Two Fantasies

The Wolf in the Attic 

There are going to be plenty of people who love this one, and I have to admit that I loved the writing, at least the way the author frequently created such visual imagery.  It felt, however, as if there were two different books, and the inclusion of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis in cameo roles seemed like name-dropping rather than having a genuine connection (yes, yes--fantasy, both pagan and Christian mythology, language of trees--but still...), and the horned god vs the triple goddess (maiden, mother, crone) seemed more confused than clarifying.

The fact is that when I finished, I was asking, "What was the purpose?  What was it all about?"  I kind of liked it.  There were parts I definitely liked, but the puzzle pieces which seem to fit perfectly--were too loose or too tight.  Almost.  Not quite.

For me, The Wolf in the Attic was one of those books that kept my attention, but when I finished, the questions were more important than the content.  The conclusion seemed a bit open-ended, so there may be a sequel.  I liked Anna and Luca, so if there is a follow-up, I might read it and see if I feel differently. 

NetGalley/Rebellion/Solaris

Fantasy.  May 10, 2016.  Print version:  320 pages.


The Queen's Poisoner  (The Kingfountain Series, Bk. 1)

I enjoyed the first two in Wheeler's Whispers from Mirrowen series, but never got around to the third.  

This new series feels different, but in a good way.  An alternate history mixed with fantasy and magic, The Queen's Poisoner follows eight-year-old Owen when he is taken from his home as hostage to the king.  King Severn is an alternate version of Richard III, who has survived his version of Bosworth Field, whose brother (like Richard's) was supposedly drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine, whose two nephews' deaths have been laid at his door.  

Oh, the similarities are all over the place--and connect with both Shakespeare's version of Richard and with Josephine Tey's revisionist version.  (Sorry, Will, I'm with Josephine on this as far as the real Richard goes).  

In addition to the alternate history plot, there is a similarity to Robin Hobb's The Assassin's Apprentice, one of my all-time favorite fantasies.  I noted it, but it did not keep me from enjoying this fantasy.  

As I mentioned, I liked the first two books in the Whispers from Mirrowen series, but The Queen's Poisoner seems to flow better and the characters have more punch, more complexity, more vitality.  I'm not really sure how I feel about the alternate history aspect, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first in this series.  

Kindle First choice

Fantasy/Alternate History.   April 1, 2016.  Print version:  336 pages.

Three for the Weekend

Falling on the Bright Side 

Larry Whitten is haunted by the death of his brother many years ago and the resulting effects on his family--his parent's divorce and the feeling of being abandoned by his father.  At the beginning of the novel, Larry is suffering from depression and a sense of ineffectiveness.  His career goals seem unattainable, and he is distancing himself from his job (and unpleasant boss) and from his family. 

In many ways, the book feels like a parable or exemplum.  Sometimes it slips into the overly sentimental and mawkish;  sometimes it pulls itself back.  Larry is often an annoying protagonist, but that is not to say that he doesn't ring true, especially in his passive states.  I did find the messages about the way society warehouses the elderly and the disabled addresses concerns we all have.  And the author does have experience in the field.

From the author:  My new novel, Falling on the Bright Side, draws directly on my experience working with the disabled. Falling tells the story of people who have been shelved in nursing home warehouses who have lost their value to society, and explores how the human dimension continues to shine in these human beings.--Michael Gray

NetGalley/ABQ Press

Contemporary Fiction.  2014.  Print length:  305 pages.


The Fires of Alexandria

An interesting alternate history involving Heron of Alexandria, the remarkable genius also known as Hero of Alexandria and about whom little is really known other than his legacy in mathematics, physics, pneumatics, and mechanics.  The fact that so little is known of Heron's personal life allows the author to be quite inventive.

A little slow in the beginning, the story eventually picked up the pace, and I was quite fascinated with some of the mysteries of the narrative and with the real details about life in Alexandria, Egypt.

Adventure, history, and alternate history all mixed into one. I'm interested in the next in the series.

This one was free from Amazon.

Alternate History.  2011.  340 pages.



The Spiritglass Charade:  A Stoker & Holmes Novel

Not Bram and Sherlock, but Bram's sister Evelina and Sherlock's niece and Mycroft's daughter, Mina.  And Irene Adler, "the Woman," as Holmes referred to her.  What fun!  

A YA novel that involves a Victorian setting in London, steampunk, two very different female protagonists, spiritualism, and vampires!

This is the second in the series, but it works independently in spite of references to their previous case.  Evidently, there were questions about whether the first case was wrapped up correctly and the possibility that it will be re-visited, but it doesn't interfere with the the current mystery that has Princess Alexandria worried.

The novel isn't perfect.  The switching from Mina's POV to Evalina's POV doesn't work as well as it could; the two voices are not different enough.  The only way (other than chapter headings) to tell the difference between the two is the content.  Another slight distraction for me is that steampunk details can easily be overdone and are mostly superfluous to the story. I enjoy a few steampunk details, but prefer that they are minimal.  I did like the term "cognoggin" that replaces  the more common term of "gear head"-- it was an amusing replacement that made me smile.

The Spiritglass Charade was light reading and definitely aimed at a YA audience, but it was entertaining, and the historical details concerning Alexandra, Princess of Wales (yes, I looked up Albert Edward and Alexandra) were small, but accurate.   Gleason used those tiny genuine details to enlarge Alexandra's character, even though she only appears at the beginning of the novel.  

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and think this is a series that will improve as it continues.   This one was one of those bargains from one of the following: BookBub, Books that Buzz, and Early Bird Books.  

YA/Steampunk/Paranormal/Mystery.  2014.  Print length:  362 pages.

Farthing by Jo Walton

Farthing is an alternate history that, like Dominion by C.J. Sansom, imagines a Britain that negotiated a peace with Hitler.  

At first, the tone of the book made me wonder if I'd made the right choice.  Lucy Kahn, a kind of dizzy dame stereotype, seems too light weight.  Yet in spite of her upbringing among the socially elite, Lucy did have the gumption to marry a Jew and risk being shunned by her social set.  Although Britain has yet to institute all of the restrictions that presaged the rise of the Nazi power in Germany, the prejudice against them is serious. 

Lucy frequently mentions that she isn't as intelligent or well-educated as her husband, but there remains something inherently decent about her that appeals in spite of her naivety.  

Lucy and David have been invited on short notice to attend a house party at her politically powerful parents' estate.  Lucy didn't want to accept, knowing how much her mother hates David, but David feels the invitation to be an olive branch, and the two of them join the other guests for the weekend.  He has faith in the basic integrity of the English.

When the politician who negotiated the peace with Hitler is murdered, circumstantial evidence points to David.  At this point, Lucy begins to come into her own, gradually becoming more wary of the undercurrents and more suspicious of the circumstances of their invitation to be present for this particular party.  In a way, Lucy has played a role, although perhaps unwittingly, most of her life.  She dislikes and distrusts her mother and is well aware of the fact that her mother has never loved her, but now she feels genuinely threatened.  The threat is directed at David, and Lucy's basic common sense and her own brand of intelligence begin to assert themselves.

The story is told from Lucy's first person narration and alternates with the perspective of the Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Carmichael.  The two points of view give greater insight into the situation(s) taking place at the Farthing Estate.  

Carmichael works the crime scene in a professional manner, but he also feels that events have been staged.   He is well aware of the political and social power of the Farthing set, but trusts that the investigation can proceed objectively, despite the influence that can be exerted to reach a quick resolution.

As it turns out, both Carmichael and David are mistaken in their beliefs that the real culprit will be caught and that honor and ethics will prove successful.  It is Lucy who first turns her thoughts to an alternative course of action.

The beginning is a little slow, but the characters of Lucy and Carmichael begin to develop, and the action becomes more and more tense.  In the last few chapters, I had no idea whether or not Lucy and David would become victims...and either scenario seemed appropriate.  

One thing I did find odd--about half of the important characters are gay or bisexual in a time when sexual preference could be not only damaging, but dangerous.  This was true even in accurate, not alternate, history as exemplified by Alan Turing whose work at Bletchley Park had a great deal to do with the defeat of Germany in the real world.  In this alternate history, however, it seems even stranger given that homosexuals joined gypsies and Jews in the gas chambers.  

At any rate, I'm very glad to have read Farthing and will get to the next book, Ha'Penny soon.  

Read in February.

Alternate History/Mystery/Police Procedural.  Originally publ. in 2006.  320 pages.

Dominion by C.J. Sansom

Dominion    

Notice the slight touch of red on the armband.  A British Bobby with that armband?  What a terrifying image.  

How strange that in all of the reading I've done over the years about WWII, both in fact and fiction, I've never considered what would have happened if Germany had won the war; if Britain, like France, had surrendered; if the U.S. had remained neutral.  The first pages of Dominion made me consider the possibility, and it appalled me.        

Sansom's alternate history presents a chilling picture.  What if Halifax, not Churchill, had succeeded Chamberlain?  It could so easily have happened; Churchill had many opponents and Halifax had many supporters.  The horrors of WWI were not that far behind the British and support of appeasement was still strong.  

Given what Great Britain suffered in WWI (only about 20 years behind them when another war threatened), one can understand that many were reluctant to take on Hitler's Germany.  It is fortunate that Churchill, despite his flaws and political adversaries, became Prime Minister and was able to build a war cabinet to meet the threat.

In Sansom's alternate version of events, Halifax does, albeit somewhat reluctantly, become Prime Minister, and after the disastrous defeat of the Allies in Norway and the fall of France (the U.S. was still neutral at the time), accepts Hitler's offer of peace.  Great Britain is subsequently occupied.  Lord Beaverbrook becomes Prime Minister in this version of events, and Sansom's alternate Great Britain becomes more and more fascist.   

Part of me protests at the British acceptance of this situation, but I suppose it is like the frog and boiling water metaphor...even big changes, if they are gradual enough, are likely to be tolerated.  It happened in Germany.  I suppose it could happen anywhere.  (i.e. The Wave by Todd Strausser and The Children's Story by James Clavell illustrate how easily this conversion can be managed; oh, and Milgram's experiments).

There is a Resistance, however, that operates much as the French Resistance did in real life.  David Fitzgerald is called on to get his University friend Frank out of the country.  Frank is a scientist and has learned something that the Gestapo wants.  David's spying and the attempt to rescue Frank put the entire cell in danger.  And David has a secret of his own.

I won't go into anymore of the plot, but I will add that this book was a kind of eye-opener. Germany's defeat has always seemed inevitable to me, an accomplished fact that I did not question; my imagination didn't take me any further.  Dominion envisions an alternate rendering of events that makes the blood run cold.  It is considering this possibility that makes the book so good.

Sansom takes real individuals like Beaverbrook and Oswald Mosely and many others and imagines their participation in his alternative government, adding verisimilitude to the premise.  His Biographical Note is full of excellent information about the social and political period from the 1930's to the 1950's.  He also includes his own Historical Note of his own opinions.  

For anyone with an interest in WWII, Dominion offers much to ponder.  I will be thinking about this novel for some time to come.


NetGalley/Mulholland.

Alternate History.  Jan. 2014.  Print version:  640 pages.  

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

I'm still not sure what I think about 1Q84.  It is the first book I've read by the celebrated Murakami, who has a large and devoted following.

The book is so very long that even though I read with interest, when I'd put it down, I felt no great longing to return to it.  I ended up reading several books even as I kept plugging away at this one.

The plot is strangely uncompelling, especially given the weird details like a dead goat that functions as conduit for...something, but still not clear what, an air chrysalis that produces...a doppleganger?, a weird cult, and a parallel world with two moons.

Curiosity about how all the strange events hung together and about a possible solution brought me back to the book.

Some disjointed thoughts about style and content:

-filler...paragraph after paragraph, detail after detail

-repetitions--characters repeat themselves, the author repeats himself; literally and in paraphrase

-lots of allusions to popular culture, music, and literature; mostly Western

-loose ends:  his father, his mother/the nurse in cat town/the girl friend, the professor, Fuka-Eri, Janacek's Sinfonietta, Sagikake-its strange perverse rituals and its purpose

-such a strange landscape of a novel; vague, amorphous; dream-like

In the end, I found that loose ends remained.  My curiosity--unsatisfied.

The novel is purported to be a love story, and I suppose it was.  My final opinion hasn't gelled on any aspect of the novel.   I didn't hate it.  I didn't particularly like it.  But I suspect that images from this novel will remain with me which, considering the books I've read that have totally evaporated from my mind whether I enjoyed them or not, is saying something.

Who else has read this?  What do you think?

Fiction.  I don't know how to classify this one.  Alternate history? Dystopian?  Magical Realism?  2011.  944 pages.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Boneshaker is the second book I've read by Priest.  The first was Four and Twenty Blackbirds, which I  read and reviewed not long ago.  Although I saw a lot of potential in Four and Twenty, it wasn't really a series I was intent on pursuing.

Boneshaker has some of the same qualities, and is, in my opinion, a far better book.  Of course, Four and Twenty was Priest's debut novel, and she has put several books under her belt since it was published.

The characters are interesting, the writing (especially at the beginning) is quite good,  the setting is exceptionally and appropriately dark and gritty, and there is plenty of action.

 Briar Wilkes, widow of Leviticus Blue and daughter of Maynard Wilkes, takes her maiden name after her inventor husband builds a drilling machine, the Boneshaker, that apparently runs amuck and destroys a portion of Seattle, killing a great many people outright.  Those who don't die in the initial catastrophe are threatened by a deadly, malevolent gas called the Blight, and the majority of the citizens are forced to rehabitate on the outskirts of the city after building a huge wall to protect themselves from the carnage, the effects of the Blight, and the "rotters" who have succumbed to the deadly gas.

Briar and Zeke, her son, born after the chaos, are outcasts living a hand-to-mouth existence fifteen years later.  Zeke, however, has become determined to prove his father's innocence and disappears into the "city" to find evidence.  The filters on his mask (the Blight gas, remember?) have a limited time span.  When Briar realizes what he has done, she goes in after him.

An interesting novel, with flaws, but one that I did  enjoy.  Set during the Civil War and full of alternate history, the novel allows you to visit a strange, but familiar world of the past.  Some concepts didn't hold together and the conclusion felt incomplete somehow.  Not the part at the very end where Priest leaves the possibility of a return to world she's created, but the denouement, the final battle portion, which seemed rushed and not quite satisfactory.  Can't explain without spoilers.


Other reviews: 
Thumbs up:  Stainless Steel Droppings (Carl),   Shades of Grey, Fantasy Book Critic
Neither up nor down:  Spiral Galaxy, Song of Ice and Fire
Thumbs down: Dminoz, Bright Dreamer

Fiction.  Steampunk/Urban Fantasy/Alternate History.  2009.  416 pages.

Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik

Throne of Jade is the second in the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik.  I read the first one, His Majesty's Dragon about a month ago.

In the first book, Captain Will Laurence finds his life turned upside down when the newly hatched dragon from a captured French ship decides to bond with him.  This meant that Laurence had to give up his naval career to become an aviator, a branch of the service that is neither as formal nor as highly regarded as other branches.  And yet, Laurence's growing attachment to the young dragon he names Temeraire quickly begins to assuage his loss of career and social standing.

By the time the second book begins, the idea of separation of man and dragon has become almost an impossibility.  When the British government decides to return Temeraire to the Chinese, things become sticky indeed.  Therein lies the tale...

I enjoyed the book, but found it slower and some how less dense than the first book.  More political and cultural difficulties, less action, and less of the wonderful relationship between Laurence and Temeraire...

Fiction.  Alternate History/Fantasy.  2008.  312 pages.

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

Novik, Naomi.  His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, Book I)

I must have been getting used to the Kindle, because even though we were still on vacation, I loved this one.

Novik does character, plot, and dialogue so well that I was immediately immersed in this fantasy/alternate history.  In this alternate universe, the Napoleonic Wars have the added dimension of dragons.  All kinds and breeds of dragons and their aviators make up the Aerial Corps, which is entirely different from other branches of service.  The aviators are chosen by their dragons and must commit their lives to them; the commitment entails a good deal of sacrifice regarding hearth and home.

The bond between aviator and dragon, however, makes up for other losses in most cases.  Thus it is for Will Laurence, Captain of the Reliant.  When his ship captures a French ship carrying a dragon egg near hatching, most of the crew (including Laurence) dread the possibility of being chosen.  When the young dragon does choose Laurence, he deeply regrets the necessity of giving up his naval career and the possibility of marriage to a young woman he cares for.

Nevertheless, Laurence's sense of duty requires him to give his best, and he and the young dragon begin their partnership when he gives the dragon a name--Temeraire.  Rapidly their bond increases to a remarkable depth, and when the possibility that another aviator might take over, Laurence finds himself bereft.  Temeraire puts paid to that idea, and the two prepare to join the Aerial Corps, leaving for Scotland and their training.

Temeraire is a wonderful character.  Wise and childlike, loving and fierce, he devotes himself to Laurence and to learning.  Laurence reads to him because the dragon is unable to hold a book, they converse about many things as Temeraire's curiosity is limitless, and they comfort each other when difficulties arise.

During training, the characters of other dragons and aviators are introduced, and Laurence understands more about the bond between dragon and aviator and why so many are willing to give up careers, property, and polite society to serve in His Majesty's Aerial Corps.

The book is exciting and touching.  The characters are easy to care about, both human and dragon.  I can't wait to get the next in the series.

Fiction.  Fantasy/Alternate History.  Kindle.  Print version - 2006.  384 pages.

Alexandria

 Davis, Lindsey.  Alexandria:  A Marcus Didius Falco Novel.

While not one of my favorite Falco mysteries, the information about Alexandria and the great Library was fascinating.

Falco and Helena, along with their children and Falco's brother-in-law, are visiting Falco's uncle in Alexandria, Egypt.  On their first evening, their hosts have a dinner party and Theon, the Head Librarian is an honored guest.  The next morning, Theon is found dead in a locked room at the Library.

While I found the mystery itself adequate, not enthralling, the historical tidbits were fascinating.  The dissection of Theon by the Alexandria Zoo Keeper is particulary interesting because of the historical data included concerning Eristratus of Chios and Herophilus of Chalcedon who were physicians and anatomists at the Alexandria medical school.  They are both considered founders of modern medicine and performed dissections (and possibly vivisections!) that provided significant information about the workings of the human body.

Hero/Heron was a Greek mathematician and engineer who invented the first steam engine, a windwheel to harness wind power, devices for the theater, a force pump widely used by Romans, and more. 

The relationship between Falco and Helena Justinua remains one of the charming aspects of this series, but the plot was sometimes a bit tedious.


The following links show the importance of Alexandria and its scholars:

Erasistratus of Chios
Herophilus of Chalcedon
Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria

Fiction. Mystery/Historical Fiction. 2009.  338 pages.

Remember This Name: Nikki Gemmell

Oh, I've discovered a new author and a wonderful book. One that I'll keep and reread. One that I can open to almost any page and review with wonder, delight, new insight, and the opportunity for wisdom. An ARC published by The Fourth Estate, The Book of Rapture by Nikki Gemmell will remain with me forever, both physically and emotionally. I will read everything she has written.

Who sent this to me? I can't find any record of this ARC, and sometimes books just arrive out of nowhere, but although I find no record, there is a vague memory of someone sending me the description (I would write you a thank you note if I could). Maybe, when I finish, my review will be the thank you note.

Gemmell has just the right touch to create suspense, tension, the love of a parent for her children. She can bring you to grief and joy without ever slipping into the maudlin.

I'm almost finished, but can't quite bring myself to read on. I've stopped at a crucial point, and I need some time before I can bring myself to bring the book to a close... for several reasons.

It is another example of synchronicity. This book. At this time.

World Made by Hand

Kunstler, James Howard. World Made by Hand.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I enjoy post-apocalyptic novels and imagining how civilized society would cope with the loss of the technology we take for granted. Forget about computers, telephones, television, and our instant communication and entertainment luxuries and think about water and electricity. Neither of these would be automatically available with the turn of a tap or flip of the switch.

Kunstler imagines a world that has learned to cope (as best it can) with the loss of technology in the aftermath of several rather vague disasters including bombings, loss of access to oil, financial and governmental collapse, and a deadly flu pandemic (oddly enough, called the Mexican Flu).

The small town of Union Grove in upstate New York is one of the isolated communities trying to function after having lost most of their conveniences and a high per centage of their population. The protagonist, Robert Earle seems pretty well-adjusted to the state of things, although even he misses the occasional cold beer.

When a group called the New Faith order arrives in town, Robert and Union Grove must begin further adjustments. Here is where the novel becomes unpredictable (in several ways). Brother Jobe, the leader of the New Faith group, throws several wrenches into the town's ways of thinking and doing things. In spite of his namesake, the original Job, Brother Jobe doesn't seem to be suffering any more, and actually, considerably less, than any other survivor.

In addition to the fact that the New Faith people add an unpredictable factor into the events, there is an unpredictable aspect or atmosphere in the feel of the novel. Initially, Brother Jobe's arrival feels ominous, adding a sense of dread. Then there is an almost comical feel to the presence of the group and its members. At times, the group seems perfectly normal. This ominous/normal emotional charge moves back and forth about the kind of changes the group represents for the citizens of Union Grove.

Although I was a little nitpicky about some of the post-apocalyptic details, the first of the book was pretty interesting. However, toward the end, things got downright weird. Some supernatural stuff kind of crept in without ever being explained. It was as if Kunstler was going somewhere with several strange events, and then decided to leave them hanging.

Many of the characters, especially the women, had little development, and the novel's direction never seemed quite clear to me. Quite a few events, characters, and situations were introduced without attempt at resolution:

-why the emphasis on the young woman accompanying Brother Jobe when he arrived in town, to have her appear only once more and without emphasis?
-why did Brother Jobe feel Bullock was a dangerous man?
-why was Bullock's industry so questionable? (he seemed the one most capable of building a future, but the author appears to frown on him)
-both Bullock and Brother Jobe are leaders, does the author favor Brother Jobe?
-what the heck with the bee hive analogy?--boy, was that left hanging!
-and the prophecy?
-why was the treatment of Loren so brutal and of Robert so mild?
-what about the mystery of Brother Jobe and the jail cell?
-Bridget and Jane Ann?

There was never a point that I wanted to put the book down, but there was never a point that I didn't have questions. None of them were answered.

I'm glad I read the book because it has provided several days of pondering, not only about what was going on in the novel, but about the adjustments society would have to make to survive if society's infrastructure collapsed. Not just the physical difficulties of food and water and basic survival, but in social organization, how would isolated societies function?

In many ways, this was a pretty positive look at the future, at least in comparison to The Road, Alas, Babylon, Lucifer's Hammer, and I, Legend.

I could have sworn I read something about this novel on one of the blogs I visit frequently, but I couldn't find it.

Do you have a favorite post-apocalytic novel?

Other Reviews: Where There's a Will..., Reading Is My Superpower, Sublime Oblivion, Fizzy Thoughts, The Indextrious Reader

Fiction. Futuristic/Post-Apocalypse. 2008. 317 pages.

Wasting Away...

not in Margaritaville, however. Although a nice, cooling sip of Margarita would be appreciated in this heat! Well, yes, I mean more than a sip, but "sitting on a bar stool in a cool, dim bar and swilling Margarita's" didn't sound as good.

I've been doing a lot of very little lately. A little this and a little that in a pretty apathetic way. Reading some, embroidering tee shirts, less and less in the garden, etc.

I've continued my yoga studies, though. Currently reading Yoga for Wellness, Yoga for Body, Breath, and Mind and other books on my reading list. I find myself contemplating a statement about a posture or its benefits and then picking up other books for comparison. I'm really hoping some of this is beginning to take root in my brain.

Some fiction, too. I've still got to review A Stopover in Venice and A World Made by Hand.

The latter has given me some pause over the last few days as it was kind of peculiar toward the end, and I find myself wondering what I really thought about it. Does that happen to you? You read and enjoy a book while in the process, but when finished, you aren't really sure what you think?

Evaluating a book is often difficult, and the same book can mean different things at different times. On the whole, I love post-apocalyptic, dystopic society books. They are terrifying, but always make me wonder how far back in time society would be thrust if the entire infrastructure fell (or was blasted) away.

For the same reason that I loved Robinson Crusoe as a child, I enjoy thinking of the ways modern mankind would adjust to a society left with only medieval technology. What alternative futures could result from reversals in nature and/or human foolishness?

The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Chabon, Michael. The Yiddish Policemen's Union. I loved The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, but this novel is so different. I mean really different. It is a conglomeration of a novel with elements of several genres all rolled into one. It is an alternate history, and it took me a while to realize that; I found myself asking why I'd never heard of... Well, let us just say that Chabon plants you right in the middle of an alternate history (liberally mixed with both actual and fictional facts) and never bothers to look back and see if you might need help interpreting his world or even realize what is going on. It is a mystery and a bit of hard-boiled detective fiction. It is full of references to Jewish culture which ( given the fictional historical facts that threw me off) could be accurate...or not. Lots of Yiddish terms that must be figured out by context. Or are they terms specific to Sitka, Alaska?

No concessions here, folks. You are along for the ride, or not, and Chabon is going his merry way regardless. I vacillated between pleasure and annoyance, fun and frustration, but I never put it down for long.

There is a murder. There is a divorced and frequently drunken policeman. An Indian Jew. a possible Tzaddik Ha-Dor. An ex-wife. A boundary maven. A sect of black hat ultra-religious gangsters. And more, much more.

I loved Landsman and Berko. What a team. In fact, Chabon's major cast of characters are dynamic - they almost come off the page (and in the case of Rebbe Shpilman, you really don't want that to happen); they are flawed, vulnerable, charming, chilling, and believable. At least, in the alternate history of Sitka, Alaska. One of my favorite characters doesn't come in until the last portion of the book, but he was definitely worth waiting for.

As a finished product - it is perhaps a bit too entangled and it sometimes drags. You want to say, "Enough with the similes, Chabon! Get on with the story!"

While not nearly as good as The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon makes you care, he makes you laugh, and if you can get past the confusion, he makes you realize what a feat this novel is. Then again, maybe one just can't compare apples and oranges.

Fiction. Mystery? Alternate history? 2007. 411 pages.