They run away, and stumble on Saknussemm's initials scrawled on a tunnel. They go down the tunnel until they reach a granite boulder blocking their path. Harry suggests they blow it up to clear the passage. They get on their raft before Harry sets off the explosion. It opens a pit that causes the sea to drain into the pit and hurtles them down further into it until they find themselves rising in hot water. Professor Hardwigg determines they're now above lava, heading to the surface. They get blown out of a side fissure of a volcano that turns out to be Etna. They return home to great acclaim.

Obviously the science of Verne's time is wrong, as expounded by Hardwigg, but it's an adventure story, not a textbook. It's still an enjoyable read, although
coincidence—and Hans' abilities—always save the day. Just as in Around the World. Recommended if you like adventures.

One note: apparently my version has different names for the characters, but the source says it was from the original text as published in 1864.

--OrangeEnt

Next up, we have this even lengthier review sent to me by CharlieBrown'sDildo. You can find the source article at The Epoch Times, but you have to provide an email address if you want to read it (unless you already have access, I suppose.). If you want to read this book, it's available for free on Project Gutenberg.

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

A Children's Book of Wonder: 'The Princess and the Goblin'

By Walker Larson

"Of all the stories I have read ... it remains the most real, the most realistic, in the exact sense of the phrase the most like life," said British writer G.K. Chesterton about "The Princess and the Goblin." These are surprising words to describe a children's fantasy novel, yet Chesterton, as was so often the case, saw past the surface of the work to its inner depths.

"The Princess and the Goblin," despite its otherworldly setting and fantastical creatures, contains a certain realism: the realism of universal spiritual truths at the center of our lives. The delightful novel provides young readers (and old ones) with a well-balanced mixture of wit, wisdom, and wonder.

Chesterton wasn't the only one inspired by George MacDonald's writing. The Scottish writer and Christian minister is sometimes considered the father of modern fantasy. His imaginative, mystical books influenced such fantasy titans as Lewis Carroll, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien. He also wrote theological works, and his novels contain traces of theological speculation.

Larson provides a summary of the story, which is about an 8-year-old girl who lives in an ancient castle, under which a race of goblins schemes to abduct the girl for their own purposes. Irene's only allies are a young miner boy, Curdie, and her great-great-grandmother, who teaches Irene to experience wonder as she never has before.

Larson is struck by the sheer *wonder* evoked by MacDonald's use of language in this story. MacDonald is able to transform mundane objects, such as staircases and cellars into beautiful things that transcend Irene's everyday experiences. "[T]he child reader begins to see his own home as a place where adventure could be waiting around any corner" (Larson, 2025).

The other central theme pointed out by Larson is that MacDonald's story reinforces the idea that evil and good are in constant struggle all around us, through our ordinary habits and ordinary activities. It's how we respond to good and evil in that fashion that reveals our character. MacDonald, according to Larson, believed that "royal status had much more to do with being courageous, kind, honest, and the like, than it did with bloodline." This theme shows up consistently in fantasy literature again and again and again, as heroes of humble birth stride forth to defeat evil, and end up ruling a nation at the end, beloved by those they've saved.

Moron DL sent me the following message about military science fiction author John Ringo. I've included one of his books as a representative example below, though most of his books are highly recommended by DL:

Looking Glass Book 1 - Into the Looking Glass by John Ringo

I nominate JOHN RINGO, for the Sunday Morning Book Thread.

He's a veteran of the US Army (82nd Airborne), and an outstanding SciFi and MilFi author... Outstanding.

His Paladin of Shadows series was a brisk and entertaining read, as was his March Upcountry series... He is probably best known for the Legacy of the Aldenata series, all 12 books, but his MOST entertaining writing is the Looking Glass series. SciFi with a firm tongue-in-cheek homage to pop-culture, of various cultures...

I first encountered him in Keith Laumer's Bolo universe, and sought out his particular writing not long after... I recommend most any of his books, but most frequently, Through the Looking Glass, to anyone who reads SciFi or Fantasy.

He has an excellent sense of humor, and some of his contemporaneous writing - X and such - has been featured on AoSHQ as recently as this past weekend.

If he's not already a Friend of the Blog, like VDH, he is also worthy of an invitation, but mostly, you should feature him on the book thread, for others to enjoy.

His author home page, and self-description:
Ringo's Tavern

"Experience Fiction through Military Eyes"

John Ringo is a bestselling author and veteran of the 82nd Airborne, Ringo's Tavern brings a unique blend of military knowledge and storytelling to readers
Core Values: Action, Carnage, Epic Battles

His substack, and description:

John Ringo SF Author

SF Author. Veteran. Libertarian conservative. Author of over 30 novels, 50 plus books, multiple Bestseller lists. This is where I explore. So, if you're ready for finished and polished...

Finally, we have my own contribution below:

Star Wars - The New Jedi Order

In 1991, Lucasfilm released a new Star Wars novel by Timothy Zahn, Heir to the Empire, the first novel in a three-book cycle. It's now officially The Thrawn Trilogy, but at the time the series did not have a name (I'm not making that up--Dark Force Rising says "Volume 2 of a Three-Book Cycle"). Thanks to the success of this book and its sequels, Lucasfilm realized it now had a license to print money, so numerous books in the overall Star Wars saga were released in the 1990s. However, Lucasfilm realized that its stories were becoming a bit stale and predictable, with the constant proliferation of increasingly ludicrous superweapons in many of their storylines.

When Lucasfilm switched publishers from Bantam Spectra to Ballantine Del Rey, they opted to take the Star Wars franchise in a new and different direction. The New Jedi Order series was designed to significantly expand the Star Wars universe, taking place approximately 25 years after A New Hope. During that time, an entire generation of characters has grown up under the New Republic and the restoration of the Jedi Order under the leadership of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, including the children of Han and Leia Solo.

You can go read past installments of the Sunday Morning Book Thread for details on the overall storyline. The basic story follows Luke and Mara Skywalker, Han and Leia Solo, and their children Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin as they battle the destructive Yuuzhan Vong, who have invaded the galaxy, determined to conquer it for their own insidious purposes.

Is this great literature? No, of course not. It's all derived from a single blockbuster movie from 1977.

Is it a good space opera? Yes, I think so.

The series does have its flaws, of course. Many of the characters make monumentally stupid decisions from time to time in order to serve the plot. Especially when you KNOW the characters are smarter than that. It can be a painful slog to read through those sections, knowing that an intelligent person would make different decisions.

The sheer scale of the the galaxy is also minimized, as it seems like characters flit from planet to planet effortlessly. Traveling within a system seems to take moments and even as characters explore the Unknown Regions, it seems almost *too* easy. Contrived coincidence rules the day as characters just *happen* to show up at the same world for the same conflict, even if they were on entirely different missions.

However, I still enjoyed it tremendously. I thought the writers handled the horrors of war with appropriate gravitas for the most part. There are some uncomfortable scenes to read through as a young men and women are subjected to horrific tortures by their captors, but that's realistic when dealing with enemies as brutal as the Yuuzhan Vong. The deaths of significant characters are handled quite well, as Han struggles to deal with his grief over losing his best friend, holding his son Anakin responsible for a time. Anakin has to deal with his own guilt of leaving Chewbacca behind to die. LOTS of characters suffer PTSD throughout the story as the war drags on.

The authors had an ambitious challenge to face when writing this story. It was originally supposed to last for 30 novels or more, but due to time constraints, they had to cram it into 19 books instead, which I think is for the best. There's very little padding. One way to look at this series is as a 5-year television story arc in novel form. That's very much how it reads. The pacing and structure is quite similar to what you would find in a high-quality science fiction televion series like Babylon 5 or Farscape. The fact that 13 authors were involved also means that there was little risk of the stories becoming too formulaic. Although the stories had to weave together, authors could take characters in interesting directions. For example, the Agents of Chaos subseries follows Han Solo as he goes on his own quest while grieving Chewbacca's death. Dark Journey is a "breather episode" focusing on Jaina and her relationship with Leia after the traumatic events of Star by Star. The standalone novel Traitor explores Jacen's captivity by the Yuuzhan Vong and his indoctrination by Vergere, which has serious repercussions for the following series Legacy of the Force.

For the project leads and the authors, this was a grand adventure for them, but I think it really did enhance the Star Wars universe, giving us fans exciting new stories set in one of our favorite universes.

BOOKS BY MORONS - UPDATE!

Moron author John Racoosin, who was featured here early in my tenure as the curator of the Sunday Morning Book Thread, has an updated version of his book for you!

Hello All!!

This is to announce the 2nd edition of Combat Engineer, my book about my grandfather, H. Wallis Anderson. I think everyone knew I was working on this.

It is now up and available on Amazon.

Reasons for publishing this 2nd edition?

• Fix errors. Too many in the original, which I rushed through for a variety of reasons, not least of which was working on a schedule, etc. This edition is self-published.
• Add new primary and secondary material. Research never ends. I even recently came across some new material, but, with massive self-restraint (Ha!) and empathy for my wonderful designer/preparer, Vickie, I decided to go ahead and launch this one, sans one tiny addition.
• Improved formatting and layout, and cleaned up some rough passages and phrases.
• A couple essays at the end, just because.

All told, I'd estimate about a 10% change. (Germany still loses).

Oh, and only paperback, no hardcover. And a Library of Congress number (the original didn't).

Welcome comments and observations, from all.

Cheers,

John

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

I'm finishing Dean Koontz's 1981 The Mask and finding it un-exciting. I think we're finally going to be told by one of the characters what the cause behind all of the supernatural goings-on is. Koontz also seems to have this thing where all of his major characters, male or female, are hyper-talented -- English professors who are also novelists and do charity work; psychiatrists who find time to lecture, contribute to charities, do postdoctoral work on autism, do needlepoint, and tend a vegetable garden. Certainly it's better than reading about losers who do very little with their lives, but I feel exhausted just reading their accomplishments.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 23, 2025 10:20 AM (omVj0)

Comment: I will agree that Koontz's characters can seem unrealistic. I've noticed that a lof of them tend to live a self-sufficient lifestyle with no real need to work once Koontz has established their character. Even Odd Thomas, a fry cook, seems to get by without having to work much, though he's a hyper-talented fry cook who makes the best pancakes ever. I still enjoy most of Koontz's stories.

I should have read this book last week, when the snow was falling. That's because "Slippery" Jim diGriz spends a lot of time on a planet of endless snowfall in "The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You!" by Harry Harrison.

He didn't expect to wind up there. His assignment was to disrupt a planned massacre of humanity by an alien coalition. But strings are being pulled ...

HH puts his opinions into these stories through Slippery Jim, and that annoys me. In the first book, he asserts that Heaven doesn't exist. This time, diGriz speaks against capital punishment, declaring that it isn't a deterrent. I wonder whether HH got letters about that.

Posted by: Weak Geek at February 23, 2025 09:08 AM (p/isN)

Comment: Yeah, it's pretty obvious that "Slippery Jim" DiGriz shares the opinions of his writer. I don't know much about Harry Harrison the person, but I suspect he was a "classical liberal" like a lot of his contemporary science fiction authors. "Slippery Jim" is meant to be a rebel against The System in place at the time (the books were written in the 1970s and '80s for the most part). I still enjoy them.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

Saga of the Forgotten Warrior Book 6 - The Heart of the Mountain by Larry Correia

I know I've mentioned this before, but this series really is a Bollywood epic fantasy story with fewer spontaneous musical dance numbers. Both the heroes and villains are larger than life, capable of astonishing superhuman feats. This is the final volume in the series. The demons--who normally live in the sea--have discovered a perceived weakness in their human prey and are now attacking them through underground rivers and streams in the heart of the human cities. Humans are nearly powerless to resist them. However, humans have discovered the lost art of firearms and have decided that most problems can be resolved by judicious application of overwhelming firepower, which is a frequent theme in Larry Correia's books. If at first you don't succeed, shoot it again.

The First King of Shannara by Terry Brooks

This is the prequel that should never have been written. Although I have no evidence to back up my suspicions, it seems to me that Brooks was pressured into writing this story by his publisher. I could tell that his heart really wasn't in it.

This story tells the tale of how the Sword of Shannara was created and used in the Second War of the Races to defeat the Warlock Lord. In other words, this is simply fleshing out the backstory that was already told to us in the The Sword of Shannara.

Most of the story is told through exposition. There is very, very little dialog that helps establish the characters and their relationships to one another. There is also very, very little character development, especially compared to most of Brooks' other entries in the Shannara series, which rely *heavily* on character development. Brooks also throws in quite a bit of nostalgia-bait and "member berries" throughout the story. Remember Panamon Creel and Padishar Creel from the previous stories? It turns out their great-great-grandpappy was the one who forged the Sword! Remember Allanon the Druid, the supreme badass from the first three books? Well, he was a prodigy from the time he was a young boy! Remember the Black Elfstone? Here's a pointless sidequest where the characters have to retrieve it for no reason whatsoever!

It just was not a good book in many ways. It was entertaining enough to keep me moving through the story, but I know Brooks can write much better, because his earlier Shannara books are much, much better (Elfstones is one of my all-time favorites).

The Fortress of the Pearl by Michael Moorcock

Before Christopher Nolan directed Inception, Michael Moorcock wrote this book, about a young woman who is placed in a coma through sorcery and who can only be wakened by dreamthieves stealing into her mind to rescue her and thereby find the location of the mysterious Fortress of the Pearl. Elric of Melniboné is recruited by an evil politician who hopes to gain the treasure to secure his place in the city government. He meets an actual dreamthief who can help him accomplish his goal and free Elric from the curse the politician placed on him to secure Elric's cooperation. Then Elric will be free to unleash his vengeance. The Black Sword Stormbringer, the stealer of souls, is always hungry...

I found this book interesting because I can clearly see shades of both Lord Dunsany and H.P. Lovecraft in this tale. The landscape of dreams features prominently in fantasy literature, as a place of both wonder and terror. Sometimes it's a manifestation--or reflection--of our own soul. Entering the dreams of another person is always fraught with danger.

The Sunset Warrior by Eric Van Lustbader

Deep in the frozen bowels of a far-future earth, the remnants of humanity struggle to survive, but have forgotten much of the ancient lore that keeps their machinery running. Now the planet is finally dying for good. Meanwhile, a dark force is stirring in the even deeper earth....

The setting reminds me of a combination of The Matrix and Fallout, where humans are driven deep into the earth while the planet above them has been destroyed by humanity's hubris and folly.

The characters are "meh." You aren't given a whole lot of reasons to care about them and the worldbuilding is fairly sparse, so it's hard to really understand what's going on most of the time. Michael Moorcock is better at this type of story.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 2-23-2025 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.

Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Zombie kitties don't purr...

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