Edgar Allan Poe: The Fever Called Living by Paul Collins

Looming large in the popular imagination as a serious poet and lively drunk who died in penury, Edgar Allan Poe was also the most celebrated and notorious writer of his day. He died broke and alone at the age of forty, but not before he had written some of the greatest works in the English language, from the chilling “The Tell-Tale Heart” to “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”—the first modern detective story—to the iconic poem “The Raven.”

Poe’s life was one of unremitting hardship. His father abandoned the family, and his mother died when he was three. Poe was thrown out of West Point, and married his beloved thirteen-year-old cousin, who died of tuberculosis at twenty-four. He was so poor that he burned furniture to stay warm. He was a scourge to other poets, but more so to himself.

In the hands of Paul Collins, one of our liveliest historians, this mysteriously conflicted figure emerges as a genius both driven and undone by his artistic ambitions. Collins illuminates Poe’s huge successes and greatest flop (a 143-page prose poem titled Eureka), and even tracks down what may be Poe’s first published fiction, long hidden under an enigmatic byline. Clear-eyed and sympathetic, Edgar Allan Poe is a spellbinding story about the man once hailed as “the Shakespeare of America.”

The combination of the life of one of the most intriguing Victorian writers in the hands of one of the best narrative history writers around at the moment meant that Edgar Allan Poe: The Fever Called Living an immediate addition to my TBR list. Collins has done a great job in the past with The Murder of the Century and Duel with the Devil, and I included both in my list of top ten books to get someone started on narrative history. Here, he has a much smaller canvas than usual – this is a streamlined biography, but one that works extremely well.

In a few short chapters (according to my Kindle, the dead tree version has 132 pages), Collins manages to paint a clear portrait of a man whose genius was in constant battle with his demons. From the death of his parents, the difficult relationship with the man who raised him but refused to adopt him, to his struggle with poverty and alcoholism, Poe did not have an easy life. Yet throughout, Collins shows that he continued to try and find his way out through his writing. Calling particular attention to the genre-changing creation of Dupin (the proto Holmes) and the writing of the Raven, Collins points out the huge impact that Poe had on modern literature. All in all a great, if short, biography that should be accessible to all.

I gave Edgar Allan Poe: The Fever Called Living 4 stars.

US Presidents Series: The Roosevelt Trilogy by Edmund Morris

A vast and sprawling exploration of one of the most interesting presidents to ever serve in the White House, Edmund Morris’ trilogy of books (The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex and Colonel Roosevelt) explore Roosevelt’s life before, during and after his tenure as leader of the free world, from his childhood struggling with ill health, to his youth and travels around the world with his parents, and beyond to the tragedies of his adulthood that led him down the path to the White House. Throughout, Morris gives a very rounded portrayal of the man behind the legends, as well as providing the proper context of the world in which Roosevelt lived and how both it affected him and he affected it.

Morris’ writing is never dry and he has the descriptive eye of a novelist – some of the passages following Roosevelt into the wild or through the Amazonian jungles are fantastic. Roosevelt himself comes across as a flawed, brilliant man, able to command great loyalty but whose reluctance to release his hold on the Presidency forced a breach in his own party. It was amazing to realise how much Roosevelt did after he left the big chair – his subsequent runs ended up creating the Progressive Party and saw the Democrats win the presidency for the first time in decades.

All in all, Morris’ trilogy is the ultimate exploration of a president, full of wonderful writing worthy of the larger than life Roosevelt.

I gave all three books 4 stars.

No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill

Darkness lives within ...

Cash-strapped, working for agencies and living in shared accommodation, Stephanie Booth feels she can fall no further. So when she takes a new room at the right price, she believes her luck has finally turned. But 82 Edgware Road is not what it appears to be. It's not only the eerie atmosphere of the vast, neglected house, or the disturbing attitude of her new landlord, Knacker McGuire, that makes her uneasy - it's the whispers behind the fireplace, the scratching beneath floors, the footsteps in the dark, and the young women weeping in neighbouring rooms. And when Knacker's cousin Fergal arrives, the danger goes vertical. 

But this is merely a beginning, a gateway to horrors beyond Stephanie's worst nightmares. And in a house where no one listens to the screams, will she ever get out alive?

Although not my main reading genre, I do enjoy a good horror story. Unfortunately, I have found those difficult to find. Many horror novels either do not scare me or they are just excuses for descriptions of lots of blood and gore. Finding a story that is actually chilling is one of my pet peeves when it comes to reading and few writers have lived up to it. One of the few who does is Adam Nevill.

In his latest, Nevill takes on the haunted house, through the eyes of a young woman, Stephanie, who finds herself forced into taking a room in a decrepit old house in Birmingham. What Nevill does extremely well here is to make the very real situation Stephanie finds herself in just as horrific as the paranormal goings on – alone, friendless and broke, she must put up with the interest of her landlord, a horrific and yet very human man who serves to create much of the tension in the first part of the novel. 

Things take a surprising turn half way through, descending into more classical paranomal territory, but Nevill hands this very well, keeping the stress levels high. I have seen others compare much of this second part to Silent Hill, which is definitely apt. All in all, No One Gets Out Alive succeeds as a horror story, but also as a thriller that delves into some dark truths about the society we live in. 

I gave No One Gets Out Alive 4 stars.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Missing by Una McCormack

An original novel set in the universe of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine—a direct sequel to the New York Times bestselling story arc, The Fall!

Deep Space 9 is once again becoming an important way station in the Alpha Quadrant for many different people with many different agendas. Uniquely crewed by representatives of different species from both the Khitomer Powers and the Typhon Pact, the Federation science and exploration vessel Athene Donald stops at the station as its final port of call before heading into uncharted territories. The whole project is the brainchild of Dr. Katherine Pulaski, who hopes that science will do what diplomacy alone cannot, and help various powers put aside the tensions of recent years, returning to scientific research and the exploration of space.

On DS9, base commander Ro Laren has her hands full with the sudden arrival of a ragtag flotilla of small ships crewed by a group calling themselves the People of the Open Sky. Ro is not keen on handling this first-contact duty, but becomes increasingly intrigued by the People, who are made up of several hitherto unknown species. Describing themselves as explorers, they are interested in everything about the station. Ro begins to enjoy her assignment, particularly as she takes counsel from the logs of Jean-Luc Picard. Blackmer, however, is more suspicious about these apparently friendly arrivals and monitors their movements around DS9…

Of all the writers currently working in the Star Trek litverse, two of the finest are women. While Kirsten Beyer has been doing amazing things with the Star Trek Voyager storylines, Una McCormack is a little bit more eclectic, with a penchant for Deep Space Nine and the Cardassians. Her work, especially the Cardassia-centric The Never-Ending Sacrifice, have been must reads for most Treklit fans for the past few years and in The Missing she does not disappoint.

Picking up on numerous threads left hanging in the recent Star Trek books, The Missing follows three main storylines: Beverly Crusher settling in aboard Deep Space Nine, Katherine Pulaski aboard a civilian starship encountering a strange alien ship and a murder mystery aboard the new station. Within those storylines, McCormack continues to develop the DS9 characters, especially current commanding officer Ro Laren and security officer Jefferson Blackmer, while spinning out some new directions for such fan favourites as Odo. Characters from Brinkmanship, including the Tzenkethi Corazame and Starfleet Intelligence officer Alex Gardner, also appear and McCormack does a great job of developing them from where she left them in Brinkmanship. She also is able to use these characters to have a discussion on where Starfleet and the Federation as a whole seem to be heading in this Typhon Pact era.

Where McCormack does the best job, though, is definitely in her handling of Crusher and Pulaski. While Crusher's seeming abandonment of Jean-Luc Picard and their son could have been mishandled (see the fan reaction to Sisko's storyline in the early post-Destiny novels), McCormack instead makes it easy to understand and empathise with her decision. She also rehabilitates Pulaski, a character many TNG fans learned to dislike if not despise during her tenure on the show. Here Pulaski maintains her "difficult" personality but McCormack does enough to round out the edges without gutting the character. It really proved to be a fantastic handling of the character, and I hope McCormack gets a chance to return to her in the future.

All in all, the various storylines and characters are handled with style by McCormack, bringing a number of characters seen in recent novels to conclusions and new beginnings. At the same time, she manages to write more of a classic Trek novel, returning to the sort of adventures found in the beginning of the DS9 relaunch and boding well for what would appear to be a more exploratory, scientific direction for the Treklit verse in the coming months. The Missing shows again why McCormack is one of the finest Trek writers working today.

I gave The Missing 4 stars.

Revival by Stephen King

A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life.

In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs -- including Jamie's mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family's horrific loss. In his mid-thirties -- addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate -- Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.

This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It's a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Stephen King is an immediate buy for me, one of those authors who embody the phrase "would read their shopping lists". I understand that this far from the case for everybody, though I don't think anyone could claim that a writer whose career spans such classics as The Stand, The Shawshank Redemption or Misery is a hack. His "retirement" has ended up being one of his most prolific periods and it is clear from his recent novels that King is now just having fun - he is writing what he wants how he wants it, knowing full well that no matter what he writes it will sell, and sell well. 

Revival is far from being his best work, but it is a great read nevertheless. Though less gripping than Mr. Mercedes, Revival is King's take on the Frankenstein story, in the same way that Salem's Lot was his take on Dracula. Dealing with such a classic of the horror genre would be risky for a less accomplished writer, but King is good enough to pull it off. Though the homage to Frankenstein (the mad scientist, the link between electricity and life) are clear, they are twisted and changed enough for it not to matter. Throughout, King takes the story on unexplored paths, turning Revival into a relatively epic tale for such a short book (compared to The Stand or It - Revival is by no means a short book!)

As usual, King shines in the conclusion of the book - everything comes together into an extremely thrilling end, with characters forced into collision. This final section contains some of the most horrific imagery King has used in his more recent work, providing a chilling ideal of the afterlife that I would imagine will stay with readers for a long time. Throughout, King never loses sight of the key - the characters. We see Jamie and Charles go through some terrible experiences and it is interesting to see how both men take those experiences and use them in very different ways. 

Though not a classic King, Revival is a great horror novel, combining King's interest in Americana and rock and roll with a Frankensteinesque plot. 

I gave Revival 4 stars. 

Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz

Internationally bestselling author Anthony Horowitz's nail-biting new novel plunges us back into the dark and complex world of Detective Sherlock Holmes and Professor James Moriarty--dubbed "the Napoleon of crime"--in the aftermath of their fateful struggle at the Reichenbach Falls.

Days after Holmes and Moriarty disappear into the waterfall's churning depths, Frederick Chase, a senior investigator at New York's infamous Pinkerton Detective Agency, arrives in Switzerland. Chase brings with him a dire warning: Moriarty's death has left a convenient vacancy in London's criminal underworld. There is no shortage of candidates to take his place--including one particularly fiendish criminal mastermind.

Chase is assisted by Inspector Athelney Jones, a Scotland Yard detective and devoted student of Holmes's methods of deduction, whom Conan Doyle introduced in The Sign of Four. The two men join forces and fight their way through the sinuous streets of Victorian London--from the elegant squares of Mayfair to the shadowy wharfs and alleyways of the Docks--in pursuit of this sinister figure, a man much feared but seldom seen, who is determined to stake his claim as Moriarty's successor.

Riveting and deeply atmospheric, Moriarty is the first Sherlock Holmes novel sanctioned by the author's estate since Horowitz's House of Silk. This tale of murder and menace breathes life into Holmes's fascinating world, again proving that once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however im- probable, must be the truth.

A summer read two years ago, Anthony Horowitz' The House of Silk was an interesting, if not particularly ground breaking, addition to the Sherlock Holmes canon, an authorised continuation of the adventures of the great detective and his 'assistant' Watson. Set somewhere within the latter part of Holmes' adventures, The House of Silk was well written, exciting and faithful homage to Conan Doyle, which boded well for any more novels Horowitz might write in this world. 

Which brings us to Moriarty, Horowitz' new novel set in the Victorian London of Doyle's hero. Where in The House of Silk Horowitz played things safe, giving us an adventure clearly meant to slot neatly into canon, in Moriarty he has broken the mold, giving us instead an enthralling look at the world that existed between Holmes and Moriarty fateful fall at the Reichenbach and the reappearance of Holmes a few years later. With Holmes and Watson off the stage, Horowitz turns his attention to two new characters. One, Athelney Jones, is actually a character from Doyle's work, a Scotland Yard detective who appeared in The Sign of Four. Here, Horowitz is able to develop the character much further, using what Doyle wrote about him to give the man a clever backstory that explains his devotion to Holmes' methods. Jones becomes our Sherlock Holmes surrogate, but instead of just creating a cliché, Horowitz breathes life into the detective by giving him a family, something that Holmes obviously lacks. 

The second character is Frederick Chase, an investigator for Pinkertons, the legendary American detective force, sent to Europe to pursue an American crimelord determined to step into the gulf left behind by Moriarty's death. This investigation brings the two men together and from  there the story escalates, from Reichenbach to London, through the darkest corners of the criminal underworld. Brutality and terror stalk the streets of the capital and it seems that only Chase and Jones will be able to bring the true culprit to justice. 

What was already an enthralling, exciting, gripping mystery tale takes on a much greater dimension, though, in the last third of the novel. Horowitz pulls off a fantastic coup, setting up and delivering on an absolutely terrific twist that caught me totally by surprise but made perfect sense once it was revealed. I won't give anything about this twist away, but suffice it to say, I personally found it totally unexpected. Horowitz really delivers with Moriarty, showing that there are still interesting and surprising tales to be told in the Holmes universe. I hope he gets the opportunity to do so in the future. 

I gave Moriarty 4 stars.

The Buried Life by Carrie Patel

 

The gaslight and shadows of the underground city of Recoletta hide secrets and lies. When Inspector Liesl Malone investigates the murder of a renowned historian, she finds herself stonewalled by the all-powerful Directorate of Preservation – Recoletta’s top-secret historical research facility.
 
When a second high-profile murder threatens the very fabric of city society, Malone and her rookie partner Rafe Sundar must tread carefully, lest they fall victim to not only the criminals they seek, but the government which purports to protect them. Knowledge is power, and power must be preserved at all costs…

The Buried Life is one of those books that I had to read at the right time to get into - I had tried to read it a few months ago and it didn't quite gel for me - that may be due to the fact that I had read a few similar books around that time. Whatever the reason, I put it aside but it had interested me enough for me to want to pick it back up again, which I did back in October (yes, I know, bad blogger, bad! :))

A fantasy murder mystery to start with, The Buried Life could be termed science fantasy - while not made obvious, there are clear indications that the underground world of the book is our future, with books and cultural references serving as clear nods to our own world. This makes for a nice twist on the Victorian-esque, gaslight ambiance the book is set in. While the worldbuilding was good, where The Buried Life excelled was in the characters. I really enjoyed getting to know Liesl, Rafe and Jane: a washer-woman who is not mentioned in the blurb but who I would say is probably more important to the plot and more interesting as a character than the other two. Her Relationship with Roman proves to be a hinge for the story and her actions have major effects on the future of Recoletta.

While the murder mystery is tied up nicely, providing a pleasant sense of closure to that part of the book, there are larger events that take over towards the end and set up the stage nicely for the follow-up (due out in February). I for one will be eagerly waiting to download it to my Kindle on the day of release!

I gave The Buried Life 4 stars.

Star Wars: Tarkin by James Luceno

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . . .

Bestselling Star Wars veteran James Luceno gives Grand Moff Tarkin the Star Wars: Darth Plagueis treatment, bringing a legendary character from A New Hope to full, fascinating life.

He’s the scion of an honorable and revered family. A dedicated soldier and distinguished legislator. Loyal proponent of the Republic and trusted ally of the Jedi Order. Groomed by the ruthless politician and Sith Lord who would be Emperor, Governor Wilhuff Tarkin rises through the Imperial ranks, enforcing his authority ever more mercilessly . . . and zealously pursuing his destiny as the architect of absolute dominion.

Rule through the fear of force rather than force itself, he advises his Emperor. Under Tarkin’s guidance, an ultimate weapon of unparalleled destruction moves ever closer to becoming a terrifying reality. When the so-called Death Star is completed, Tarkin is confident that the galaxy’s lingering pockets of Separatist rebellion will be brought to heel—by intimidation . . . or annihilation.

Until then, however, insurgency remains a genuine threat. Escalating guerrilla attacks by resistance forces and newfound evidence of a growing Separatist conspiracy are an immediate danger the Empire must meet with swift and brutal action. And to bring down a band of elusive freedom fighters, the Emperor turns to his most formidable agents: Darth Vader, the fearsome new Sith enforcer as remorseless as he is mysterious; and Tarkin—whose tactical cunning and cold-blooded efficiency will pave the way for the Empire’s supremacy . . . and its enemies’ extinction.

As the second novel released in Disney's new Star Wars Expanded Universe, Tarkin has a lot riding on it. While A New Dawn - the first book in the new canon - acted as a prequel to Rebels, the new cartoon series, Tarkin takes place in the run up to A New Hope, giving us a glimpse into  the mind of a favourite character and using a lot more well-known characters than that first book, not the least of which are Darth Vader and the Emperor himself. As such, Tarkin was going to give us much more of an idea what the Star Wars new canon would look like and how much of what had gone before was being done away with.

Beyond that, though, Tarkin obviously had to be a good story. And it delivers, in spades! Telling a story of fledgling rebels playing a game of cat and mouse with Tarkin and Vader, both of whom are far from the established figures in Imperial power that they will become, Tarkin also delves into the titular character's history, much as Darth Plagueius did in the old canon. With lots of little nods to that former canon, proving that the new Story Group is going to do exactly as promised - delving into the old stories for inspiration and elements while not allowing themselves to get bogged down in minutiae - Tarkin tells a compelling story. Full of double crosses, surprises, Force powers and space battles, Tarkin is Star Wars done well, while also giving a nice depth to this man we love to hate.

I said at the end of my review of A New Dawn that I hoped the upcoming novels would do more to ignite this new expanded universe. Tarkin does that. I for one can't wait for Heir to the Jedi, a Luke Skywalker starring novel told in first person written by Kevin Hearne, one of the greatest urban fantasy writers working today!

I gave Star Wars: Tarkin 4 stars.

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

Karen Abbott, the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City and “pioneer of sizzle history” (USA Today), tells the spellbinding true story of four women who risked everything to become spies during the Civil War.

Karen Abbott illuminates one of the most fascinating yet little known aspects of the Civil War: the stories of four courageous women—a socialite, a farmgirl, an abolitionist, and a widow—who were spies.

After shooting a Union soldier in her front hall with a pocket pistol, Belle Boyd became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her charms to seduce men on both sides. Emma Edmonds cut off her hair and assumed the identity of a man to enlist as a Union private, witnessing the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The beautiful widow, Rose O’Neale Greenhow, engaged in affairs with powerful Northern politicians to gather intelligence for the Confederacy, and used her young daughter to send information to Southern generals. Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Richmond abolitionist, hid behind her proper Southern manners as she orchestrated a far-reaching espionage ring, right under the noses of suspicious rebel detectives.

Using a wealth of primary source material and interviews with the spies’ descendants, Abbott seamlessly weaves the adventures of these four heroines throughout the tumultuous years of the war. With a cast of real-life characters including Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, General Stonewall Jackson, detective Allan Pinkerton, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, and Emperor Napoleon III, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy draws you into the war as these daring women lived it.

I love reading about American history, as shown by my current project to read a biography of each American President. While I am interested in the Civil War era, I have very little interest in military history that describes in detail battles and the movement of armies, so it is difficult to find a book set in that era that catches my attention. When I saw this book, promising an original look at the era, through the eyes of four uncommon women, I jumped on it immediately. 

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy works well, interweaving four different storylines in an exciting and attention grabbing way, keeping the story moving through the years of the war. Of the four women, two support the Union and two support the Confederacy, allowing Abbott to carefully explore the effects of the war on both sides. Providing a feminine perspective and showing how vital they were to the war effort is a fine way of giving a new spin to this well known period of history, one that Abbott pulls off with aplomb. Although at times the writing became a little dry, especially when Abbott deals with the dreaded battles, overall the book keeps the attention all the way through to the - sometimes tragic - end. Definitely recommended to anyone interested in this era and looking for an original spin on it.

I gave Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy 4 stars.

The Woman Who Would Be King by Kara Cooney

An engrossing biography of the longest-reigning female pharaoh in Ancient Egypt and the story of her audacious rise to power in a man’s world.

Hatshepsut, the daughter of a general who took Egypt's throne without status as a king’s son and a mother with ties to the previous dynasty, was born into a privileged position of the royal household. Married to her brother, she was expected to bear the sons who would legitimize the reign of her father’s family. Her failure to produce a male heir was ultimately the twist of fate that paved the way for her inconceivable rule as a cross-dressing king. At just twenty, Hatshepsut ascended to the rank of king in an elaborate coronation ceremony that set the tone for her spectacular twenty-two year reign as co-regent with Thutmose III, the infant king whose mother Hatshepsut out-maneuvered for a seat on the throne. Hatshepsut was a master strategist, cloaking her political power plays with the veil of piety and sexual expression. Just as women today face obstacles from a society that equates authority with masculinity, Hatshepsut had to shrewdly operate the levers of a patriarchal system to emerge as Egypt's second female pharaoh.

Hatshepsut had successfully negotiated a path from the royal nursery to the very pinnacle of authority, and her reign saw one of Ancient Egypt’s most prolific building periods. Scholars have long speculated as to why her images were destroyed within a few decades of her death, all but erasing evidence of her rule. Constructing a rich narrative history using the artifacts that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Cooney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power—and why she fell from public favor just as quickly. The Woman Who Would Be King traces the unconventional life of an almost-forgotten pharaoh and explores our complicated reactions to women in power.

Basing her conclusions on the few remaining artefacts and allowing herself a lot of leeway to fill in the gaps, Kara Cooney has created an enthralling portrait of an amazing woman in The Woman Who Would Be King, a biography of the second female pharaoh, Hatshepsut. From her birth and training as a priestess to her co-regency with her stepson, Cooney traces the steps Hatshepsut took in order to both secure her position and then consolidate it, identifying her as unique - a woman who was able to gain the throne in a male-dominated society during a time of peace rather than war. 

Cooney makes some interesting points, showing how both the later Pharaohs and the even later Egyptologists twisted the few elements we have about this remarkable woman into the story of a power-mad temptress who seized the throne from the rightful heir and held it against the judgement of her entire society. The story Cooney tells is much more complex, requiring a knowledge of Egyptian culture and mores, especially when it comes to female sexuality. A true narrative history, The Woman Who Would Be King is far from a dry exploration of ancient artefacts, but instead is an interesting and exciting dive into a world that seems incredibly alien from our point of view. And yet Cooney manages to make the narrative contemporary, showing how the way we look at Hatshepsut affects the way we look at woman in positions of power even today. 

I gave The Woman Who Would Be King 4 stars.