The Birthday Boys is a novel about perseverance. This novel is a look at humanity in the face of increasingly inhospitable conditions and the camaraderie of a group of ill-fated scientific explorers whose story is evidently famous. Personally, I know little of this expedition and have only read works on the Shackleton expedition. I honestly had no idea there was a second expedition on route at the exact same time as Shackleton’s until I read this account. Regardless, the perilous nature of the arctic during this time is well envisioned by Bainbridge in this alternating ... Continue Reading...
Review: Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis
Anne Rice has an interesting take on Atlantis and the vampire origin story in Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis. As a chronicle story, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis wasn't bad, but it deviates from what I expect from an Anne Rice novel. One part sci-fi, one part new age inspiration and finally a choppy, rambling narrative created a novel that was lackluster. Perhaps Rice has grown tired of her vampire tales hence the lack Ingenuity and character development in her latest (and last?) entry into the chronicle lore - I can't really say. I remember in ... Continue Reading...
Review: Every Hidden Thing
Every Hidden Thing is another book with a summary that doesn’t really do the story justice. I was expecting a novel that was very different from the one I got. I really can’t complain that this novel’s summary led me astray because the actual book was so much better than expected! The novel opens with an intense fight between the fathers of main characters over the correct placement of a set of vertebra (or is it actually tail bones?) on a plesiosaurs. Thus begins the very public and disruptive competition between two very different men that spills over into their ... Continue Reading...
Review: The Summit
When I first noticed The Summit on NetGalley I was pretty excited. I didn't even stop to read the full synopsis because, well, Everest, mountaineering and intrigue? Sign me up! I was a bit nervous when I realized what The Summit was actually about - Nazis. Fortunately, Farthing's novel was an amazing mix of Nazi historical fiction and mountaineering fiction to make this novel pretty fantastic. The fact that Farthing also has extensive real life experience in mountain climbing as well as having been blessed with his own experiences on Everest only added an additional ... Continue Reading...